Chandler South Indian buffet offers flavor-packed dishes at an affordable price

CHANDLER, AZ (AZFamily)—Focused on flavor, family, and affordability, Sampurna offers a taste of South India in Chandler.

The owners of The Dhaba in Tempe just opened a new buffet-style restaurant in the East Valley. It's a casual spot where families and friends can grab fresh, flavor-packed dishes seven days a week. Everything is made in-house daily.

Sampurna is a family business, just like The Dhaba.

Karanpreet Singh, manager of Sampurna, says, "We started the Dhaba as a family because my father used to work as a chef. Even in India, we had restaurants, and my dad did like truck stops there."

Singh's father loved to cook and convinced the family to help him run their first restaurant, which served north Indian cuisine. They have seen great success with The Dhaba and are now expanding with Sampurna, which serves the flavors of south India.

Singh says there are a few key distinctions between north and south Indian food and that the differences in cultures really influence the cuisine.

"They love to use a lot of oil, you know, ginger, garlic in every single thing. It's really hard to find food without onions or ginger, garlic in North cuisine." Singh says about the northern cuisine.

"In the South, there's one thing different. It's called Curry leaf. Every dish is with Curry leaf from the potato Curry, from the dosas, from every filling you make," Singh says.

South Indian food also includes mustard seeds, which you can taste in the potato stuffing and the vegetable soup called sambar.

There's a common misconception that all Indian food is hot and spicy. While some dishes can be, Sampurna offers recipes full of flavors that won't burn your tongue. Although, you can ask them to add some extra heat if you're looking for it.

The Vindaloo and Chili chicken have a nice kick.

Sampurna's top-selling dish is the dosa.

"Think of like dosa, like a pancake, like Indian crepes with the stuffing inside," Singh says.

The dosa is both soft and crispy, making it a great vessel to dip into sambar and coconut or tomato chutney. Dosas are also unlimited during buffet hours.

In addition to being run by family, Sampurna welcomes families.

The buffet is open from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day, with the idea that adults can head there for lunch or bring their hungry kids for an after-school meal to fill them up. During the week, the buffet runs $16 and bumps the price to $20 on the weekend.

In the evening, Sampurna serves a la carte dishes like biryani, chili chicken, and Singh's favorite: Gobi Manchurian.

"It's nice crispy cauliflower fritter and that's fried in like a chili sauce." Singh says.

Other standouts include the Yellow Dal, made with lentils and Curry leaf, and the creamy Palek Paneer, made with spinach and cottage cheese and cooked with onion, tomato and other spices.

The Butter Chicken is also excellent but made with shredded chicken instead of chunks. It's soft, moist and made with a tomato and butter sauce, so it's a good choice for those less experienced in eating Indian spices.

The restaurant offers both gluten-free and vegan options as well.

Location: Hours: Monday to Sunday, from 11 a.m.- 9:30 p.m.