Stop #4: Tanduri ConFusion!

Last night, we completed Indian food adventure number four!  Using our second groupon, we made our way out, WAY OUT to Tanduri Fusion, on 174th and West Center. And this time, we switched things up a bit.

Gabe and I started with an appetizer, the Chicken Pakoras. The menu described them as "6 Pieces of chicken dipped in spiced chick pea flour batter and deep fried." The batter didn't stay on very well while eating these chicken balls, but they were quite good! I'd eat them again. 

At Tanduri Fusion the dinners are accompanied by either soup or salad. The choices of soup were Mulligatawny (right) or Spicy Squash (left). Gabriel had the Spicy Squash and ate it all up!  Ruth and I had the Mulligatawny.  It had a wonderful creamy, think consistency and was topped with a little Jasmine Rice.  I didn't care for the flavor though.  It was too tangy and sour for my taste.

Ruth once again ordered the sweet Naan. I didn't try any any but it sure looks yummy!

Guess what Ken had? The Top Sirloin! It came with a side of sauteed veggies (zucchini and grape tomatoes), as well as mashed potatoes with peas and Indian spices. He liked it!  He remarked that it was better than he expected and even gave it three smiley faces.

Ruth stuck to her guns and had herself some Chicken Tikka Masala.  The Chicken Tikka Korma at Tanduri Fusion was very different than any other we have tried. The sauce was watery and tomato based. It didn't have the thick sweet creaminess that she experienced at the two previous stops. On her rating sheet Ruth gave it a sad face and commented, "Something was missing from the sauce."

Gabriel had his usual as well, the Chicken Tikka Korma. It was a very bright red, thick and creamy sauce.  He raved about it.  When I wondered aloud how they got the sauce so red, he quipped, "Paint chips." He gave it 3 out of 5 smiley faces and was sleepy by the end of the meal that on his comment sheet he wrote, "It gave me fatigue."

Soooooo......what about me, you're asking?  Well the thing is- the lamb dishes at Tanduri Fusion seemed a bit pricey to me. $17.95.  So I decided to have the Goa Chicken and save a few bucks.  The menu described the Goa Chicken as "Boneless chicken cooked in a spicy coconut based sauce."  The sauce was really delicious. It looked like a Thai Yellow Curry, but wasn't sweet.  The problem with my dish was that my chicken was so tough I could barely chew it!  It was like the goat all over again.  I gave it a smiley face for the sauce, and sad face for the chicken.  Am I turning into my dad?

We have decided on three more Indian restaurants and were even lamenting the end of our family dinner adventures together.  So it was decided that after the Indian food tour, we will search for Omaha's best burger.  Yay!

Meal #3: Ken Finds a Winner!

      
Well......maybe.........

The Hindu gods must be smiling down on this project because recently there were groupons offered for TWO of the Indian restaurants on our list!  And by "gods" I mean my dear, awesome friend Elisabeth Percival who told me about the special offers and emailed me the links.  One of them just so happened to be for Paradise Biryani Pointe, you know, the one we tried to go to for our very first stop on the tour?  It's a good thing they were closed that night! 

We had our first guest join us this evening; Elva Rodriguez, Gabriel's girlfriend.  She is a lovely young woman and we brought her along in the hopes that Gabriel wouldn't make fart jokes in front of her. It didn't work.

Ruth, Gabe, Elva and I, arrived at the restaurant before Ken and decided to pick his food for him before he got there.  We decided he should have the Chilly Chicken and the Potato and Pea Samosas.  The Chilly Chicken is breaded chunks of chicken in a sweet and spicy tomato sauce with chunks of onion and green peppers and a hearty sprinkling of fresh cilantro on top.  His first reaction? "Pthhah.....too much cilantro!" At one point during the meal he declared, "These things were actually pretty good together!" I was feeling pretty optimistic about his attitude which was premature because at the end of the meal Ken heaved a heavy sigh and followed it up with, "This is just so much work. It's just......torture." In spite of that, he gave it three smiley faces. 

