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On Monday, Dadhi Ram Biswa wandered the aisles of India Foods. Many of the ingredients he searched for weren’t available in Twin Falls before India Foods’ March opening, Biswa said. And though most of the customers at the store are from Bhutan, Nepal and India, the shelves offer plenty of culinary possibilities for Western dishes.
“I think I like this store,” the Bhutanese refugee said as he and his wife, Nirmala, looked for fruit, rice and curries.
Hasmukh Patel, owner of India Foods, said he decided to open the store after discovering many of his customers came to his Boise store from Twin Falls and Sun Valley.
“It’s too far, you know, to come to Boise all the way,” he said, adding that most of his Twin Falls customers are Nepali.
The Addison Avenue store is the second for Patel, who has operated his Boise location for nine years. In its three aisles, you’ll find plenty of dry goods — colorful lentils, basmati rice, chickpea flour and large bags of spices — plus jars of pickled mango and chutneys. The store also has a freezer section with samosas, naan, paneer and curries.
So you don’t know the first thing about cooking Indian food? Here are ways you can to expand your culinary lineup.
• Start with the spices. Chef Taylor Dougherty of Twin Falls said Indian spices and curry powders lend themselves well to Western dishes. Try adding curry powder to salad dressing or sprinkling turmeric in fried potatoes. Soups are an especially great template for trying new spices, Taylor said.
If you like pre-made curry powder from the spice aisle, try making your own from turmeric, coriander, cumin, cloves and cayenne pepper, Taylor suggested. You can tweak the recipe to highlight the flavors you like, and minimize or leave out the ones you don’t.
Her husband, Mike Dougherty, also likes playing with Indian seasonings.
“My wife and I constantly cook with spices that are part of curries, but we make it more familiar,” he said.
• Ask the staff. Chirag Patel, Hasmukh’s nephew, is almost always behind the counter at Twin Falls’ India Foods and is happy to give advice on ingredients. Have no idea what to do with chana dal? He can tell you how to cook the tiny beans (no need to soak them, just boil them in water). Never seen the spice called ajwain? Have no fear, just use it on cooked vegetables. As Chirag said: “Every day, every vegetable.”
• Find new life in familiar snacks. Look for Indian cookies and candies in the middle aisle. Even the potato chips are different, like the bags of Lay’s India’s Magic Masala. If you’re feeling especially brave, try the sugar-coated fennel seeds, located next to the microwaveable meals. They look like sprinkles, but taste them first before putting them on your cupcakes.
• Go for easy. If you’re into the flavors, but you’re not ready to make your own five-course Indian meal, try the prepared gravies, microwave meals and frozen foods. You can use them for a fast lunch, like the microwaveable potato-filled Kashmiri Dum Aloo, or as a supplement to homemade meals. Try adding cubes of paneer, a cheese that you’ll find in the freezer section, to spiced vegetables and rice, or boiling an egg and adding it to a gravy.
• Don’t fear. Even if you’ve never heard of kalijiri seasoning or muth beans, it won’t kill you to try them.
“Be a little more adventurous,” Taylor Dougherty said.
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