Indian Masala

A tandoor oven built for volume sits at the centre of Indian Masala's kitchen in Minhang District, close enough to Hongqiao Railway Station and Hongqiao Airport that the restaurant markets itself partly to travellers passing through rather than only to a neighbourhood clientele. The space seats up to a hundred guests, a scale uncommon among Shanghai's smaller, family-run halal kitchens.

Naan comes out hot and crisp from the tandoor, paired with tandoori barbecue preparations and boneless chicken tikka that reviewers describe as a highlight of the menu. The kitchen also runs a full vegetarian and Jain menu alongside its meat dishes, an accommodation that reflects the restaurant's position serving a broad mix of Indian travellers and residents rather than a single dietary tradition. Desserts round out the card with zarda, a sweetened saffron rice dish, alongside kheer and kulfi, giving the restaurant a fuller dessert offering than most of Shanghai's Indian kitchens attempt.

The owners describe the kitchen as buying halal meat and following halal practice as a matter of their own observance, a form of assurance that rests on ownership rather than a documented third party certificate, a distinction worth noting for diners who look specifically for certified kitchens. No independent certifying body has been named in connection with the restaurant.

Minhang's proximity to the National Exhibition and Convention Centre and Hongqiao's transit hub has made the district a stopover point for business travellers and conference visitors, and Indian Masala's scale and tandoor-driven menu have positioned it as a practical option for that transient crowd as much as for Minhang's resident Indian and Pakistani community. The restaurant received a Tripadvisor Excellence recognition in 2019, a marker some reviewers still reference when describing their visits.

The kitchen also runs a mobile tandoor for catering, extending its cooking setup beyond the restaurant's own dining room to events elsewhere in the city, a service reviewers note has become a secondary part of the business alongside regular dine-in service.