Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Indian Adventure

Very poor iPhone photo.

Whenever someone in the family has a birthday, they get to pick the cuisine and restaurant for the celebration. This year for my family birthday dinner out, I chose the Clay Pit Cuisine of Indian at Mill Creek Town Center - super yummy Indian food! All day I looked forward to the rich sauces, spices and tender meats. My sister and I made the menu selections (Lydia and I often go to the Clay Pit for dinner together) and shared all the entrees - I was not disappointed by the meal!

For appetizers, we started with meat Samosas (golden fried flaky pastry stuffed with marinated ground beef with 3 cheeses) and Vegetable Pakoras (chickpea and cumin battered fritters). My favorite were the cauliflower pakoras with their crunchy batter - they are mouth watering. My son that hates most food even loved the pakoras!

The main dishes were Plain Naan (leavened bread baked in a clay pit), Puri (unleavened whole wheat bread), Lamb Kasturi Curry (lamb curried and finished in a creamy saffron and kasturi sauce), Chicken Tikka Masala (tomato based butter cream sauce seasoned with herbs and spices), Tandoori Chicken Tikedar (chunks of boneless breast of chicken marinated in yogurt and spice paste), Boti Kebob (lamb marinated in spices), and Malai Kofta (vegetable and paneer stuffed chickpea rounds in a saffron curry, finished with a nut puree). Everything was accompanied with their delicious basmati rice.

Finally, we ended the meal with Chai Tea, Kheer (rice pudding), Gulab Jamun (special dough golden brown in cardamon syrup), and Coconut Ice Cream. This was the first time that I had ever had dessert at an Indian restaurant and I am really happy that we decided to give it a try! I have had rice pudding and coconut ice cream before, but I have never had anything like Gulab Jamun - it was warm and sweet and very delicious!

The stars of the night for me were the Lamb Katsuri Curry, Malai Kota and the Gulab Jamun. Everyone left very full, even the picky 7 year old - he gave the evening a 3 out of 5 stars, I gave it 5 of 5!

2 comments:

phairhead said...

i have a great recipe for low fat pakoras that the boyfriends craves at least 3 times a year

Lydia said...

Yum! Low fat pakora?! Share, phair...share!