I’ve never had Indian food so probably sometime next week we are going.
I know nothing about Indian food. Nada. I know that they have something called “curry.” That’s it.
So tell me what to order. To help, here are my preferences:
I like spicy stuff but not to the extreme. Mildly spicy works for me.
I love chicken. Not real big on beef and I hate fish.
I won’t eat anything squishy.
Veggies I like: anything that appears in a Chinese stir fry and potatoes.
Any thoughts?
Extra-spicy Vindaloo. Don’t be a wuss, it’ll knock your socks off.
Chicken tikka bhuna is a good basic curry. Spicy without being overpowering, not too dry and not too sludgy. A lot of people like chicken korma, which has a creamy coconut sauce, but I find it a bit average. Chicken dhansak can be very nice depending on how it’s made; in many places it’s dry and quite hot, while in others it’s milder and has a thick sauce with lentils.
Nice dry curries are jalfrezis and shashliks, but they can be a touch on the mildly spicy side since they’re often served on a skillet with sizzling onions, peppers and chillis.
Good side dishes are bombay aloo (aka bombay potato), which is a curried potato dish, sag aloo (the same but with spinach added), pilao rice (the standard saffron rice), naan (bread for mopping up the sauce, with excellent garlic and keema - filled with minced meat - variations). Some people swear by cauliflower or onion bhajees, pakoras and samosas as side dishes but there’s a lot of variety in the latter dishes.
A lot will depend on the restaurant you visit. Many dishes in the UK have evolved to match public expectations. It’s very hard to tell if what you’re eating is “authentic”, specific to the nationality or region of the chef, or entirely fake (as many British curries are, despite being delicious). That’s not to disparage the quality, but you’ll often find two Indian restaurants making the same-named dish entirely differently.
You’re in for a treat. Once you start to appreciate Indian food, you’ll never look back. What follows is all off the top of my head, and largely based on the UK and Ireland (though I have eaten Indian a few times in the States) so forgive any inaccuracies.
The Indian sub-continent is so huge that obviously there’s no one single Indian cuisine. I personally love the south-Indian Bel Puri style of delicate potato, coconut and wafer-based cuisine, but they’re specialized and you’re unlikely to find many Bel Puri restaurants around. Also, in many Indian restaurants in India you get a thing called a “Thali”, which is a plate with several indentations, on which several different delicacies are dished up (constantly - every time you finish part, the waiter refills it, until you say “no more!”).
That said, in your ‘standard’ western-style Indian restaurant, there is a kind of a homogenized cuisine which tends to have a lot of stuff that’s derived from Bangladesh and Pakistan. You’ll usually follow the western model of an appetizer followed by an entree. Unless they’re actually in the main dish, vegetables are served as a side-dish, as is rice or bread.
If you’re a novice, then I’d say get some “easy” options before graduating to the more adventurous stuff (what’s “squishy”, then?).
You’re table’s likely to have dips on it. These are usually raita (cooling yogurt and cucumber and/or mint), lime pickle (a very intense flavour - chilli oil-marinated lime), mango chutney (jelly made with mangoes), and chopped onions and tomatoes with mint (can’t remember the name for this). Papadams (or Poppodoms or some other spelling) are a pre-appetizer appetizer, and will probably be brought to your table when you sit down. They’re sort of like a very thin crisp tortilla. Break them on your plate and accompany them with some of the dips.
For an appetizer, I’d recommend tandoori chicken - this is chicken pieces that have been coated in mild spices and yogurt, that’s then cooked in a very hot clay oven (called a tandoor). Served with a tiny salad and some lemon juice to squeeze over. It’s a bit dry, but it’s delicious and you can moisten them with some raita. Onion bhajis are nice - they’re onion fried in dough balls. Pakoras are pastry parcels of meat, potato and vegetables, folded into a triangle and fried (a bit like a chimichanga).
Most Indian entrees are something-in-sauce. The sauce might be very spicy-hot, or very mild, and based on tomatoes, cream/yogurt, or some other thickener more like a gravy. They’ll all have spices in them, but not all have chilli. The standard bases for these dishes might be chicken, lamb (you’re unlikely to find beef, even if the restaurant isn’t run by Hindus, or pork, even if the restaurant isn’t run by Muslims), shrimp, or mixed vegetable.
The safest option of all is the UK’s favourite entree (more popular even than fish and chips now), Chicken Tikka Masala, which isn’t even Indian. This is tandoori chicken (see above) in a mildly flavored sauce of yogurt and spices. It’s lovely. A jalfrezi is a medium-spicy tomato-based sauce. AFAIK rogan josh just means “cooked meat”, and is almost always lamb in spicy gravy. A balti is like a spicy stew with meatballs in it. Ones to avoid: vindaloo (very very hot, though I have to say I really like this, and it’s one of the few dishes that traditionally uses pork), fahl (very very very hot). Anything just called “curry” is usually gravy-based and is quite hot. You can get most of the ingredients in each kind of sauce - e.g. prawn (shrimp) jalfrezi, chicken jalfrezi, vegetable jalfrezi.
Vegetables - most of the exotic names are actually really mundane: aloo means potato, mutter means peas, sag means spinach (palak is very similar, though it’s a different plant), dal means lentils, chana means chick peas (garbanzo beans). Paneer is a form of firm cheese that is often served cubed with vegetables). One very important word that you’ll see everywhere: masala. This just means “mixed”, nothing more. Most veg come in a sauce too, with spices, but are usually very mild. It’s normal to order several vegetable dishes and for everyone to share them.
