Best Meal Ever

Tonight I was finally able to personally cook some of the recipes out of my new Indian cookbook and BOY OH BOY!!!! Quite possibly one of the best meals ever.

First let's start with the amazing smells. One recipe called for freshly ground coriander and when the smell started to overtake the kitchen my senses came alive. The smell is abosolutely amazing, and difficult to describe- though it definitely had a hint of lemon or lemongrass type scent to my nose. Plus the smell of the tadkas-- Indian sauces that are prepared with onions, oil, and spices over a high heat before the actual main food item is introduced-- was intoxicating and the whole apartment smelled amazing.


There were two dishes I made tonight for the meal. The protein portion of the meal was a baked halibut in a broth of shallot, coriander, cayenne, ginger, and garlic, topped off with tomatoes and cilantro. Can you say flavor? My friend and my husband absolutely devoured this dish (I ate the other one first, so I didn't eat quite as much of the fish, but it was really good).


My photo doesn't look near as good as the one in the book (especially with the awful yellow lighting my dark dark kitchen). Either way you get the idea. Look at all of that flavor!

The vegetable dish was a ginger lemon sweet potato, and this was to die for. In love is all I have to say. The flavor explosion was borderline orgasmic it was so amazing. The tadka was made with red onion, turmeric, mustard seeds, serrano chili peppers, and ginger, and then the sweet potato was added and steamed quickly with everything and then right before serving you mix in some freshly squeezed lemon. Amazing doesn't even begin to describe how wonderful this dish was. The recipe was an absolute keeper. I can't wait to eat the leftover for lunch tomorrow.

Again, crappy lighting, but you get the idea. The picture in the book does much more justice.

And who says healthy eating has to be boring? Right?

The only part of the meal that did not follow with my dietary restrictions was the onion, but it's kind of a necessary evil in most cooking. Usually the onions don't bother me, but like I mentioned in a previous post I am more sensitive to the onions now than I have been in a while. I can smell the onions coming of my pores (which is a bit funny when I get a whiff of myself!), and I have a bit of gas indigestion going on. The way I look at it, that's a small price to pay for such a wonderful meal! There is no gallbladder pain, so I'm cool with it.