Location: Tustin, CA
Food: Punjabi & North Indian food
Price: Cheap (Less than $8 for the Buffet)
website: None

This is the perfect place to take your friend(s) for some really nice fresh indian food with some good old Indian Beer. The Ambience is definitely less than average and is not a place if you want to take someone to impress them like a date. The food is probably one of the best North Indian food in OC..their Tandoori Chicken, Hot & Fresh Garlic Naan, Spinach & Cheese dishes, Curried dishes, and meat dishes are good.

This place is owned by a punjabi couple and is probably one of the oldest restaurants in OC. The lunch buffet is great for under $8. This place is great for TOGO orders…they give decent size portions. I have probably ordered more togo orders than sat in.

I would definitely recommend this place for their lunch buffets, togo orders and party orders. There are not a lot of food places in OC that serves good indian food for this price.

Location: Riverside, CA (near UCR)
Food: Punjabi food (and Grocery Store)
Price: Cheap
website: http://littleindiabazaar.net/ (Under Construction)

If you want to go somewhere to get a quick bite of some cheap healthy and tasty food under $5, this is the place for you! You will love this place if you are a vegetarian. Most of the dishes they have are vegetarian although they have 1 or 2 non-veg dishes. The parathas they make are very authentic and feels like home made food.

The store owner Ashish is a very friendly guy and his Mom makes the best parathas. If you see his Mom in the kitchen, definitely order the parathas. And yeah, they have an open kitchen which makes me feel a little more secure about what I eat! 

As for the price, you can get a good meal for under $5. Having the grocery store and the restaurant together is very convenient and a plus for me.

They also serve free desi chai.  Sometimes when I go there for grocery shopping, I just sit and order samosas to go along with the free tea…brings back memories from India!

I would definitely recommend this place for a quick lunch, dinner or even snack times in the evening especially if you a vegetarian. All that great home made food taste for just under $5…its tough to beat!

Ingredients
1 large eggplant
1 medium o nion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
2 tomatoes, chopped finely
4 green chillies, chopped finely
1 cup cooked green peas
1 1/2 tsp dhania-jeera ( cumin -corainder) powder
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp amchoor(mango powder)
Salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
3 tbsp cooking oil

Method
Rub 1/2 tsp oil on the eggplant and bake in an oven till the skin shrinks and liquid starts oozing out of the vegetable.
This will take around 30-45 minutes at 400 deg F.
Take it out of the oven and peel it.
Mash the baigan and add the salt to it.
Heat the remaining oil and add the chopped onion.
Fry till the onions turns translucent.
Add the green chillies and the tomatoes and fry till the mixture becomes homogeneous.
Now add all the spices and the sugar and fry for a minute.
Add the baigan and mix well.
Now add the peas and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the chopped coriander leaves and some water to get a thick consistency.Mix well.
Heat through.
Serve when hot with plain rice/paratha.