Nisha and her family enjoy an afternoon at Indikitch, a wave of fast-casual Indian food full of real flavor. | All photos are courtesy of Pooja Dhar aka PRPhotography
The following post is in partnership with indiktich, a restaurant offering a wave of fast-casual Indian food full of real flavor, and no hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, or GMOs. Visit their website to check out their menu and feast at one of their five locations in New York City.
Dining out as a young, South Asian family can be challenging when it comes to finding a restaurant that’s not only family-friendly, but that also offers fresh authentic menu items. However, indikitch, which has five locations in New York City, is looking to change that. Specializing in fast-casual Indian fare, indikitch emphasizes their belief of serving real food that’s full of flavor:
“We make full-flavored, authentic Indian food from scratch using recipes perfected over generations, but that are fired up and ready to eat within minutes. Our food is real food: no hormones, antibiotics, preservatives, or GMOs.”
A few weeks ago we were invited to have lunch at their Flatiron location and I was excited to check them out as I’ve been hearing quite a buzz from my friends. We found the restaurant within minutes and walked in just as they were opening. The natural light beaming in through the windows with the aroma of fresh spices filling the air was a familiar memory of home.
With a large selection to choose from, indikitch made it easy for us to put together our perfect meal. There are reminders of menu items all around the restaurant featuring some of the top picks. The menu offers you four main dish options including The Live Fire Feast (think casual thaali style, some of everything, making it a full meal), Biryani, Kati Rolls, or Live Fire Salad (all with your choice of protein). Protein choices include chicken, pork, lamb kofta, paneer, or mushroom. For their Feast bowls only, you get to choose one of their made-from-scratch sauces: tikka masala, vindaloo, korma, kadai, or saag. I mean, you’re spoilt for choices!
You also get to pick your level of spice ranging from no spice to extra spicy. Because we eat Indian food often and are used to spice, my husband and I went with ‘spicy’ one notch lower than the max knowing our little one would also be able to share if needed.
For children, the ordering and prep process is an absolute treat as they can choose everything from behind the glass and actually watch their meals come together. Our little one was excited to pick her rice and salad options and watch them go down the kitchen line to check out. We opted for a Feast dish, a salad, extra rice, and samosas for the three of us.
My husband called dibs on customizing the Feast and chose the kadai sauce option with chicken tikka for the main protein, garlic naan, yellow daal with basmati rice and the carrot kuchumber salad. I chose the Live Fire Salad with paneer, and our little one opted for saffron rice, chicken, and a side of samosas. After all, who can resist samosas? For drinks, we ordered a mango lassi, blood orange lemonade, and a ginger lemonade.
Within seconds of digging into his feast, my husband commented on how homely the food tasted and how the spice level did not disappoint. Our little one was happy with her rice selection and couldn’t stop sipping on her mango lassi. The salad was something that I chose on a whim and wasn’t expecting to be wow’d by. What I got was something that I can’t talk about without craving! Flavorful marinated paneer cubes on a bed of crisp romaine lettuce, red cabbage, cilantro, pickled onions, tawa spices, with coconut and coriander pestos. The lemon yogurt dressing put it over the top as did the chickpea chips. I also got a side of beet kuchumber that, if left alone, I would finish an entire bowl of. It was easily one of my favorite ways to enjoy a salad.
The portions are large enough to fill you up without feeling stuffed. As a family, we appreciated the fresh flavors as opposed to the heavy, cream-laden dishes you find in most Indian restaurants, and as parents, we most appreciated the quick turn-around time from ordering to having our meals prepared. The staff was kind and accommodating to all of our little one’s extra inquisitive inquiries and requests. This could be a great lunchtime option or a weeknight dinner when you’re craving homestyle food but don’t have the time to cook.
If you’re looking for freshly prepared, quick, homestyle Indian food, indikitch is a must try. They now have five locations, making it even easier to access fresh, flavorful Indian food.
While this review was done in partnership with Brown Girl Magazine and indikitch, all opinions expressed are my own.
