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
Try some Chicken Tikka Masala, and some naan bread. Its safe, not too spicy, and very tasty. If you like super hot stuff, try any of the Vindaloo dishes..
I love indian food myself.. I have to drive an hour into Vegas for it but its worth it :)
i love indian food...dont listen to the posters calling it crap and telling u to get a cheesburger..their closed minds give conservatives a bad name....
Rogan Josh is our favorite, served with the puffy puri flat bread and creamy cucumber riata as a condiment. Delish.
Make sanitary and freshness your priority.
As the others said, Tandoori is quite good. You can get it with chicken, or shrimp, or lamb. Also, Channa Masla or Mattar Paneer are both good. Try to get a buffet, so you can sample a little of each dish and find out what you would like. Also, don’t be afraid to ask the staff for suggestions.
By and large, most Indian buffets I have eaten have had the same basic offerings that I sample:
tandori chicken (similar to a smoked or barbecued chicken, red in color, not too spicy).
chicken masala (cubed chicken in a brown gravy). Can be put over rice.
Often the rice is lightly spiced/seasoned with powders and maybe some leaves.
There is some spinach dish with cheese cubes in it. I don’t eat the cubes although I suspect that the spinach has a bit of a cheese sauce to it.
Sometimes I find a lamb/goat dish also in a brown gravy (different from the chicken masala).
Sometimes there are some vegetable dishes (with beans of different types). I’ve also seen pan seared vegetables (sometimes also served with chicken).
And there is nan bread and usually a rice pudding (that can help clean the palette).
However, I have been to another Indian buffet that must reflect another region. I almost didn’t recognize the names or taste of any of the dishes. They had nan but they also had 4 other types of bread (including one that was more like a soft turnover with sweet potato or something inside).
This was an all vegetarian buffet. There was a soup that tasted like a beef stew (and it had potatoes in it) but there was no meat (or tofu). It was really unusual and some of the tastes were so unfamiliar that I couldn’t describe them or even conclude if I liked them or not (they didn’t make me pale or reject the foods, they were just odd). I did find enough to eat.
I know western Europeans who won't touch Greek because it's short on pasta, or German because ... I guess because their anticedents weren't German.
With the exception of one Indian restaurant I visited (very briefly) in London, the staff will likely steer you to the gringo friendly specialties and heat ranges. When you have those under control they'll help you branch out.
PS: Sometimes a hole in the wall with long standing or family staff is your best friend.
I’ve grown to love Indian food, since my brother married into an Indian family. I hope you’re not on a low-fat diet! Mango lassi is delicious. Helps cut the heat of the spicy food. Kind of like a mango milkshake, but made with yogurt. Most of the food is made with chickpeas, lentils, potatoes, peas, etc., if it’s vegetarian. Anything with paneer is good. Naan is wonderful. I buy the Trader Joe’s frozen naan, and use it for pizza crust. For dessert, Indians usually have some sort of paneer floating in a milky, sweet liquid with slivered pistachios or almonds. Usually flavored with rose water. Another classic is gulab jamon...paneer balls that are fried and soaked in syrup. They usually have some pretty interesting flavors of ice cream too. Sometimes, they make some no-bake sweets out of milk powder, ghee(clarified butter), sugar, ground nuts, coconut and sweet spices. These usually are cut into shapes or have various bright colors.
I’ve traveled all over the world with my pilot husband. My favorite restaurant is an Indian one in New Zealand. We’d never had Indian before. We were in that place about once a week and became the novelty of a delivery customer. “Do you deliver?” “Ummm, yeah, ok.” We loved all of it, and our preschool daughter loved the mango lassi and the naan with nuts, honey, butter and spices. I’ve got an Indian restaurant practically across the street here in Las Vegas, run by Indians. Meh. Hard to know where to start to tell you what to try, but easy to say- stay away from the Vindaloo because it’s not for light weights, and a lager is definitely required. It’s the only thing that will kill a Vindaloo! (Had to get the Red Dwarf reference in.) A tikka is usually a good place to start. Gobi Aloo and Paneer are also amazingly good usually, considering their the main ingredients are things I’d normally pass on. I hope your restaurant is a good one.
It’s a buffet. Try it all and note what each item is, and which you like.
Murg Saag is probably the best thing you’ll ever eat.
Rassam Soup
Have the paratha bread (sp?), it’s like a fluffy pita and totally delicious.
Oh my gosh, we used to get the best Indian food in NYC down on like 6th street and second avenue.
There was one place we went to, no matter how many people we had and how much or little we’d order, we’d always have food for one more person.
I love indian food, but I haven’t had it for years because hubby and kid don’t like it.
You’ve inspired me, I’m going to go get me some indian food soonest!
Find an Indian restaurant with a buffet and be brave and try some of the dishes. For buffets most Indian restaurants cut down on the heat in their dishes, but still retain the flvors. Things to try are Indian flat breads nan and roti, Tandoori chicken, vegetarian curries, Chicken Korma, Butter Chicken and save room for sweet rice pudding for desert.
Nan is a flat bread....look if you are going to a buffet that isn’t always the best example of Indian food. But if that is what you are going to do there will be names above the food and the staff is always more than happy to answer questions.
I love tandoori cooked food lamb or chicken....the high temp of the clay imparts and interesting taste. Chutney is usually a cooling bit on the die with various fruits that are preserved in almost a marmalade technique.
Curry is a blend of spices not a specific spice and will vary depending on the chefs quirks.
