A friend who knows I love Indian food gave me a packet of Rasoi Magic Veg Kolhapuri Mix. If you’re looking for an easy way to get into cooking your own Indian food, this is it. For this one, you literally just add vegetables and tomatoes (and some oil). The salt is included. No MSG or other funky chemicals. A local produce stand sold me a two-lb bag of bruised zucchinis and and a two-lb bag of bruised tomatoes for $1 each and half of each went into this. (The other halves went into a pasta sauce I made the other day.) Along with a third of a bag of cooked chick peas, a couple of carrots and an onion, this pan of food cost me about $3. So delicious! The spice packs are available at any Indian store and at finer gourmet stores. Study the ingredients and you’re on your way to learning about Indian spices.
It might be unsettling to realize you really are eating a couple teaspoons of spices when you eat Indian food. It’s good for you! Another site I find endlessly fascinating is nutritiondata.com where I first looked up zucchini. You can find nutrition tables and more on all the unlabeled loose food you buy.
Try the Indian food stuff from Trader Joes. Now that’s some good “Baby’s First Indian Food That I Made Myself” fare.