Two Paneer Curries from Namaste India

Tried Namaste India yesterday, via @skipthedishes! #yeg #yegfood #yegeats #foodporn

A post shared by Paula E. Kirman (@livingsanctuary) on Nov 16, 2017 at 4:56pm PST

My brother and I ordered from Namaste India through Skip the Dishes last week. We each ordered a paneer curry. I had the palak paneer, which is my favourite. It was very creamy, with a smoky taste I really enjoyed. He had the butter paneer - chunks of the pressed cheese in butter sauce like what is used for butter chicken. It was quite rich and tangy. On the side was saffron rice. We ordered two servings, but one would have been more than enough. We also shared a plain naan and veggie samosas. The samosas came cold - I am not sure if this is how they are served in the restaurant, but it did not hurt the flavour at all. Overall the food was very fresh and satisfying.

Beef Short Ribs at Naanolicious

My favourite East Indian restaurant, Naanolicious, has a new menu which is much simpler and streamlined from the previous one. Fortunately, most of my favourites made the cut, but there are a few new things for me to try. One of them is the beef short ribs. Three Korean ribs (or, Miami ribs, as these were known in my household) are cut into small pieces with the bone in the middle, and grilled with Naanolicious's signature spices. The result is a crunchy, dry rib that makes an excellent appetizer, or meal if combined with some naan or rice. Naanolicious is a Halal restaurant, so while pork dry ribs are not an option, this is a great choice and a welcome menu addition.

Karhi Pakora

Monika, who owns Naanolicious, has been talking to me about trying some of her mother's traditional East Indian cooking. I had the chance when I went to the restaurant for supper this past weekend, and one of the specials was created by her mom. The Karhi Pakora is something I would never imagine: vegetable pakoras in a light yoghurt curry sauce flavoured extensively by cilantro and turmeric. I find pakors, being fried, to be quite heavy and can usually only eat two or three of them in one sitting. However, in the sauce, they deconstructed into smaller bits of dough and potato. It was surprisingly one of the lightest dishes I have ever had at Naanolicious, and the abundance of the sauce made rice a perfect pairing. I encouraged Monika to add this to her vegetarian menu.

Fringe Food - Version 2014

For the fourth year I was on the Multimedia Team volunteering at the Edmonton Internatinoal Fringe Theatre Festival. As a result, I had several meals and snacks on the Fringe grounds. I won't even bother to illustrate the mini doughnuts and popcorn which were delicious staples of my afternoon snacks. I will, however, present a photo of my annual green onion cake.

After trying their beef garlic steak at Taste of Edmonton, I was eager to have a real portion from Pampa Brazilian Steakhouse's food truck. For $9, the serving of steak was exactly the same as Taste of Edmonton's, with the addition of a dollop of potato salad. Still delicious, but quite pricey.

A good value was the Chilli Chicken from New Asian Village. Large chunks of chicken were atop a bed of saffron rice and a few seasoned potatoes. If only the wasps left me alone long enough to enjoy it!

While the portion seemed deceptively small at first, the Chicken Tikka from Zaika Indian Bistro was packed with rice and chicken, which was flavourful without being too spicy. The salad on top added some fresh crispness to the meal. I was so impressed, I actually had this on two separate shifts.