Part of our new Visiting the Witch City series, in our Where to Eat in Salem posts, I will be sharing some of our favorite restaurants, and visiting new ones to tell you all about it!

This week, Cathy and I visited one of my longtime favorite restaurants in Salem, Passage to India. Affectionally called “Passage,” this family-owned authentic Indian restaurant is right in the heart of downtown - in fact they’re right across the street from our friends at Hauswitch on Washington Street! Downtown Salem is very pedestrian-friendly, so it’s super easy to get to this restaurant

The menu has something for everyone. There are extensive vegetarian and gluten-free options, and they’re all delicious! There are also several vegan options.

We started with paneer pakora, which I always order when I visit Indian restaurants - so far, Passage has my favorite. They are made with stuffed homemade cottage cheese slices, and fried in chickpea batter.

For the main course, we shared chicken tikka masala (always a favorite), and matter paneer. Matter paneer is a classic northern Indian dish made with homemade cottage cheese pieces cooked with peas and spices. Note: when I say spices, I mean flavor not pepper! This is not a spicy “hot” dish.