Tips to enjoy authentic Indian food

Are you planning to enjoy eating authentic Indian food in restaurant? In that case, there are certain aspects of the food and services that you should take into account to avoid embarrassment of ending up eating a wrong food served with unfriendly service.

There are many restaurants in London or in any city to serve you food from the subcontinent. But not all of them are necessarily good enough to serve a cuisine of your choice. They can also be rated differently on their record of service.

Authentic Indian food is the one that is cooked in keeping with the traditional methods of India. Such cuisines are prepared with traditional ingredients like certain vegetables and spices as well as milk and meat based products.

If you are first timer to the Indian food then we suggest that you should not opt for the restaurants that are too experimenting with the cuisines. The chefs in these restaurants tend to corrupt the original taste and aroma of any dish by bringing in some foreign ingredients and cooking method to it. Such cuisines may taste great, but you will miss original taste of the dish.

When sitting across the table in one of the restaurants in London to enjoy authentic Indian food, take your time to go through the menu. The Indian food menu is usually extensive because of varieties of offerings. You will find plenty of choices to make in appetizers, main course vegetable or meat based dishes and deserts. Many of the dishes are known by their main ingredients. So, you can choose the cuisines as per your liking of the ingredients.

It is a common belief that Indian cuisines are prepared in hot spices. While that is true, not all of the cuisines have hot spices. Many of the dishes, in fact, are cooked in lesser amount of spices. You can even order for preparing of the cuisines in fewer spices that are not hot in your mouth and stomach.

Find out all the details about the restaurant of your choice on Internet. You can have a glimpse of the food and services on such restaurant’s website. Do not visit the place without booking the table and knowing about their specialty dishes that you would like to have while enjoying authentic Indian food.

Christmas Dinner Menus: Your Top Four Christmas Dinner Ideas

Are you trying to finalize what you will be making for Christmas dinner, but you can't decide among different Christmas dinner menus? Are you looking to cook something for Christmas that you will enjoy both making and eating? Read this article for our top 3 Christmas dinner ideas, that will help you prepare a Christmas dinner that everyone will enjoy!

Here are the four Christmas dinner ideas to help you cook a great Christmas dinner:

- Christmas Turkey. Turkey is not just for Thanksgiving! Many people cook turkey for Christmas - it is going to make a great part of your Christmas dinner menu and it will look great on your Christmas table!

Make sure to buy a turkey that will feed everyone at the table. Roasting the turkey is usually how everyone prepares it. Once you have decided on using turkey for your Christmas dinner, you will need to decide on your side dishes and dessert, and you will have your Christmas dinner menu ready!

- Other Poultry, Including Chicken, Duck and Goose. What if you don't want to make turkey for Christmas, because you just made a turkey for Thanksgiving? But what if you still want to serve poultry for your Christmas dinner? No problem! You still have lots of poultry choices for your Christmas dinner!

You can choose from chicken, duck or a goose for your dinner. Any one of these items will be great on your Christmas dinner table.

- Christmas Ham. If you have been looking at different Christmas dinner menus, and you do not want to cook a Christmas turkey, then consider making Christmas ham instead. A lot of people have made turkey for Thanksgiving dinner, and they want to cook something different, so they make a Christmas ham instead of the turkey.

A lot of people serve ham for Christmas, because it is fairly easy to make, and the Christmas ham always tastes great. So if you like ham, or if you are just not interested in cooking poultry for your Christmas dinner, a fabulous Christmas ham is going to make a great Christmas dinner!

- Christmas Cookies. Once you have looked at many different Christmas dinner menus, and finally figured out your own, including your main dish, your side dishes and the vegetables that you are going to serve, you will be faced with one more choice. This choice is going to be what to serve for dessert for your Christmas dinner.

How about great tasting Christmas cookies for dessert? Bake Christmas cookies, or ask your guests to bake cookies and bring them to dinner. A great assortment of different Christmas cookies will make a fabulous Christmas dinner dessert!

The Basics Of Cooking BBQ Ribs

To cook up great ribs, first you will need to peel the papery membrane off the back of the rack of ribs. It’s a little tricky if you’re not sure what you are looking for, but all over the surface of the back of the ribs there a this thin membrane. You can use a tine of a fork or something similar to seperate the membrane, and then just peel it off.

Next thing is to rinse the ribs with cold water and dry with a paper towel. Then put the ribs in a large baking dish. Put in enough apple cider to cover the ribs. Let it marinade for at least 3 hours, up to 24 hours.

setup your grill for indirect cooking (if you have charcoal then put 1 small pile of lit coals on one side of the grill, place a 2nd pile of lit coals on the opposite end). If you have a 2+ burner gas grill then just light one of the burners. The goal is to have it so the ribs don’t cook directly over the coals (or burner)

Place the ribs on the grill (not over the coals or burner) Every 1/2 hour or so spray the ribs down with apple cider to keep them nice and moist. The ribs will take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to cook. during the last 1/2 hour baste the ribs heavily with your favorite BBQ sauce.

Once your done do a final basting. (I often see people start out by putting BBQ sauce on the ribs before cooking, then they wonder why the ribs come out burnt really fast. It’s because the sugar in the BBQ burns, not the ribs)

You will know the ribs are done when the meat peels back from the bone about 1/4 inch.

You can also use wood smoke and smoke the ribs while you are grilling. I always use hickory.

The above is pretty darn basic, but should net you some tasty KC style ribs with a good consistancy.

Sometimes during the last 1/2 when I put BBQ sauce on, I then wrap the ribs in aluminum foil and let then finish in there. That will keep the ribs really moist (but not too moist)

Mumbo Jumbo BBQ Chilli Chicken Wings

3 pounds fresh jumbo chicken wings
2 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 (18-ounce) bottle Teriyaki Barbecue Sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoon Liquid Smoke Seasoning*
6 cloves garlic, minced
2-inch piece fresh ginger root, grated
8 Habanero chile peppers, finely chopped**
4 Serrano chile peppers, finely chopped**
3 tablespoons prepared horseradish

* Liquid Smoke Seasoning can be found near the barbecue sauce section in most grocery stores.

** Always wear gloves when working with hot chile peppers (fresh, dried or roasted chiles). Never touch your eyes when working with chiles. Gloves will protect your hands, but the capsaicin in the chile pepper sticks to all it touches, and if you touch near your eyes it will burn. Rinse well with copious amounts of water.

Cut off the tip of each chicken wing and discard it. Cut the wing in half (cutting at the joint) to make two pieces. Wash and dry the chicken wings (they need to be very dry); Place wings in a large bowl and set aside.

To prepare sauce: In a non-stick saucepan over low heat, add Worcestershire Sauce, Teriyaki Barbecue Sauce, honey, Liquid Smoke, garlic, ginger, habanero and serrano chile peppers, and horseradish. Simmer mixture for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Cover the chicken wings with 3/4 of the hot sauce, gently stirring to coat evenly. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate approximately 12 to 24 hours to marinate them.

When ready to cook, Preheat barbecue grill to LOW (spray grill with vegetable-oil cooking spray).

Remove chicken wings from the sauce an place on the prepared grill. Cover barbecue with lid, open any vents, and cook 45 to 60 minutes over LOW HEAT or until a meat thermometer registers an internal temperature of 165 degrees F (juices will run clear when cut with the tip of a knife); turning and basting several times.

Serve hot with the remaining sauce on the side.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.