Indian Food

For those who haven't really indulged in it ... here's what I like about it.  (My wife's opinion is included here also; one of the things in this world that we agree on entirely is Indian food).  I'll try to keep this short and to the point, and written from an average American's perspective.

Indian food is mostly spicy, but the heat is mitigated by other flavors, kind of spread and smoothed out.  The flavors lend themselves especially to vegetables. I'm not a big lover of vegetables, but prepared Indian style, I am.

For what we meat-eaters would tend to think of as "main dishes", there are a variety of curries which are best served over (bismati) rice or "naan" which is a popular flat bread; these counteract the flavor of the curries and spices nicely.  Lots of chicken, beef, goat, and lamb curries are available.  And "vindaloos", which are hotter curries.  Trader Joe's actually sells a good, fairly spicy Lamb Vindaloo. 

"Butter chicken" is a popular and great starter dish; not terribly hot and very tasty.

The afore-mentioned rice and naan are starches :

Additionally, the Indians know how to cook potatoes better than any other culture I think.

If you MUST eat something not spicy, Tandoori Chicken is popular and usually tasty, and really a nice way to cook chicken.

For vegetables there are a variety of options.  Cauliflower and pea related dishes are a staple and a favorite of mine.

Okra is always done up well.  My mouth waters looking at this image :

Another popular entry point into Indian food is Palak Paneer, which is like creamed spinach with spices, with cubes of cheese in it.  Trader Joe's sells this; theirs is not definitive, but it's pretty good.

Recommended :

The thing to do, really, is to go to a lunch buffet at some Indian restaurant near you and try a lot of different things.  If you want to start slowly, i.e. not go too hot, popular moderate dishes are Butter Chicken, Tandoori Chicken, Palak Paneer, and Naan.  I say don't sleep on any potatoes and califlower, or okra, that you see.

And if you shop at Trader Joe's, I'd try these :

These have I think the best taste of their Indian entrees - they're something like Hot Pockets with spicy vegetables on the inside.  Opinion is split on these, but I love them and would recommend this as an example of a strong taste, that might grow on you.

For deserts, rice pudding is always good and these little Gulab Jamun balls are my wife's favorite - they taste like little honey-drenched hush puppies.

If you get a chance to eat some little pastries known as Khaja or Jalebi, you might find them, as I do, to be as often as not the best tasting thing in the world.

In summary, it's arguably the best tasting food in the world, and they particularly make the most out of vegetables.  It's possible to cook many of the dishes, but they take some time and you do run the risk of getting yellow tumeric stains in your kitchen or dining room; I've decided over time to leave Indian cooking to the professionals.