Last Friday, we were invited by Rammy and John to an authentic Indian dinner. We had no plans and I just can't resist Indian food. We knew that our good friend TBF was invited as well (Mrs. TBF was still in the US on a business trip), so we called him up yesterday afternoon, and asked if we could give him a ride. He gladly accepted, so we picked him up around 6:45 pm and made our way to Rammy and John's house while TBF was giving us directions.
We arrived around 7-ish and were warmly greeted by both of them and their son, Oliver. Immediately, the scent of all the spices kind of drove me into a trance. I couldn't help breathing in deeply and just enjoying.
We sat at the bar in the kithchen (we dream of a kitchen like that!) and were served a welcome drink and an amuse-bouche consisting of mashed potato patties with chick peas in herbs served with chutney and a mint raita. We then went out on the covered porch (it was raining...again!) where we enjoyed a few more drinks and were called in shortly after to be seated in the orange room (their dining room). You can imaginge that Orange-X (and I) immediately fell in love with that room. It's sooo cozy (and it matches my new glasses, too)! The whole house is wonderful. It was built in the 20's: high ceilings with stuck decoration on them, wooden staircase, etc.
As a starter, Rammy had prepared scallops marinated in tandoori paste and served with a salsa made of bell pepper, mango, tomato and fresh herbs (mainly coriander leaves).
We helped our lovely hosts to bring in the main course in: Indian rice, dahl (lentils), an awsome aubergine dish and leg of lamb curry. Of course we had the typical Naan bread to accompany the whole thing.
Rammy and I just had to suck out the bones! The whole dinner was just so wonderful.
It brought back great memories of my childhood, when we had guests from India (I was but a toddler) until they found a place to stay in Canada. Aloka (my mum's Indian friend) would cook authentic Indian meals for us once in a while, and that's how I fell in love with Indian cuisine.
Back to yesterday: At some point Oliver (very clever boy) decided to show his own version of "The Phantom of the Opera"... with naan bread? Why not!
Our dinner was crowned with a meringue cake with a mix of mascarpone and cream (hello calories. So what!), topped with fresh mango and strawberries. It was heaven!!
Speaking of crowned... Orange-X also took a few crazy minutes (we all did). That's what he looked like with cooking mittens on his head.We ended a fabulous evening on their heated porch and then came the time to say good-bye. We really had fun and hope we can have more of these evenings together. We drove TBF home and fell into a deep slumber as soon as we got home.
Ain't it great to have friends?? We had a lot of fun! Thanks again, Rammy and John.
Here are a few more picts of the evening.
OX, John, Rammy & TBF
You tell me... Which band is TBF imitating?
16 comments:
ok - the bone pic got me dying with laughter and naughty thoughts in my head. LOL... The photos look great and you are right it is so nice to have good friends close by! Ug - I miss much of that or need to find a few more good friends here to hang out with more....
And OrangeX with his nun outfit! haha.
TBF and the air gitar, no clue, just weird if you ask me.. But then again P did that last night too! I had to laugh.
At least the stress was overlapped by a good weekend. :)
CS, I love your hair! I will have to get the info for your hairdresser if we end up over there next year - that's the kind of haircut I like to get too. :) All that food sounds very yummy!
wow.. very well cultured. I can't even tell you If I have been near anything authenticly Indian. I will try it one day!
And TBF looks like he is a drummer... what ever band it is!!
Expat - I just had to put the bone pict up! I'm sure I'll get a few more naughty thoughts going :-)
Actually, I think Xmichra's right, TBF's imitating a drummer.
Xm- You jst have to try Indian food if you get the chance. What I love is that the dishes can vary from mild to very hot.
Beejum - Nice to meet you! I will gladly give you my hairdresser's address. And if I'm back in Canada before you move over here, you can just contact me. :-)
Another fabulous dinner engagement for you, I see! I declare. You sure know how to do it right, over and over again. Indian food, once you have had the real thing, is to die for...and to crave. My parents worked with Indian students at Michigan State years ago and often had them over to cook their best dishes. When I was home from college, I would often be in on the gala event. I sometimes crave dahl alone! And the hotter the foods, the better. I LOVE curry! And I see I could go on and on.... So, you're absolutely right.
Ginnie - I'm with you. LOL. I always say:"If it didn't burn twice, it wasn't hot."
My guess is that TBF is imitating either Rush or Rammstein...
I can't really remember who it was to tell you the truth. It might have been The Who.
"If it didn't burn twice, it wasn't hot." LOL
Sounds like you had a very nice meal. I love Indian food, especially the vegetarian dishes. I know a place in vancouver that is excellent but the service is unfortunately so-so.
I usually order medium-spicy and have to specify : "I mean Canadian Medium ok?" to make sure it's not too hot. Yes, I'm a spice whimp :(
Kirk/TBF - Could be any of them :-)
Professeur P- I'm glad you didn't pick Symphorien as a Blog name. Bwaaaahahaha! Uhm. BTW. Wasn't it Major Plum Pudding?? (You gotta be a frog to understand this!)
Mr. Fab - Did you change your undies, at least?
Looks like you had fun....2.5 hours installing a driver...that was easy because it typically takes 3 hours, so you were ahead by half!
After reading what you said, I think you're right, it was "major" and not "professeur" (for the un-initiated, major plum pudding was a character in a quebecois kids show a long, long time ago).
But the funny part is that I thought I took that out of my profile, lol. I have no idea why it still shows in my post.
All I can say is don't edit your profile on sunday nights after more than 3 drinks. You never know if you'll like it the next day :P
You lead a charmed life, quite nice. Food, friends and laughter, what more can you ask for, right??
You are such a social butterfly! I love reading about your get togethers!
Nice pics!
And I like your hair too! =)
You guys really have great weekends. I love Indian food. Scallops and lamb! - you are eating better than royalty! :)
Michael- To be honest, it wasn't our first try!
P.- That's too bad. I kinda liked it. But I like the sombrero you're wearing. Could have used that two weekends ago :-)
Babs - Right! No food, no friends, no laughter = not nice! ;-)
Rob - This "butterfly" will take it easy this weekend. ;-)
Haddock - Don't all Brits love curries? ;-) And are you trying to tell me that royalty doens't eat Indian food?? :-O
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