New to Indian Food

I agree with Tarragon.I love making Indian breads. They can be labor intensive, so often I'll make the rest of the meal with simple components. One of our favorite menus is grilled chicken with green spices, crusty amchur potatoes, a cardomom pilaf, cauliflower stuffed paratha, or a mint and chile naan. The chicken is marinated in the morning, the potatoes can be done ahead and reheated, the doughs for either of the breads are made early in the day as can the cauliflower filling and the pilaf can be done in a rice cooker. One of us will grill the chicken, I'll assemble the paratha and cook them on top of the stove or bake the naan in the oven if we have that. We'll quickly reheat the potatoes to recrisp them and serve it all with a plate of sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion and lemon wedges. Add a mint raita and some Patak's chutney and have a simple but tasty meal. And BT is right about the smells of Indian - Pakistani markets. It makes me look forward to cooking with all of those aromatic ingredients

januaryfarm, if you're still around, I'd recommend a Korma to start out. It's a nutty-flavored mild stew. There are a variety of Naan breads, plain, onion flavored, or with cheese. Together these make a nice meal for an Indian newbie. :)

I'd suggest a Balti if you can find it... it's named after the metal dish it's cooked in and although it's Indian, it was invented in Birmingham, UK. Really lovely tomato & oniony goodness. Saag Paneer, as suggested earlier, is also delicious (creamy spinach with chunks of Indian cheese).

In Indian Restaurants, I order vegetarian meals:
Chana (chickpeas)
Aloo (potato)
Gobi (cauliflower)

....are my favorites, in curry.

My fav is Saag like Lamb Saagwala
Also hot lamb vindaloo or if I can find it, Lamb Salaan

Anything from the tandoori is usually good for an Indian food beginner. My husband, who despite his Italian heritage can't stand anything even remotely spicy, is usually happy with tandoori shrimp, rice and naan. Pakoras (fried veggie dumplings) and samosas (baked dumplings filled with peas and potatoes) are another good choice.