My blog was established in conjunction with my participation in FOLK-F121 "World's Arts and Cultures" at Indiana University, Fall 2007.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

A Taste of India

For my Encounter Group paper, I decided to tackle the task of going to an Indian restaurant and sampling some of their cuisine. I had heard that Indian food was traditionally spicy, but I wanted to find out a few more things about that specific culture’s cuisine before I went to the restaurant. I went on the internet and found out that most favorite Indian dishes are vegetarian, even though many traditional Indian dishes provide chicken, goat, lamb, fish, and other meats (Wikipedia). I also learned that the staples of all Indian food are rice and a variety of spices (Wikipedia). I figured that I like both spices and rice, so I was pretty excited to try Indian food for the first time.

I went home to Evansville, Indiana for the weekend to visit my family. Friday night after I got there, my mother suggested that the whole family go to lunch on Saturday at this new Indian restaurant called Karim’s. I figured this was a perfect opportunity to try many flavors of Indian cuisine and use my first experience for an encounter project.

My mother, her boyfriend, and my younger sister all went to Karim’s for lunch. We decided to order this combination platter that contained tandoori fish, which was basically spiced fish roasted in the oven. The only fish I really eat is salmon, so this type of fish really through me off. It was dark, and very, very spicy. I was preparing myself for more of a seafood taste, but there was no recognizable seafood taste to this dish. It was more like a very tender, spicy chicken. I didn’t dislike it, but it was too spicy for what I’m used to, so I probably wouldn’t order it again.

The next dish his platter contained was called nargisi kofta, which was basically meatballs stuffed with eggs. I actually really enjoyed this dish. It tasted like it might have been Americanized, since it was more salty than the usual mix of foreign hot sauces, spices, and herbs. I’m pretty sure that the nargisi kofta was the favorite food of the afternoon.

The last thing on the platter was the tukhm-e-murgh masala. I actually couldn’t recognize what it was, so I asked our waitress. She said that it was basically herbs and spices mixed up with eggs and curry. I honestly probably only had about two bites of this dish. It was extremely spicy, and I am just not used to that type of spice being incorporated into my diet. Also, it was really, for lack of a better word, mushy. I actually came to find that most of the food that Karim’s offered was more on the mushy side rather than crispy.

I actually really enjoyed the whole atmosphere of the restaurant. It was full of very vibrant colors and played traditional Indian music while you ate. Overall, I liked the food that I tried. It was definitely different from anything I have ever had, but it was a good experience. Also, I did find a new favorite food of mine in the nargisi kofta dish. I really appreciate their love for herbs and spices and use of flavors. I wouldn’t mind going back again.
This is my response to the second encounter project on the restaurant visit.

Works Cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_cuisine. Last updated October 5, 2007.

1 comment:

Jason Baird Jackson said...

Good. If you like fried foods, there are some good ones in Indian cuisine to try next time, including fried vegetables and patties made, for instance, of chick peas. You can also go for a mild curry over rice.