This is not a recipe at all...but is in fact a pantry staple of mine.
The Talin Market in Albuquerque has about 20 different varieties of this little Indian-in-a-box meal. Most are vegetarian or vegan...all are simply heat and serve. Honestly, 1 minute in the microwave and voila. You have some pretty good din-din. A native of Agra probably wouldn't dig this as much as I do, but I'm a white chick from Kansas. What do I know about Indian food, right?
Cook up some rice, you got yourself a complete meal. Plus, it's a perfect size to serve two people comfortably (three people if you make a dessert, or one person if you are hormonal or want leftovers).
Another plus...average price:$1.75. Yep. ONE dollar and 75 cents. Can't beat that. If you want to have company over, just cook up four or five different ones and pretend you are back at the Passage buffet...
Bonus #3 - as of yet, this has not proven to have the same "green curry haze" effect as the Passage buffet.
Most of them are pretty hot. I think a lot of mislabeling goes on. I purchased a sweet and sour pineapple curry labeled "mild" that took the skin off the roof of my mouth. I also purchased a lentil blend labeled with two chili's (international symbol for "medium spicy") that was as mellow as a split-pea soup. I would not recommend these for anyone who is not tolerant of zingy spices (i.e. Ber), because although some are very mild and mellow, others are sweat-inducing, and apparently you can't trust the chili pepper scale. To be safe, I usually put a blob of cottage cheese on my plate, so I can cut the spiciness down between bites if I need to. And I always keep tortillas handy for the same reason. It's the closest I can get to naan down here in NM.
If you don't see these dinners in your local grocery store, I would suggest trying a local Asian or international market. If you can't find them anywhere in your town, try ishopindian.com.
Disclaimer: I haven't actually tried this website, but it does carry a lot of the meals that I have purchased. I can't speak for the site, but the food is delish.
--shorthill
