I still smell like Curry, and it’s making me hungry.

I take a lot of pride in being the one that introduced Jon to Indian food. The joys of basmati rice, saag sauce, tandori ovens, and curry. I still haven’t been able to convince him of the ecstasies of a good coconut curry or a mango lassi, but he thanks me for the rest of it periodically. So, I wait, calm in the knowledge that I have leeway and time to work those other pleasures in. In return for my introduction to the Bombay House, for Christmas last year Jon bought me several cook books on how to make authentic curry and tandori meals right from home. At first glance, I was awed and so excited! I could make it all! Naan bread, masala, and the right rice! The power to make all of those tasty delicacies myself was intoxicating! I had visions of dinner parties at our house and had started to calculate how much it would cost to get some decorative dinnerware, the appropriate costume, and a turban for Jon. I couldn’t wait to get started!

I opened the books the next day to plan a menu for my first attempt at home cooking Indian style, and I read deeper than the headers and the pictures this time. Ut-oh. Not only were the recipes complicated and exact, but I didn’t recognize the names of half of the ingredients…nor did I have any idea where to locate the ingredients without some sort of import tax being involved. I came back and fingered the books several times over the last year as they sat on the kitchen counter like unfulfilled dreams, but I never truly gave them up. Someday I would cook inspirational foods again! I would learn new and different things in the kitchen. Someday. Someday, when I had time. When there was a chance to take a class or do some serious studying online. Yeah. ‘Someday’ hasn’t come.

Last week, a ray of sunshine broke through the sad little grey clouds of those unfulfilled cooking dreams. My sister is a phenomenal cook, and I’m always amazed to see the things she comes up with for her family. She has a home business and two busy kids and a husband and church calling and on and on and on. How she has the time to watch Hannah once a week is super-human, really. Being able to cook (she even bakes bread now and then) on top of all of that is just insane, but she does it! I went to pick Hannah up last week, and there was Lisa, puttering in the kitchen, and the most wonderful smells of garlic and ginger wafted towards me. She explained that she was making Tim’s favorite…Chicken Tikka Masala. What?! Isn’t that really complicated? Not really. Apparently, America’s Test Kitchen had done a segment on the dish, and there was a recipe Lisa found online that used basic ingredients that any American could get in the corner market. SERIOUSLY!?

I found the recipe and ran to the store. Surprisingly, I already had most of the ingredients at home, but I needed yogurt, cilantro, and a chili. I also needed one specific spice that I couldn’t find even after half an hour in front of the spice rack at Smith’s. I finally gave up staring at the bottles, bought the supplies I had in my cart and ran up the street to Albertson’s. On the drive, I cross-checked the recipe’s other spices with Jon who was at home looking through the cupboard for me. After this much trouble, I’d better be sure. It turns out I was missing three of the other spices as well as the mysterious Garam Masala, but at least these three were spices I’d heard of before, I just didn’t happen to have them at the moment. Doh. Luckily, Albertson’s had them all…unluckily…I never realized how expensive spices are! Granted, you have them for a long time, they spice dozens of dishes for the price you pay, and they bring (pardon the pun) spice to your life, which we all need, but MAN! I paid more for the spices than I had for everything else combined! We agreed though to think of it as an investment in future Indian meals. I won’t have to buy the Garam Masala again for quite some time.

I finally made it home and started to chop, grind, saute, and stir. Ahh…those heavenly scents coming from my own kitchen!!! Lovely! Even Hannah, who usually gets bored when I cook, sat nicely in her chair with only occasional requests for an additional cracker. I put plain basmati rice into the cooker and then made spiced chicken basmati rice on the stove. For the main dish of Masala, I did a spice rub on the chicken and Jon dipped it in the yogurt mixture for me before we threw it under the broiler. I mixed up all the other ingredients for the main sauce and just kept smiling at all of it. I even pulled out some frozen rolls, stretched them out and fried up a pretty good approximation to Naan bread! I almost wish I’d remembered the tempura I had in the cupboard for some Onion Baji, but we were so full with everything else, it really wasn’t necessary. YUMMY! It was so, SO tasty! We agreed that there was just the tiniest bit too much tomato in my Masala sauce, but otherwise, you couldn’t tell it from our favorite restaurant. YAY! Even Hannah kept banging on her highchair tray for more and more rice. She’s started young on the right paths. Ahh. Good girl.

It took a big chunk of time out of my day, but it was worth it. The food was wonderful…the leftovers will be awesome…and now I have the spices that will send me on more cooking journeys. YAY! I’m going to crack open those books again tonight and see if they’re still as scary as they were before America’s Test Kitchen dumbed it down for me. Thanks again, Lisa! Now, I wonder where I can find that turban?

~ by bylorena on November 6, 2008.