Battle of the Indian Cuisine Restaurants....Kind of

I had this idea almost two months ago that I wanted to do a comparison of the only two Indian cuisine restaurants in Bloomington, Puran Indian restaurant and Little India restaurant. I would order the same appetizer and dish at both places and do a comparison of the taste. So I decided to order Paneer Pakora for the appetizer and Chicken Curry as the main dish at both places. So here are the results:

Puran Indian Restaurant
On October 15, Greedy Eater 2 and I ate at Puran for dinner. Puran is located in Bloomington on Eastland Dr., in the same strip mall as Great Harvest Bread and Taqueria El Merendon. I've had different dishes at Puran in the past and thought they tasted good.

As part of my comparison, I ordered the Paneer Pakora for the appetizer and Chicken Curry as my main dish. Puran's menu describes the Paneer Pakora as "Homemade cheese cubes lightly spiced and batter fried." The look of the appetizer reminded me of McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, except with cheese in the middle. The texture of the cheese was a little firm. Also, the batter tasted a little bland. That's not a bad thing, but I needed some chutney to add some flavor.

The Chicken Curry is described in the menu as "Mildly spiced with lots of sauce." It's not the greatest description, but I do know that the sauce consists of at least curry powder, onions, and bay leaves. I ordered the spice level to be #2, which I think is regular. The spice level was just right. I've tried spice level #1 in the past and thought I could handle going up a level. The pieces of chicken were thick and there wasn't that many. I had to go hunting for the pieces of chicken. Overall the dish tasted fine; however, there wasn't enough spices to cause a party in my mouth.

Greedy Eater 2 Review:
I ordered the Lamb Curry. It was okay. I was a little disappointed that there was not more flavor, or fresh vegetables in the dish. In my opinion, it just seemed bland. I would have liked a little more freshness in the dish. There was a lot of sauce and not a lot of meat. That would have been okay if I had ordered soup. Don't get me wrong I like sopping the sauce up with the Naan just as much as the next person, but this was a little too much for me.

I agree with Greedy Eater 1 about the Paneer Pakora. It seemed to be frozen and then fried like chicken nuggets. There was no spice at all in the breading or cheese. Chutney was definitely needed to help with the flavor. 

The one on the left is the Lamb Curry and the one on the right is the Chicken Curry.

Little India Restaurant
On November 4, Greedy Eater 2 and I went to Little India for dinner. An earlier post provided the location of Little India. We got there around 5:15. We were one of the first customers there. The table settings are more formal than during the lunch buffet. The menu was quite impressive because it gave the history of different types of Indian cuisine. I've eaten at Little India before, but it was mainly their lunch buffet. This was the first time I've eaten a main dish there.

Of course I ordered the Paneer Pakora as an appetizer and the Chicken Curry for my main dish. While we were waiting on our food, I overheard the waiter tell a carryout customer that all of the food is prepared with fresh ingredients. I thought that was good to know. I'm a fan of fresh ingredients and freshly made dishes.

Little India describes the Paneer Pakora as "Seasoned cottage cheese, dipped in gram flour & deep fried." To me that sounds more appetizing than Puran's description. When the appetizer was served, right off the bat there was a visible difference between Puran's Paneer Pakora and Little India's. The pictures of the two says it all. Once I took my first bite, there was also a huge difference in taste. I could see and taste the use of more spices in Little India's Paneer Pakora. The pieces were thinner and the cheese was smoother. We forgot to ask the waiter what the green sauce was that was served with it, but it tasted pretty good. It was fresh and married well with the Paneer Pakora.

The Chicken Curry was described as "fresh ingredients in an onion and tomato sauce, flavored with ginger, garlic, chillies and a variety of spices."  I also noticed a difference in appearance and taste between Little India's and Puran's Chicken Curry. The meat was very tender and the meat wasn't as thick, but it also had more pieces compared to Puran. Every bite I took had a piece of chicken.The spices were popping in my mouth, which was a good thing. Also, my mouth wasn't on fire since I had ordered the dish mildly spiced. Overall I thought the dish was great. It had fresh ingredients and the spices used really added to the dish. One thing to note for this dish, Little India gives you a choice between boneless or bone-in chicken, where Puran, it is only boneless.

Greedy Eater 2 Review:
I ordered the Dal Gosht. It consists of "A fine blend of yellow dal and roasted lamb infused with rich whole ground spices, onions, tomatoes, fresh ginger & garlic." This dish was off the charts! The flavor was lively and the freshness of the spices really came through. The abundance of meat was greatly appreciated. The dish was plentiful, enough for two or three meals.  

The Chicken Curry is the closest dish.

Close picture of the Dal Gosht.

So based on this comparison of Paneer Pakora and Chicken Curry, I thought Little India's dishes tasted better than Puran's. Greedy Eater 2 also preferred Little India over Puran.

Puran's food tastes good. We've never had a bad experience there, but it appears to lack additional spices within their dishes for us. Little India, on the other hand, we could tell that they really use a lot of spices, and can taste the fresh ingredients. Whenever we eat, we eat with our eyes first, our noses second, and our taste third. If any one of these senses are not satisfied at first, then our food experience probably will not be an enjoyable one. Both places provide good Indian cuisine, but our favorite is Little India for this battle.