Alright curry heads.
For the last four weeks I've had a takeaway curry every Friday night. It's starting to annoy me now that I often sit for nearly an hour trying to decide what curry to get. Advice would be lovely.
I love creamy curries, Tandoori Chicken Masala etc. I don't mind spice, but not so much that it just becomes painful and not tasty. A good limit would be the heat of a madras.
creamy curries = bland
madras = quite hot
does not compute
anyway most curries are not hot they are medium, this is quite a common myth that all indian food is spicy, yes some of it is, but not all of it.
a good choice for a creamy curry which isn't bland would be a chicken tikka malaidar (creamy spinach), or if you are a woman get a chasni.
really good medium (plain) options to try are:
lamb jalfrezi
lamb bhoona
chicken karahi bhoona
chicken dhansac
prawn biriyani (order a sauce of your choice instead of the plain sauce that comes with it, for example say you want bhoona sauce instead of plain sauce with the biriyani, this is a rice dish so normally you wouldn't order naan or chapati with it, etc)
chicken tikka achaari
a good but hot options is south indian garlic chilli chicken
if you want a proper curry, phone some of your local places and see if they will sell you the "staff curry", this should be a proper indian curry, they way it is made in india, none of the curries on the menu are actually ones you could get in india.
accompaniments to try out
raita (yoghurt and salad side, really great with a hot curry and rice)
prathay (really nice indian flat bread usually ate at break fast time with achaar and yoghurt / raita, choice of plain, keema or veg, veg is usually best)
tandoori chapati (really nice, big crispy chapati, 2-3 of these usually equal one naan, so if you can eat a full naan, you will need more than one)
achaar (mango pickle if they have it, all the rest are meh in comparison, goes great with prathay)
peshwaari naan (sweet naan, will not go with a lot of curries so be careful, but it's good on it's own or with ice cream)
starters to try out
veg samosa's (proper home made style are the best, the stuff you get in supermarkets, makes me want to puke, they don't even taste like samosa's)
seekh kebab starter (spicy mince kebab)
lamb tikka starter (make sure you say starter otherwise you will get a full main meal rather than just bare meat)
fish masala / fish pakora (absolutely brilliant, to die for)
chicken chaat (chicken drumsticks)
poori (usually come with a choice of chickpeas, chicken or prawns)
garlic mushrooms
spiced mushrooms
drinks
mango lassi (mango yogurt drink)
coconut lassi
desserts
gulab jumin (to die for)
russ malai (doubt you will get this at most places, but look out for it in indian stores)
i am indian (sikh) and have managed a indian restaurant for several years, as well as ate indian food all my life, therefore the above is solid info
maybe your local does it too?
