Indian Food? I think I can!

OK, for those of you who don't know, my boyfriend is Indian. Well, he's American-Indian, but not like Native American. East Indian, the original. This is further confused by the fact that he is currently working for United Indian Health Services on a Navajo Reservation. I swear it really isn't confusing at all, just hard to explain. So, he's American born, first generation Indian. Does that clear it up?

At any rate, in Indian culture, cooking is a very important part of being excepted by the family, if you are a girl, of course. I suppose this is true in all cultures. Suman's mom is a great cook, he's always raving about how good her food is. I've told him that my mom made a mean salad and flavored rice, for some reason that's not appealing to him. At any rate, it is very important to Suman that he preserves the Indian side of his culture and that he passes it on, in the event that we have children. As a result of this, I am attempting to learn to cook Indian food. Not Navajo tacos either, although they are delicious. In an "I can literally feel my arteries clogging" kind of way. Nope, curries and such.

At first this task seemed so overwhelming, all these exotic spices and curries. Sauces with flavors I had never tasted until 2 years ago when we started dating. How am I suppose to learn to cook an authentic Indian meal when I barely know how to pronounce it, much less what it should taste like? What finally gave me the courage to try was Suman's boss's husband. Suman told me he made one of the best something-or-rather (a curry of sorts) that he had ever had. I figured if this white boy, who lives in the middle of nowhere can do this, I should be able to. Especially since I have all the resources I need within a mile of where I live. I ordered his cookbook off Amazon.com and loaded up on the necessary spices.

First, Aloo Gobi (cauliflower and potatoes). Now this I have actually made before and the first time it turned out great. I decided to use the same recipe and try it again. It's very flavorful and loaded with veggies, so it's on the diet plan. It turned out pretty good, except that I didn't cook the onions long enough and they were still crunchy, which I'm not a big fan of. So I ended up mostly picking them out. Now I know for next time.
















Next, a chicken curry with coconut milk, tomatoes and cilantro. This I was nervous about, but the recipe was really simple. It turned out great! I ate all of it within 3 days, which is pretty good because it was a lot of chicken. This is maybe not the best picture, but trust me, it was TASTY! So, in conclusion it IS possible for me to make good, healthy Indian food. I have 658 more curries to try. I'll keep you posted on how that goes.