Twice a year, the UCI History Project, History Department, and Humanities staff are treated to a delicious lunch at Bob and Lynn's home. Past offerings have included grilled salmon and Mediterranean faire, a variety of Indian dishes, and a Mexican feast. Yesterday, when I entered their home the smell of curry and cumin greeted me and I knew we were going to be able to enjoy Bob's delicious Indian cooking! We started off with some wine and conversation and then moved into the dining room that was set up with a large selection of Indian dishes. There were so many options--luckily there were big plates--lamb curry, grilled tandoori chicken, cucumber salad, chickpeas and tofu, curried rice, yogurt sauce, and my favorite spinach dish (for the recipe, check the comments section). Since it was buffet-style we could pile our plates high and then return for more, which I did. The lunch was such a treat, it is a wonderful opportunity for us all to get together and enjoy each others' company. Chatting and catching up over great food is one of life's pleasures. Thank you Bob and Lynn for hosting such a wonderful lunch!
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3 comments:
I sort of play the spinach by ear. I used four bunches of spinach--they cost $1 a bunch at the Farmers' market--you pick off the tough stems, get the whole leaves, and you have to wash it pretty thoroughly. Then brown an onion and probably 3 cloves of minced garlic, add maybe two teaspoons each of garam masala, tumeric, ginger (you can use fresh too, but I'm lazy, if you use fresh, probably more like 2 tbs. minced), 1 tbs. curry powder, 2 tsp. cumin, let all of that mix together in the pan with the onion and garlic, but not for long, then throw in the spinach and cover, stirring every now and then, it'll really cook down, maybe 2 tomatoes from a can of canned tomatoes, and then maybe a cup of yogurt, when all that has blended together, add some salt to taste and the juice of a lemon, then put it in a food processor. I also threw in some red pepper to give it some bite. You have to be careful with garam masala and prepared and prepared curries because you don't know what kind of kick they'll have, so you might want to start with less, then add to taste, you can add after it's been pureed even. And if the consistency is too thick, you can add a little more yogurt.
The Madhur Jaffrey Invitation to Indian Cooking is terrific, my guess is you could get it pretty cheap on half.com, Julie Sahne is the other one I like a lot.
That yogurt was DELICIOUS! So was the curry but it never agrees with me :(
Hi Nicole! It's Traci! Wow such great pictures! And I'll have to try Bob's Spinach Recipe (Veganized of course...oops)! :)
Everything was delicious! I'll definitely have to get hold of more authentic spices than my pre-mixed curry powder.
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