I've been thinking of what my next posts ought to include.
I can tell you that my West Coast trip is coming up in a week and a half... Las Vegas and San Francisco to be visited within the same week. Plans have already been booked for that week including...
VEGAS FROM MAY 3RD TO 6TH
- Dinner at Emeril's Steakhouse in the MGM Grand (anniversary dinner)
- Comedy show with Roseanne Barr at the Sahara (the wife likes her, so I'm taking it for the team)
SAN FRAN FROM MAY 6TH TO 10TH
- Napa Valley Wine Country tour of at least 4 different wineries
- Baseball game at whatever the hell the Giants' ballpark is called right now between the Giants and Phillies (my reward for the Roseanne show)
I'm sure I'll have lots to review on those activities. And I'm sure I will come up with some impromptu things to do as well while out there (In-N-Out Burger awaits).
Otherwise, I'm thinking about posts for the future that would deal with such deep topics as good places for breakfast. Exciting, eh?
If you have any ideas, I'm all ears.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Chapter 6: Indian Food 101
This topic might intimidate a few of you.
I'm reminded of the line from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. When confronted with the scent of Brian Fantana's whiff of Sex Panther, a woman screams "It smells like a used diaper filled with Indian food."
Indian cuisine has a bad rap among some people, I do know that. I have memories of a former co-worker in the radio business who often used to bring in Indian dishes for lunch, and wound up stinking up the whole studio for hours. It turned me off to Indian food for some time.
Hell, I'm a guy who for 33 years of his life avoided Indian food. Of course, to impress the Indian woman I had started dating in 2005, I decided to let her take me to an Indian restaurant on our third date.
I found out later it was a bit of a test. Apparently, if I couldn't handle eating the Indian food, I was going to be deep-sixed. I mean, how could we really have anything in common if I couldn't handle her native cuisine?
Well, three years later, after marrying that same woman, I now consider myself to be something of a quasi-expert in Indian cuisine. And I'm here to help you.
I've seen more than one friend of mine go with me to an Indian restaurant with slight trepidation. But once they realize there are several pretty harmless dishes for beginners, they relax and find out they really like the food. And not all of the food is going to linger in your clothes for days like stale cigarette smoke.
Now I'm not saying that you ought to go out and try some goat curry the first time out (it actually doesn't suck at all). But I'm here to help you as a fellow red-blooded American who once considered exotic cuisine a pupu platter. I'm here to give you some good first time dishes in Indian food that don't reek of curry for blocks away, and won't make holes in your tongue from the spice. As a veteran of nearly 20 different Indian restaurants now, I know of what I speak (one day I will rank them all here).
If you ever decide to venture into an Indian restaurant for the first time, be forewarned that some restaurants are strictly vegetarian. But for the record, of all of the ones I've been to, I've only been to two that were vegetarian. Most do offer meat dishes. Maybe not beef, but chicken, lamb, and seafood can be had.
If you want to start with an appetizer, you can't go wrong with the samosas. Basically, they're the equivalent of a good knish in Jewish cuisine, or an empanada in Latin cuisine. They're generally spiced just right, and they are generally filled with potato or meat. And anything with the word "pakora" in it will make Americans very happy. That's the deep fried, batter-dipped stuff. You can get good vegetable pakora which are like onion rings or battered potatoes, and chicken pakora too if you're in the chicken finger type of mood.
If you're a strict carnivore, and you are a barbecue fan, then look for "Tandoori" dishes. Tandoori chicken is probably the most harmless dish anyone can handle, as well as Chicken Tikka which is the boneless version of tandoori. Tandoori fish and shrimp can also be quite tasty. They're made in a clay oven with a good amount of spice, but not normally too much. You won't get a huge curry taste with this dish if at all. Hell, you could make it on your gas grill. Some places serve Tandoori meats on a plate sizzling with onions and lime like a fajita plate would.
Anything with "biryani" in the title is also going to be safe. Basically, biryani is the equivalent of Chinese fried rice. Though biryani tends to not be fried and much less oily. I usually go for a good Chicken Biryani if available. And by the way... if you see the word "murgh" in the menu, murgh=chicken.
If you feel the need to go for a more creamy type dish, I have two recommendations. The thing is, they are very similar dishes. Chicken Makhani and Chicken Tikka Masala to the untrained eye look like the same dish. To give you an idea of what Chicken Makhani really is, the American term for it is "butter chicken". It's boneless pieces of chicken in a buttery tomato sauce. Now, in the same realm, Chicken Tikka Masala is also in a creamy tomato sauce, but tends to taste more of the tomato and spice while Makhani tends to taste sweeter. For the record, it is said that Chicken Tikka Masala is the most popular dish in England, where Indian food is like Chinese food here in America. They use some curry in these dishes, but not too much. Get either one of those dishes over rice. And be sure you have some naan to soak up the sauce. Naan is a pita type bread which tastes amazing when it is just out of the oven with butter on it.
If veggies are your thing, Navratan Korma is simply mixed veggies in a creamy sauce. Anything with the word "aloo" in it is a potato dish. Aloo Gobi is a mix of potato and cauliflower with curry. Dal is made up strictly of beans, and Sambar is basically a pea and vegetable stew. Those are good starters for you herbivores.
