Saturday, Jen and I picked up our friend and swimming partner, Amelia, from the airport. She graciously brought us out to eat at Ashoka the Great. Never a pair to pass up an opportunity to cross something off our list, we indulged in a couple of new foods. Amelia and our lovely server decided what we were eating as Jen and I listened intently. Would there be something new on that list? Why, yes, yes there would be! We ended up with a Chicken Tikka Masala (not new), Naan (not new but delicious none-the-less), Basmati Rice (alas, another familiar item!), Aloo Gobi (something new, score!), and Raita (also new!).
The fare was surprisingly familiar. Does it count as new if we already indulge in curries at least twice a month? I’m not sure, but I’ve definitely never had the Aloo Gobi version of curry; it was a delectable dish of cauliflower, potatoes, and spices! Amelia was worried that Jen and I would be over-spiced, so she ordered everything mild-to-medium. I could have spoken up and told her that I eat everything super-spicy. In fact, I prefer my food to make me cry, force me to jump on one foot while screaming, and to turn my ears into pressurized cannons bursting forth with steam. Alas, I didn’t, and the food was almost, barely, a tiny bit spicy.
Even without spice, it was flavorful and distinct from the coconutty Thai curries that I am accustomed to. If I had to compare, I’d say that the Thai curries have a sweeter taste and that the Indian curries lean towards a richer flavor. I’m not sure what could make potatoes and cauliflower taste as rich as they did, and it might just be the particular blend of spices, but I think they might have been cooked in chicken broth. That would be bad news for our vegetarian dining partner, so I didn’t voice my suspicion. She was already eating it and what good would the suspicions of my undiscerning palate do her at that point? The menu did list the dish as vegetarian…I’m guessing their chefs know better than my tongue. In fact, recalling the fact that I’ve likely killed most of my taste buds through various ear-steam-spouting adventures in Thai restaurants, I now retract my suspicions about chicken broth. My heat damaged taste buds wouldn’t know chicken broth if they were bathed in a stockpot.
The raita, a yogurt dish that reminds me of the sauce I use in my cucumber salad, would have been awesome if our food was super-spicy. In fact, I loved the yogurt anyways, and fully intend on returning to the restaurant to order a hot dish and drown my tears with yogurt sauce. Perhaps Matt will be kind enough to photo-document that adventure for us. He does, after all, take the best pictures of me making ridiculous faces.
In the end, February’s food adventure would have been better than January’s regardless of the food because the company was good and it was an odd opportunity to hang out with Amelia when she was both giddy from her ski trip, and not in a bathing suit! Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Jen and I both still gag and shout expletives uncontrollably whenever someone mentions fish tacos. Yeah, this had to be better. I really hope this adventure doesn’t get any worse than January. Ok, so, February didn’t have to work very hard to top January, but the three of us still ate every morsel that was on the table. I count aloo gobi and raita as a success.
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