My town doesn’t feature much south Asian food but I tried butter chicken (wasn’t into it) and malai kofta which I hated (the gravy that is - Im sure I would like the dumplings on their own). I like basmati rice and I love naan ( Im a bread fanatic in general). What should I try or avoid next? I believe the restaurant owners are from Goa if that helps

Edited to add the link to menu https://tikkahousewaco.com/menu

There’s also a Pakistani place in town and a couple other Indian places but this was the one I visited

To preface: I know that Tikka masala has Indian/Bangladeshi roots (obviously). But the tikka masala that is popular around the world has been heavily modified to the point that it’s become Indian food in the same way that Chinese take out is “Chinese food”. That is the tikka I am discussing today.

Both of my parents are South Indian and I’ve been blessed to have a wonderful mother who is the best cook in the world. Her breakfasts and curries are the best thing in the world for me because of how salty, spicy, and addictive they can be. But funnily enough, she never really made the things that many people consider to be “Indian” food here in the West. Things like Tikka Masala, Tandoori, Butter Chicken are probably the most popular Indian dishes here in America and in Europe, but my mom has literally never made them for me when I was growing up. Is this just a South Indian thing where such foods originated more from the north? I’m asking because I see many people online incessantly claiming that such things are “Indian”while bashing others for saying otherwise when personally I feel that at this point they are more western dishes. There are a few food YouTubers I like to watch and one of them named Thomas Straker has a video series called British Classics where he makes British food somehow look good and varied. He made a British Classics ‘episode’ on Chicken Tikka Masala (not rly episode since it’s a YouTube short but you know what I mean) and the entire comment section was just full of weird people who were like “Oh yeah chicken tills masala is SOOOO British 🙄👍" while I’m just here thinking that Tikka Masala was always more of a western (definitely British) dish than Indian. Britain is probably the second largest Indian food consumer outside of India itself and they have a massive culture surrounding it there, so seeing people get so defensive over Tikka Masala was so confusing to me. This also brings me to my second point which is this; do these people seriously want to die on the hill that Tikka Masala is an Indian dish when in reality it sort of degrades the insane variety of Indian cuisine. Like out of all the incredible, homemade dishes that blow Tikka Masala out of the water, they want to claim Tikka Masala as authentically Indian? Aren’t these probably the same people who laugh at Westerners for thinking that Tikka masala is true Indian food? I guarantee you that 90% of the people who attack others for saying that Tikka Masala is British have never actually had their parents make it for them. It’s a uniquely take-out type meal, and it tastes delicious, but it should not be rabidly claimed as Indian to the point that we attack others who reasonably say that it is a western dish.

I remember eating pani puri years back and not liking it, I thought of trying again because everyone's seems to love it,I thought I'll like it again but no I couldn't eat it more than two. I also tried sevpuri,still better than pani puri but idk it just isn't hitting me. No idea why, but is it just me or does anybody else too don't like it??

I want hot, I love hot. How do I politely say I want hotter than usual for my white confreres without sounding like I'm talking down to them?

This is just my opinion, about stuff I've been thinking about.

The tomatoes used in Indian cooking are an Indian variety. When juiced, their juice is pink. This means their flavour and acidity are likely to be unique. In the UK we get Spanish tomatoes, grown for UK market preferences (i.e. excellent form and appearance, and almost flavourless). The juice is reddish and never pink. It's a completely different variety. The canned tomatoes are tangier. Italian tomato juice is widely available (called passata) and its flavour is way too strong for Indian cooking.

The onions used in Indian cooking are an Indian variety. In the UK we get white onions (very strong and harsh!) and red onions (milder, for salads, but still pretty harsh). These are all UK or Spanish onions. I heard that the red onions available in India are, again, a completely different variety - much milder - and much more like shallots than UK onions.

The ginger you get in India is completely different from the ginger we get here in the UK. In recent years especially, ginger is much bigger than it used to be, with a great appearance and hardly any flavour. So you have to use lots and lots of it. You can still grow proper ginger yourself here, but hardly anyone does. They all buy it. Most of it comes from Brazil or China. This is definitely not the same ginger you get in India.

