SANTOS SURPRISES US : Santos made our bread delivery earlier this week, but he just brought a Friday surprise! Indian food for dinner: Tandoori chicken with Dahl (lentils), Cucumber salad, Naan, and Raita (yogurt dressing). Now Santos tells us he was once worked at The Taj Mahal Restaurant in Beverly Hills, and kept the menu.
We knew Santos had been a mechanic for VW and a teacher. We knew he is a baker, but this was a surprise!
You meet the most interesting people in San Miguel!
Santo is cooking Indian food again next Friday! Santos, Teresa, and their daughter stopped by yesterday to pick up plastic and cardboard that we and David Frank save for him to take to recycle.
He was beaming when Cathy told him how much we enjoyed his Indian dinner: Tandoori chicken with Dahl (lentils), Cucumber salad, Naan (5 pieces still warm from the oven), and Raita (yogurt dressing). Then Cathy showed Santos a big Tupperware box of Indian spices and told him she had taken an Indian cooking class when teaching at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina (that’s a great story). Santos thought Cathy was just showing him the spices, but she said, “These are for you. I want you to take whatever you need.”
Our dinner last Friday was the same quality as you would expect from a good restaurant, and as I told you before, Cathy and her parents taught me a thing or two about Indian/Nepali food. Some of the spices were mine and I have to tell you how I got them. Remember: I told you I can be a jerk! We were taking friends to lunch at Cathy’s favorite Nepali restaurant in Boulder. It was a Tuesday, and unbeknownst to us, Tuesday was Vegetarian Day. Some of my best friends are vegetarians, but I wanted to leave and come back any other day. Of course Cathy wouldn’t hear of it, even though I said, “How can it offend them if we come back tomorrow?
”As we were finishing lunch, the owner came to the table. After she and Cathy spoke Nepali for a few minutes, she asked the rest of us how we liked our lunch. The other couple said it was wonderful, but I replied, “Everything was fine, but I am not a vegetarian. I was really looking forward to the chicken curry.” This to a stare from Cathy that would kill most people, but I have built up a tolerance over the years. The owner replied, “I am so sorry, I would make some for you to take home, but even the smell would bother the vegans who look forward to Tuesday.” She and Cathy talked a bit more in Nepali, and I am sure Cathy apologized for her rude husband. When the owner left, I got another killer stare from Cathy, but survived.
The owner came back a few minutes later with her hands full and said to me, “Again, I am so sorry. Here is our chicken curry recipe and the spices you will need the make it at home with Elsie and Jim.” Cathy did, on the condition that I stay out of the kitchen. It was great!
Note: Cathy always makes a big batch of Mango Chutney before mangos go out of season. It also had tomatoes, raisins,and red onions, and freezes well. She would be happy to share the recipe.