The Taste of India - March 23, 2014

We had a fantastic evening at Taste of India, 902 Brandon Blvd., Brandon, Florida. 

Go east on Hwy 60 through Brandon. It is on the left (north) side. Dishes were selected by AW and RW with their vast knowledge of Indian foods. 

Our shared dishes--all delicious:

Papad--Crispy chana wafer baked or fried dipped in chutneys made from mint/onion and tamarind.

Mixed Appetizer Platter--Assorted kabobs chicken and lamb/Samosa (Indian triangular type egg roll)and pakoras(vegetables dipped in gram batter and fried).

Bread--Garlic nan cooked in tandoori oven. 

Tandoori Mixed Grill--Chicken tikka, tandoori chicken, tandoori shrimp, lamb kabob, chicken kabob. 

Butter Chicken--Tandoori chicken pieces in a tomato sauce and ghee (like a curry but less spicy). 

Lamb Rogan Josh--Lamb pieces cooked in dry ginger and aniseed curry sauce (this was spicy curry). 

Aloo Gobhi Masala--Cauliflower and potatoes cooked in spices/tomatoes and herbs (vegetable dish). 

Yellow Daal--Lintels cooked in spices. 

Rice with Peas. 

Desserts- Gulab Jaman--Fried dough balls in heavy sweet syrup. andRasmalai--Round cottage cheese patties soaked in saffron and almond flavored milk.

Kingfisher Beer--Light lager beer. 

Indian food traditionally is eaten without utensils in the home.  It is customary to break the bread and dip it into the curries and use the bread to pick up pieces of meat and eat together. Tandoori is a special oven originally made of clay. It is shaped like a round drum and the breads and spiced kabobs are cooked inside. The base of curries is made from onions making onions a very important part of the Indian diet.  In this meal we ate geographic northern and middle Indian meals.  South Indians eat altogether different food than any we tried, but we can always go back and do a second round.