Introduction to Indian Food

A friend of mine, who is going to India with me, asked to go to a local Indian restaurant to try their authentic cuisine before bible study last night. So we were driving around to find a specific restaurant but we couldn't find it. As we were driving I spotted an Indian Spice House. We decided to try it instead since we were running out of time.

We walked in to an empty restaurant with a young Indian man standing behind the counter anxiously waiting for us to come to the counter and order. We had no idea what to order. I have only had two Indian foods in my life -at least to my knowledge- and my friend hadn't eaten any. We asked the young man what was good and close to the real Indian cuisine. He suggested a few things. We looked over the menu several times. I had no idea what to order. Everything had onions in it, which I am allergic to. I made a decision that I would try anything and I needed to start becoming more tolerant of onion before I am immersed into a culture where I will be encouraged to eat anything in front of me. So I took some recommended medicine a half hour before and we just picked two cuisines on the menu. One was vegetarian and the other had poultry.

Our food came and WOW what an interesting look both of them were. One was a huge- triangle- shaped crepe (but not a French crepe) filled with a small amount of curry potatoes and onion which you then dipped into a vegetable broth soup and put lentil chutney on top. The other was this green-thick-sauce made of some nuts and other spices unknown to me and bone with a small amount of chicken on it. We were in for a treat!

We started eating the crepe and it crumbled everywhere. The seasoning was very good and the consistency wasn't bad either. Nothing I have ever tried before that is for sure. The chicken was hard to find in the green sauce. It was potent with spices and overwhelmed my palate. I am glad that I tried it, however it was not my favorite food and after chocking on a bone I was done with the chicken dish. We enjoyed naan, an Indian bread, with our meal and washed it all down with Diet Coke.

Before we left the restaurant we decided to get a few of their desserts. They were small so we didn't feel guilty buying a few. That and we were headed to bible study where we could share our delicacies. My friend got three, I tried hers and then ordered three different ones. We both kept our facial expressions to ourselves as much as possible. This was a difficult task, but we both accomplished it. We both decided that if we were to live in India we would probably lose a lot of weight because we wouldn't be eating their sweets. Not good. At least the six we tried. They were saturated in fat and corn syrup, they had a gritty texture and flavor wasn't very delightful. We proudly passed along our treats to our friends and we had a good laugh about our choices.

All in all it was a very good experience. A half hour after eating the meal, I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest from eating onion, but I was satisfied and I was intrigued by the food that we ate. I'm excited to try other foods. I have now been introduced to a little more of India.