I finally got my wife to try Indian food a few weeks ago and there were a couple of things she liked. This weekend she craved it and we ate it for 3 different meals. So now I want to find a few easy recipes and/or mixes/packaged foods that are worth trying.

FWIW, she liked the lamb palak the most. I'd like a nice Chicken Tika marinade and a good curry recipe.

Any suggestions? I might try a few of the packages at Trader Joe's.

 

:poop:

 

^^ Thanks for that, but it usually comes after the mean.

Does this mean that no one knows how to cook Indian food or that no one ever goes into this forum since Cali left?

 

Yes...

 

You can try the local Indian grocery store. They generally have ready-made curry mixes available in packets now.

You just need to buy the meat and any other ingredient it lists on the packet to add...

Good Luck

 

probably gonna need to put some curry in it.


thats all i got.

 

I think the main issue I'm going to have is buying all kinds of various spices that I would only use for Indian food - like cumin, corriander, etc.

I was naive enough to go into Cost Plus and buy some different spice mixes there. Then we went to an "Indian area" and walked into the grocery store. Shouldn't have bothered with Cost Plus.

Brilliant!!

 

check out 99 ranch markets. they usually have prepackaged curry and other pre mix stuff there.

 

moe: The fiancee and I don't mind the occasional Indian food either. It can be fast if you're lazy about it too. Not sure if they sell it in the US, but when we want to shortcut it, we usually use pre-made sauces made by Patak's.

Throw in some white fish or meat...some veggies. Naan bread in the oven. And voila...dinner in about 20 minutes.

 

m733l - thanks, will check them out. There are a few around work and a couple not too far from home. But I thought they were more geared towards the non-Indian Asians

Yumchah - I'll look for those. So far, the only thing we've made at home was chick-peas (garbanzo beans) in a spinach sauce. Oh the power of free samples at the stores. That's probably what encouraged my wife to try the Indian restaurants.

 

moeronn, being Indian, I find that most pre-made curries are disgusting. Too much oil, too much salt, too many preservatives. I'm a vegetarian so I've never had pre-made (or any) meat dishes, but often the base is the same. You can't beat home cooking.

 

Well, unless you plan on giving me some cooking classes, I don't really have too many options. I agree that the pre-packaged stuff is not as good taste wise or for you as home-made, but it will do in a pinch.

I might try and pick up a cookbook, but it will probably just sit on the shelf like the 10 other's that I've only paged through.

 

i'm indian, love to eat the food, but can't cook. sorry i'm no help to you here

 

Might want to check out some on-line videos on Youtube or other better sites.

http://youtube.com/results?search_qu...d&search_type=

 

yea they are mainly chinese, but they have small variety of other asian cultures. what part of so cal are you in? My friend knows a great indian store somewhere. i can find out for you.

 

Williams Sonoma has a great Tikka Masala sauce in a jar. When the wife and I are craving Indian and don't want to work too hard that is what we go for. I couldn't find it on their website, but I have seen it in every store I've been to.

Otherwise, Jamie Oliver has a great Chicken Tikka Masala recipe in The Naked Chef (I think) that is really yummy, but it's not an authentic dish. It's not terribly difficult to make either.

 

Dunno if you can find it in SoCal but there's a brand called "Pataks" that is in all the major grocery chains up here and they make a whole line of curry pastes (Vindaloo, Korma, Tikka,
Masala, Madras, Biryani, Tandoori and on and on)

http://www.pataks.com/

The jars of curry paste do all the "hard" work of Indian cooking for you. A typical recipe will
tell you to cut up and brown your meat of choice, saute an onion and some garlic and ginger, then stir in a spoonful of Pataks curry paste "X" and 2 spoons of Pataks curry paste "Y", stir in yogurt and a tin of tomatos - simmer and serve over rice.

Foolproof Indian cooking for white folks. There is a large Indian community here and Indian restaurants are everywhere - I know what good Indian food tastes like. While dishes made
using Pataks curry pastes may not be perfectly authentic, they pretty much always taste
really good. I've had some Indian friends taste-test my Matter Paneer (peas and squeaky cheese in a creamy curry) and as much as they scoff at me for buying pre-made curry paste
even they admitted it was "very tasty".

