Every now and then, I like to try something new, and I've decided that I'm going to try going to an Indian buffet tomorrow afternoon for lunch, and I don't have the faintest idea with what to expect or to try.
I know that there are different curries, but I have never had curry. I know that they've got chutneys, but I have never tried a chutney. I don't know Biryani from Tandoori from saag. I don't know what Lassi or Nan is.
I would like to try something different, and I like mild to medium spicy foods... I once made the mistake of trying something "spicy" at a Thai restaurant, and I won't make that mistake again. I hope they've got some "exotic" meats, like lamb and goat. I wonder if they'll have chicken, but I doubt they'll have beef or pork. (Reminds me of a "Big Bang Theory" with Howard's mother speaking to Raj's parents, "How can there not be a single "Outback Steakhouse" in the entire country of India?!?!)
For people in the KC area, I've been through Yelp, and it looks like it will be either at "Korma Sutra", or maybe "Chilli N Spice" in Overland Park.
Any advice on what I should try or avoid would be very much appreciated! And if you have any descriptions of what the different dishes are, I'd be very appreciative. Wikipedia wasn't very helpful.
Thanks!
Mark
All the recommendations were first rate, except the ones suggesting eating hamburgers or fried chicken instead. Don’t overlook the side dishes. Dahl is like pea soup, only tastier. Mixed with rice it’s delicious. Indian food is addictive. When I was working in Waterloo, Ontario, I ate lunch at a place called the Koni Noor (see: Kon-i-noor) just about every day. It was run by a family of Bengalis, (from Bangladesh, not India), wonderful people and wonderful food.
My wife is Indian as I just stated on another thread. I am not a fan of exotic or heavily spiced food but the Indian chicken, naan and rice can be really good. My wife thinks it’s funny that my favorite food is bland mashed potatoes.
My first time at a Thai place I had to have the manager bring me TWO bowls of vanilla ice cream in a vain effort to put out the fire! And I had ordered my food as medium spicy.
I quickly leared to love some of it and some I can do without.
You gotta just hold yer nose and jump in sometimes.
Start cautiously and find a place that has a broad, varied menu that is well loved (meaning the parking lot is always full) and most importantly, well reviewed. Wait staff with good English skills will be very helpful guiding you through the options. An actual clay tandoori oven makes a big difference with the quality of the tandoori chicken, shrimp or what have you. A sampler might be something to inquire about even if it’s not offered on-menu.
The storefront variety of Indian with all the gold and red kitkat hanging about the place usually means too heavy on the yellow curry in my experience. I have yet to encounter a variety of curry that I actually dislike, but too much to the point of heavy on the yellow is a recipe for indigestion, for me. Red curry dishes work very well for me.
Heat as far as spice is a relative thing, what is great for me may be too much for you or vice versa. Thai hot is another planet for even diehard lovers of hot food, it’s hard to describe but the usual ways of quenching the burn just don’t work for Thai hot, for whatever reason. There aren’t too many Indian dishes that you will encounter that are quite so blistering.
If you are in a metro area that has one of the “better” Indian places, nice decor, white tablecloth, wine list, etcetera spring for that to hopefully guarantee all of the above are present in one place. You’ll pay more but it will be less mysterious and less of a gamble. Once you’ve aquired a feel for not just what you like but how it is properly done, you can then venture out into the smaller or less grand places and can find yourself some good Indian food for a good price.
In my local area, an Indian restaurant that I’d consider to be in the “better” category would be Saffron Indian Cuisine, peruse the website to see if this clicks and sounds like something near you:
http://www.saffronindiancuisine.com/tandoori.htm
If you’re going to a buffet, try everything you can.
Indian food is typically savory/spicy goop mixed in with rice and eaten with flat bread (naan). Lots of cream, butter, coconut milk involved in creating the savory goops, which includes curries. As appetizers/sides, there are samosas (potato stuffed pastries, big triangular shapes) and pakora, fried veggies/cheese.
