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#1
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Re: Ethnic food thread
As far as Indian food I will kick it off with some veggie dishes:
Saag Paneer (the best one I've ever had was in NYC at Haveli, 2nd ave between 5th and 6th): Baingan Bartha -Al |
#2
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Re: Ethnic food thread
GR,
Mehfil is my favorite Indian place in SF, mainly because it's my neighborhood place. I'll list a few things that are pretty tasty Indian standards w/ some pictures from Mehfil. Apps: Somosas are fried pastry, generally stuffed w/ potatoes and vegetables, sometimes some meat. Pakora are battered, fried vegetables. Plain cucumber salad is found in a lot of restaurants. Much better is raita, a cucumber/yogurt mixture. Chicken: Chicken Tikka Masala is a sort of Westernized Indian dish, said to have originated either in England or from Brits in India. It's a tender chicken breast w/ delicious creamy tomato sauce with Indian flavors, quite mild. Chicken is often referred to as something like Murgh or Murghi. Murgh Makhni or Butter Chicken is another mild and rich dish. Similar to Chicken Tikka Masala but a butter cream sauce instead of tomato sauce, again with mild Indian spices. These two dishes are pretty much my two favorites, but they are far from standard Indian home-cooking fare. Chicken Tikka or Tandoori chicken is chicken marinated in delicious spices and then baked. It is really delicious, though by itself a little on the dry side. This is generally a little spicier, but not too much. Some restaurants will serve some other stuff tandoori style too. This chicken will often be red or orange due to the spices. Most other chicken dishes will be curry style dishes that have less rich, but spicier sauces, and usually are dark or mixed meat. Chicken Vindaloo is a pretty popular hotter-style curry dish. This sort of dishes are much more typical of actual Indian home-cooking. Lamb curries are also pretty common. These are generally more traditional Indian flavors, a lot of curry and cumin and saffron type flavors. There are always tons of vegetable dishes. Potatoes (Aloo), Cauliflower (Gohbi, Cobi), Eggplant (Benghan, Bengana), Peas (Mattar), Spinach (Saag), and Tofu-like Cottage Cheese (Paneer) are standard components. Saag Paneer and Mattar Paneer are among my favorites. Biryani is sort of the Indian version of Spanish paella or Asian fried rice. Basically rice w/ a bunch of stuff in it. Sides Rice, Dal (which is like lentil soup), and Naan (baked flatbread, sorta like pitas) are standard sides. I'm not a fan of Dal, don't like the taste at all. They'll often have flavored varieties of naan like garlic naan or stuffed naans. I find most all varieties of naan delicious. That's a pretty good start to your Indian food ordering. |
#3
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Re: Ethnic food thread
I used to eat Dal every day at lunch, but after about a month of that I can't touch it anymore.
Garlic Naan is perhaps my favorite thing about Indian food. |
#4
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Re: Ethnic food thread
so funny, i actually had a craving for indian food today around noon and was very close to posting basically this thread. good work guys.
love that chicken tikka masala |
#5
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Re: Ethnic food thread
kid & El Diablo - You two are making me jones for some garlic naan. I feel like I'm about to get the shakes.
One of my favorite Indian secrets is an Indian bakery called Hot Breads, which doesn't have very many locations in the U.S., but does have 22 in India. Every time I have ever went into my local Hot Breads, I and the guests I have brought have always been the only non-Indians in the place. That should be a tip off right there that you need to be clicking the link above. They specialize in breads stuffed with Indian goodness, including buns and croissants. I highly recommend the minced goat/lamb stuffed croissant, as well as the saag aloo bun. The chicken tikka croissant is also amazing. Even better is that this place is dirt cheap. The croissants and buns are in the $2-$3 range, and when you look at one, you will be wondering why they aren't charging twice the amount, as people would have no problem forking over that for these delicious delights. They also have massive (think 16oz or so) premade lassis (mango, rose, and more) for some crazy low price like $3. Get thee to your nearest Hot Breads, my 2+2 friends. |
#6
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Re: Ethnic food thread
chop,
Gratuitous delicious naan pic: |
#7
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Re: Ethnic food thread
[ QUOTE ]
chop, Gratuitous delicious naan pic: [/ QUOTE ] That naan looks awesome. I always eat like 4 things of naan . Part of the reason I can only eat so much at an Indian buffet. |
#8
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Re: Ethnic food thread
El Diablo -
I will see your garlic naan, and raise you a garlic naan from a little get together I had at my place not too long ago: What you see (will get bigger if you click it - thumbnailed because I assume we don't want horizontal scrolling in this forum) includes rogan josh, mole, an Indian potato "pierogie", two different chutneys, and a french crostini with sun-dried tomato spread. Oh, and some chicken with toothpicks stuck in them. But really, it's all about the garlic naan. I bought about three pounds of freshly made naan for this get together, it was well received. |
#9
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Re: Ethnic food thread
[ QUOTE ]
One of my favorite Indian secrets is an Indian bakery called Hot Breads, which doesn't have very many locations in the U.S., but does have 22 in India. Get thee to your nearest Hot Breads, my 2+2 friends. [/ QUOTE ] There's one probably less than a mile from my house. I haven't actually been there since there are so many Indian restauarants in the area, but will give it a try - sounds like good snack food. |
#10
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Re: Ethnic food thread
El D, are you eating at the joint on the corner of 2nd and Folsom? I used to lunch there once/twice a week when I worked a block away.
From the moment I tried Indian food I've been of the mindset of "this is why America was discovered, now it all makes sense." |
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