The International
Indian Film Academy Awards are being held in Toronto
today through Friday. Tickets for the ceremony sold out six months
ago, which gives you a pretty good idea of just how "jai ho" big
this is in the world of film. Thankfully, all those visiting
producers, writers, and gorgeous actors and actresses will have
some bloody awesome restaurants to choose from when it comes time
to nosh, since Toronto is known as Canada's answer to Mumbai.
I LOVE Indian food, but have a pretty wimpy
palate, which means not a lot of hot and spicy. I do love all the
tangy intense (but not painful!) flavours of Indian cuisine,
especially butter chicken (or murgh
makhani as it's known on the subcontinent!). I know to
true Indian food connoisseurs, butter chicken is probably like the
roast beef and potatoes meal of the east, but to me, it is a
delicious concoction.
I can't always find a good butter chicken option at restaurants and
have tried some prepared sauces to make at home, but have been a
bit intimidated at the idea of making it myself from scratch. To
find a true, authentic recipe, I started surfing some blogs
dedicated to Indian fare and wanted to share.
Sailu's Kitchen
Blog
While looking for a butter chicken recipe, I came across a recipe
for Vermicelli (Semiya) Biryani on Sailu's Kitchen
blog and decided I would make it for my kids this weekend. Sailaja
is a full-time mother and homemaker who loves to cook for her
family. She focuses on flavours from the Andhra Pradesh region
where she lives and prepares her recipes using farm-fresh produce
from her local bazaar. The idea that Sailaja makes this meal for
her family when she's "pressed for time" was strangely compelling
to me. When I'm pressed for time preparing dinner for my three
kids, I pull a box out of the freezer. I am trying this one for
sure!
Spicy
Tasty
While continuing my search for butter chicken, I came across this
blog post for Tandoori chicken, my second favourite Indian
food dish! The Spicy Tasty blog is actually written by three
authors, two of whom live in the U.S., and features fabulous food
porn photos and a great variety of recipes, categorized according
to appetizers, veggie entrees and sides, desserts, and meat and
seafood entrees.
What's For
Lunch, Honey?
Finally,
I found what I was looking for at What's for Lunch, Honey?
Written by Meeta Wolf, an Indian expat currently living in Germany,
Meeta's blog is well organized and she provides a little history or
anecdote about the recipe as well as a "verdict" at the end that
prepares you for, well, what you're preparing! I know this is going
to be gooood!
So, my weekend just got booked! I've got a mittful of delicious
recipes to try and can't wait.
What about you? Do you cook Indian from scratch or do you have the
best restaurant in your town on speed dial?
Reni Walker is a lifestyle Content Producer (and a butter
chicken lover for life!).
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Posted:
Thu, Jun 23 2011 by
Guest Blogger