CaribIndian

Sunday night brought an official end to our family dinner summer edition. Elizabeth Victoria will return to the Ocean State for school, Brother heads to DC to visit Mother and Father, and James and I will travel to Istanbul. When the three out of four return to the BKLYN, autumn will be settling in and the dinner table will adjust itself accordingly.

Seeing as this was our last summer dinner all together I really wanted to make sure it the most fun and interesting one. What that means is lots of alcohol, spicy food and sweet treats to follow. Taking James' main dish choice of chicken tikka as a starting point, I added some tropical flavors that I thought would work well together. At first I had some skeptics (James) but I think after I explained how it all comes from cultures of warm weather, he was on board. Sure, India and the Caribbean are on separate sides of the world, but the essentials of food and sustenance are generally the same when you look at them by climate right? I think so.

We prepared a jug of mojito that I am pretty sure others were regretful of that the next day too, but no matter that's our favorite summer cocktail. James made a chicken tikka that even Apu would swoon over, it was sweet and spicy and delicious all over. The kitchen let out gulps of intoxicatingly rich and fragrant air and smoke every time the yogurt (yum) soaked chicken hit the pot. An aromatic and fluffy basmati rice, and mini indian potatoes, too cute to eat but too delicious to pass up, were the sides. Add a piece of naan for scooping and soaking and some yogurt for Ali and I, and you have your Indian entree. The sweet that followed was a key lime pie that I made, and even James loved it. Of course not without his touch of whipped cream. There was a drawn out quest for key limes but they were never procured so we used regular limes. It was a lot easier as key limes are so small and tough, it would have taken ages to juice and zest them.

We sat around talking and laughing whilst sipping mojitos with the smells of curry and basmati lingering in the air. We could have been in Goa or Negirl. All that was missing were palm trees, sun-kissed skin , and a steel drum band. In the end, none of that really matters when you're with family, friends, and mouth watering food.