The one thing I know for certain....Indian food can be terrifically great but the heat level can be overwhelming. Since it is a buffet it will be Americanized so it should be somewhat milder.
the cucumber and dill salad is always great to cool with. I also like tikka style food. There are any number of variations on chick peas (garbonzo beans) and other lentil dishes. Potatoes dominate in some areas.
Taste every thing. Be sure and order some chai
Get some good red curry.
You’ll feel good all day.
Curry is akin to Salsa. They range from absolutely mild to “wipe your butt with an ice-cream cone” hot. I loved German currywurst. But, that’s about the only “curry” I’ve ever found that I liked.
I’ve given Indian food several tries over the years, each time thinking that *surely* I’ve been unlucky with the restaurants I chose and just never had “good” indian cuisine... If you like pureed mush with scattered solid bits of meat/cheese/veggies usually prepared *way* over-spicy (though some are a bit milder), then give it a try and satisfy your curiosity. You just might find something to enjoy. In my experience, the heat is added just to set you on fire. In my recollection, I can’t detect that the heat adds or accentuates the flavor. Perhaps my palate is not sophisticated enough...
Different folks like different things — but I can honestly say that the folks I know who actually “enjoy” indian food are darned few. On the contrary, I know a whole bunch more who avoid it like the plague.
Good luck with it!!
I make my own curry powder without salt. You can find recipes on the web.
Here’s something I wrote for friends:
Stir Fry or Curry Recipe Guidelines
1. Rice made in rice cooker
a. I use white or brown rice. With brown, I soak it for a couple of hours first because I keep it in the freezer to prevent the oils from going rancid.
b. With white rice I use 2 measures of water (better to substitute chicken broth!) for one measure of rice plus a bit extra to keep the rice moist. Also I add stuff that absorbs some of the water.
c. At the beginning I add a couple tablespoons of olive oil to keep the rice from sticking. I add curry, some cayenne pepper, garlic powder, dried onions, parsley, and sometimes some Indian spices like Nigella or Fennel Seeds or Black Mustard. Adding a different spice each time makes every pot of rice unique.
d. A good rice cooker from Hong Kong Market is worth every penny. You will save so much money on eating out that it pays for itself quickly.
2. Stir fry or curry.
a. I start with olive oil, sometimes peanut oil, coconut oil, but ALWAYS add toasted sesame oil. That sesame oil really adds flavor. Use just enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet. Remember that it’s healthy to eat a LOT of olive oil.
b. I always start off frying my chopped onions, chopped fresh garlic, chopped ginger root, and peppers first. I scrape the seeds out of the peppers with a spoon after splitting them. I have used serranos and jalapenos, both red and green. Frying them reduces the fire while retaining the taste.
c. I add carbohydrates that take a while to cook after a couple of minutes. I have used thin sliced potatoes and sweet potatoes, but only in curry. If I want it to taste Chinese, I don’t use potatoes. Frying the potatoes takes 15 minutes or so while you are preparing other veggies.
d. One of the secrets is to add vegetables and meat in the right order. The things that take the longest to cook are added first. Vegetables should be cooked but with a slight crunch. Better to under-cook than overcook.
e. I try to add as many different types of vegetables as possible with as many colors as possible. My primary goal is healthy food.
f. When you stop frying and start steaming add either water or chicken broth enough to generate a lot of steam. I keep the lid on the skillet.
g. Vegetables that I use include squash (any kind), red cabbage (a favorite), green cabbage, broccoli, carrots, poblano peppers, caribe peppers, bell peppers (all colors), green beans, soybean sprouts, green onions, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts. Have used tomatoes and cilantro to make it into “Mexican Stir Fry”. I know that there have been others.
Often, I use whatever I picked up “On Sale” at Sellers Brothers. Some people add fruit to curries, but I have not tried this.
h. When the veggies are almost finished, I add spices. I have used soy sauce, rice vinegar (every time), stir fry sauce, Hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, teriyaki sauce, wasabi powder, lemon grass, curry, cayenne pepper, Chinese 5 Spice, and many others.
Go to Hong Kong Market on Scarsdale and the Raj Grocer on Highway 3. Cruise the aisles and try a few new things. I usually buy the more expensive brands because I don’t use much and the quality is better. I try to balance the spices. For example, if there are bitter veggies like cabbage, I add a sweet sauce like Hoisin to balance the flavors.
Try individual spices on plain rice and decide if you like that flavor. I think the best food has a little bit of many different spices in it. By changing each time you learn what you like best. For instance, I have learned that I like just a hint of lemongrass, not a lot.
i. If meat required cooking, I added it at the appropriate time. I almost always marinate meat in rice vinegar, spices, some oil (especially sesame), and soy sauce or other flavored sauce. Half inch or smaller cubes of meat cook thoroughly in less than five minutes.
Now, I have learned to make tofu taste great. I dice it into quarter inch cubes and marinate it a couple of days in sesame oil, spices, etc. I stir fry it separately from the veggies. It’s pure protein, no bad fats, and Seller’s Brothers has it on sale for $.79/lb. regularly. At that price, I wanted to learn how to make it tasty as well as healthy.
Pre-cooked shrimp I add near the end to prevent overcooking and toughening them.
j. Last step. I add one half to one cup of water or chicken broth. Then I stir in some corn starch quickly and mix all of the veggies into it. A final simmer thickens the sauce.
k. Makes great leftovers. Can freeze if you make mass quantities.
l. My next culinary adventure is to mix up my own curry powder. I bought a bunch of individual bags of spices from Raj and pulled recipes off the internet. Mine will have no salt.
Hi All,
Just a note...
I’ve had to postpone my visit to an Indian buffet until next weekend. Thanks again to everyone for such terrific advice!
Mark