Wednesday 26 February 2014

Flavours of India

I have a friend who is really into India. Indian food, culture, dress, music, movies; you name it, she loves it. I've never met someone who is as into Bollywood movies as she is. She's taking belly dance classes. She raves about Bollywood actors. She's adorable.

Every time we're in Regina, she wants to go for Indian food, but either I wasn't sure about what I could eat, or the people with us weren't into Indian food. I like it well enough. Well, I had already eaten a small dinner before our most recent trip in, so I didn't care if I couldn't eat anything. I can at least eat rice, right?

So we decided to go to Flavours of India. She had been there several times and already loved the place, but I had no idea what to expect - gluten-free wise.

The restaurant itself is very nice. Everything about it from the decor to the music feels like I just walked into a small portion of India, but it's very clean and classy. It's not overbearing, and it's very welcoming. Just the right kind of atmosphere.


Right away, I started scouring the menu, and the first page was appetizers. Almost every single one was deep-fried, and the others were battered. I looked at the next page briefly, but gave up quickly. When the waitress came, I told her I had a gluten allergy, and she quickly said that all of the dishes are gluten-free. There is only one appetizer I can have, and I can't have the naan bread, but they do have a chickpea bread that is gluten-free and very similar to naan.

I was so overwhelmed. I'm not used to having so many options, but there were at least four pages of dishes. She suggested the chicken korma, which is a chicken bits, cashews and a creamy sauce. I ended going with that. I also got a plate of the chickpea bread, which I think is called Missi Roti, a bowl of rice and a mango lassi, which is a mango-yogurt drink. My friend had the chicken zal frazi, which is in the back of the photo.


I was so excited about the flat bread. Probably a little too excited. But it was delicious, and eating Indian food is not the same without a flat bread to scoop all the delicious up with. It's very thin, and very soft, but my non-gluten-free friend snagged a piece and pronounced it was better than naan.

The chicken korma was also delicious. I ordered it mild, and it was a perfect amount of spicy for me. I could have handled a lot spicier, but it was just spicy enough that I could taste it without any of my face burning off. I snagged a piece of the zal frazi (because everything was gluten-free, yay!) and those two bites burned my mouth off.

I would highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to try Indian food, or already enjoys Indian food. If you're unsure about what to order, just ask for a recommendation. My waitress was very helpful. They also have vegetarian and vegan dishes, so I can't see any reason you wouldn't be able to go!

Flavours of India on Urbanspoon

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