Review : Chicago Curry House

While we were in Chicago for the International Home and Housewares show, we decided to hit up the Chicago Curry House, located in Chicago's South Loop.

Chicago Curry House serves authentic Indian and Nepalese cuisine. I've had some Indian inspired dishes before, but this was my first experience with real authentic Indian food. Their food is naturally low fat, packed full of flavor, and they have a lot of vegetarian-friendly dishes.

We decided to start off with two appetizers; Cheese Pakora and Aloo Chat. Cheese Pakora is a home-made cheese marinated in a mix of spices and dipped in a garbanzo batter, then deep fried. I didn't really care much for this. The cheese was dense and had a higher water content and reminded me of a dense tofu. It wasn't a very flavorful cheese either.

Aloo Chat is cubed boiled potatoes, mixed with minced onions, cucumbers, cilantro, green chilies, and chat masala. Chat masala typically consists of amchoor (dried mango powder), cumin, coriander, dried ginger, salt, pepper, and other Indian spices. It has both a sweet and spicy flavor. It was REALLY spicy. It was a little too spicy for me and I was only able to take a few bites. I was very intrigued by all of the flavors I was encountering up to this point. Everything was so different from what I normally eat and played up all of the senses of the tongue.

For dinner I ordered Shrimp Madras. It was shrimp cooked in a mildly spicy gravy and coconut. It came served in a little personal chaffing dish. I'm not quite sure the actual name for this contraption, but it was really neat.

I also ordered some Garlic Naan with my meal. You can't eat Indian without having Naan, it's just too good.

I really enjoyed my meal. The shrimp were huge and very well prepared. One of my favorite flavor combinations is coconut and curry. This had such a slight coconut taste that it read as a very light sweetness. It was the first thing you tasted before the fire of the "mild" gravy set it. This dish was a bit too spicy for my taste buds. I had to constantly stop and try to put the fire out of my mouth. It was very good, but could've used a bit less heat.

I had to take a picture of my friend's Tandoori Lamb Tikka. It was so beautiful when it came out. A tandoor is a cylindrical clay oven used in cooking and baking. Chicago Curry House has an entire tandoori section on their menu. Looking good!

I would very much like to visit here again to expand on and learn about this cuisine. The menu is very expansive, so I would never get bored. The prices are fair for the area too. If you're near South Loop I would definitely recommend it!

I give Chicago Curry House 3.5 stars, out of 5!

★★★½

Starstruck (Again)!

This year's International Home and Housewares show in Chicago had a dynamite schedule of chefs at the KitchenAid Goho Kitchen Theater. I went with the intention of being able to see three of my favorites do a cooking demo; Cat Cora, Mario Batali, and Todd English. Little did I know is that I would actually get to MEET all of these chefs, and see Guy Fieri as a surprise guest! Sometimes my life is pretty incredible.
We arrived in time to see Cat Cora talk about her book "Cooking from the Hip". The thesis of this book is about always being prepared to throw anything together at any time that is fabulous and fresh.

Cat Cora and Suvir Saran.

Cat also was doing a book signing that day, and the first 100 book were free! A friend saved me a place in line so I could gets shots of her demo while the line grew longer. Afterwards, I joined my friend in line and got to meet Cat and get a signed copy of "Cooking from the Hip"!

Me with Cat Cora.

I've read through half of this book. Which is odd for me. I'm not the type to sit down and read through a cookbook. Usually, I'll flip through the pages waiting for a recipe to jump out at me, but this one I'm actually reading every little thing. It sounds so amazing, and I can't wait to try some of the recipes. Stay tuned for some recipes from her book.

Right after Cat Cora was finished, Mario Batali was scheduled. I was on a high from meeting Cat, and greatly anticipating seeing Mario. I was disappointed to see that he was not doing a book signing, so I thought there was no way I'd get his autograph for my Food Network Collection. Abruptly, on of my friends who happened to be working the Goho kitchen that day, ran up to me and said "Come ON!" and grabbed me by the hand. I grabbed my camera and was quickly whisked back stage. There he was. I was floored. I was going to get to meet Mario Batali. The whole thing was very fast, and it felt much like an out-of-body experience. I'm pretty sure I made an idiot of myself, but Mario was genuine and friendly. He even had an orange sharpie to match his Crocs!

Some coworkers of mine with Mario Batali.

After meeting him, I was shaking and light headed, but managed to get back to my seat in time for him to present. He demonstrated a pasta dish and a pizza, both of which smelled and looked delicious. He recommended some quality, genuine Italian ingredients. I fully believe that a final dish is only as good as the quality of ingredients that go into it. Mario is a great presenter and such an eloquent speaker.

Mario with his finished Pizza.

At the end of his presentation SURPRISE!!! Guy Fieri comes out for an unexpected appearance. I knew he would be there for the Ergo Chef booth kicking off a new knife line, but I had only a glimmer of hope to see him. And then there he was!

The crowd was going WILD!

After all of that excitement, I thought the day could not possible get any better. The icing on the cake: Todd English. Todd's presentation was about his new Juicer and how it could be used in cooking.

I snapped a few pictures of him and then queued up to get his book too. Again, this was unplanned and a great opportunity.

He was SO personable when signing books. He had a personal conversation with each person. It was great! He was signing his book, "The Olives Dessert Table".

I have only but glimpsed through this book, but it seems pretty amazing! I can't wait to try some of these delectables. Stay tuned for some killer dessert recipes from him.

It was a dynamite day full of wonderful, unexpected surprises!