Indian Cuisine: A dinner and a show.

Have you ever read a book, watched a movie, admired a glossy photograph in a magazine and imagined yourself doing that. Creating a pureed shmear of beets with an off centered Tournedos Rossini with spears of white asparagus? Or thinly sliced smoked quail with a crackling foie gras and a pineapple confit? Sure you do. That luscious almost erotic quality of a beautifully plated dish hits some primal nerve and drives us to want a small dish of something flavorful, fatty, something that hits our palates and tantalizes us as we try to figure out what that elusive ingredient is.

Today while taking a lunch break, in between running errands and carting children to the orthodontist I put my feet up for a short movie, called Today's Special. In the long list of food movies, this isn't really up there with the greats. It's no Like Water For Chocolate, it's no Babette's Feast, but it does intrigue the senses, particularly if you've ever eaten really good Indian food. 

It's like India Gate here in the city, or Kabab & Curry out on Transit. It isn't food porn but it sure entertains the palate. I refer to all Indian and Pakistani food as "dinner and a show", and this movie highlights that delightful aspect of that continent's cuisine. In the end you see all sorts of fancy dishing going on, but the real basic dishes stay true to form, five ingredient dishes, saucy, hot, ohhh...

So tonight is was a date like dinner for two with home made Tandoori chicken on fluffy Basmati that was fried in sesame oil before boiling water was added (This is the trick to perfect Indian rice). Minced mint, cilantro, deep red sweet peppers and garlic hummus with Lebanese flat bread and tangy plain yogurt.





Tandoori sauce: salt, ground pepper, cumin, coriander, garlic, ginger, chilies, onion, nutmeg, mace, turmeric, lemon juice, vinegar, sesame and olive oil, plain yogurt