My favorite is saag — that’s spinach goop, and it’ll be the green stuff, think like a spinach dip, except spicier. It can come with any protein, but I like paneer (cheese) saag the best.
If you’re watching your weight, go with tandoori only — that’s the red chicken.
In my experience, buffets tend to be not-very-spicy.
So there you have it, Indian food, at least as served in America, is:
- Fried potatoes inside a pastry
- Fried vegetables/cheese in batter
- Savory sauce with lumps of protein within, to be eaten with rice & bread
- Chicken tandoori
- Very limited selection for dessert, typically lassi
All the savory stuffs are equally likable IMO. Not really that intimidating once you get used to it.
Do an Indian lunch buffet. You can sample everything they have.
Bread may be made from wheat or rice or garbanzo bean flour (or other flours)
India is a land of many people with many different food traditions and restrictions. Everyone in the restaurant business pushing Indo-Pak food is usually knowledgeable in those restrictions and will know precisely what a particular dish is made with. Feel free to ask ~ I've been in top end Indian restaurants and dumps and they've never failed to be polite when it comes to telling me what's in a dish.
Chicken dishes are usually going to be served in a spicy sauce, although chicken masala is usually available stand alone. Use the green sauce as a dip for your bread ~ be careful because some people toke that stuff up like you wouldn't believe. Learn about scovil units too.
Rice will usually be a bismati, or jasmine. This is indicum rice and if you prefer japonica THEY DON"T HAVE IT ~ but they may be serving an American long grain indicum without the funny flavor. Pour on more sauce ~ in a buffet there are probably going to be 5 or 6 sauces. Otherwise you can order 8 to 12 different sauces that'll come in several small bowls.
Make sure your water is served first.
My favorite places serve everything on paper plates so they can be tossed away and no one has to violate anyone's food restrictions ~ in India they tell me the serving would be on a banana leaf. The trick with these places is they simply make more sauces and chutneys than you find in the more Westernized restaurants.
We do this several times a year.
Oh, best bet for newbies at an Indian buffet is a dish made with what seems to be cauliflower with potatoes, covered in a thick cheese and/or cream sauce ~ and moderately spiced. This is mom's home cooking in that part of the world. Sometimes there'll be some peas in the mix ~ and frequently carrots ~ they aren't as foreign as you thought
Personally I like Lamb Korma, it’s not too spicy as in “hot” (although I also like spicy and hot food) and I once had a very tasty goat curry at an Indian buffet, although I would caution that much like many Chinese buffets, Indian buffet restaurants are may not have the same sort of quality as a good sit down restaurant would. Tandoori chicken is also a good dish to try your first time out if you don’t want a dish that is too spicy but I’ve had some very dry Tandoori chicken.
I found this link by Ian Anderson (yes of Jethro Tull) that might be helpful.
http://www.j-tull.com/musicians/iananderson/indian.html
As others have said, tell your server you are new to Indian food and ask for some suggestions telling him or her of your tolerance for hotness, then dive in and enjoy. And please let us know how it went.
BTW, I currently work with a gal who was originally from India and she sometimes brings in home cooked dishes for me to try, mostly vegetarian although she does eat chicken and fish occasionally – very yummy but not what you’d find in most Indian restaurants.
I can’t really top Null and Void’s excellent post, but here’s my two rupees, so to speak:
Pappadum: These are an appetizer, kind of like a deep-fried cracker or crunchy tortilla. In India, they’re made out of all sorts of things, but the ones you’ll see in most Indian restaurants here are made out of lentils or chickpeas.
Samosas: As NaV pointed out, samosas are are very popular. I had a prof in college who used to make one that was stuffed with a mildly spicy mixed of pea and potato. Just delicious.
Gulab Jamun: This is a popular Indian dessert that I, frankly, don’t much care for. You might, though. Basically, it is small fried pastries - kind of like donut holes - soaked in a sweet syrup flavored with rose water. I’ve usually had it served cold, but I think it is also served warm.
