I need help eating Indian food

[kadesma]

Originally Posted by GB

You are just jealous that you don't know what the inside of the woodshed looks like huh KE?

Okay you two, you sound like Olivia and Carson, mine, no mine, gimme, no, yes gimme, My ma no my ma..Like I tell them, hey ya wanna take a nap? So stop it already.

kades, switch in hand...

[waaza]

Originally Posted by GB

I love Indian food. A new restaurant opened near my office and they have some of the best Indian food I have ever tasted. I go for their buffet at least once a week. My problem is that I am not sure the proper way to eat everything.

Here is what I mean. There are always at least three chutneys to choose from. Today they had a tomato chutney, mint chutney, and coconut chutney. I love the tomato and always get some, but I am not sure what I am supposed to do with it. What I have been doing is ripping off a piece of naan and dipping it in. I also dip my dosa in the chutney sometimes. Is this the right thing to do or an I making a mistake?

My other question has to do with all the dishes that are in a sauce with a very thin constancy. Often times there will be 5 or 6 things on the buffet like this. There may be Lamb Rogan Josh, Chicken Tika Masala, some sort of Dal dish that is very thin and maybe a few others. Are these all supposed to go over rice? That is what I have been doing, but that seems like so much rice.

Educate me please!

First of all, you must realize that what you experience in the US (as we do in the UK) is not the same as an eating experience in India, where there are no courses as such, and food is most often eaten from a banana leaf or metal thali with the fingers of the right hand. No plate, no fork. (this has changed in restaurants who aspire to western habits).
Rice (if served, mostly in Southern India and Kashmir) is served as a mound, sometimes with dal on it, sometimes ghee, sometimes yoghurt. All the different parts of the meal are served separately on the leaf/thali, and you enlighten your palate accordingly.
If you want to eat western style, with plates and cutlery, my suggestion is to put the rice in a mound, a gravy curry to one side, and then add pickles, chatnis, raitas and/or cachumbers (salad veg) also on the side, or better on a side plate. This way, you can have a bit of something, then a bit of something else, so that, if something is too hot/salty/sweet/sour, you can instantly balance it with something else. Note that chilli heat is best attenuated with sweet, rather than cold.
HTH
Waaza

[kitchenelf]

Originally Posted by kadesma

Okay you two, you sound like Olivia and Carson, mine, no mine, gimme, no, yes gimme, My ma no my ma..Like I tell them, hey ya wanna take a nap? So stop it already.

kades, switch in hand...

CJ - except when you get to be OUR age (yea, I included you GB ) you WANT to take a nap!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do I know what the inside of the woodshed looks like? Not me, I'm an

[quidscribis]

There are likely regional variations, too.

In Sri Lanka, with rice, for example, the rice will be a sort of flattish mound on the plate. Curries are dished on to the rice. The person eating (right hand only is the custom) will take a bit of one curry and smush it into the rice, spreading the flavour around in the rice, then take some between the fingers and pop it into the mouth, using the thumb to push it in. Then he'll take some more curry, smoosh it into the rice, and repeat. Meat is torn from the bone with the right hand and not eaten like North Americans would at a barbecue with bone at the mouth itself.

Some people mix their curries together in the rice, others don't so much. Personal preference. Curd sambols or raita can either be eaten separately, with rice, or mixed in with another curry as personal preference dictates.

With naan or other flatbreads, rip a piece off with your fingers and use it to surround a bit of curry, then pop that in your mouth, rinse and repeat. Use another piece to sop up gravy. And so on.

Honestly, even here, no one cares if you do it differently than they do.

In restaurants, it's perfectly acceptable and pretty usual to eat with a spoon and fork. When dining in a local's home, they may give you a spoon and fork, but they're generally impressed if you try to eat with your hands the same way they do, even if you make a mess of things. They're happy at the attempts. :-)

[Yakuta]

Hi GB, the response from Waaza is a very good explanation of how authentic Indian food is eaten.

- With your hands - right hand only and hand is washed before and after eating
- Thick curries like chicken tikka masala, dal makhani, palak paneer and dry curries like aloo gobi are normaly eaten with roti or naan. At home no one makes naan because we normally eat whole wheat bread that is made just like a Mexican tortilla and no one has access to a tandoor at home
- Thin Dals (which are mostly tur - split yelow pea or moong) are normally poured over rice (flat or mound does not matter) along with some pure ghee and eaten at the end. So in a typical Indian meal you may start with appetizers eat your roti and dry or thick curry and then put some rice with dal or kichdi (a risotto type rice preparation) along with kadhi (made with yogurt, chickpea flour and spices - it's yellow and like a soup) and finish up your meal
- Achaars (pungent oil based pickles) as well as papads are condiments and never served as you see in the west (both US and UK). In India papads always come during the rice course. You normally crush the papads into the dal and rice, add achaars and eat. It's also common for people to dip their fingers in a little achaar in their plate as they are eating their rice into their mouth and enjoy that little spicy or sweet and spicy burst of flavor
- Chutneys are normally fine to dip in but in India papads are never dipped in chutneys we normally dip dosa, samosas, pakodas etc in chutney as a dunking sauce

Dosa is a snack similar to samosa and pakoda so it's O.K. to dip that in the chutney.

[AMSeccia]

Intriguing ... I have not tried Indian food, and it sounds rather complicated. I have a business acquaintance who had me convinced that it was mostly vegan! Obviously, we are a bit behind the times here in WI!

[kitchenelf]

Originally Posted by AMSeccia

Intriguing ... I have not tried Indian food, and it sounds rather complicated. I have a business acquaintance who had me convinced that it was mostly vegan! Obviously, we are a bit behind the times here in WI!

Indian food is heavenly - vegan or otherwise! It's "heady" - you really want to concentrate, savour, and think about every bite

[Gossie]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

No, alone as in no one else can be in the room!

Punch her, GB, punch her ROFLMAO!!!! :-) Good one KE!!! hahahahahahahahaha

[Gossie]

Originally Posted by kitchenelf

CJ - except when you get to be OUR age (yea, I included you GB ) you WANT to take a nap!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do I know what the inside of the woodshed looks like? Not me, I'm an

Who you trying to fool? ROFL I love this thread. hehe

[GB]

Yakuta I was hoping you would jump into this thread. Thanks for your info. It has been very helpful!!!

AMSeccia, do not let this thread scare you away from Indian food should you get the chance to try it. I am sure I am making it sound much more complicated than it really is. The food is some of the most delicious stuff you will ever take, although I do have to say that it took me many tries before I liked it. Once I did start to like it though, it quickly became a favorite of mine. Not all Indian food is vegan or vegetarian although a lot is vegetarian. Many Indian restaurants in the US have meat as well. Chicken, lamb, and even goat are common on the menu.

Gossie, if I wanted to punch KE then I would have to get down on my knees. Shoot now I really am going to the woodshed