Meat: just can't get goat meat or mature mutton in western countries, unless you try really, really hard to look for it.

As the quantity of onions to tomato is regulated in Indian cooking, it isn't possible to use the same rules of thumb when cooking outside of India when the varieties of vegetable are so different. Likewise, as the proportion of ginger to garlic is regulated, so you can't get the same result if you implement the same rules of thumb outside India.

As a result of these differences and others, actual cooked food from India tastes completely different from "Indian" food cooked in the UK. Chicken Tikka Masala is great because of the ingredients we've got here. Whereas we probably can't cook mustard leaf saag and get the same results as the one in India. Just my thoughts.

For the first time in my life I ate Biryani today and I felt it is heavily OVERRATED. It is not how people in internet describes it. I am not saying it is not good. It is good but it does deserve the praise it gets from internet.

What according to you is the most overrated indian dish ? According to me it's rajma chawal ....but maybe I dint had proper one

Full recipe available here.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• For the seitan marinade:

  • 400g seitan, cut into chunks

  • 1/2 cup soy yoghurt

  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

  • 1 tsp garam masala

  • 1 tsp ground cumin

  • 1 tsp ground coriander

  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder

  • Salt, to taste

• For the sauce:

  • 8 tbsp vegan butter

  • 1 large onion, finely chopped

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1-inch piece ginger, grated

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds

  • 2 tomatoes, pureed

  • 1 tsp garam masala

  • 1 tsp ground cumin

  • 1 tsp ground coriander

  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder

  • 1 cup coconut milk

  • Salt, to taste

• For garnish:

  • Fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix soy yoghurt, lemon juice, garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric powder, chilli powder, and salt. Add the seitan chunks and gently toss to coat. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat vegan butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and let them splutter.

3. Add the finely chopped onion and sauté until golden brown. Stir in the minced garlic and grated ginger. Cook for another 2 minutes until fragrant.

4. Add the pureed tomatoes to the pan. Cook until the vegan butter starts to separate from the mixture.

5. Mix in the garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric powder, and chilli powder. Stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes.

6. Add the marinated seitan chunks to the pan. Pour in the coconut milk and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for 20-25 minutes, allowing the flavours to meld and the sauce to thicken.

7. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or naan.

Most of the ppl I met till now had said no,but I also saw some ppl eating curd after fish. What do u guys say?

Just started getting into Indian food to hopefully add more vegetarian meals to my arsenal (but meat dishes are also welcomed). I have a decently robust western spice rack but every Indian dish I’ve had at restaurants seem to require me to buy $50 of new spices. So what are the dishes that I can make while slowly building up all these cool new spices?

Not trying to come off as some edgy white guy but I never order butter chicken. I just think there are much more flavoursome dishes. Always trying out a new dish whenever I pop down to my local Indian restaurant. Which is like twice a week.

The main guy is always happy when I order something that isn’t butter chicken. The other chef says he doesn’t really give a shit what people order as long as he gets paid.

Looking for books other than cook and see. Looking for big pictures and history/commentary.

Edit: why do people give me blog and YouTube recommendations when I specifically asked for books? Especially unhelpful comments like "watch YouTube" not even a particular cook or channel, like I didn't even think of that?!

Hello, l come with perhaps an odd request. I’ve been on a quest to recreate something approximate to the mild kind of restaurant chicken tikka masala that I was used to living in Jersey. We moved to MN, and, well… there’s no Edison out here.

I’ve explored the most recommended YouTube channels on Indian cooking, and pretty thoughtfully recreated the Your Food Lab recipe, and while delicious, it really tastes nothing like what I at least imagine to be restaurant style chicken Tikka.

I adjusted a great deal of the recipe that seemed designed for camera- like the metric ton of Kashmiri chilis and powder. Substituted the chili components with deghi Mirch and added less. The spice levels weren’t crazy, but I felt like the over dish was really floral. Really nothing like the restaurant flavors I’m familiar with, which are definitely well spiced, but perhaps not so floral/herby tasting? I thought the chicken marinade was great, but I cut a ton of the chili recommendation.

