Lamb Kofta, Rice wtih Scallions and Peas, & Cucumber Yogurt

Kofta is a Middle Eastern or Indian meatball.  I was lucky enough to find lamb version with masala sauce in the freezer section of Trader Joe's ($4.99!) that required no more than 8-10 minutes in a pan.  They are so flavorful - coriander, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric - so many spices!  As long as they like lamb, even non-indian belivers could be swayed by these.

This is a PRIME example of making a full, home cooked meal with a little help from the store.  The meatballs came from a box but then I ran with it so you almost forget I didn't do the bulk of the work.  It seemed like a no-brainer to serve the kofta over rice.  But of course I didn't want just any rice so I folded in some scallions, peas, and parsley.  I topped the whole thing with Greek yogurt that I mixed with chopped cucumber, salt, and pepper.  It all worked perfectly together.  The baby peas are a little sweet so they picked up the cinnamon in the masala sauce.  The kofta had a little heat so the yogurt was perfect for cooling it all off.  If you don't have a Trader Joe's, you may want to look up kofta recipes.  It would make this meal more difficult to prepare and would certainly take more than the 20-25 minutes it took me, but it would be worth it.  

I was really happy with how this meal turned out, but after patting myself on the back for five minutes, I had to remind myself that I didn't actually cook the kofta myself.  Whatever.  Having the wherewithall to pull it all together has to be worth something, right?

Desi Galli

When I saw the low prices at Desi Galli I decided to order. it. up.  I felt like a baller ordering item after item.  I figured the portions would be small based on the prices, but even my $5.99 chicken tikka kathi roll (basically an Indian wrap sandwich) was enough to satisfy me.  It came with a mint cilantro chutney that I quite enjoyed.  But satiated just won't do when stuffed is attainable for cheap.  What can I say; I'm a child of America - gluttony's our thing.  To my order I added a samosa chaat (chaats are always messes, and this was a good mess) and a lamb biryani.  I was disappointed when I first saw the raita that came with the biryani because it looked a little thin, but the flavor was all there and it certainly did the trick of cooling down your tongue.  The food was definitely on the spicy side so I recommend ordering some extra raita, especially if you like dipping your kathi roll in it like I do.  

Desi Galli shows off another side of Indian cuisine - the street food.  I had previously only dabbled in this area before, usually focusing on hearty curry meals.  This snack food, however, packs all the flavors of a big meal into a tiny, portable package and is a great way to mix it up.

Dhaba

I was happy to realize I had a few friends living in the Murray Hill area - yay! it's not all gel-haired 22 year olds!  Wendy happens to be one of those friends and after weeks of non-jiving schedules we found a window of opportunity and went to dinner last week.  Due to the large number of Indian restaurants in the bottom section of the area, it's often referred to as Curry Hill.  We decided to try Dhaba, one such restaurant that neither of us had been to but that came highly recommended on Yelp.

I knew I wanted to order a chaat, which is pretty much a chaotic mess on a plate.  Typically I don't like sloppy food with everything mixed together.  I usually like my food not touching so I can mix it as I wish - I guess that's the control freak in me.  However, after an Indian friend ordered it for me at a restaurant and told me I had to eat it, I learned I could enjoy a pre-jumbled mess.  We went with the aloo tikki chaat, which is potato patties topped with yogurt and chutneys.  It started the meal on a super high note.

For the rest of the meal we ordered a ton of food knowing we would be bringing home the leftovers.  We just couldn't help ourselves.  I thought Southerners had the market cornered on butter, but two of the dishes we ordered (chicken butter masala and methi mataar malai) were filled with it, which of course made them extra delicious to me.  We also ordered lamb vindaloo and naan so that we could sop it all up.  The food wasn't as spicy as usual, but the flavors were all there.

I don't know that we'll ever be able to make our way through all the Indian restaurants in the neighborhood but our first attempt was a success.

Curry Corner

When I arrived at Andrew’s for our weekly True Blood supper, he answered the door with sweat on his brow and tears brewing in his eyes.  I was a little concerned for his health, but he told me it was just all the spices from dinner getting to him.  I didn’t want Andrew injuring himself just for Sunday supper, but the end result was worth the blood, sweat, and tears he put into it.  Well, I’m hoping it was just sweat and tears, no blood.  I parked myself on the couch to avoid my own teary eyes while Andrew worked on a chicken curry from scratch that rivals anything I’ve eaten in the Indian-heavy neighborhood of Murray Hill. 

