Nisha and Nishanth's Culinary Debacles

We decided to try out a new Indian restaurant and went for the buffet to Maharaja's. The buffet was quite good. They had a good spread of dishes from salads, starters, rice, naan and dessert. I especially liked the chicken seekh kabab there. They are located at: 4152 W Spring Creek Pkwy Suite 132 Plano, TX 75024 Phone: (972) 867-6002

This is the place to go to if you miss the spiciness of Andhra food. The food here delicious but really spicy. Their medium version tends to be extremely spicy although I feel the mild version of the food does not catch up in taste. We love the chicken biryani and chilli chicken here. They are located at: 4020 Hedgvcoxe Road Plano, TX 75024 (972) 398 6036

We went to Mayuri for lunch with friends. The buffet was good and they had several options. The food was overall good. It is definitely a restaurant that one can go to. They are located at: 1102 W I 635 Irving , TX 75039 (972) 910-8788

Swagat is the nearest Indian restaurant from home. We have had food twice at this place both to-go, the portions are generous quantities and overall I liked the food although Nishanth is averse to going back there. When it comes to dinner, it is an expensive place to have food at and one of the reasons we don't go back there often. Whenever we have gone, there has hardly been anyone around. They prepare the food very fast and the waiting time is around 10 minutes. Definitely worth a visit. They are located at: 101 W Spring Creek Pkwy Ste 734 Plano , TX 75023 (972) 517-4000

Iravat is located on Legacy Drive. We stopped by here to try some different food. We tried out biryani, chicken curry and a starter. The food was excellent and the service was also fine. However, the price was a little steep (around 50 dollars for 2 entrees, starter and naan) and it is not a place we would be going to quite often. I definitely recommend it if you are willing to splurge. They are located at: ADDRESS 240 Legacy Dr. Suite 306 Plano, TX 75023 PHONE 972-517-8200

I got a Futura hard anodized pressure cooker as a house warming gift. My friend got it for me from India. Unfortunately, part of the handle was broken in the transportation process but the rest of the cooker was intact. The cooker looks gorgeous and can pack quite a good amount of food. I no longer have to make several batches when I have a party with the 9 L capacity cooker. The cooker easily cooks food for a dozen guests. It cleans up quite easy and so far I have had no problem. For those who are used to judging the cooking time by the number of whistles, this is a totally different experience. You need to set the timer on and accurately judge the time required to cook food. It is a trial and error process. I used the recipes in the guide book as an indication of the amount of time required. That said, if we got the time right, food came out perfectly each and every time. Although the cooking time after the pressure is built up is very less, a few minutes for most dishes, you ...

I got this kadhai as a housewarming gift. I bought the 2.75 L Deep Fry Pan (Kadhai) with a stainless steel cover. The first time I used it, everything stuck and my vadas came apart. However, after 2 to 3 uses I can now use the kadhai comfortably. It is useful for sabzis and deep frying and it does allow one to cook large batches at a go. After, the initial hard start it has served me well. As far as cleaning goes, the kadhai is not as easy to clean as my tadka pan was and has several black spots. I end up using stainless steel scrubbers to clean the outside and many times the inside. I have a mixed feeling about this kadhai. It looks beautiful and serves the purpose. http://www.hawkinscookers.com/2.1.4.futura_deep_fry_pans.asp

I asked my friend to get this tava and it was a huge mistake. Until now I have not figured out how to make it work without anything sticking, no matter how much oil is put on tava, from rotis, dosas to vegetable cutlets. I will stay away from Futura hard anodized tavas in future. http://www.hawkinscookers.com/2.1.1.futura_tava.asp

When we lived in India, my dream was to set up my kitchen with Futura cookware. It all looked so beautiful. I got the Futura non-stick dosa tava as a gift from my friend and it works well as it should. I use it mainly for making dosas although I have used it a couple of times for making rotis as well. It is quite good and the dosa does not stick, there is very less oil required and the dosa spreads beautifully. I would definitely recommend buying it. For a list of the Futura tavas, please visit http://www.hawkinscookers.com/2.1.1.futura_tava.asp

We got this as a gift for our house warming. It is a mixer grinder that is known to be good for grinding indian foods. Unfortunately for me the American mixer grinders could not do the job good enough. So my friend got me this mixer grinder. We use it mainly for grinding spices, making coconut chutney and ginger-garlic paste. It works so beautifully and definitely worth buying it. It is amazing how wonderful cooking becomes with the right appliances. http://compare.ebay.com/like/251211931082?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

A friend gifted us this grinder as a gift and it is so totally worth it. We use this grinder for grinding idli-dosa batter. I am yet to try it out for vadas. The grinder also has a kneading attachment and I am yet to try it out. http://www.bombaylimited.net/blc/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=54#axzz2Rz038DRa The grinder works beautifully although you do have to ensure that you keep getting the batter off the sides once in a while to ensure that this batter is ground smoothly. It is quite a task to take off the batter from the grinding stones, I usually use my hands to do the same. My friend told me that there used to be an attachment to remove the batter but with the newer model, they do not give it anymore. It is important to clean the grinder stones and the grinder immediately because the batter dries up and gets difficult to clean. I find using a brush quite effective. I can easily grind 6 cups of rice/dal and that is quite some quantity. I haven't tried ...