If you want dessert, I always say you can't go wrong with Gulab Jamun. But many of you might find it way too sweet for your liking. It's basically brown balls of as milk and light cheese mixture dipped in syrup. Believe me when I tell you it tastes like Greek Baklava. But if that's not your thing, many Indian places serve a nice mango ice cream, or a dish called kulfi which is pure Indian ice cream and a little more creamy tasting than what we get in America.
So if you're ever forced by someone to go to an Indian restaurant, and you don't know what to do, just print this posting out and use it as your guide. Go ahead. Your Uncle Rev gives you permission to.
I'm reminded of the line from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. When confronted with the scent of Brian Fantana's whiff of Sex Panther, a woman screams "It smells like a used diaper filled with Indian food."
Indian cuisine has a bad rap among some people, I do know that. I have memories of a former co-worker in the radio business who often used to bring in Indian dishes for lunch, and wound up stinking up the whole studio for hours. It turned me off to Indian food for some time.
Hell, I'm a guy who for 33 years of his life avoided Indian food. Of course, to impress the Indian woman I had started dating in 2005, I decided to let her take me to an Indian restaurant on our third date.
I found out later it was a bit of a test. Apparently, if I couldn't handle eating the Indian food, I was going to be deep-sixed. I mean, how could we really have anything in common if I couldn't handle her native cuisine?
Well, three years later, after marrying that same woman, I now consider myself to be something of a quasi-expert in Indian cuisine. And I'm here to help you.
I've seen more than one friend of mine go with me to an Indian restaurant with slight trepidation. But once they realize there are several pretty harmless dishes for beginners, they relax and find out they really like the food. And not all of the food is going to linger in your clothes for days like stale cigarette smoke.
Now I'm not saying that you ought to go out and try some goat curry the first time out (it actually doesn't suck at all). But I'm here to help you as a fellow red-blooded American who once considered exotic cuisine a pupu platter. I'm here to give you some good first time dishes in Indian food that don't reek of curry for blocks away, and won't make holes in your tongue from the spice. As a veteran of nearly 20 different Indian restaurants now, I know of what I speak (one day I will rank them all here).
If you ever decide to venture into an Indian restaurant for the first time, be forewarned that some restaurants are strictly vegetarian. But for the record, of all of the ones I've been to, I've only been to two that were vegetarian. Most do offer meat dishes. Maybe not beef, but chicken, lamb, and seafood can be had.
If you want to start with an appetizer, you can't go wrong with the samosas. Basically, they're the equivalent of a good knish in Jewish cuisine, or an empanada in Latin cuisine. They're generally spiced just right, and they are generally filled with potato or meat. And anything with the word "pakora" in it will make Americans very happy. That's the deep fried, batter-dipped stuff. You can get good vegetable pakora which are like onion rings or battered potatoes, and chicken pakora too if you're in the chicken finger type of mood.
If you're a strict carnivore, and you are a barbecue fan, then look for "Tandoori" dishes. Tandoori chicken is probably the most harmless dish anyone can handle, as well as Chicken Tikka which is the boneless version of tandoori. Tandoori fish and shrimp can also be quite tasty. They're made in a clay oven with a good amount of spice, but not normally too much. You won't get a huge curry taste with this dish if at all. Hell, you could make it on your gas grill. Some places serve Tandoori meats on a plate sizzling with onions and lime like a fajita plate would.
Anything with "biryani" in the title is also going to be safe. Basically, biryani is the equivalent of Chinese fried rice. Though biryani tends to not be fried and much less oily. I usually go for a good Chicken Biryani if available. And by the way... if you see the word "murgh" in the menu, murgh=chicken.
If you feel the need to go for a more creamy type dish, I have two recommendations. The thing is, they are very similar dishes. Chicken Makhani and Chicken Tikka Masala to the untrained eye look like the same dish. To give you an idea of what Chicken Makhani really is, the American term for it is "butter chicken". It's boneless pieces of chicken in a buttery tomato sauce. Now, in the same realm, Chicken Tikka Masala is also in a creamy tomato sauce, but tends to taste more of the tomato and spice while Makhani tends to taste sweeter. For the record, it is said that Chicken Tikka Masala is the most popular dish in England, where Indian food is like Chinese food here in America. They use some curry in these dishes, but not too much. Get either one of those dishes over rice. And be sure you have some naan to soak up the sauce. Naan is a pita type bread which tastes amazing when it is just out of the oven with butter on it.
If veggies are your thing, Navratan Korma is simply mixed veggies in a creamy sauce. Anything with the word "aloo" in it is a potato dish. Aloo Gobi is a mix of potato and cauliflower with curry. Dal is made up strictly of beans, and Sambar is basically a pea and vegetable stew. Those are good starters for you herbivores.
If you want dessert, I always say you can't go wrong with Gulab Jamun. But many of you might find it way too sweet for your liking. It's basically brown balls of as milk and light cheese mixture dipped in syrup. Believe me when I tell you it tastes like Greek Baklava. But if that's not your thing, many Indian places serve a nice mango ice cream, or a dish called kulfi which is pure Indian ice cream and a little more creamy tasting than what we get in America.
So if you're ever forced by someone to go to an Indian restaurant, and you don't know what to do, just print this posting out and use it as your guide. Go ahead. Your Uncle Rev gives you permission to.
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