 

check out India Sweets and Spices in los feliz/burbank.

 

Where is Jatt when you need him...

Anyways, I usually buy the premade stuff at Trader Joes. Some of it is good and tastes dead on. The other option as others have suggested is get premade marinades and curries at local indian store.

<--- Indian

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=m2Qx37ZfDWc

 

That's like asking "Where's a three inch splinter in your ass when you need one?"

Alright, I'm going to look the the Trader Joe's selection again and also look through some of the Indian markets.

She seems "Good to Go," too.


We also just went to an Indian/Pakistani restaurant for dinner on Sunday. We peeked in a couple of weeks ago before deciding on another place for lunch but decided to give it a try. Food was good, but a bit spicy for the wife. Both times we went in we were the only non-Indian/non-Pakistani people there, so it must be pretty authentic.

The place we went for lunch buffet a couple of weeks ago had a very diverse crowd.

 

I tried making a Chicken Curry dish last night and it came out meh.

I think one problem was that I was trying to apply one recipe to another application - trying to make a stew-type dish with a dry recipe. I sauted some onions and garlic (no ginger) then added curry pouder and chicken. After browning the chicken. If I just added salt and stopped there it might have been fine for a dry recipe. Instead, I added tomato sauce (instead of diced tomatoes) and water. It lacked salt, but even after adding that the taste was very plain.

Any ideas what I'm missing? Does the ginger really make that much of a difference?

PS The Trader Joe's Naan if pretty tastey.

PPS I got really weird, almost dirty looks from everyone when I went shopping in the Indian Markets. Even worse looks when I started talking about adding meat to the dishes when asking questions.

 

I either eat out for Indian....or Trader Joe's is pretty good for quick and easy at home.

 

i love take out indian food

 

on a side note...have you tried chicken pakoras? they are amazing! ( i'm 99% sure they're indian)

 

FWIW, I looked into some mix packets and most of them still have you add so many ingredients that I can't imagine what is even in the packets.

Also, I am not a fan of paneer and am scared to even try ghee (sp?)
No. What are they?

 

Ghee is just butter with some fat skimmed off (so it's healthier than butter). I think in English it is called clarified butter.

 

good luck

1) curry powder sold in stores is not used in any curry in indian food
-- its actually a combo of actual spices
2) the chicken tikka mixes (powder) are good. just add the ingredients it tells you to -- chopped garlic, ginger, lemon juice, oil, yogurt. let it marinade for a while and throw them in the rotisserie, grill them, or bake them (elevated on soaked wooden dowels, if possible).

the lamb palak is meh. never liked it, never tried to make it.

 

Even the curry purchased from an Indian food store?

 

Try this website, it has a bunch of pretty simple and tasty recipes.

http://cookingwithbj.com/bjcooking/index.php

And yes, I realize the name is quite unfortunate

 

teh wackest

 

madras curry ftw

 

See if your local store carries any Jyoti products

http://www.jyotifoods.com/

My aunt's company

 

My gf loves Indian food. She picks up a bunch of pre made sauces in boxes and jars from Jewel and just adds her own things such as coconut milk, peas and carrots, or peas and sometimes lamb meat from the meat dept.

 

Indian?

The one with a dot or the one with a feather?

 

How do these recipes work w.o the yogurt?

I am Lactard, hear me fart.

 

There are plenty of dishes without yogurt. But then the ghee might also get you.

And it's pretty much a given that the pleasure of Indian food is only temporary.

 

Pssshhh...I think i have some form of lactose intolerance or something. certain things affect my stomach like no other. But I've never gotten officially checked. I just eat whatever and pay consequences later

So what I'm saying is EAT MOTHERFUCKER EAT!!!

or pop some lactaid pills...I should try those actually.

 

The pills work. Usually. Problem is, I never know when 'usually' isn't going to apply until about four hours later....

Then...

 

Only certain things tend to trigger me...mainly super rich foods...and I never know what...but a bowl of cereal with cold milk...im fine, ice cream, good to go, cheese, never better.

Heavy cream sauces...hit or miss.