When we think of lunchtime “grab and go,” pizza, burgers and burritos come to mind.
They’re portable and easy to eat with one hand on the wheel.
But let’s 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 Bombolé, Jackie Sharma’s 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’s Indian heritage when she opened Bombolé 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’s 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’s most popular varieties.
Bombolé opened its doors downtown in 2018 at 100 N. Stone Ave.
Sharma might not be reinventing the empanada wheel with her savory varieties; we can think of several Tucson purveyors 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.
“You can just grab it and go,” Sharma said of her meal-worthy empanadas that sell for $6 apiece. “You don’t have to sit down to eat it.”
Empanadas come with dipping sauces, including mint chutney, tikka masala and cilantro.
Bombolé also offers the version of the pastry that many in Tucson know best, the sweet dessert empanada. But even here, Bombolé twists and turns the concept with its decadently sweet and savory guava and cream cheese. This is one you won’t want to share.
Bombolé 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 eatbombole.com.