We came to the FunAsia Richardson Theaters and had chat here. They have a theater, a stall that sells chats and several other food items and several banquet halls. The chat was good and the price affordable. Although, the theater was not up to the mark, the chats were delicious. They are located at: 1210 East Belt Line Road, Richardson, TX 75081-3707

We normally go to the Pasand in Richardson, TX and decided to try this one out for a change. The food spread was not as varied as the one in Richardson and the food was cold. Also, i didnt like the ambience and there wasnt enough seating available. I would prefer the Richardson location any day over the Irving location. They are located at: 2600 N Belt Line Rd Irving, TX 75062 (972) 594-0693

This is a god send and i just love this tadka pan. Since my husband loves to have south indian food especially chutneys, i end up using this pan quite often. I have had it just a week and used it everyday. It is easy to clean and so convenient to use. Since it is heavy bottomed it sits well on the electric stove and the long handle makes it real easy to handle! The spices heat up really well. http://www.amazon.com/Futura-Anodised-Tadka-Spice-Heating/dp/B003SLDNEI I bought it from Indian supermarket, Irving for $9.99 plus tax and it is quite a good buy. I suppose you get it for much less in India.

We happened to have dinner at this place and it was horrible. We ordered for biryani. The food was attrocious for the price we paid. Its definitely a place to avoid! They hardly had any customers and probably tourists like us who come in unaware. Taj Indian Restaurant 6524 Carrier Drive, Orlando, FL

We went to this restaurant and found it completely americanized! The price is quite high and the food has absolutely no taste due to lack of spice. Its definitely something people who cant handle spice would want to start with but definitely not something most indians would like. Just across the road from clay pit is Flavors which is just awesome food. Clay pit is quite pricey, has good service and if it weren't for the blandness of the food (the meat and rice is perfectly cooked) it would be a good choice. They are located at: 4460 Belt Line Rd, Addison - (972) 233-0111

http://www.indianflavors.net/ 4101 Beltline Road, Addison, TX 75001 Ph: 9727899206 We tried this place out yesterday and it was just awesome ! This is the best indian food i have ever had in Dallas. We had a mixed platter and everything was cooked to perfection from the shish kabab, tandoori chicken, chicken tikka. Nishanth ordered a hyderabadi chicken biryani and that too was cooked to perfection - the meat was done perfectly and the spices were just right. I ordered for chicken manchurian and egg fried rice. Although, i wasnt too happy with the chicken manchurian the egg fried rice was perfect. Overall, i was quite content and it was the best place Nishanth could have taken me out on my birthday. Update 04/22/2011: We went yesterday night to flavors and it took a turn for the worse. The chicken was undercooked and not marinated well and the chicken tikka masala was too salty. The rotis were all hard and the hyderabadi chicken biryani was not up to the mark either. I was quite...

http://www.ruchipalace.com/ 3128 E Trinity Mills Rd Carrollton, TX 75006 (972) 818-9588 We tried out a new place this weekend - Ruchi Palace. Since we were going to Irving, we decided to go to a restaurant that comes on the way and it was pretty decent. They have a lot of variety. I liked their chicken dishes and chaat. The dahi vada, double meetha and fruit custard wasnt made well at all. I didnt get to taste the vegetarian dishes since i was already full. The price was also pretty ok - 10 dollars for the buffet and its worth a try.

Chettinaad Palace 2205 N. Central Exp way, Suite 180 Plano, TX 75075Phone: 469 229 9100, Fax: 469 229 9101 http://www.chettinaadpalace.com/Chettinaad_Palace_files/home.htm We have been to this restaurant a few times. Its not one of my favourite restaurants. The ambience is not good and the service is worse. They serve the wrong dish and claim that what has been ordered looks like that. It takes them hours to prepare a cup of coffee and the food is served in its own sweet time. Coming to the food, its just about ok and nothing great. We have tried the buffet once and since one has a greater variety to choose from its palatable. May be worth a try once but