The fact that we are in 2007 is disconcerning enough since I feel like it was just yesterday that we were preparing for the Y2K bug and the plans for the new year's celebration was a simple trip down to the Thames to see the fireworks with Simo (it ended up being a full dinner with lots of people at my house, then a trip to the Big Ben - never made it to the Thames, the crowd was just too thick - and a walk back from Brixton to Streatham Hill at 4am or something like that), but to think that we are actually already in February is downright scary.
I've only just digested last year's seafood lasagna (mine and Eric's Valentine's Day tradition) and I'm getting ready to finalize the recipe for the next one... time just pass far too quickly for my liking. It's therefore even more important to spend it with the people that matters: friends and family. Well in my case family is a little far but thanks to email and cheap phones, it's easier than it used to be. A special mention to the fact that Annetta (my mum) and my dad are planning a trip to Atlanta in March... they've already applied for a passport and are making arrangements so there's no going back now. Perhaps I should cook one of my alphabetical dinners when they're here. Although... I just can't see my father eating sushi. Spaghetti al sugo is as much as he's willing to try if we go to an ethnic restaurant. I must have gotten my taste for anything new and different from some other source. It wasn't inherited...
But let's get to the topic of the day. Or rather, the country of the month: India. Finding Indian recipes was not difficult in the sense that it's rare to find them but it was difficult for the opposite reason: there's so much about Indian food over the web that it is absolutely mindblowing and very hard to set a menu. I just wanted to cook 25 courses... then realized it wasn't practical nor economical so I decided to resort to a book as my main source. My friend Jeff gave me a cool present last year: a book of recipes from all over the world so I am pleased to report that all of my Indian recipes with the exception of dessert came from there.
The other thing that it's difficult about Indian cooking is determining what really is Indian and what is a Western food labelled as Indian. Being Italian and having seen my share of horror dishes labelled Italian this and that, I was very concerned about chosing the right dish. I hope I didn't make a fool of myself... I suppose I could call Neeta, my Indian colleague, and ask for confirmation but it's too late now really....
I wanted to find a sari to wear at the dinner but as usual, I just didn't have the time to go find one. But I asked my guests to wear something Indian. Or whatever they wanted to wear that was fun. And one did show up with an interesting outfit... read on... and check out the photo...
I've only just digested last year's seafood lasagna (mine and Eric's Valentine's Day tradition) and I'm getting ready to finalize the recipe for the next one... time just pass far too quickly for my liking. It's therefore even more important to spend it with the people that matters: friends and family. Well in my case family is a little far but thanks to email and cheap phones, it's easier than it used to be. A special mention to the fact that Annetta (my mum) and my dad are planning a trip to Atlanta in March... they've already applied for a passport and are making arrangements so there's no going back now. Perhaps I should cook one of my alphabetical dinners when they're here. Although... I just can't see my father eating sushi. Spaghetti al sugo is as much as he's willing to try if we go to an ethnic restaurant. I must have gotten my taste for anything new and different from some other source. It wasn't inherited...
But let's get to the topic of the day. Or rather, the country of the month: India. Finding Indian recipes was not difficult in the sense that it's rare to find them but it was difficult for the opposite reason: there's so much about Indian food over the web that it is absolutely mindblowing and very hard to set a menu. I just wanted to cook 25 courses... then realized it wasn't practical nor economical so I decided to resort to a book as my main source. My friend Jeff gave me a cool present last year: a book of recipes from all over the world so I am pleased to report that all of my Indian recipes with the exception of dessert came from there.
The other thing that it's difficult about Indian cooking is determining what really is Indian and what is a Western food labelled as Indian. Being Italian and having seen my share of horror dishes labelled Italian this and that, I was very concerned about chosing the right dish. I hope I didn't make a fool of myself... I suppose I could call Neeta, my Indian colleague, and ask for confirmation but it's too late now really....
I wanted to find a sari to wear at the dinner but as usual, I just didn't have the time to go find one. But I asked my guests to wear something Indian. Or whatever they wanted to wear that was fun. And one did show up with an interesting outfit... read on... and check out the photo...
(Robert)
I've always been extremely fascinated with India. It's a large country but 1 billion people are bound to be crowded anywhere. I've heard good and bad stories about this country and it's very high on the list of the countries I want to visit before Delta disappears (it's bound to happen at some point even if they've managed to fend off the hostile takeover from USAirways). Maybe it should be a trip for 2008 - I've recently read an excellent book, Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, all about his life in India and my desire to visit has very much increased. This despite the bad stories reported by a friend who visited Mumbay for work recently and was so "over the poverty" that she vowed never to go back. Well, I think it's good for the soul to see it. It's a good reminder of how extremely lucky we are.
I've learned to appreaciate Indian food during my 11 years in London of course. At first, I didn't really like it, all those spices were just too foreigner to a young Italian who thought fried ice cream and chicken with cashew nuts were the best of Chinese food. But like many other things, a taste for other foods is acquired. I now love Indian food and I try to go to a nice Indian place every time I go to London (it's up there with the need for chips with salt and vinegar).