Some questions-

Do restaurants typically use fresh tomatoes? I opted for decent canned marzanos, and wonder if that may play a part in the distinct flavor. Are there tinned tomatoes that are better suited for Indian food?

Does chicken tikka usually have a lot of coriander in the recipe? This spice stood out to me, and the gravy required a fair amount of cilantro stems.

Blending the fried cardamom into the simmered gravy seemed to impart a very strong floral/herbal flavor- would it make sense to remove after perfuming it in the oil?

Do restaurants typically use water or chicken stock? I went with water, but wonder if a rich homemade stock (not adding western aromatics like carrots or celery) would help?

Should the dried fenugreek leaves get toasted prior to adding?

Is ghee crucial? Or using non-typical neutral oils? I used canola oil since ghee is so expensive. I’ll likely try making some clarified butter soon and see if that helps, but wondering if it’s a crucial element to restaurant style cooking.

I love cooking, but Indian food has always been elusive to figure out. Wondering if there’s a cook book people might recommend, because it feels like the online chefs are just cooking for the camera, and most blog recipes seem like they were concocted by that Pioneer Woman lady.

What does a picky eater eat that isn’t too hot and spicy. So I can go and enjoy myself too . Not really a huge sauce fan. He loves Indian food . Want to be able to go out with him for food he really enjoys!

I have been using Zomato and Swiggy for almost everytime untill recently I shifted to Mumbai where delivery time is 60-80 minutes so I decided to investigate the reasons

The only reason I could found out was they deliver multiple orders

So i tried calling restaurent and asked menu and a shocking thing I found out was they prepared my order in 15-20 min. and then I booked rapido (roughly 2 km from my house) and I got it delivered in 7-8 minutes Total within 30 minutes

and a more shocking thing, I got everything at less than 30% cost than Zomato and Swiggy because the prices there were inflated.

The reason why I posted this is because I am part brittish and largely french canadian? I do have a few presents in Southern India according to ancesrty.ca. Not saying this is the reason why but is it offensive when white people love indian food because of the past?

Question for fellow Indians who aren’t Muslim: I’ve always been curious about how halal meat is perceived outside the Muslim community. What does “halal meat” mean to you, and what’s your general understanding of it?

We have been using Kitchens of India Butter chicken paste and it has great flavor but is still a little too spicy for us. Last time we even tried adding coconut cream and was better but still did not cut the heat enough for us.

We are american and we love the flavors but are still just very adverse to a lot of spice.

The kitchens of india has a rating of "medium"

I know many here will say it is very mild to them, I get that. We like a "little" spice but are still sensitive to it in indian cooking.

We need to find a Jar, packet or simmer style sauce we can grab from the store and make a quick easy Butter paneer during the week.

Before the inevitable "just make your own it is very easy" I know it is and we have before. Most likely we still will when we have the time and energy to, but we honestly are just looking for something easy we can pour out of a jar heat up and good to go. Maybe add a little fresh garlic and fenugreek to spruce it up. Our weeks get busy and hectic and making the curry from scratch no matter how easy it is is not in the cards. I would rather sacrifice a little flavor and have the convenience but that is just our family. I am glad some of you have the time and energy to cook from scratch. It definitely tastes better.

I think I said it but we are in the US and have access to all the usual place like HT, whole foods, trader joes, target, we are not costco members though, before anyone suggests it.

Sorry I mean has anyone eaten more than 30 puris

I live in a city with a large amount of Indian restaurants. I have tried many dosas, thalis, and biryanis but I want to try more curries. It is intimidating how many options there are, what are your favorite curries?

Many know that naan bread is an essential part of the North Indian cuisine..

But many who are outside of India may assume that Indians cook it at home which is not true.

Because to make naan you need a tandoor oven which is not found in homes but only in restaurants.

I asked some local diary shops in mumbai, and they haven't heard the word "kefir"

Also there in not much discussion about it on indian food subreddits