A new Indian place opened a few suburbs over from us recently, as its payday today we may just have to try them out tonight. I’ll have to go out & buy some Kingfisher beer as well. Just for the full experience 
We’re doing pre-planning at work tomorrow and we’re going to go out for lunch. I’m going to lobby hard for the Indian buffet at the local excellent Indian restaurant, but I know that I’m going to get shot down by the unadventurous middle-aged ladies who are afraid of pretty much any and all ethnic food that you can’t get from a drive-through.
I wonder about rinsing the rice. Does that accomplish the same or similar thing to my standby method of frying the rice in oil, à la pilaf? I never rinse, but my rice is perfect every time despite opening the lid and fiddling with adding things after it’s almost cooked.
Oh man I love Indian food! I remember vividly the first time I had it nearly 30 years ago, and my immediate thought was “Where the ever loving bleep has this food been all my life?!!”
I’m so lucky too - nearly all my co-workers are Indian, and when I walk through the building at lunchtime the smells are amazing. It’s expected that one eats curry, so no concern with gassing the whole department with my lunch.
Heaven.
I saw that an Indo-Chinese restaurant popped up in one of the western Chicago suburbs maybe 15-20 minutes from where I live. It’s basically next door to an awesome Indian/Pakistani restaurant and in the same strip mall as a great hole-in-the-wall giant burrito restaurant (no rice in them, FWIW). God, I would just explode from indecision if I went back there…
Yeah, Once you put rice in a burrito, it goes from authentic, central American aboriginal-sustenance to all-american white trash junk food originating in Flint Michigan 
Man, go check out that Indochin place and get the Manchurian Paneer if they have it. It sounds like I’d love that little strip mall.
Minor nitpick, I think what you folk are referring to are Gulab Jamuns.
A spice(?) that nobody seems to have mentioned is Turmeric. I’m not sure what it does, but a lot of it gets used in Indian food. Also, the word Tandoor is the noun form that means clay oven, and Tandoori is the adjective. So tandoori oven may not be correct. Correct usage is probably to ask if there is a way to emulate the Tandoor.
Heh. Good luck to you. Growing up on Kingfisher means most Indians like it, but I haven’t met too many people from outside India who think it’s a good beer.
Hmm, I wonder if the kind of rice you use alters this - if I boiled rice for this long it would disintegrate to mush.
After centuries (felt like it) of trying to find the perfect way to cook rice, I have finally hit on a foolproof method:
- Always use Basmati rice
- Rince with cold water
- Boil in large-ish pan in salted, pre-boiled water for 11-12 minutes until just done (water:rice quantities matter not, as long as the rice is well covered)
- Drain and leave in sieve, poking a few holes in the rice to help it steam evenly, cover with a teatowel and leave for at least 15 mins.
- Done. Perfect rice every time.
Ah, yes. Covering it at the end with a tea towel helps it fluff up nicely.
I very rarely cook regular rice this way (unless I’m making it in large quantities in a stockpot for which I don’t have a lid), but the method is especially awesome for brown rice. Sometimes brown rice works out fine for me using my regular method, but I’ve had a few so-so-experiences here and there. Boiling it makes perfect, fluffy brown rice every single time. (ETA: Of course, cook time is significantly longer with brown rice. Something like 20-25 minutes.)