stockpiling Indian food -- what do you think?

I'd like to have more Indian food in my life than I do. I live in the north suburbs (so no hopping over to Devon whenever I've got a craving), and the Peacock in Vernon Hills is the best (and practically the only) Indian restaurant option around, but I don't always feel like an hour and a half of hiking over there and waiting and schlepping the stuff home just to get an Indian food fix. Needless to say no one delivers Indian food around here (oh, sometimes I think I'd move to London just for that). Recently, and much to my delight, Cooks Illustrated published recipes for vegetable curry and chicken tikka masala. I tried them both and was very happy with the results (not, mind you, that I have much around here to compare with, but I was proud of my own handiwork). But again, it's and hour or two of shopping and cooking to get some Indian food -- without, that is, pouring it out of a jar.

So my new idea is to buy a bunch of dishes from an Indian restaurant and store the containers in the freezer, for use whenever I want them. If you don't think this idea is crazy, tell me, what kinds of Indian dishes are best suited to freezing?

I think what you need to do is... get a cookbook, Madhur Jaffrey or whoever, pick out some dishes, make a big shopping list, make a run to the nearest Patel Bros. or whatever and get all the spices and other Indian ingredients you need, and then make your dishes over a month or two--

and post about it in a thread like this one!

I mean, sure, some things would probably freeze pretty decently, curries better than samosas, say, and nothing wrong with that, but this would be more fun. (For us, anyway.)

I'll have to agree with the cookbook suggestion. I recommend Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking. You've already tried some recipes so it looks to be just a matter of stocking the basic dry ingredients.

It may seem overwhelming at first to stock an Indian pantry, but it'll pay off (since you're learning a new skill AND saving money) in the long run.

Which general northern area are you in? India House in Buffalo Grove has creditable Indian food. I don't always want to drive all the way to Vernon Hills, either.

P & P Asian Imports on Golf Rd. in Niles (just east of Milwaukee) is an Indian/Pakistani grocery store that has lots of tasty packaged meals (generally vegetarian), frozen Indian dishes, and handy mixes for making great Indian food at home quite easily.

But of course filling the freezer is another possibility. But I find that I'm kept happy with a cupboard full of Palak Paneer and masala mixes.

Have you ever tried any of the "ready-made" indian meals, such as those made by Tasty Bites, Swaad, or Ashoka? They come in foil pouches, which you boil for 5 minutes and then (usually) serve over rice. The quality is fairly good -- obviously, you are going to find better at any competent Indian restaurant -- but they definitely satisfy the Indian craving in a pinch. The choices are limited. You can usually find different types of dal, the spinach dish with the cheese (name escaping me right now) and chana masala. They sell Tasty Bites at Costco, Jewel & some Whole Foods. The prices at Jewel & Whole Foods are pretty high (around 3-4 dollars per meal) On the other hand, Patel Brothers on Devon sells a whole line of Swaad "pouch meals" for a much cheaper price (as low as $1.79 per meal) AND you can get frozen paratha there. too! I would say that some of these pouch meals are better than others, but they're definitely worth trying and once you find what you like -- it's easy to buy ten a time and throw them in your pantry.

Just thought of Shoba, who teaches Indian cooking classes from her home in Glenview. That's another option. Take a class -- or see if she'll cook for you.

I've been to one of her classes, and it was great fun. Here's a thread from other LTHers who've gone to her classes:

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.ph ... od+classes

Freezing restaurant take-out isn't a bad idea, but why not take your obsession a step further and (as others have suggested)...CIY?

If you CIY from scratch, I recommend Madhur Jaffrey's new Quick & Easy Indian Cooking. Despite the fact that Indian food tastes so complex, it really isn't difficult if you a) have a fundamental understanding of how to cook and b) have the right spices.

But, if you're more of a semi-homemade cook, the curry/biriyani/vindaloo and other pre-made pastes in jars at Patel Bros. are fairly good. In fact, that's how I started learning the basics of Indian food--getting the techniques/cooking methods down using pre-made sauces/pastes/etc., then gradually making those things from scratch.

maureencd wrote:Have you ever tried any of the "ready-made" indian meals, such as those made by Tasty Bites, Swaad, or Ashoka? They come in foil pouches, which you boil for 5 minutes and then (usually) serve over rice. The quality is fairly good -- obviously, you are going to find better at any competent Indian restaurant -- but they definitely satisfy the Indian craving in a pinch. The choices are limited. You can usually find different types of dal, the spinach dish with the cheese (name escaping me right now) and chana masala. They sell Tasty Bites at Costco, Jewel & some Whole Foods. The prices at Jewel & Whole Foods are pretty high (around 3-4 dollars per meal) On the other hand, Patel Brothers on Devon sells a whole line of Swaad "pouch meals" for a much cheaper price (as low as $1.79 per meal) AND you can get frozen paratha there. too! I would say that some of these pouch meals are better than others, but they're definitely worth trying and once you find what you like -- it's easy to buy ten a time and throw them in your pantry.

Valli Produce has a pretty decent selection of these meals. I think they are about $1.79 each. I go to the Arlington Heights store and buy these meals regularly. They have a pretty good selection of frozen and non-frozen. They also have some different Naans, and Parathras. While not as good as a Devon restaurant, it is pretty good as far as pre packaged food goes. They seem to alternate what they carry at any one time so there is plenty of variety. They also have various dry foods for making your own.