Throughout the past month, spices used in traditional Indian cooking have found their way into many of our evening meals. When Ryan was in England a week ago, he went out to dinner at an Indian restaurant with some of his coworkers and came home raving about the chicken biryani. He said he knew I’d love the dish and we decided to head out for Indian food last night so I could try it out.
Though I’ve loved the at-home attempts Ryan and I have made at Indian cooking, Amrit Palace, a local Indian restaurant, put all of my meals to shame!
We started off with Kingfisher beer.
It was crisp and refreshing and I liked it a lot!
My meal came with a small cup of lentil soup.
Compared to the amazing flavors in my entrée, this soup was a little bland. I didn’t finish all of it, but it was a nice little appetizer.
When it came time to dig into our entrees, Ryan and I did a lot of sharing.
I ordered the lobster curry which was fabulous!
The spices in the curry were strong and absolutely fantastic. I am not normally a big fan of white rice (I find it very bland), but when I poured my lobster curry on top of it, I couldn’t stop eating it. Yum!
Ryan ordered the chicken biryani and we both thought it was delicious. We were glad we ordered tandoori roti, an unleavened Indian bread, with our meal because it was perfect for dipping into my lobster curry.
As we drove home, Ryan and I agreed that we will definitely be returning to Amrit Palace in the future. I think this was actually my first foray into Indian food at a real Indian restaurant, and I can’t wait to try more Indian dishes in the future.
Questions of the Afternoon
- What are some of your favorite Indian dishes?
- Any fantastic Indian-inspired recipes out there that I must try? Feel free to link up in the comments section!
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There is a great place in my college neighborhood which used to be a traditional diner in the 50’s. Now it serves Indian food and American diner food! It’s a great place to go for everyone’s favorite dish.
When I first saw this post in my feed I thought it said armpit palace. I’ve only had Indian food a couple times. After this post, I’m thinking I need to try it again!
I don’t think I’ve ever had lobster curry – that sounds amazing!
You pretty much need to try butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, and chicken or beef korma. So, so delicious!
Indian is my all time favorite!!
I always get chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, beef rogan josh, samosas and naan. (Not all for me….welllllll maybe all for me).
Deeeeeeeeeeeeelish!!
Oooh, I haven’t tried the rogan josh…gonna have to check that out. (B/c those you mentioned are my favorites too). Gonna have to check that out.
I love your outfit!!! Very adorable!:)
First of all, super cute outfit! You are just so fashionable :).
I LOVE Indian food. Indian food is generally very vegetarian and vegan friendly, so I just recently started eating it this past year. And boy, am I glad that I have. I love all of the spices and flavors and the incorporation of vegetables and lentils is fabulous. Some of my favorite Indian dishes that I have tried so far are vegetable korma, saag, sweet potato dal, masoor dal, etc., etc., etc. I love it all! 😉
My go-to meat dishes are chicken tikka masala and butter chicken, but probably some of my favorite Indian dishes are vegetarian (although I’m not a vegetarian myself). I love anything with paneer.
I love Indian food (my step father-in-law is from India). I had it twice last week.
I HIGHLY recommend trying…
1) Samosas
2) Naan (like roti, but I prefer it more)
Some of my other personal favorites are butter chicken and mutter paneer (aka peas and cheese).
Delicious!
As an Indian it’s probably appalling that I don’t really like Indian food- haha doesn’t go down well at home! One of the few dishes I love is channa masala (a chickpea dish) with tandoori roti & plain yogurt to take the heat off!
If you like Indian food then you need to know these 3 words: chicken tikka masala. Amazing.
I’m not a huge fan of indian food so much anymore, but my partner is. He loves Lamb Korma and Butter Chicken. He also loves naan bread. Raita is really refreshing to have with a spicy dish too!
I am obsessed obsessed obsessed with butter chicken and garlic naan. If you are ever in DC, there is this hole in the wall place called Mehak that I got a bunch of friends hooked on. You should definitely try it out if you find yourself in the District! 🙂 Also, thanks for the heads up on #28DBC. I just started a new healthy lifestyle blog a week ago, and the challenge is really helping me build it up! Have a great week 🙂
Several people have recommended different Kormas (lamb, chicken, vegetable) and I totally agree – they’re made with a cashew cream sauce that is just heavenly. It’s an incredibly unique, earthy, creamy flavor – highly recommend!!
I don’t even know the name of some of my favorite dishes. I’d recommend trying an Indian buffet just so that you get a bit of everything. My coworkers and I used to do that all the time. Sooooo tasty!
