Same, but Different

I may have mentioned this before, but it’s one of the things that stays in our mind from when we first moved to France.

In the UK, we would often order an Indian takeaway, or walk across to our local Indian restaurant to share and enjoy a jovial dinner with friends, or just have a quiet dinner on our own. We imagined that one of the things we would miss most was eating this cheerful, sociable meal. There are Indian restaurants in France, but our nearest one is about 45 minutes away, so no chance of a takeaway. What this has encouraged me to do though is cook better Indian food at home.

Last night some friends came round and I took the opportunity to cook them an Indian meal, I had first asked if they like it ‘spicy hot’, just in case – I didn’t want to frighten them off. I decided to cook some favourites of ours - mushroom bhaji, dhal, vegetable curry and butter chicken. In the UK we would often chose a beer to enjoy with our curry, but we know the french prefer wine with their meal, so Brian chose one of the Clos Aguilam wines we bought at the wine fair, La Mas Rouge, a red wine which went very well with the spicy food. We then had an old vine Vouvray, a white wine, which was again gorgeous with the curry. All in all, very successful.

For dessert I had made a pistachio and cardamom kulfi.

I had made one previously, but it had been a long process of boiling milk. I chose a slightly different recipe this time, with a similar process to the honeycomb ice cream I like to make, which does not need an ice cream maker and doesn’t need hours spent on boiling milk. Firstly I infused some saffron in a cup of warmed double cream, and left it overnight in the fridge to impart it’s colour and flavour.

In the morning, I added another cup of double cream, and whisked the mixture to stiff peaks. I crushed some pistachios to stir into the whisked cream, and also stirred in a tin of condensed milk. You can then either chose to freeze in individual pots or, as I did, in a glass bowl, and serve by scooping out into individual bowls. I served it with a tropical fruit salad, and we enjoyed a rather nice Gewürztraminer with it.

It was an excellent evening full of lively chatter and plenty of laughter. It’s a wonderful way to get to know people by sharing a relaxing meal together.