April 27th 2011
A taste of India in Mississauga
I love to travel and when I can’t travel I love to eat different foods from the different destinations that I dream about. I have the luxury and the privilege of living in the most multicultural city in Canada. The general Toronto Area and it’s burrows is divided into little communities representative of the city’s demographic and ethnic make up.
We have China town, Korean town, Greek town, little India and the list goes on. Last summer a vegetarian friend of mine asked me if I had ever had Indian food. I hadn’t, other than the very popular samosa,which is a stuffed pastry and popular Indian snack. My friend had recently come back from doing some work in India and had a craving for a spicy feast.
She wasn’t impressed with some of the restaurants that she had been going to since she came back. She wanted to try something different so she gave me the task of choosing a restaurant. “Naturally I googled “Best Indian Restaurant in Toronto” and away we went. This is when my love for Indian food began.
Recently I had been craving Indian food, so I called up a good friend of mine, also a lover of spicy food and we made plans. She lives in Brampton and I live in Mississauga and our favorite Indian restaurant Lahore Tika is downtown on Gerrard St.
I started up a conversation on my Facebook page letting my friends know that I was craving Indian Food and asked if anyone had any recommendations for restaurants closer to home. Someone recommended a restaurant called Avani located just a few kilometers from us both. I wasn’t sure what to expect because there are many factors that come into play when creating an enjoyable Indian cuisine experience.
The staples of Indian cuisine are rice, whole wheat flower, lentils, channa, pigeon etc., i.e., and e.g. should be preceded by a comma.”>peas etc… Ingredients also vary by region. Most Indian curries are cooked in vegetable oil, peanut oil, mustard oil or coconut oil depending on the region. The most important and frequently used spices in Indian cuisine are chilli peppers, black mustard, cumin, tumeric, fenugreek, ginger, coriander, garlic and different spice mixes.
If you love spicy food and enjoy a food as rich and as exotic as it’s people, I invite you to try the Indian food at the Avani restaurant. The decor was lovely, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable and the menu was very diverse. They specialize in Asian Indian Cuisine. They prepare their dishes from fresh produce, fresh meats and freshly ground spices. You will be able to tell all of this after the first bite. I had their butter chicken, which is marinated and cooked in a yogurt and spice mixture. The sauce is made with butter, tomato puree, fresh cream and spices. The lovely server recommended a vegetarian dish called Aloo Gobi. Aloo Gobi is a dish made with potatoes, cauliflower and Indian spices. several girls.”>These spicy delights were complimented with a fresh serving of naan , which is a raised oven baked flat bread. We ended the night with Avani’s signature desert, coconut fried ice cream also recommended by the server. It consists of your choice of mango or vanilla ice cream rolled in coconut, deep fried and drizzled with chocolate, honey and garnished with mint. Which you must eat with the ice cream. (Makes a difference)
I give this restaurant two thumbs up for taste, authenticity, atmosphere and service. I took some pics with my camera phone to share with you. Enjoy!
avani / indian / mississauga / restaurant / spice
