local question for Indians, where are all the premixed curries in the supermarket?
Hello, I'm traveling in orissa right now and I'm looking for premixed curries i can buy to throw in a pot with water and make dinner with.
I've met plenty of locals and asked a few about instant or pre-mixed curries, but they all say that there's no such thing as premixed curries in india.
The strikes me as odd since instant curry is very common in every country with any sort of curry tradition I've been to and it seems like some company would have taken advantage of the market.
am I asking the wrong question?
I'm either not recognizing or haven't found any curry mixes yet.
They are right, kind of. There is no such thing as "pre-mixed curries". I would recommend finding some food using grocery delivery apps like BigBasket or Blinkit. You will find lots of options for food which you can throw in a pot with water and cook. Give me a short while, and I'll see if I can share any links.
thanks, I'm coming to the same conclusion, that they consider every sauce a curry and asking for a curry mix is like redundantly asking for rice-food or an apple-food, since most foods here come with some form of "curry".
I don't know the differentiating words yet.
shopkeepers also say they don't have any curries, but they have the dal tadka and beans and other ready to cook meals you've mentioned.
You are looking for the wrong thing. I've been traveling with British in India and they love indian "curry", but there is no such thing in (South) India. In restaurants they call fluid side dishes "gravy" sometimes.
Look for Dal, Butter Massala, palak paneer. MTR brand has them, but beware they are not nearly as tasty as fresh made in the most cheap restaurants. And check if you can find a pot of chutney.
Some interesting food will never be available in ReadyToEat in a reasonable quality: vadai, idly, dosai with coconut chutney tomatochutney and mint.
My advise: RtE is mediocre at best. Just enjoy Orissa, take (parcel) food from restaurants and enjoy it while you are there.
search for "ready to eat" packages. those are the ones which are pre-prepared and just need to be zapped in the microwave before serving. someone's mentioned MTR as a brand, but there are others too.
pre-mixed ingredients with which to combine and build a meal, as such, isn't a thing here.
Btw, curries are more of a special occasion thing in India. You don't really cook them at home everyday. I don't know much about Orissan cuisine, but let me walk you through typical everyday south Indian home cooked food.
Breakfast:
Typically Dosa, idli, and some region specific variants served with a chutney or sambar.
Dosa can be served with some dry vegetable stir fries as well.
Upma.
Vermecilli noodles.
A few rice dish breakfasts also exist like pongal and vangibath.
they also have it with the"curries are more of a special occasion thing in India"
got it, thanks, i had no idea! i like to travel without a plan and just talk to the people here, but I didn't know the language with which to ask about curries, which apparently is my obsession today.
that meal-plan sounds about the same here in Orissa.
love vada and idli, they give a brown bowl of curry with the idli here. or dal? because that soup I think is curry tastes fantastic but I only see it in the morning with the vada/idli.
they also have it with the dahivada in these pots:
That brown soup is probably one of those regional specialties I mentioned. I've never had it, but now I want to try making it. I don't think I'll be able to find it around where I am. Regional specialties are super hard to find in Indian restaurants in other countries.
I never heard of the term "premixed curry" before. You'll get premixed curry powders everywhere. No premixed curry though. I really doubt their taste would be remotely close to that of non-dehydrated tomato, onion, ginger, garlic, and curry leaves.
in most curry countries I've been to countries, they have premixed curry blocks or sauce pouches that you can put directly into water that become curry.
you're saying in India they only have powders?
so if i got a curry powder, i would just put that in water and then it would become a curry?
and it isn't labeled curry, right?
what kind of curry powders should I be looking for, how are they labeled?
so if i got a curry powder, i would just put that in water and then it would become a curry?
Nononononono. I was referring to premixed spices and stuff. Stuff like rajma masala, pavbhaji masala, chole masala and stuff. It's just common spices mixed in different proportions that you can buy in packets from the store.
What you are looking for is something that I've never seen in Indian supermarkets. But again, as the other commentators suggested, big basket or some online grocer could work for you.
Maybe try looking for these MTR ready to eat curries in a reliance supermarket if there are some around.
Also, ordering from a restaurant - even with delivery - is really cheap in India. To the point that getting fresh food delivered to your door can be more economical than buying a premixed curry. I would check the Zomato or Swiggy delivery apps.
Exactly. Although I personally really hate how oily Indian restaurants make stuff. Indian home food n restaurant food truly are completely different things altogether.