Tea: India is the home to some pretty amazing teas, and many Indian restaurants will have a very nice selection of the better ones.
Beyond the above, I’d just say follow the advice of others and ask your waiter about how to navigate the menu in terms of the spiciness level you are comfortable with. Some curries are rich but not hot, others can make you cry for your mama if you’re not a fan of spicy stuff.
Best of luck!
- Chicken Tikka Masala - Chicken in a tart cream sauce. It's delicious.
- Naan - Flatbread. You use it to eat with.
- Samosas - Pastries usually with veggies inside. Pretty mild. Better with some sauce.
- Saag Paneer - Spinach with pieces of cheese. Mild and yummy.
There will also be rice and beans and you should also grab a lentil cake if they have them.
I bet that you'll be going back there again soon if you try the things I mentioned.
Lived in the UK for a number of years and frequented the Indian restaurants from time to time.
I have a pretty sensitive tummy. I LOVED the nan bread (to be torn and dipped in your saucy main course). They are usually baked within a Tandoori oven and are yummy. Usually come to your table like a mattress. LOL! I particularly loved the Pakoras that resemble ‘Munchos’....but less salty.
I stick with Chicken Korma (very mild and creamy with a coconut milk base) and Tikka Masala (which is braised spicy chicken and not hot....sometimes served on skewers with aromatic rice).
Also.....Onion Bhaji is very good.
Thing about Indian food though.....it DOES ‘stick with you the next day’. So be careful.
Also, have a Taj beer with your meal. You will not regret it. I lived near a very good Indian restaurant for years and have had some exceptional meals.
I'll try any Indian place I find - love their food.
For desert order the Gulab jamun. Go ahead and google it and click images! Amazing.
The Indian desserts I’ve had are decadent, unique, and thoroughly addictive. The food in general is the most one-of-a-kind on earth.
Hope you find what you are looking for! Yum!
What about Touch of Asia around 103rd St. Hasn’t it been there forever?
http://touchofasiaindianfood.com/
I love all curries and especilly Indian food. I took my stepson to an Indian restaurant in Buffalo a few years ago. I ordered a lamb curry and the waiter asked if I wanted it hot. I said sure and my stepson said the same. The waiter said, “Do you want it hot or do you want it Indian hot?” I thought to myself,”Woohoo1 there’s a hot hotter than hot!” and said, “Oh, definitely Indian hot”. Waiter disappeared in the back and came out a minute later, “Chef want to make sure you want it Indian hot?”. Reassured he went back to the kitchen and a minute later came back with a small dish with some evil looking peppers in oil, “Chef say this Indian hot, you try and make sure you want”. We each dipped a piece of nan bread in the stuff and ate it then told the waiter, again, make it Indian hot. The curry came and it was delicious. I usually can’t get food hot enough in a restaurant but this was just right. As we ate and obviously enjoyed the curry a crowd gathered on the other side of the low retaining wall of wait and kitchen staff. They really had a hard time believing we were eating and enjoying it.
My point is freshly prepared Indian food is better. If you don’t like the buffet don’t think you just don’t like Indian food. And if you order it hot in an Indian restaurant make darn sure you want it REALLY HOT!
I would try the “Pryanka Chopra” or the “Rani Mukerji” They’re my favorites.
Have you tried Thai food?
Coconut-curry sauces on beef or pork or chicken? mmMMMMmmm
Tom Yum soup
sweet rice with banana covererd with sweetened coconut milk?
I am going to RETIRE to thailand just for the food (and the wwonderful sweet people)
Tandoori chicken, lentil soup with rice, naan bread and don’t miss the samosas with tamarind and mint dipping sauce.
I have a great Tikka Masala recipe if you want it. I like almost everything Indian. Vindaloo, anything from the Tandoor oven, Naan bread, etc.