Tandoor Pizza - Desi Pizza in So Flo

Mithai assortment

We Desis really enjoy our food. When a Desi Girl tries to lose weight, the biggest problem she may face is her undying love for food. We come from a part of the world where everything revolves around food! When a baby a born, instead of mailing out announcements, boxes of laddus (round ball shaped sweets make from flour and sugar) or mithai (traditional desi sweets made using sugar, milk, flour, sometimes coconut and various other ingredients) are distributed. A party is thrown and undoubtedly, yummy food is involved. Similarly, unfortunately when someone dies (yes, we are human, we die too you know) there are several events held in remembrance of the deceased, more times than not, food will be served. 

Since the beginning of this year, 2014, I have been trying really hard to lose weight. I have been eating clean, or at least have been trying. I've been avoiding fats, carbs, sugars, and starches. This past weekend, after 46 days of clean eating and being 15 pounds lighter, the husband and I decided I deserved a cheat meal and we should carryout food from somewhere. With the kids, going out to eat is a little difficult. Like most desis, we don’t use babysitters, we've heard so many stories that we’d rather not risk it. We have three girls and they are very close in age so leaving them with family to get some alone time is a preposterous thought. We wouldn't impose on anyone like that, at least not right now, maybe once the girls are a little older.

Sorry, this pic was taken from the car.

There’s a little restaurant, well it’s not so little anymore. They've recently remodeled and expanded, so they now have a nice seating area which is decent in size. Anyways, down in Sunrise, on Oakland Park, between University and Pine Island, there is a restaurant called Tandoor Pizza. We've eaten there a number of times. They have really good Philly Cheese-steaks and wings. They also sell fresh mithai, and other desi desserts.

I’ve become a pro at making Philly cheese-steaks and chicken wings. Making desi pizza though is a whole different story. Even if you buy the pre-made dough or the ready made crust, there’s something about eating fresh pizza from a restaurant that homemade pizza just can't be compare with. So we called and placed our order, and made the trip down south.

If you’re a desi and can handle spicy food, I definitely recommend eating at Tandoor Pizza. If you simply like to eat delicious food, I recommend the restaurant to you too. You can order a wide variety of pizza’s and your typical desi foods. What has me impressed is the fact that they have this chutney (sauce) that’s made using peppers, and I can only guess it might be jalapenos or green chilies, but they use it in their pizza sauce, and it gives their desi pizzas that kick of extra flaming spiciness which we desis love so much. If you can’t handle spicy food, you can ask them to make your food mild. I wouldn't recommend ordering extra hot, because chances are the food will be inedible (we've made that mistake once).

Halal Meat Lover's Pizza

This time we ordered a Meat Lover’s Pizza. The toppings include beef pepperoni, chicken tikka, and a variety of other meats. All the meat is HALAL, and they have a mammoth of a sign on the window stating that as well. The chef in the past was Muslim, I am not sure if that’s still the case. The 16-inch pie was definitely worth the $18! It had their spicy chili sauce and the meats were cooked just right, all in all it was delicious! There was cilantro and chopped onions on the pizza as well. It was unquestionably one of the better pizzas we've had!

Chapli Kebabs

We also ordered 1 order of Chapli Kebab. 1 order comes with 2 beef patties that have chopped onions, tomatoes, green chilies, coriander seeds all mixed in. It’s a rather flat kebab, hence the name Chapli, which literally means flat in Pashto (Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan and in Northern Pakistan). Not to be narcissistic, but I don’t come across Chapli Kebabs as good as the ones I make at home; by the way, I think I make great Chapli Kebabs because I’m half Pathan. Going back to the kebabs, the Chapli Kebabs at Tandoor Pizza were actually scrumptious! I was totally impressed. 

Another thing I absolutely loved about Tandoor Pizza was their naan. We desis are big bread fans, and finding good naan has become a task. Either the naan will be too flat, or it’s too dry; at some places the naan has been overcooked. I felt as though I was Goldilocks when I took a tiny bite of their naan – it was just right! In fact, I am pretty sure the next time we need to place an order for naan it will probably be from Tandoor Pizza.

Jalebis

Since Tandoor Pizza sells the traditional Desi desserts, when my husband went inside to pick up our order, he bought jalebi. Again, this is a very popular dessert with desis. It is basically a batter made of flour that is deep fried and then soaked in in a sugary syrup. Sometimes they are shaped like pretzels, or they are made in a circular pattern. Personally, I think they taste best when they are warm. My husband on the other hand likes his soaked in hot milk. Since I am trying to lose weight, I stayed away from the jalebis. My husband, well, he can eat whatever and never gain an ounce, so naturally, he ate this delectable all by himself, saving me from the extra calories that I didn't really need anyways.

So for now, my next cheat day, well it’s actually going to be a cheat week that I will be getting, won’t be until the end of this month. I will post about other restaurants in the South Florida area, so keep coming back for more. Until then, this Desi Girl will enjoy her lean proteins and yummy greens!