Slaving Away

Sunday night I successfully attempted Indian food! Indian food is my kind of food. Namely, it's flavorful mush. My grandma always said that I didn't like meat because I didn't like to chew. My mother never let that comment go and still to this day maintains that I am an anti-chewer. I think I'm not a big fan of meat because it's flavor and texture trigger my gag reflex at times (at least it used to, I'm much better now). But I do have to admit that I am a lover of mushy but flavorful food. And you get to scoop your mush up with some delicious bread, rather than just a boring old fork. Another plus!



Anyway, this wasn't my first attempt. I previously made Deb's spicy lentil, potato, and pea samosas, which turned out fabulously. That recipe and this recipe had three things in common: they were both flavorful and delicious, they both were made from simple recipes with great instructions, and they both had so many steps that it took freaking forever to make. Seriously. I don't know where the time went! It is definitely not a throw everything into a pan and cook it recipe. First you have to cook the peas, then the onions, then let things simmer, etc. etc.



But it was well worth the wait. Yum! That just means that it's a weekend dish. In this case I made yellow dal and black eyed peas in goan curry. It's another Smitten Kitchen recipe. (I have recipes from other sources, I swear!) It wasn't a complicated recipe at all, quite the opposite actually. It just had a lot of steps. I recommend having a good magazine or tv close by for the times when everything is cooking and you're left standing around and waiting.

I was also feeling ambitious and also baked up some pizza dough with olive oil and roasted garlic on top to act as my dipping bread. I need to learn to make garlic naan as good as the Indian restaurant in my neighborhood. It's fantastic! I wasn't very happy with the pizza dough recipe, I think I'll try to find a better one. But it was still pretty darned good as a scooper. Here's the finished product:



When Husband tried this he said I was "dinner party ready". He later clarified, saying that since my cooking attempts had been so successful lately (as in, delicious!) I was ready for other people to come over and try my food (something I've always been nervous about for some reason). It was a wonderful compliment that will hopefully be followed up by some real dinner parties! If they ever finish remodeling my kitchen that is.

Also, a warning to all married cooks out there. I keep running out of food! I made a big pan of dal and a big pan of curry and in the blink of an eye it was gone! And we won't even mention my poor pizza dough. Why? My husband! He keeps eating up all my delicious food because, well, it's delicious! You may need to double some recipes if you've got a husband (or children) like mine in the vicinity.