I was just reading about the controversy surrounding the origin of butter chicken on NPR this morning. Making me want to make some up. Madhur Jaffrey’s recipe is included in the article.
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Interesting. Around here the best Tandoori Chicken is done at Pakistani Restaurants and it does not suffer from the problems you mention. Actually aside from the South Bay it tends to be the best South Asian Food around.
They also have the best Naan!
Except that’s Chargha, and it tastes different.
Available in nyc too, where most of the divey cab driver spots with tasty food were Pakistani (now turning Bangladeshi).
The fishmonger had those catfish chunks again, so it was a stew-ish soup with sausage, leftover salmon, shrimp, white beans, and spinach, this time in a light tomato broth.
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I do not think that is true.
It is Tandoori as far as I know the Definition.
Marinated in Yogurt and Seasoning and cooked in a Tandoori Oven
Chargha just means chicken in Pashto. They can call it Tandoori for recognizability, but Delhi style spicing is different than Pakistani spicing, as you might imagine.
(Made the mistake of buying Shan chaat masala during the pandemic instead of Everest or Badshah, never dreaming that chaat masala could taste so vastly different.)
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Just a question to whomever wants to answer: perhaps the North American version of tandoori chicken has been toned down for the North American palate? We have a proliferation of Indian restaurants here in Ottawa, Canada however friends and coworkers that have been to India tell me that the Indian food they get here is a lot less flavourful than what one would find in India.
Simple meal of feta (a local [well, Vermont] feta that I can truly embrace)/local cherry tomato/crushed red pepper/languishing local parsley/canned chickpeas/local garlic served over local pasta. I aspire to be a locavore: no/minimal packaging, you know your farmers. I’m grateful that’s possible in my corner of the world.
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I mean a lot of non-western food gets toned down for foreign consumption, so it wouldn’t surprise me.
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I have to agree that, despite living in the boonies, we have great access to locally raised meat & fresh produce year round. We are lucky, indeed.
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And bananas! I’m in the camp that if it wasn’t green two days ago then it’s already too ripe to eat and enjoy.
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Same, same. It’s for banana bread.
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A post was merged into an existing topic: What’s for Dinner #104 - the Almost Green Edition - March 2024
Or smoothies.
So did the husband like it on day 1?
In this instance, North American isn’t 1 size fits all — in my experience, the North Indian food in Canada has been far superior on average to what’s available in the US. Toronto probably tops that list, given the significant Punjabi immigrant population (maybe Vancouver is up there too). Ottawa I have no experience with, you may be stuck with what we have 
Re indian food being toned down for a non-indian palate, that’s true with most immigrant food outside its native country. (The exception I find in nyc is the “cab driver” places which are catering primarily to their own people, not to a foreign palate.)
But tandoori is the silliest of things to “tone down” because it’s not “spicy” as such. The issue I have is that it’s dry and flavorless in almost every instance I’ve encountered, which is bizarre for a dish that’s twice marinated, once with yogurt, and then flash-cooked in a tandoor. Most other kababs don’t suffer this.
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Had to correct myself…Cricket Creek Farm is in Western MA/Berkshires, not VT.
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I think I’ll get some take-out butter chicken in Toronto this weekend.
I might try 2 versions to compare, the same day.
We have a nice South Asian food in Toronto thread running.
I did a compare and contrast take-out with takeout pork souvlaki and stuffed grape leaves a couple months ago.
A post was merged into an existing topic: What’s for Dinner #104 - the Almost Green Edition - March 2024
I latched onto this the minute I saw it - seeing just now catching up. Would you mind sharing his luscious blue cheese dip recipe, please. I had one years ago that was so good. However, the recipe got lost during a move and I have been hoping to find it again. I would so appreciate the recipe.
