So, I had never had Indian food…until this weekend! I have been eying the easy Indian food at Trader Joes for a while (does this count as real Indian food?) and so I decided to give it a try. I picked out the traditional roasted vegetables in a spicy red tomato sauce. I also picked up some naan for dipping.
Overall, I was really impressed! I can’t wait to try other kinds. Does anyone have any recommendations? Also, where do I get the whole wheat naan? Is Indian food from a restaurant very different than this? I appreciate your thoughts!!
🙂
I love Indian food and it’s even better at an authentic Indian restaurant. Try going on a Saturday afternoon when most have buffets (since Indian food is new for you this will allow you to try many flavors). I love saag which is a spinach sauce and mimosas are a great appetizer. Also mango lassis (yogurt and mango smoothies) are wonderful. Here’s my favorite at home recipe to make.
http://johnstonesvinblanc.blogspot.com/2009/01/slow-cooker-chicken-makhani-indian.html
I LOVE Indian food! I live just a few blocks from an awesome Indian restaurant (if you’re ever in Cincy, you should definitely try it)! Trader Joe’s is a good start, but of course the restaurant will be better.
Whenever I go, I get lamb curry, naan, and a veggie samosa (a bunch of mashed-up veggies in a fried pastry). But when I’m there during the buffet and can have all the curry I want, one of my favorite other things to get is dal (lentils in sauce). Here’s a pretty great recipe for dal with apples.
Hi Ali! First of all, I’m LOVING this blog. I love to cook and workout and I get so much inspiration from your recipes! Keep it up, girl!
Anyway, my husband and I were living in London for 6 months and there is a huge Indian culture there. I really developed a taste for Indian and especially loved the Chicken Sagwala (chicken and spinich in a really light tomato sauce/broth). I haven’t yet tried to tackle it myself, but Williams Sonoma has some great pre-made sauces. (Also try “Seeds of Change” found in some organic stores!) I usually buy those and add my own veggies and chicken/seafood. I have an Indian friend who does everything from scratch and it seems like a process! I’m not yet there, but hopefully she can give me some pointers!
I have a great recipe for curried naan bread if you’re interested! Let me know and I’ll email it to you!
Keep on posting!
Meg (Honig) Heminger
i adore indian food!
i would reccommend samosas, daal soup (lentils), chicken tika masala, aloo gobi (curried potatoes), baigan bharta (eggplant)…and any other chicken curry. reallly it is ALL GOOD!
I too absolutly LOVE Indian food!!! But sadly… store bought doesn’t even compare to the restaurant experience. And the naan…. well if you liked store bought naan… you’ll flip over the real stuff. My first Indian food was from a restaurant… and a very good one at that, I won’t even go near the processed stuff. I guess that’s snobby… but I can’t help it.
When I had exausted my search for good Indian food in the grocery store I went online and got some recipes. Really what you need is some spices many don’t already have. Cumin, corriander seed, curry, tumeric, greek yogurt, coconut milk and something called Jera… I actually can’t find that anywhere but it’s all come out fine without it. My favorite dish to make is chicken tikka masala. With a little help from google you can learn all about Indian cooking. Good luck!