About Taste of Tandoor

Taste of Tandoor Authentic Indian Cuisine offers a unique luncheon or dining experience to Northern Virginia. Situated in beautiful Woodbridge, Virginia within walking distance from Potomac Mills Mall, our spacious dining room is available to accommodate large parties and private affairs.

Since our inception Taste of Tandoor continues to receive rave reviews as one of the best Indian Restaurants in the Metropolitan DC, Northern Virginia area. Elegant decor complements our Authentic Indian Cuisine, which creates a warm warm and romantic setting.

India's cuisine is a combination of fragrantly subtle spices. The delicate, yet pungent, spices are as varied as India's climate and as exotic as her people. We specialize in North Indian cuisine and the centuries old style of Tandoori (clay oven) cooking. Meats, fowl and seafood are cooked quickly in the 1000 degree heat of the ovens and served sizzling, along with mouth watering breads. The curry kitchen produces magnificent dishes, including an array of vegetarian fare. The menu is extensive, with 38 entrees (most less than $9.95), kabobs to seafood.

It would be a pleasure to be able to extend out hospitality and service to those who would like to experience authentic Indian cuisine tradition.

Indian Spice Blends

The skill of using Indian spices comes not only with knowing what spices to use, but also how to use them. Indians have traditionally used spices for their medicinal qualities as well as flavor. Different blends of spices can be said to have "heating" or "cooling" effects. A curry is a blend of spices cooked with tomatoes and onions, yogurt or coconut milk. The blend varies according to the region and the cook. Curries are likely to include several of the following spices:

* cardamom- an antiseptic spice
* pepper
* cloves- antiseptic
* cinnamon
* cumin
* coriander
* turmeric- a food preservative, also used against skin diseases, bruises, and leach bites
* red chili
* saffron
* tamarind- said to "sweeten" the voice
* ginger- good for digestion
* nutmeg
* fenugreek

Another term for a blend of spices is a masala. The first garam masala was created in Northern India under Monghul rule. It originally included cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. Over the years, cumin and coriander were added. This blend is now know as a Monghul masala.

Spice blends are used with all types of main dishes, including meat, fish, poultry, and vegetables. In the south, curries are generally hotter and mainly vegetable (Bhujia, Dosa, Idli). Specialties include Pharsi Dhan Sak (lamb or chicken cooked with curried lentils) and the sweet-sour Vinaloo vinegar marinade.

Northern cuisine focuses on meat dishes like Rogan John (curried lamb), Gushtaba (spicy meatballs in yogurt), kebabs, and Tandoori cooking (chicken, meat, or fish marinated in curd and spices and baked in a traditional clay Tandoor oven).