You then have rice or bread (I wouldn’t have both, myself). Rice is usually of the basmati variety, and is offered in many different forms: boiled, fried, pulau (which just seems to mean with a couple of cardamoms and some food colouring). Nan bread is the most popular - it’s a big soft, doughy flatbread cooked on the inside of the tandoor. You can get this with fruit in it (Peshawari nan), meat (Kashmiri nan), or with garlic and/or coriander. A chapati is a little flatbread like a tortilla. Paratha is a rich flaky fried (I think) bread, made with butter. Traditionally you tear bits off the bread and use it to scoop up the food (right hand only! Never touch anything at the table with your left hand.) or if you’re being very western, tear it and put bits on your plate and eat them with your entree. Again, it’s normal to share the starchy stuff. My philosophy is to keep the starchy stuff as plain as possible, so as not to mask the flavors of the entrees.
That’s all I can think of at the moment. This post has gone on way to long. I’m a bit of an Indian food freak, as you may have guessed.
Never had Indian food?! Disgrace!
A lot’s been covered so far so I’ll go over my favourites:
For starters chicken tikka or reshmi kebab (also chicken) is a must. Another option is the lamb sheek kebab, and you can have these with samosas or masala popadums.
My favourite main dishes: Chicken tikka masala or chicken makhanwala (chicken in butter sauce/gravy). I know you don’t, but if you do feel like you want to try something spicy, I’d go for any vindaloo, perhaps lamb.
You can have all this with pilau rice, parathas, naan (I’m in love with garlic naan) or tandoori roti.
Another option is chicken/mutton/vegetarian biryani (basically the meat mixed in with flavoured basmati rice).
As for drinks, well, you should try Lassi (not the dog, mate), which is like a yoghurt shake. You can choose either sweet or salted. Or just get beer.
Tell us how it goes! 
Hmmm yes, lassi is great for cooling the palate (salty is just too weird even for me).
So anyway, to answer the OP, how about creating a recommended menu for a beginner? I’ll try, though there’s bound to be some dissent:
Appetizers
Popadoms with dips.
Lamb sheek kebab.
Entree
Chicken tikka masala or chicken korma.
Accompanied by (to be shared)
Pulao rice.
Nan (any variety).
Palak Paneer.
Bombay aloo.
Chana masala.
Drinks
1 Sweet lassi.
Lots of Cobra or Kingfisher beer.
Sounds good. SnoopyFan’s gonna have a blast on the toilet (pun intended :D)
I am SO HUNGRY after reading this thread. I might just have to have a lamb pasanda for my lunch.
fresh loti prata.
hi there, this is an Indian staying in India.here are a few of my recommendations for you.mind you the food you might be getting at regular indian restaurants do not cover stuff from all the regions but is mostly the best dishes of each territory.
Starters:
Main Course
Desserts
hope you enjoy the food when you try it and let us know about your experience. BON APETIT!!
I forgot kulfi. What an idiot. So hungry now.
I have to say I agree totally, you can’t gp wrong with chicken korma or chicken tikka masala (which was actually invented in Britain for the non-Indian palate [i.e. not used to spicy food] and is the new national dish there), personally if I don’t want something too spicy I go for the chicken korma (of course otyherwise it’s the vindaloo all the way).
Also it is worth checking out the specials at the resturant or finding out which particular dish that resturant has a reputation for.
Ah well, I just got myself a chicken curry sandwich from the local Spar - best I could do given that I could only leave the office for 5 minutes.
You have to try Began Bhartha (sp?) - it’s a spicy eggplant dish that is FANTASTIC! order it with some Nann (bread) and a cold kingfisher (beer) and you’ll be in heaven!
Mmm…now I want some Indian food.
Try Chicken Tikka Masala. It’s not very spicy at all, and it’s delicious.
If you like veggies, Malai Kofta is a good one. It’s sort of like meatballs made out of veggies. Lots of complex spices, but nothing really fiery.
Also, there’s a dish I love but I can’t remember what it’s called. It’s fried balls of cottage cheese in sauce. I know it sounds weird, but it’s not anything like you would think. The cheese balls aren’t squishy or all that moist.
Definitely get Naan bread and Chai tea.
For dessert, Gulab Jamun is delicious.
Heather
Why did I open this thread? How am I going to keep myself from going to the Indian buffet for lunch now?
Saag Paneer’s a good dish if you like spinach.
A favourite of mine that hasn’t been mentioned is masala dosa. This is a pancake filled with spiced potato topped with tamarind sauce.
I had Indian food for my first time today, at a lunch buffet, and I loved it. I tried to think of all the names from this thread, but I don’t think they had a lot of them–not everything was labeled.
I know I tried chicken tandoori, chicken curry, some spicy meatballs, saag that may have just been a sauce (green = spinach, I guessed), a yellow sauce that may have been yogurt-based, a spicy garbanzo dish, something else spicy with carrots and peas, rice of course, and the naan, which was better than this pita bread lover could have imagined. They also had sweet tamarind, surprisingly spicy mint, and super-spicy onion/tomato chutnies. Dessert was sweet doughy balls in a sugary sauce/glaze, and yogurt-based rice pudding. I also got a Kingfisher beer, on the recommendation of the posters here.
I think we caught the end of the buffet because it was around 2:00 (after most people have lunch), and my friend and I were the only people in the restaurant. But it was great, and I’m definitely going to drag people back there with me and order stuff off the menu.
Indian food is probably my favourite cuisine. I’m a vegetarian, so I always order things such as pakoras and onion bhaji (with mint and yoghurt chutney), dahl and korma. Yum. Butter chicken is a popular choice amongst my friends, and so is lamb or chicken saag and tikka masala. Dammit, now I’m hungry.
fresh n crispy loti prata with egg and some bit of onions