I kind of underestimated the time it was going to take me to prepare the meal and as a result I was a tad late with the preparations... thankfully Eric was a big help and we were able to get most food ready by the time the first guests showed up (we had Kako, Craig, Robert and Joanne over). I even remembered to put the samosa in the oven in time for them to be ready as a snack before dinner. But I wasn't able to offer what I thought would have been a fun welcome drink: I had planned - or had it in my mind anyway - to make a martini with tab energy (one of my latest fads) but I had gone upstairs to change and by the time I came back down Eric had already offered red wine to everybody. Oh well, I'll test my new martini (or tabini as I've called it) at the Seafood Lasagna's night on February 14th.
(Dinner Preparations)Both Kako and Robert had a red dot on their foreheads and we debated for a few minutes whether that meant they were married or singles: it means that they are married. Funnily enough, neither are married but that's beside the point. I thought it was appropriate for the evening.
Dinner was quite a success really. We served this really cheap wine (Traders Joe has finally arrived in Atlanta and so we have access to Charles Shaw's wines at $2.49 a bottle - looks like we're going to be able to make our budget this year). While the cabernet was not great, the shyraz is a great value for money! A whole case for less than $30.00). Everyone loved the vegetable samosas. I always imagined that it was quite a hard dish to make but in reality it wasn't very hard (said Eric who was the one that rolled the pastry into the shape of small samosas). The pastry was just flaky enough and the filling was nice and had a little bite to it but not too much. I think I might make these again as an appetizer for some other dinner or perhaps to take to some pot luck or a park pic-nic in the summer.
I realized quite late into the cooking that I seemed to have an awful lot of potatoes in my dishes but I had added the Aloo Saag at the eleventh hour as I've tasted it the last time I was in London and really liked it, before I realized that it had potatoes just like the other vegetable dish I had selected (Vegetable Kashmiri - I loved the spices combination in this yogurt based sauce).
I figured that potatoes are always nice anyway so I went ahead with my cooking plans. Well n ot quite ideal if you're on the Atkins or South Beach diet but my guests were nice enough to try everything anyway.
(Vegetable Kashmiri)
I also cooked chicken Jalfrezi, one of my favorite dishes. It was nice but I wish I had cut the chicken in smaller pieces. I just wanted the sauce to blend with the chicken a little more than it had given the size of the pieces.
(Chicken Jalfrezi and Aloo Saag)
I've learned that dahl means lentil and tried new lentils (red and yellow). I am a fan of lentils so I was looking forward to this soup (Tarka Dahl).
(Me and the Tarka Dahl)
To me, the dessert was the real surprise: I had chosen the dessert because I was intrigued by the comments of the person that was recommending it (http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2005/04/shrikand-aromatic-indian-dessert.html) so I decided to try it. I loved it but I think I was in the minority (only Robert felt the same way as I did - and rated it as a 10 but everyone else was quite low in their ratings). There was something about the saffron mixed with the rose water ... to me it was like eating while being surrounded by a huge bush of roses under a sunny sky... or perhaps that was what put the rest of the guest off. Too much rose water. Then, on the other hand, I used full fat Greek yogurt and I adore it, so perhaps this is why I really really enjoyed the dessert.
We also took the opportunity to say an early goodbye to Craig who - surprisingly - has taken a job in Dallas and will be leaving Delta and Atlanta in a week. I said surprisingly as Craig is one of the few people I know who's always said to be very happy with his job and also to love Atlanta. I guess sometimes you just need a change.... if happiness is a state of mind, he'll be happy in Dallas too. Good luck Craig! Don't forget: we'll be around your house on July 4th expecting the new owners to host the traditional barbeque and fireworks!
Here is the full menu with the average score. All in all a wonderful evening.
Nibbles - Vegetable Samosas - Average Score: 9.4
Starter - Tarka Dahl - Average Score: 5.8
Main Courses - Chicken Jalfrezi - Average Score: 8.6
Aloo Saag - Average Score: 7
Vegetable Kashmiri - Average Score: 6.2
Dessert - Shrikand - Average Score: 6
To me, the dessert was the real surprise: I had chosen the dessert because I was intrigued by the comments of the person that was recommending it (http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/2005/04/shrikand-aromatic-indian-dessert.html) so I decided to try it. I loved it but I think I was in the minority (only Robert felt the same way as I did - and rated it as a 10 but everyone else was quite low in their ratings). There was something about the saffron mixed with the rose water ... to me it was like eating while being surrounded by a huge bush of roses under a sunny sky... or perhaps that was what put the rest of the guest off. Too much rose water. Then, on the other hand, I used full fat Greek yogurt and I adore it, so perhaps this is why I really really enjoyed the dessert.
We also took the opportunity to say an early goodbye to Craig who - surprisingly - has taken a job in Dallas and will be leaving Delta and Atlanta in a week. I said surprisingly as Craig is one of the few people I know who's always said to be very happy with his job and also to love Atlanta. I guess sometimes you just need a change.... if happiness is a state of mind, he'll be happy in Dallas too. Good luck Craig! Don't forget: we'll be around your house on July 4th expecting the new owners to host the traditional barbeque and fireworks!
Here is the full menu with the average score. All in all a wonderful evening.
Nibbles - Vegetable Samosas - Average Score: 9.4
Starter - Tarka Dahl - Average Score: 5.8
Main Courses - Chicken Jalfrezi - Average Score: 8.6
Aloo Saag - Average Score: 7
Vegetable Kashmiri - Average Score: 6.2
Dessert - Shrikand - Average Score: 6
Next time (after the Seafood Lasagna's dinner): Japan. Stay tuned.
Rossana
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