Resilient Houston | Kiran Verma of Kiran’s Restaurant

Kiran’s is undoubtedly, unequivocally, and unabashedly the single best Indian restaurant in Houston. With a menu as diverse as India itself, there is something for every taste and every palette. But don’t think for a second that this is some sort of “fusion” cuisine. You would be wrong. This is elevated cuisine in a fine dining establishment setting. Chef and Owner Kiran Verma has taken everything from basic Indian comfort dishes to Bombay/Mumbai street food and imbued them with style and sophistication, without sacrificing an iota of what made them cherished to begin with. And she has done this consistently for nearly 25 years.

But in these days of a global pandemic, consistency has given way to improvisation, as many of Houston’s cherished culinary icons have been forced to shutter their doors, some forever. Kiran’s is no exception, but she has the extra challenge of filling a newly remodeled and additional dining room. When the pizza restaurant next door closed last year, she saw an opportunity to not only expand the seating capacity, but also the menu by keeping the two large stone ovens to make traditional breads and Indian-inspired pizzas.

Pizza may have been invented in Italy, but it was perfected in Kiran’s newly acquired wood burning ovens. She has taken her art to new heights. Yes, anyone could slap down some different toppings on a pizza. Really, that’s not genius. Kiran has managed to artfully balance Eastern themed meats like mutton, lamb keema, merguez lamb sausage, and chicken tikka masala, and Western ingredients including fontina, wild mushrooms, roasted pineapple, smoked gouda, duck confit, and candied orange peel parmesan to create an entire new class of cuisine. And don’t even get me started on the desert pizzas. Just do yourself a favor and order everything you can as often as you can at Kiran’s.

Chef Kiran Verma and Ruchi Mukherjee