First Creative Endeavor of the New Year, The "Aloo Patar" Plunge

4,3,2,1, Earth below us, twisting, turning, watching, waiting...... Sorry, I love that song and it seems like a fitting intro to my
current creative undertaking, which will be no less then a leisurely culinary stroll through the Indian subcontinent. Have I ever cooked, attempted to cook or even THOUGHT about cooking Indian food before, you may ponder? Hell no. Absolutely not. In fact until quite recently, I was throughly terrified of the dishes peppered with both strong smells and bright colors. In all honesty, it was the consistency of the servings that really threw me off, I hate to be graphic and inappropiate, but it all looked like well, diarrhea to me, utterly and completely, visually "unfit for consumption". Yes, I was a hater. It was all I could conceptualize when I would see it laid out before me, or spooned out on and nestled onto someone else's plate. I don't quite recall the day or the event for that matter in which I boldly sidestepped my fear and took the "Aloo Patar" plunge, perchance it started with an innocent samosa or a solid enough looking potato dish. What I do know is, that once I did, I was on the downslope side of the tallest, steepest rollercoaster hill, only gaining more and more momentum as I continually shoveled spoonful upon spoonful of the mouthwatering delicious varities of curries down my gullet barely surfacing for a breath of air. Sexy, am I right? Since then, I have always searched for any reason, any excuse to "go out" for Indian. Now, I will attempt to recreate the magic in the comfort of my own home.

When I opened the cookbook, most of the spices were the type I was not familiar with and had no idea where I might find them. It seemed daunting and expensive. A little discouraging when you aren't really sure WHAT exactly you are cooking with, what it looks like, how much it costs, yadda, yadda, yadda, you know the score. When this happens, I usually change course and end up making cupcakes instead. Cupcakes, I know. Cupcakes I'm familiar and comfortable with. Measuring out flour, salt and sugar is no crazy cook's secret to me. Refusing to be deterred from my path this time, I earmarked about 10 recipes and made a list of all of the foreign sounding spices that would soon need to find a cozy home upon my spice rack in order for me to complete my mission, my travels into the unknown. Garam masala, curry leaves, ground tamarind just to name a few. Thyme, rosemary, mustard seed, dill, these things I knew, and knew well, but the others, foreign territory my friends, and I, for one, was excited.

I took my list with me and hit the open road hoping not to spend a car payment's worth of money on a few piles of ground plants and roots. Spice shopping has always been a deterrent to new recipes and cooking for me. Whenever I'm at the grocery store, I think I want to try something new until I pick up a bottle of saffron or fennel and quickly put it down when I see it costs more than two whole chickens and ground coffee. In my search for these new, exotic items, I knew better than to even glance at a Vons or Ralphs and before I broke down and bought everything at the one stop local Indian market, I thought I would do a little investigating at one of my well liked, appreciated and perhaps underrated world markets, Cost Plus. What do you know? They had it all. I procured the aforementioned ingredients for a suprisingly insubstantial hit to my pocketbook. Each spice was about 99 cents, the most expensive ringing up at $1.99. Now there was no turning back, I must trudge forward into the culinary unknown, for chicken and rice were both easy to find and cheap. Will the dinner be a smashing success or a fantastical failure? Only time will tell. Countdown to January 9, 2010. 4,3,2,1 Earth below us, twisting, turning, watching, waiting.............