Our Version of Traveling

While Aaron was at KPMG he became close to a few of his co-workers, which has manifested itself by talking to them way more now that he is in a new job. Did everyone know that Aaron has a new job? He started with the State of Arizona just a week or two after Roland was born. He works for the Department of Health Services and he is the HIPPA Security Officer. Fancy.

Anyway, Aaron is friends with an Indian guy named Rajat. Rajat and his wife recently moved to Mesa, just a couple of miles from us. Last Monday they had Aaron & I over for dinner. Luckily we convinced Candice to babysit so we actually had a fabulous time with Rajat and Ina. It was mostly adult kind of talk (we tried to stop talking about the kids every second) and a very authentic Indian dinner, which we loved. This gracious couple have only been in the States a short time, so they are the complete opposite of American-ized, and the food they served us was so delicious and new for us. Aaron & I love ethnic food and trying new things - it's our way of doing a little "traveling" right now when finances and family obligations in the form of three little boys keep us from the real thing.

The Menu
Saag - Apparently saag means leafy vegetable and plain saag usually means spinach.
Another saag, with lots of other vegetables - this was another leafy vegetable, which they didn't know the English name for. This was Aaron's favorite dish, and my least favorite, although I still liked it.
Lentils - this was like a soup but still eaten with rice. Very yummy and they said it was easy to make.
Vegetable dish with cauliflower and squash I think - sorry I can't remember but this dish was suprisingly sweet and very good. It had fresh cilantro, which much of the world calls coriander. Several of the dishes had cilantro, which most Arizonans love already.
Fish curry, mustard based - neither of us had ever had a mustard based curry before and it was really good, a nice heat, but not too much. Not as sweet as other curries, but I really liked it and I'm not a big mustard fan. The fish (tilapia) was so great! Rajat said he lightly sauted it first in mustard oil, which we didn't know about.
Shrimp curry - this was like a traditional coconut Thai curry, very sweet and my favorite dish. Ina has promised me the recipe.

All these dishes were eaten with rice. Indians eat with their hands and it was neat for me to watch, having never seen it. They mix the food with the rice really well and just scoop it up. The saag dishes were accompanied by a hot mustard condiment, similar to Chinese hot mustard, but with whole mustard seeds. Rajat & Ina said they only cook this many dishes like once a week and then just eat leftovers and make one or two fresh dishes every few days. They don't have any kids yet and I wonder how their cooking habits will change when/if they do. I know Aaron & I used to enjoy cooking together and making more elaborate dishes, but not so much with three monkeys hanging on our legs.

A big thanks to Rajat & Ina for having us over! We will have them next and are debating on a menu. I made molten chocolate lava cakes with sugared raspberries tonight and I think we will choose that for desert. We are thinking of some Mexican food - any suggestions???