Vij's

My sister told me about Vij's years ago.  Yeah yeah, whatever.  You're so much cooler than me, we all know.  So anyway....I should have listened a bit more closely.  If you have the chance, run - do not walk, to Vij's.

I should have taken photos.  Scott and I spent a few days searching for ingredients after I picked up the cookbook Relax Honey and stumbled upon the pakoras recipe.  He was already planning on making the chicken marsala from Jamie Oliver's cookbook The Ministry of Food.  Scott made the tamarind chutney, the pakoras, and the marsala, while I sourced almost everything, and found handmade somosas to boot.

I should have taken photos.  The funniest part was when everyone asked the name of the chutney with onions and chilies.  Yeah, you guessed it.  It's called Onion and Chilie Chutney.  Pretty complex.  The worst part was the mystery pickled item from a source who would be best to remain anonymous.  It tasted like Robitussin, even with the fabulous pakoras to back it up.  YUK! 

I should have taken photos.  We started with the pakoras and samosas and papadams.  On to the salad (not to repeat, very weird cucumber dill weirdness).  Scott had help in the kitchen from Jin, who acted as his sous chef, which was great.  Out came the marsala, paired with the basmati rice, yoghurt, lemon, slivered almonds, and another papadam.  And to finish, everyone got some rice pudding.  I personally hate the stuff, but Scott is a big fan, and seriously, what other Indian desert is remotely ok?  I haven't found one yet.

So there you have it.  A great meal and not a single picture.  I'll try to do better next time.  Here's a shot I took of Scott' Rogan Josh about a year ago - it'll have to do.  :)