Pictured to the left is what I assume to be Papadum.  I asked our server what it was made of but he had no idea. The most fun during the meal was when Ken discovered the dolphin-shaped piece of Papadum and made it swim around the table with his hand while he made squeaky dolphin noises.  I wasn't quick enough to get a pic.  :(

Ruth again ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala.  It was probably the most incredible dish that any of us have tasted on the tour so far.  I took several bites myself.  It was sweeter and creamier than any of the other Tikka Masala's we have seen.  Even though the highest possible rating is five smiley faces, Ruth gave this one six smiley faces and wrote along side, "best so far!"  Ruth also ordered the Kashmiri Naan, which is what Paradise calls their version of the sweet raisin flat bread.  This time I was smart and only took one tiny bite.  We all agreed it was so-so.  Kind of dry and flaky. No where near the decadence of last night's sweet naan.

GabriElva had the Chicken Korma and neither one of them had very much to say about it. Neither of them remembered to fill out their sheets so I guess we'll never know the number of smiley faces; but hey- aren't they cute?!

While Paradise Biryani Pointe does have goat, the menu said that all of the goat is served with the bone in.  I didn't feel like wrestling goat bones tonight, so I stuck with the same dish I had last night; Lamb Curry.  The flavor of the sauce was good; it was creamy and a little sweet. It was also a little bitter and spicy and had so many spices.  The lamb meat was not tender like the meat I had at Mother India, so it was disappointing.  I also had a bowl of Mulligatawny Soup.  It was more watery than I expected, but that made it nice as a summer soup.  It had a nice, light flavor and loads of yummy lentils at the bottom. Two and a half smiley faces from yours truly!

See you next time!

Meanwhile in India......

Mother India, that is!                            

Tonight we spontaneously ventured out for our second Indian meal in the grand Mother Omaha tour.  We were sitting around together waiting to see 90 mile-an-hour winds and softball size hail and found that this can make a family VERY hungry.  We decided to risk our necks and be fearless in our quest in spite of the flash flood warnings and tornado watch until 11pm.

                                   This is a lovely photo of Ken and Ruth pretending to read their menus!

                                                                           

Ruth was very naughty again and ordered the raisin and almond Naan.  It was DELICIOUS. Much better than what we sampled at our previous stop. It was fluffy and moist.  I very much enjoyed eating it with the contrasting flavor of the spicy, fresh raita on top. 

So if you'll recall, last time Ken had the Butter Chicken.  We couldn't find a dish by the same name on Mother India's menu, but the Chicken Tikka Makahani said it was made with a butter sauce so we all agreed that it would probably be the most comparable. I forgot to snap a pic of Ken's dish but no matter, it pretty much looked like the rest of them below.

"Hey, dad, do you like yours?"

"No."

Oh, I'm sorry, do you want some of mine?"

"No."

Oops!  The sauce on Ken's dish was extremely gingery.  I tried it myself and it was too much ginger for me, and too much ginger for him.  So, did he give it one smiley face, or one sad face?  I don't know! I can't read

his handwriting.  We're hoping dad doesn't drop out of the tour and we've promised him that if there is hamburger on the menu of the next stop, he is more than welcome to order it. He and Gabriel did get some buttery looking Garlic Naan with their dinners and they ate it all!

Ruth ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala.  She raved about it! Said it was so yummy and satisfying. She gave it five smiley faces and wrote, "So good!"

Gabriel had the Chicken Tikka Korma this time.  I'm not quite sure what's behind the switch, but he is a rebel after all. Wonder who he gets that from..... Gabriel seemed to enjoy his very much! On the rating sheet where one writes either smiley faces or a sad face, Gabriel gave it a 100 over 5 in a fraction format and two hearts followed by the phrase "It was good  perfect!!"

And as for me and my house, we shall eat the goat curry! But there is no goat at Mother India!  YAY!  So I picked the closest thing I could think of, lamb curry.  This dish was fantastic!  The sauce was very close to the same flavor as the curry sauce at Maharaja, but perhaps a bit creamier and filled with tender, juicy, boneless chunks of lamb.  I was so happy! I gave it four smiley faces.  Mother India was a huge hit, well.....maybe not for Ken. Poor Ken. 

Will there be a second stop on the Mother Omaha tour this week?  Indian food twice in one week? Stay tuned and see!


This is picture of Gabriel not wanting to have his picture taken!