大象APP

They鈥檙e portable and easy to eat with one hand on the wheel.

But let鈥檚 be honest: pizzas, burgers and burritos are boring.

Sometimes, we just want a little culinary innovation. We want to bite into something bursting with spice combinations that hit just right on our tastebuds and kick our midday mojo into overdrive.

We want portable, hand-held exotic like the Indian empanadas at Bombol茅, Jackie Sharma鈥檚 6-year-old Indian-Latin fusion restaurant at 100 N. Stone Ave.

Think empanada, the classic Mexican pastry filled with pumpkin, pineapple, apple and other sweet fillings, only instead of sweet and sticky, imagine them oozing with pork slow-simmered in a curry sauce kissed with fragrant Indian spices, or savory spiced potato and green peas.

Sharma married the Latin empanadas of her Honduran heritage with the spices and flavors of her husband鈥檚 Indian heritage when she opened Bombol茅 in 2018.

She uses puff pastry dough for the empanadas that are baked golden brown so that they are crispy without being greasy. The fillings are drawn from her mother-in-law鈥檚 recipes, which Sharma also serves as traditional Indian plates, including chicken tikka and a chipotle-kissed chicken masala. Indian spices are ever-present, from front-facing in the spinach and mushroom empanada to only hinted at in the chicken empanada that Sharma said is one of the restaurant鈥檚 most popular varieties.

Sharma might not be reinventing the empanada wheel with her savory varieties; we can think of several 大象APPpurveyors who have made a living on the meal-worthy end of the empanada market. But she is turning the concept on its head.

Most savory empanada makers stick to Mexican fillings, like chorizo or chile-spiced beef or chicken. Her empanadas take classic Indian dishes and make them walkable, like the ubiquitous samosa aloo matar, the savory Indian spiced potato and green peas comfort food, and matar paneer, peas slow cooked in a spicy tomato sauce with Indian paneer cheese. Indian restaurants serve those dishes with a side of naan; she delivers them in a golden, flaky pillow.

鈥淵ou can just grab it and go,鈥� Sharma said of her meal-worthy empanadas that sell for $6 apiece. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to sit down to eat it.鈥�

Empanadas come with dipping sauces, including mint chutney, tikka masala and cilantro.

Bombol茅 also offers the version of the pastry that many in 大象APPknow best, the sweet dessert empanada. But even here, Bombol茅 twists and turns the concept with its decadently sweet and savory guava and cream cheese. This is one you won鈥檛 want to share.

Bombol茅 is open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday-Thursday, until 8 p.m. Friday and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. Learn more at .