Indian food the whole family can enjoy?

[Anonymous]

My husband loves Indian food and so does my DS. My daughter can’t stand anything spicy but will eat anything mild (I mean no heat at all). Finally I also love The state if I
Indian food and all the aromatic spices but my gastroenterologist has forbidden me any food with heat. We have tried takeout from a few wonderful Indian restaurants and requested non spicy or mild dishes but when they arrive they are still impossibly spicy. I appreciate that the amount of heat is cultural but would love to find a restaurant that genuinely understands that when we mean non spicy it can’t have any 🌶. Does anyone have a recommendation of restaurants that make the sauces for individual orders or in general accommodate for more sensitive palates and tummies? Alternatively is there a more straightforward or clear way to ask for a real non-spicy dish other than please not spicy?

[Anonymous]

Where are you located? That will help with recommendations.

In general, if you order butter chicken it shouldn’t be spicy. You could even make it yourself - it’s not hard at all! Plenty of recipes online.

[Anonymous]

You can try one of the "fast food" Indian type places like Spice 6. Their food is incredibly bland.

[Anonymous]

We are in Takoma. We have tried Masala Story, Tiffin and one more I can’t recall right now. But we are willing to travel for pick up beyond this area.

[Anonymous]

Make it yourself? There are some dishes that aren’t hard, and you can just leave out the chilis. Buy naans at WF or the Indian grocery store, or just do rice. Start with simple things like potato-cauliflower curry, palak paneer (or Palak makai), and chana masala. You can always douse with some yogurt if things are too spicy.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I think you probably need to cook at home. Restaurant food is heavier and spicier than what many Indian people eat at home. And some of your GI issues might actually be associated with the amount of oil and ghee, not just the spices.

Tandoori chicken is easy to make at home. You can buy a spice mix at at Indian store, mix with a little oil, yoghurt, and lime juice, marinate and roast. My kids love it. Indian kids, like most kids, don't have the same tolerance for spice that adults do...so we do have much blander (spice-wise) food than you'll find at a restaurant. Also, indian people mix yogurt in with their food to moderate spice...and we eat it with bread (ie using a small piece of bread to scoop the food) or rice which also moderates spice.

[Anonymous]

Most Indian restaurants will let you dictate the level of heat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband loves Indian food and so does my DS. My daughter can’t stand anything spicy but will eat anything mild (I mean no heat at all). Finally I also love The state if I
Indian food and all the aromatic spices but my gastroenterologist has forbidden me any food with heat. We have tried takeout from a few wonderful Indian restaurants and requested non spicy or mild dishes but when they arrive they are still impossibly spicy. I appreciate that the amount of heat is cultural but would love to find a restaurant that genuinely understands that when we mean non spicy it can’t have any 🌶. Does anyone have a recommendation of restaurants that make the sauces for individual orders or in general accommodate for more sensitive palates and tummies? Alternatively is there a more straightforward or clear way to ask for a real non-spicy dish other than please not spicy?

I have GERD and gastroparesis. I can eat palak paneer. I have fed it to my babies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most Indian restaurants will let you dictate the level of heat.

They do, but the minimum level for many dishes is still quite spicy for some people.

At the South Indian restaurant that we order from, even their mildest versions of certain curries, like chana masala or bagara baingan are still fairly spicy. On the other hand, certain dishes are inherently mild, such as malai kofta, paneer butter masala, and palak paneer.

Some Indian restaurants will have non-Indian dishes on their menu to appease those who prefer more bland things. Ours includes a pseudo-Chinese menu with things like veggies noodles and veggies fried rice, as well as a "pizza dosa."

[Anonymous]

We order from this place - there are plenty of non-spicy options and I think you can also special order with no spice.

https://www.laligurasindiannepalibistro.com/

[Anonymous]

There is one Indian restaurant that does not use spicy but flavorful spices: Kadhai in Bethesda.
My son loves the butter chicken (ie tikka masala) and my daughter picks out the paneer in the saag paneer and eats it with naan bread.
We live in Rockville and drive down to get carryout. It’s the only non-spicy Indian restaurant I’ve found.

[Anonymous]

Chicken korma and shahi korma dishes have no spice usualy. We get those from jewel of india and they ate delicious.

[Anonymous]

We are Indian-American. Tolerance and taste for spices comes over time. When they were little, I was making fresh baby food for them (rice, lentils, veggies khichadi) that was mainly Indian but I was not going beyond a smidgen of turmeric, cumin and salt for their food. My kids were very reluctant to have spicy food that had heat in it, or that had a distinctive smell like asafoetida or fenugreek herb when they were younger. Obviously, we were making Indian food at least twice or thrice a week at home, so we had to really make sure that we were careful in what spices we were putting in em. Restaurant foods are oily and spicier. And even if they can adjust for hot spices, they very rarely will adjust the quantity of oil, ghee, butter and cream.

I would say that telling the restaurant that you need zero heat (no mirch, and no garam masala) will go a long way in cutting down the heat. They are used to non-Indians not being able to eat spicy food. Usual fare like Palaak paneer, butter chicken, palak-corn, butter paneer, shahi paneer, aloo-dum, baigan bharta, daal makhani etc will work. The raita given at most places are not to my kids liking. It should not be so sour or tangy. We make amazing raita at home.

Easy things to learn at home - daal, daal makhani, cholle, rajma, rice, peas pilaf (or any other veggi pilaf), raita, sauteed cauliflower (gobi bhujia), okra, eggplant bharta, gobi aloo. The base for most north Indian curries can be made by onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, cilantro, deseeded green chillies, and for spices just have - turmeric, cumin, paprika, cardamom, coriander seeds. You can make seriously delicious food with just these spices.

I have converted many of my kid's friends to Indian food because they have had food at our house and experienced the "flavor explosion" of home cooked Indian food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most Indian restaurants will let you dictate the level of heat.

They do, but the minimum level for many dishes is still quite spicy for some people.

At the South Indian restaurant that we order from, even their mildest versions of certain curries, like chana masala or bagara baingan are still fairly spicy. On the other hand, certain dishes are inherently mild, such as malai kofta, paneer butter masala, and palak paneer.

Some Indian restaurants will have non-Indian dishes on their menu to appease those who prefer more bland things. Ours includes a pseudo-Chinese menu with things like veggies noodles and veggies fried rice, as well as a "pizza dosa."

Indo-Chinese food is actually a type of cuisine very popular in India and it has a very different flavor profile than American-Chinese food or even Chinese food that is available in China, Taiwan or Singapore etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are in Takoma. We have tried Masala Story, Tiffin and one more I can’t recall right now. But we are willing to travel for pick up beyond this area.

Ghar e Kebab’s butter chicken has never been too spicy, and my daughter gets it every time. They’re pretty good about keeping spice levels down if you ask, and I find their food be less greasy than some others we’ve tried.

They’re in downtown Silver Spring, so they may deliver to you. You might need to call in your order, if there’s not an option for spice levels on their online ordering system. Their old one had it, but I don’t remember whether the new one does. But I’d suggest you walk in and order takeout in person, since that might make it easier to explain what you need. They’re super-nice.