Palak Paneer or Saag Paneer (I’m not sure what the difference is). It’s Indian homemade cheese cooked in a creamy spinach. I can’t get enough of it! It’s great with brown basmati rice and/or naan. Our local indian restaurants has Pesto Naan, sooo good!
dahhh I’m drooling here! Great, now I want Indian and it’s only one of my favorite foods ever! But it can be so pricey sometimes that I TRY not to eat it too often. Your meal looks incredible! And I’m so surprised to see seafood in an Indian dish as I’ve never seen that before. My faves are chicken korma, vindaloo, and their rice is always good–flavored OR plain! ahhhh and garlic naan is amazing. You have to try that.
You can’t beat a good chicken korma! It’s mild not spicy but the taste, if you get a good one, is amazing! I definitely think good Indian restaurants are hard to find but when you do find one your mind will be blown…and your mouth if you have a vindaloo. Poppadoms are so yummy with mint raita or spicy onion and tomato sauce. And onion bhajis are such a treat if you have no problem with deep friend calorie filled food 🙂
i ALWAYS have chicken biryani! Delicious! 🙂 Indian is so yummy! x
I love Indian food. And your outfit, so glad you enjoyed!
Hi 🙂
You need to try masala dosa. It’s really good. It’s a crunchy crepe made out our white lentils batter stuffed with spicy potato and fried onions. It’s really good. My parents are from India. Honestly, I’ve had Indian byriani and Pakistani byriani and Pakistani is better.
Lamb samosa and veggie pakoras are also really really good!!
Here is a recipe for Indian naan. It’s not the healthiest but so flipping yummy. You can use a skillet instead of a grill to cook it. Also the butter come out best if you make a roux (real butter is a must) and put garlic in that.
http://www.grouprecipes.com/70190/naan-bread.html
As for a dish to go with it I created a super easy dish based off one I love at my favorite Indian restaurant. At the grocery store in the International section you’ll see patacks (whole foods and trader joes also have versions).
1. Follow the recipie on the back; I usually just add tons of veggies.
2. While this is cooking steam up some rice.
3. Combine.
4. Cut puff pastry into four strips. Layer puff pastry on the bottom of a baking pan then spread Patacks and rice mix. Basically pretend your making lasagne. The top layer should be puff pastry.
5. Take egg whites and spread on top. This is to brown the pastry. you can skip iy but this makes eye candy.
6. Bake following the puff pastry pkg directions.
My husband and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Indian food. We’re lucky to be in DC and have a ton of fantastic local Indian restaurants around us. We love it so much I was pretty sure my son would come out as a little Indian boy because I ate so much of it while I was pregnant. Alu Gobi is my absolute favorite dish. It’s a vegetarian dish of cauliflower and potatoes that is tender and delicious. Mmmm sooo good. My second favorite dish, my husband’s favorite, is the Chicken Tikka Masala. We also really like Baigan Bharta, another vegetarian dish that consists of eggplant. Really delicious! And of course naan 🙂 I, too, dislike white rice but basmati rice is seasoned and buttery which makes it extra yummy.
I highly recommend paneer tikka masala, malai kofta, and any kind of chaat appetizer (my favorite is samosa chaat). Dosas (which are a south Indian dish versus north Indian like what you ate at Amrit Palace) are also delicious and super fun to eat. They’re huge, thin Indian pancakes filled with a veggie filling and served with a variety of chutneys. YUM!
First.. totally read that as “Armpit Palace” haha. We LOVE Indian food! I make Chana Masala a lot at home and I made Naan (recipe is on my blog, chefbyinvitation.com) which was surprisingly easy to make.
Julie, my best friend is Indian. So anything her mother cooks is what I recommend 😉 however, obviously everyone cannot try her food. The next best thing would be to order chicken tikka masala. It’s rich, but oh so delicious! It’s definitely a once in a while kinda dish but it happens to be the best thing in most Indian restaurants here.
I live in Mill Woods in Edmonton which is little India. Tons of Indian restaurants and gr
grocery stores around me. I also work with a ton of Indian people and get to taste their food on occasion. I’m trying to expand my repetoir of dishes…so far it’s limited to Chana masala and toor dal. But I’m learning!
Sorry for the chopped up post stupid iPhone jumped around.
I live in London now and Indian is probably the most popular ethnic food here, it’s so good and authentic, but lobster curry sounds amazing!!!
I love chicken tiki Masala. I tried making it at home and it was good but definitely no Indian restaurant food 🙂 the Nan is so good too! I agree the rice by itself is bland. You need to mix it all together!
I love trying out new ethnic foods! I have never been able to make something at home that holds a candle to authentic restaurants! Indian food is amazing!
you need to do a weekly blog post “julie eats at a new ethic restaurant”. it would be good for you since you dislike spice so much and seem to be apprehensive about trying new foods from different cultures.
