Michael and I have found a renewed interest in Indian food for two reasons….. firstly I have a friend in the quilt guild named Nupur (who has a wonderful blog) and we have had her family over for dinner a couple of times and have enjoyed sitting at her table as well!!! Secondly, we have had it confirmed that we will be visiting India for 5 to 6 weeks in 2015…..four weeks in Bangalore (while Michael works) and 10-14 days traveling around the Northern parts.
Anyway…..Nupur had given us the name of an Indian market in Atlanta and we decided to drive over for a visit on Monday. The “Patel Market” was a large store and I have just discovered that it is part of a chain of stores.
We enjoyed just walking thru the market, ogling at all of the food that we didn’t know anything about. Then we decided to start buying stuff, starting with a series of bottled sauces for main courses and rice. We also found a bag containing 4 HUGE newly cooked pieces of Naan bread…..
Finally, we found a funky vegetable called “Dudhi”……
The name is what caught our eye first and Michael googled it and found out that it was a gourd similar to a Zucchini squash so we decided to buy one and try it.
Tonight was the night to try the first meal…..
We started with chicken and “Patak’s Simmer Sauce” in a Vindaloo flavor….
Michael cooked the chicken and added the sauce to simmer for 15 minutes…..
I spent some time looking up how to cook the Dudhi and found that it is mostly used as a filler in meatless “meat balls” so I wasn’t sure exactly how to cook it as a side. We finally decided to slice it, slather it with Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper and put it into a hot oven to roast for about 15 minutes……
The final step was to heat the Naan in a cast iron skillet…..
It was a wonderful meal…..
The Dudhi had a rind on it so we ended up cutting out the centers to eat. They were very tasty and were an excellent accompaniment to the spicy Vindaloo sauce.
A GREAT first Indian adventure!!!! And best yet….there are leftovers!!!!
3 thoughts on “Indian night at the Arnold house…..”
It all looks very tasty. How lucky to be going to spend time in India too. Thank you for the link to Nupur's blog too – some excellent recipes on there.
This is a great way to prepare for the trip next year. Especially with a friend to guide you through the different foods.My favourite with all Indian meals is the Naan bread!
we had Naan and curry in Fiji several years ago. It was delicious and fresh! I need to get more adventuresome with my cooking. You and Michael are in inspiration!