Tastes Like Chicken

I was recently paid a nice compliment. Someone said I was looking thinner. I know that I am losing weight because I had to poke another hole in my belt when my pants would not stay up. I had hoped to lose weight as the result of the change in diet but I had also hoped to be eating more local dishes by now as well. Back home I am very rarely reticent to try new things. I am always scouting the grocery store for international foods to augment our NA diet. Several years ago I realized that, as a family, we were eating meat every evening and more and more of it.

At the height of our mostly meat eating diet we were consuming two pounds of meat per meal for a family of four. As a New Years Resolution, I lowered that to one pound per meal and the following year, I lowered it again to 600 grams (the boys were getting bigger so I couldn't lower it more). The next year I lowered it to 600 grams every two days, so one day is meatless and one with meat. I believe that it has made for some more interesting choices and since many cultures, especially eastern cultures, use meat as an ingredient in the main dish rather than as the main dish. As a result, we have been adding many new and interesting eastern dishes.

Indian cuisine has not made it to my table at home yet. My wife claims she does not like curry and though I have tried to explain that there really is no such thing as curry since curry simply means a melange of spices, I have not been able to prove this to her. Outside of India, Indian cuisine has been simplified down to the most basic probably in the same way that you cannot find the Chinese food that is found in NA in China or Pizza in Italy. So in NA, Indian food equals curry. In Britain, for example, they send out for Curry which means chicken in a yellow curry sauce with rice. Also, Indian food outside of India has a distinctive smell, as soon as I said that, you nodded your head. Well, here is the strange thing, Indian food, in India, does NOT have that smell.

India is 80% Hindu and the bulk of that is vegetarian. Most of their diet consists of pulses which is a common term worldwide but in NA we call them legumes. This is represented mostly by all types beans, peas and lentils, usually dried. I am prepared to speculate that the Indian love of spice is due to the plainness of the main ingredients. As our family tries to wean itself off meat, I have been layering in legumes. Split pea with ham soup, lentil soup, and my favourite - rattlesnake stew made with pinto beans and tomatoes (no rattlesnakes are injured in the process). The problem that I am having with Indian food is the plethora of spices, mostly hot, in each dish. I wonder if their palate has become immune to the spices causing them to need more spice just to taste the spice much like a person who salts their food needs to add more and more salt just to taste the salt.

Our cafeteria (pantry) has a varied menu and my hosts are always inviting me to try something they are eating. I am interested so I try but mostly I just order Chicken Fried Rice without spice, they make it special for me and even though I ask for no spice, it is still spicy on par with TexMex cooking. I really cannot imagine what it would be like if I did not insist on no spice. By the way the chicken part of Chicken Fried Rice means there was a chicken near the grill while they were preparing the rice or maybe it means that the Chicken Fried the Rice, because he was very careful not to get put into the rice. Fortunate for him, I am cutting back on meat anyways.

Didn't your mother teach you how to use a fork?