January 3, 2023January 10, 2023 3min readBy Subrina Singh
Curried Chicken with Roti Parata or Roti, popular Middle Eastern/Indian cuisine
It is officially that time of year—the holiday season. There’s nothing like Christmas and New Year’s in the West Indies. Between the pepperpot in Guyana and the palm trees decorated in lights in Trinidad, the home food, warm weather and laid-back ambiance makes us wish we could escape the cold and head back to the Caribbean. Most of us, however, cannot “take holiday” and find ourselves hungry for fresh dhal puri and doubles. But, thanks to these Indo-Caribbean food bloggers, we can bring the motherland to our kitchens.
From Diwali mithai specialties to curry chicken, Matthew is creating a name for himself as a young Guyanese food blogger. He makes a great effort to incorporate Hindu holidays and traditions on his Instagram account, in conjunction with the customary foods and sweets associated with these religious events. However, his expertise does not end there, with new and alternative recipes for classic dishes such as curry chicken and bhara, Matthew takes center stage sharing both traditional Guyanese dishes as well as specific religious dishes made for festivals. His most popular YouTube video, with 1.4 million views, features his grandmother and focuses on the best tips to make the softest Guyanese paratha roti. In addition, his YouTube account is home to many videos offering guidance to Indo Caribbean cooking. Find recipes at @mattews.guyanese.cooking
Natasha Laggan of Trini Cooking with Natasha is wildly popular throughout the Caribbean and the U.S. With humble beginnings, Natasha credits her love of food to her family’s business. She speaks of the nostalgia home food provides her as she reminisces memories of her grandmother’s cooking and helping her mother make sandwiches early in the morning. Featured by Forbes, Natasha grew her Facebook following quickly throughout the pandemic by posting old YouTube videos. Today, she has more than 1 million followers on Facebook and over 200K followers on YouTube. She uses her passion for cooking and Trinidadian culture to bring easy-to-follow recipes to viewers. Her following has now reached the West Indian diaspora globally as she has also become a brand ambassador to two well-known food companies. Follow the food expert @trinicookingwithnatasha.
With over 100K followers on YouTube, Ria is quite the expert when it comes to making roti. Her dhal puri, sada roti and paratha roti tutorials have over 1M views! However, her expertise does not stop there. Of the 180 YouTube tutorials, her recipes vary from curry to other Trinidadian favorites like macaroni pie and pigtail soup. Just scrolling through her YouTube page makes your mouth water. From doubles to classic Trinidad bakes like pound cake and sweet bread, she provides precision and anecdotal commentary while guiding you through the familiarity of home food. Check out Ria’s page at @cookingwithria.
Known as Chef Devan, Devan Rajkumar embraces his Guyanese Canadian heritage by creating recipes combining flavors of both the East and West Indies. His love of food has allowed him to expand his role to judge in a popular Canadian cooking show: Food Network Canada’s Fire Masters. His cooking often blends the flavors of multiple cultures but also creates the classic recipes of his motherland. With a multitude of interests, Chef Dev uses his social media platform to connect with followers by sharing various aspects of his life that go beyond cooking. His most recent YouTube video provides a trailer for an upcoming video “Tastes Guyana” which shows him exploring Guyana from the inside, specifically deep parts of the inner country. To learn more about Chef Devan follow @chefdevan.
Reshmi is the chef behind the growing blog, Taste of Trinbago. A Trinidadian native who now resides in Texas, she uses her love of food and Trinidadian culture to share hacks, tips and easy recipes with West Indians throughout the globe. She finds a way to simplify traditional West Indian meals, that we once watched our elders make with curiosity. From holiday specialties like black cake to Diwali delicacies, Reshmi has brought vegetarian and non-veg recipes to followers in an extremely accessible way. She even posts recipe cards on her IG highlights for followers who may need written instructions. Her IG profile is a mix of various West Indian foods while also sharing bits of her life and even her secrets to baby food. Follow her @tasteoftrinbago.
These are just five Indo Caribbean food bloggers sharing their secrets to easy cooking. The once very daunting recipes and food instructions our parents gave have been simplified by most of these bloggers through video, voice over and modernized recipes. We no longer have to estimate a “dash, pinch or tuk” of any masala. We are just days away from Christmas and this is the perfect time to find the best-suited recipe to make that paratha for Santa.
