I am going to start this off by saying that I have been seduced by this dish. No. ‘Seduced’ is not strong enough a word. More like ‘captured’ by the combination of flavors. The zest of the vinegar, the sweetness of those browned onions, the fragrant allspice. It’s all there. In one tantalizing bite after tantalizing bite.
When I was growing up, I remember my mom would always make the comment that a little dirt was good for you. She would usually say this when something would hit the floor for a few seconds, say a hot dog in the backyard or when my brother would put some dirt in between my sandwich when my back was turned and I came crying to her. She always said, “We came from the ground and that we would go back to the ground so the ground would make us stronger.” She also survived the Great Depression, living in a tent in the Dust Bowl of Arizona after her mother died, so I don’t doubt her. This got me thinking about dirt and how it’s made, which made me think about composting, and how I used to be afraid to compost.
About a month ago, I was sitting at the table eating my breakfast with David. He was reading the paper when he saw that a new restaurant had opened in the downtown Durham area. For those that aren’t familiar with Durham, NC let me explain that we are going through a rebirth. The downtown area has laid dormant for many, many years. With the vision of a few key groups this area is now fertile ground for entrepreneurs to move in and begin opening businesses of their dreams. We have had more restaurants open in the last year than ever before, making all us hungry locals very happy Durhamites.
Whenever I make this dish, I go between feeling like I’m cheating , yet happy that it’s so easy to make. The reason, you might ask, is because I use an already pre-made spice paste. I first found these jarred spice mixtures in my local Indian market, so, I thought that if they were selling them they must also use them to make life easier. Besides, I had taken a lesson with a very wonderful Indian cook some years back. She showed me a few made-from-scratch recipes where we ground the spices and toasted them, which was a great deal of fun for me. We cooked the spices in ghee (Indian butter) and so on, but when she opened her pantry I saw the same jars of spice pastes that I saw in the market. She liked them as well, enough said.
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