I love hole-in-the-wall tiny-shack type restaurants. I love inexpensive food. And obviously, I love Indian food. Clearly, Mother India was a good place for me. Its a no frills type place fit for a college student who wants something other than Sodexo for dinner.

Mother India is located off of Leavenworth in a super-small little square building. The size of the parking lot is misleading, there’s only seven tables on the inside, seating for approximately 25 people, unless there was a secret seating section in the back. There is a cute little patio, obviously not open during the winter.

There’s really no waiting room, but we were lucky to snag an open table when we walked in. Many people order takeout from Mother India and don’t need seating, and its pretty quick to get in and out if you want a quick meal.

The decor is really minimal. Pasty pastel yellow walls reminiscent of a living room in India, little vases with pink and white flowers, and two flags, an Indian and American flag on the wall. The menu is also no-frills, dishes separated into vegetarian and different types of meat.

First we got the vegetable pakoras. These were a variety of vegetables, including potato, sweet potato, and onion fried in a chickpea flour batter served with a mint chutney. The pakoras were great – very friend and oily, just like I like them. I thought the chutney was a little sour and yogurt-y, I would have preferred ketchup. I also like ketchup way too much.

Each of us ordered a dish, two types of bread, and raita. Zach got the lamb vindaloo. I’m not a lamb person, but I really liked this. The sauce was spicy and flavorful and the meat became soft and tender when immersed in the spices. I had the malai kofta, one of my favorite dishes. It features little deep fried balls/pattys full of paneer, potatoes, and veggies  in a cream based sauce. The actual kofta was great, nicely fried and had a lot of spicy. I wasn’t too hot on the sauce. It wasn’t the right balance of cream and sauce and a tad sour.

Each dish came with rice, so one dish would be enough for a dinner portion. We were hungry so we also got garlic naan and batura. Garlic naan is even better than normal naan, because, you know, garlic. I like batura, its basically a fried giant poori, puffier than naan. I thought this needed some cumin or something in the batter, it was a little bland for my taste.

Raita is necessary always (for me). Its a yogurt sauce with cucumbers, cilantro, and tomatoes that helps as a coolant or palate cleanser between a lot of rich rice and curry dishes. Their raita was good, just enough for me to finish my food.

Overall, this is a really good value for the price. Its not the best Indian food i’ve had, and I haven’t had a lot of Indian food in Omaha, but this is pretty good on Midwest standards. They could do more to spice up the menu but this is a Nebraska crowd, and the portion and price are good. I like the environment, convenience, and service – and i’d definitely come back here again (but only if Salween was closed 🙂 ).

The Bottom Line 

Good Indian food in the Midwest, cool environment, great prices!

Cone Rating: 4 cones 

Price: $ (Under 10$ for 1 person)

Location: Omaha, NE

Links: Yelp