The chicken was prepared with cumin, coriander, mustard seed, and lots of other spices and served with onions, peaches, and a coconut milk sauce.  For a bit of pizazz, Andrew added fresh squash blossoms as he plated.  The whole meal was served with sticky rice that subdued the spiciness of the chicken.  I have to say, Andrew hit the perfect degree of spiciness.  If my nose isn’t running, I don’t think the chef has done his job, but I also can’t stand when the spice overtakes the flavors of the ingredients.  This struck the perfect balance.  It tasted like a restaurant dish, and I’m thinking Andrew may have been Indian in a previous life.  The salad I contributed to the meal was definitely inferior.

Halibut in a Hurry

Now that I'm back from my vacation, it's time to re-acquaint myself to normal life.  Back to the real world.  I figured the best way to drag myself out of vacay mode was to prepare myself a home-cooked meal for dinner tonight.  I had halibut but didn't quite know what to do with it.  While I was picking up a few ingredients at the bodega, I decided to get a little adventurous.  I grabbed some coconut milk, bamboo shoots, a red bell pepper, onion, and asparagus.  When I got home, I mixed it with some red pepper and curry powder and voila!  A new (to me) dish was born!  I'll need to play with the quantities a bit, but it was definitely a good start.  The halibut was substantial, but the dish still felt light.  I served it over rice and was definitely satisfied.  The best part was that it cooked up really fast and after getting back late last night and working at full speed all day, I wanted something quick that would leave me the majority of the evening to relax (and blog, of course).  Not too shabby for only having been back 20 hours!

Tasty Tamarind

I kicked off my birthday weekend (it's a big birthday - I deserve a whole weekend) by crossing a restaurant off my list.  After hearing Susan talk/blog about Tamarind, the Indian restaurant was added to my ever lengthening list of must-trys.

I don't usually connect Indian fare with fine dining, but Tamarind takes Indian food to a new, sophisticated level.  I had a good feeling about the food from the amuse bouche.  This nan pizza thing was amazing.  It quite literally melted in my mouth and was a great way to start the meal.

The menu pulls from many Indian regions, so we felt the need to try a little of everything.  Instead of ordering on our own, we went family style to taste as much as possible.  After reading the following list of what we ate, you'll understand why I had to go straight home to lay down after dinner.

• Appetizers:
• Scallops in a coconut mint sauce
• Bass and crab cakes
• Lamb patties
• Entrees:
• Tandoor Chicken (very moist - dried out tandoor chicken is my biggest source of disappointment in Indian restaurants)
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Another chicken dish in delicious sauce...I wish I could remember what was in it
• Saag Paneer
• Lamb Shank
• Halibut in a coconut ginger sauce - Halibut is the last thing that comes to my mind when I think Indian, but this was my favorite dish of the night
• Rice and Nan

Next time you're looking to go out for a nice dinner, don't think you're restricted to French and continental.  Tamarind showed me that Indian can play with the other kids on the fine dining playground.

A Gal from Savannah Heads to Saravana

Here's a tip, fellow diners: if you walk into an ethnic restaurant and every patron is of that ethnicity and speaking a language other than English, you've likely hit the jackpot.  That was my experience this past Saturday night at Saravana.  Hearing only foreign sounds was music to my ears because I knew I was in for a good meal. 

I was lucky enough to get a quick, 20 hour visit from Avery this weekend.  Aves contends there is no good Indian food in DC for a reasonable price, so we hit up the trusty Zagat Guide to help us pick an NYC goodie.  My old friend Mr. Zagat steered us in the right direction.  The restaurant was packed, even though we were there at early bird special time.  I gotta hand it to Aves; she had no clue what she was ordering, and her tactic for composing our dinner was to basically point to one item from each area of the menu.  It worked.  We wound up with lentil doughnuts, a dosa filled with veggies, and a massive platter with rice and bread in the center and about 12 curries, sauces, and dips on the side.

As we were finishing our meal, the guy sitting next to us leaned over and said he was South Indian and Saravana served the best South Indian food he's tasted in America.  Score.  Not only was the food tasty (Aves said it was "life-changing" and mentioned something about her "mouth being happy"), we ordered way more than we could finish and our total (with tax) came to $34.

My one suggestion to the folks at Saravana: get bigger cups.  You may not have noticed, but your food tends to walk on the spicy side; thus, a shot glass of water does not suffice.  Invest in large glasses or provide each table with their own pitcher.  Other than that, great job; I'll be back soon.