Cooking for the Fam in Spain

The first week I came to Salamanca, I was talking to my Senora about food (we were still in the small talk phase) and I discovered that she had never eaten Indian food. When this project rolled around, I decided I would change that. I asked my Senora if I could make dinner for her one day for this project, but she was somewhat hesitant after I told her that a, I have never cooked a meal from scratch before and b, that I would be experimenting with an Indian dish. She told me that she has never let anyone use her kitchen before, but since it is for a project it is okay.

I emailed my mom and got a recipe for a relatively simple Indian dish, Aloo Shabji. It would require garlic, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, curry powder, oil, water, and green chillis. Senora hates spicy food, and I was not able to find the chillis at the supermarket (Carrefour), so that ingredient was out. I ended up making the dinner last night.

I was planning on doing the whole thing myself, but Senora didn't want me to peel the vegetables because she thought I would be too slow (she's probably right). I did cut the vegetables, though. The recipe called for one tomato, but my tomato-loving Senora insisted we should put more, so I added an extra half for good measure. She also thought adding some meat to the dish would be the perfect touch, but I evaded that by telling her I wanted her to taste pure Indian food. When I started putting the curry powder in, she told me I could put the entire contents of the bottle because the spices in Spain are probably not as strong as those in India (I think they are the same). When I started stirring everything together, she said that I was stirring too much. According to her, only inexperienced cooks do that much stirring.

In the end, my Senora, my Italian housemate and I ate an Indian dish made primarily by yours truly, along with a baguette, and in her case, fish with hot sauce. She said she liked the food, and thinks it would be a great side for meat or fish. I don't know. I prefer my naan...or...at least a baguette ;)