Ah Indian food, I have missed you!

This afternoon we took the doglets to visit some friends, so got takeaways from Little India in Merivale on the way home.

I used my iPhone to check their online menu and phoned the order through.  We chose the Paneer Shimla Mirch (Home made Indian cottage cheese cooked with capsicum, onions, tomatoes and spices) and Aloo Saag (Potatoes cooked with spinach and spices) plus an Aloo Paratha (Unleavened wholemeal flour bread stuffed with potatoes).   Total was $34 including rice.

When I was down in Dunedin last year, the Little India’s Paneer Shimla Mirch was a standout meal from the 7 weeks of dining out, so I was keen to see if this location was as good.

Although we rang early, about 5.20pm, I was told 30 minutes.  We arrived 15 minutes later and I had to wait another 5 or so for my order.  They looked pretty busy already.

So home we went.  I really enjoy both of these dishes.  The Paneer Shimla Mirch had nice crunchy pieces of green capsicum and thin slices of perfectly cooked onion.  The Paneer was firm and slightly squeaky to the bite.  The sauce was a little sweet, slightly creamy, but not overly so.

The Aloo Saag was tangy compared to the Paneer Shimla Mirch.  The potatoes were firm but cooked well, boiled type potatoes rather than the roasted ones that some places do.

The Aloo Paratha was a little disappointing, I was expecting it to be a little more spiced potato, but it was fine, but nothing special.

Would we come back here again?  Yes, its a little further than we would normally go for takeaways but I really enjoyed it

Would we order the same dishes again?  Yes 

Would we try something else?  I’d like to try one of their dhals

Would we recommend Little India?  Yes, definitely!  As a chain Indian restaurant, I think its one of the better ones.  A friend from India once told me that the recipes they use here are exactly like her Mum in Bengal cooks.

Is it better than Welcome Vegetarian Cafe (our baseline restaurant)?  It’s hard to compare two completely different cuisines – I would say you can’t go wrong with either.