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All this talk of India 
lately has really got me wanting my favorite indian dish. I just made plans to go to my favorite indian resteraunt in Amsterdam on wednesday and im stocked!
Everytime I go to this restaurant it feels like some magical entranceway to narnia or something. It is this small unsuspecting door sitting between a row of shops. When you ent it you follow this long narrow hallway that twists and turns with few markings until you finally open up to the full restaurant, but prior to that you feel like your about to see mr thomas scutter by or something.
The food is amazing though and with the usual lovely indian hospitality and beers. I am usually the only one there who isnt indian, which is how I know its the right place to be :)
@shibaprasad I have no idea how to spell it, i usually just point at the menu. Also i find some places make it totally different than others and only like certain ways of making it.
Most places called it either "Paneer Jahfzzeer" or something like that or "Paneer Tika". Its basically some sort of marinated Paneer cubes (red on the outside white on the inside) grilled till their a bit crispy on the outside, served with peppers and tomatoes. The sauce is usually dry, I wouldnt call it a sauce more of a marinade, and its very very spicy when made to my liking.
@freemo Aah! Got it what you are trying to say.
It is really tasty if it is made good.
@shibaprasad To die for... the unauthentic indian places just make it like some sort of soup with cheese chunks in it. Not a fan of that style. But when made right with the cheese properly grilled up and everything it is soooo good!
@freemo Absolutely!! And the overall quality actually depends a lot on the quality of Paneer. It affects the dish hugely.
@shibaprasad I've noticed that. The cheap paneer is very uniform and doesnt soak up any flavor, kinda bland. Home made is a bit chuny so has space to suck up a little flavor but more importantly just has more of a cheese like texture. Its one reason i make my own it really makes a huge difference. With that said There is some indian paneer in the grocery store here if you know where to look that isnt too bad for shelf-bought.
@freemo "The cheap paneer is very uniform and doesnt soak up any flavor, kinda bland."
Bullseye! Absolutely!
@freemo this is so cool. The diversity in Indian food makes me feel so proud. One can't get enough of it.
@_lunawinters I'm not sure if the resteraunts I see in america or the Netherlands represents your true diversity, usually restaurants dont. But I do **love** indian food, all of it. I like spicey food and indian is one of the few foods spicy enough for me to enjoy (even then i ask them to crank the spice up to 11). Plus aside from the hot spices there are so many nice flavors to work with. Im a tumeric and curry fan too and indian food seems to have a food deal of that.}
My real love is the paneer though. When i was younger an indian lady at a concention walked me through how to make it. After making it at home I fell in love and use it uncoventionally in dishes from my own culture (italian). My pasta sauce with paneer in it is amazing!
@freemo paneer is real tasty. But because it is made from milk, i am trying to avoid it. In process of going vegan.
@_lunawinters A respectful goal. Animal welfare is a huge issue right now and feel a little guilty about my own meat consumption sometimes.
@freemo i don’t eat meat at all, unlike my family, but the real problem is dairy.
@_lunawinters Is that related to a sacred view of cows or just a desire to be vegan in general?
@freemo i am not at all religious. My family is just not that understanding in these matters. They won't agree to my decision of replacing cow milk with coconut milk. Once, I move out, I will make changes for the nature.
@_lunawinters Why would they oppose something like that. Seems weird.
@freemo they don't understand. They say, "it doesn't matter if we change or not. Others aren't changing, why should we"
@freemo @_lunawinters Coconut milk used in quantities similar to cows milk causes severe indigestion. Its because of its laxative nature. Also extracting coconut milk is a pain and India there aren’t many interested vendors.
Its mostly a western concept that people are trying to imitate here.
You know the whole rabid “lets go organic” craze.
@Full_marx @freemo what do think is a better substitute for cow milk?
Its never bothered my stomach. I personally just find it a less disgusting concept than cows milk. There are also good ethical arguments.
@freemo @_lunawinters coconut milk has a lot of fermentable carbohydrates and fewer protiens. This means your gut bacteria is gonna have a field day fermenting those starches. Some constitutions are better at digesting this stuff than others.
I have heard good stuff about almond milk. But its a bit pricey again.
Id imagine there are far more people who are lactose intolerant than there are people sensative to nut milks.
@freemo @_lunawinters we don’t know yet.
We don’t have any data that represents large scale consumption of nut milk.
So from a eugenics perspective it would be futile to comment on this.
@Full_marx @freemo @_lunawinters
Each almond takes 1.1 gallons of water, (~4 liters).
Then, there's this:
https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/how-many-almonds-are-actually-your-almond-milk
@sda @freemo @_lunawinters Yes Nut milk in general is not only pricey, but also resource intensive.
Those numbers are only useful to that point if we contrast them with the resources needed to take the same quantity of cows milk. Just saying.
@freemo What is your favourite Indian food?