Chicken tikka masala is really easy to make, you can either buy the curry paste or the pre-made sauce. Pataks brand is best, in our town it is found in the English food section (it’s an English brand). Korma is milder, but not as healthy as the recipe needs a lot of cream. If you like spice, try ordering a vindaloo curry next time you’re there, it’s my favorite. My boyfriends favorite is butter chicken.
I hope you enjoy testing these out! I received 2 Indian cookbooks for Christmas and cannot wait to test them out more!
Try Saag Paneer – spinach and cheese, your favorites! Or chana saag with chickpeas.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/saag-paneer-spinach-with-indian-cheese-recipe/index.html
They can be made in your slow cooker too!
Chicken Dhansak is my new favorite! It’s made with lentils and a ton of spices – so good! I’m thinking Indian food for dinner now…
Palak paneer is my favourite, along with chicken tikka masala and naan!
Chicken Tikka Masala is my all time favorite Indian meal. Next time you should try and see if they have a buffet. Lunch buffets are nice because they generally do not cost as much as dinner meals do and you get to try a variety of different Indian dishes.
I love indian food, but sometimes restaurants load their dishes with too much cream which bogs me down. I make this at home every Sunday: http://foodcomablog.com/2010/04/urban-eats-29-palak-daal/. I use coconut oil instead of butter, add two cloves of minced garlic, and a couple of squirts of siracha. I eat it with some brown jasmine rice and a dollop of greek yogurt. It’s my number one.
had to share, when I first glanced at the title I thought it said “Armpit” palace. Glad it wasn’t about arm pits though. Sounds delicious!
I absolutely love Indian food! My favorite dishes are Chicken Tikka Masala and Butter Chicken. Garlic naan is a must-have as well 🙂
I LOVE Indian food, and I love to make it at home. I use this easy, healthy, and tasty recipe for Butter Chicken (or Murgh Makhani) quite frequently (and the boy loves it, too!): http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/bal-arneson/bals-no-butter-chicken.html
Yum! 🙂
Love your outfit!! Can you post the details on the fashion page? 🙂
Thinking back of all our times in America we never once saw a big Indian around Florida..only a takeout I think across from Chilli’s (or maybe it’s a pretty squished sit in resturant?? haha)..that was my mum’s new years resolution to go to the Indian more, and she already goes pretty much every other week! Haha an amazingggg dish that isn’t always on the menu but is marinated first in chicken tikka spices is a chicken tikka LABABDAR curry (lababdar sauce is mild and creamy, usually with yogurt). IT IS AMAZING!! My mum got a gift day to learn how to cook it from the chefs recipe at a nearby restaurant as it’s her favourite..I haven’t ordered any other since my mum suggested I try that haha goes very nice with a chappati bread (roti?). Actually have a takeaway of it in the freezer as a weekend treat (double orders one in and one out on a dinner date..oh yes! haha).
I usually order labadar off the menu and most places I would think would do it if it isn’t on as it’s less common but just a different sauce so easy enough done I would think! Lucinda 🙂
I loved Indian food!. My husband and I discovered a local Indian buffet which we’ve since designated our new Sunday brunch spot. We are both fans of chicken korma and chicken tikka masala. I also like Saag Paneer.
I made this recipe for chicken korma many times subbing skinless boneless thighs for breasts. It may not be the most authentic, but it’s received rave reviews: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easy-chicken-korma/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=korma&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e13=A%3aSearch%20Results-List%28control%29&e7=Recipe
If you’ve never had butter chicken then you absolutely must try it!
Hi Julie. First let me say that I am glad that Sadie is going to be alright!! I have two dogs and I would be heartbroken if anything happened to them.
Second, I am a bit behind in reading your posts as I have been in Guatemala for two weeks, doing some work as volunteer coordinator of a health and education project that a group of us started 10 years ago. It has been intense and amazing and sad all at once.
I have been trying to keep in shape by doing some of your circuits that dont require equipment, and hiking in the steep hillsides here — i am not used to the altitude so it really kicks my butt.
right now I am back in the city of Quetzaltenango (the village where we work is about 3 hours from here , up in the mountains), and planning to go for dinner at Sabor de la India tonight — it is a very random thing to have an indian restaurant smack in the middle of Guatemala, but i am very glad it is there — the food is delicious!
Anyway, just a note to say hello and see you again online once I am home in Canada. I would love to send you my dispatch from this trip if that is ok — i would be honored if you would read it. it is just a description of our trip, the people we meet and work with, and the things that happen in the village of Comitancillo, Guatemala.
Why did I read the title to this post as Armpit Palace?