The dish pictured above is called "Palek Paneer". I have to admit it's one of the most unattractive foods I've ever seen, but I ate it last night at a dinner party and it was INCREDIBLE!!!
The dinner party was hosted by my sister's friend Arijit, a man she met while studying Ethno-Musicology at the University of Washington. He is a master in Indian Drupat singing, which is ancient Indian classical music. And he invited Anne, and some other good friends at the UW over for a dinner of homemade Indian cuisine. I was lucky enough to be invited to tag along.
I've been exposed to Indian food several times, always in restaurants, and usually involving one or two dishes at a time. Usually it's been a chicken or vegetable dish looking pretty Western, or at least familiar to my eyes.
Last night, almost nothing was familiar, and it was all spectacular. Palek Paneer is a spinach-based sauce prepared with onions, ghee (clarified butter), cumin, onions and other spices, pureed in a food processor. The white chunks are Paneer, a mild, slightly firm cheese.
Wow. I had seconds. It was amazing.
Other dishes were a rice dish made with golden raisins and vegetables, "Sour Fish Curry", which had chunks of a white fish in a wonderful sauce, some turkey meatballs which looked very nice, homemade vegetable samosas, which are a mashed potato fritter kind of thing, and the most wonderful homemade chai.
Arijit and his mother were wonderful hosts, and there was a lot of laughter last night.
