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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Indian Food! Oh! Indian Food!


Life with Indian neighbours is pure torture. I have 'em on the floor just below me. The thing about Indian families is that just about all of them believe in good home-cooked goodness at every meal. This means that I am tortured about twice a day by the mouth watering smells of dhals and curries that waft from the neighbours' kitchen downstairs into my kitchen... and past that, into my study.

How do you expect me to work when a beguiling composition of exotic spices assault my nostrils and punch right through to my stomach telling it in no uncertain terms that it has been very poorly fed all these years because Petunia cannot cook Indian food.

There is no other more mind boggling cuisine than Indian cuisine, I will tell you that. It is impossible to deconstruct the spices within a curry, let alone guess at the proportions of one spice to another. I have tried so many times and failed as many. Hmmmmmmph!

So, there is just no way to assuage the primeval urge that comes over me at around 6 pm every night. In my mind, I have played out so many scenarios. I have visions of me climbing downstairs from my kitchen to theirs, and making off with the tantalizing dish of I-dunno-what-that-smells-so-good. Oh agony!! I have visions of me ringing on their doorbell and asking for a morsel (not that I would have been contented with a mere morsel). I have visions of befriending the nice Indian lady and plying her with my spaghetti bolognaise, and have her show her gratitude by plying me with yumminess. Except that I can't see how anyone would be grateful for my spaghetti bolognaise (even though it does contain fresh garden herbs)... EVERYONE can make spaghetti bolognaise, no? And if you want pesto sauce or roast chicken, you just need to waltz into Cold Storage and waltz out again. No... there is nothing I can make in my kitchen that can match those creations I imagine those Indian neighbours of mine happily eat up every night.

Oh agony!

So nowadays, everywhere I go, I head for the Indian food stall and I still come away dissatisfied because in my mind's mouth, it isn't half as nice as I expect. To really get my fix of Indian food, I need to eat at Kinara's Holland Village. But that also fixes my wallet quite painfully.

So! I am thrilled to discover a great tandoori kitchen at tiny prices near our house - Al-Ameen in Woodgrove Mall. They've a fabulous tandoori oven that makes garlic naan to die for.... and their masala sauce just makes you want to lick the plate.

If you do go there, don't expect the pomp and ceremony of the Maharajah nor the classy ornateness of Kinara. There is no air-conditioning. The waiters do not smile. There is no Indian classical music. But man! The food is good!!

10 comments:

Open Kitchen Concept said...

Petunia, you are so hilarious! I have Indian neighhbours downstairs too! You are right about the believing in homecooked food part! They really do have nice smells drifting in at meal times almost everyday!

Blur Ting said...

Oh, I love Indian food!! YK's good friend is an Indian who is lucky to have a maid from India who 'cooks the best Indian food in the world.'

Once he stayed over for dinner and had the misfortune of eating my curried cauliflower (Indian style). He secretly told YK later that it tasted nothing like the real thing!

I don't give up. I still cook my horrible 'anyhow' Indian dishes whenever I feel like.

The Big Indian Store said...

As always passionate about indian food. I got a great place to get indian recipes.

This store spicesonline.info sells spices and gives out free recipes to their customers all the time.

Petunia Lee said...

OKC - Ahhhh! Then you know what I mean... It's pure torture twice a day. Builds character.

Petunia Lee said...

Ting - I wish I had your spirit. I always feel demoralized looking at my own dish.

Petunia Lee said...

Spice Guru - Thanks for the contact. There are actually lotsa Indian spices on sale near my place. Buying 'em is the easy part. It's the putting them together that I don't get. Sigh!

Malar said...

Indians really give importance to spices in food i guess. tell me abt it!.... My hubby is die hard fan of curry!!! from smell he can judge the curry taste! but can you believe it that he don't know how to cook.... sigh....

If u're interested, you can visit below websie. They show step by step in video for few recipes! Later you can adopt for others too! It's basically about the same!

http://indianrecipe.org/

Petunia Lee said...

Malar - Thanks for the link... I will go and see.

Unknown said...

I feel your pain! I have Indian neighbors too and it's sheer torture around dinner time when I'm eating something I threw together and they're eating a scrumptious, tasty, home-cooked meal. I think I have a solution for you, as it's also mine. I've been buying ready-made meals from a brand called Tastybite for a while now. I trust them because they're preservatie-free, all natural, low fat/calorie/salt, and only take 90 seconds to make. They have been my SAVIOR, especially on the nights where my neighbors cooking is seeping through my front door.

Petunia Lee said...

Loren - Thanks for the tip!