Indian curry is good, i usually have lamb curry with some yogurt drizzled on it, and naan on the side. My mom makes the Japanese variety, since my family is Asian, she uses Thai curry paste with some Madras curry powder, lime leaves, lemongrass, and garlic. She also uses coconut milk, peanuts, carrots, potatoes, eggplant, and a meat, usually chicken and duck, sometimes beef or pork, and on occasion raisins.
I made Japanese-style last night, with onions, potatoes, carrots and beef cubes. Decent, but the sauce could have been a little creamier and I may have used too much potatoes/carrots. I marinated the beef so they'd be tender. Good job, me.
I will kill for a place to get good Desi food in Chicago besides Indian Garden over by the river. Anyone?
So curry lovers, what are your favourite dishes? For me it has to be Prawn Patthia with Purree - Prawns cooked in onion, tomatoes and garlic sauce served on fried a kind of bread. It's not rare, but you won't find it in every restaurant. For mains I usually go for Chicken Ceylon, a middle hot ruby cooked with lots of coconut. Sides; Saag Aloo, Peshwari Naan and Pilau. Also, I don't know whether I'd drink it an any other time but you can't beat Kingfisher Lager to wash it down. "Keep them coming" I'd tell the waiter. When I first mved to the USA I missed curry more than anything, even more than football. Last time I went back I almost filled a suitcase with Pattak sauces and pastes.
Most decent-sized US cities have Indian restaurants (of various quality) and Indian grocery stores. I prefer to cook my own. Lamb korma, rogan josh, fish curry, lamb vindaloo are generally my favorite main course dishes. There seems to be a much larger percentage of Vegetarians among Indians here in the US than there are in the UK. Many Indians living here come from Bangalore and the south of the country. Vegetarian dishes are generally easier to make at home although I find that I don't like to pay the sometimes expensive price for potatoes, peas, and spinach at vegetarian Indian restaurants. While Indian food is much more popular now than it has ever been it has not dominated the culinary landscape like it has in England. The nearest equivalent of an ethnic (non-European) food that has similar impact on the US would be Mexican food (not what you'd get in Mexico and heavily modified for American tastes like English curry.)