For 30 years Khyber Pass has provided a culinary passage to India at 1031 Lake St. in Oak Park. For diners Rob Park and his wife Susan, chicken tikka masala is their go-to order.
“I’ve had this dish at a lot of other places, and it’s always been dominated by big spice, but not a lot of body to the sauce or the other thing that happens is like tomato will be dominant,” said Rob Parks. “Richness. That is the single difference about the chicken tikka masala here. It is a very, very rich sauce. I especially like it over Khyber Pass’s vegetable biryani.”
Under the watchful eyes of chefs at Khyber Pass, chicken is cooked to tender perfection, then enrobed in a silky, tomato-y sauce that takes hours to complete with a balanced blend of many spices. In fact, “masala” means mixture.
Hours are spent in the kitchen coaxing the flavors together without the addition of thickeners like cornstarch or flour. Malik Jawid, owner of Khyber Pass, emphasizes the quality of the ingredients that go into the dish.
“My chefs don’t know the prices. Their job is to order what they need,” Jawid said. “We still have the same vendors. Where we get the chicken, we have the same vendors. We never change that over the years. Other vendors came here and say we can beat these prices. But we never went for that.”
“It’s not a really hot spicy dish. I don’t like intense heat,” Susan Park said.
“We keep it mild, medium where you have all these spices in there, but not the chili. But somebody wants, that’s so easy to add chili,” said Jawid.
Chicken tikka masala has been on the menu from day one, when the restaurant opened in 1995. The business was a leap of faith by Jawid, who had worked in other restaurants, but never owned one himself.
The Parks have lived in Oak Park for 37 years.
“Seven of those were without Indian food,” Rob Parks said to Jawid. “I’ve always been a fan of Indian food. So, I was overjoyed when you opened.”
Despite that warm welcome and decades on Lake Street, staying afloat looked dicey in the first months of the covid pandemic.
“It was difficult, but then suddenly Takeout 25,” Jawid said. “That was so beautiful. Everybody spends at least $25, and nobody’s going to spend just 25, you know, they always go over, and it really helped. It’s a wonderful community, Oak Park, Forest Park, all around here.
Still covid brought changes that became permanent. Khyber Pass no longer offers a buffet, because so much of their business moved to takeout during the pandemic and has remained so.
Year after year, chicken tikka masala remains the number one item on the restaurant’s menu. According to Jawid, it is because, “…of consistency. We’ve been making it the same, since we opened and everybody loves that.”
The second most popular dish is palak paneer, spinach and cheese. The menu features a wide range of other Indian dishes, appetizers, entrees, desserts, specialty drinks – alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
“I’ve been very blessed here with this community,” Jawid said. “I always get emotional when I talk about us from 30 years, because there’s no way I thought I’ll be here 30 years.”
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khyberpassrestaurant.com
1031 Lake St., Oak Park
Hours: Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Monday closed
Tuesday – Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.