However…
If you recall my last post, you will remember that this is The Valentine's Day To Make Up for Last Year, and my needs/wants/desires do not count. It's all about Fey. And when I asked Fey which she would prefer (without telling her first of my preference), she chose Dakshin.
So Dakshin it was.
Here is where I must reveal my Secret Shame to you, dear reader. I am a wuss. I love flavorful foods, ethnic foods, various and unusual spices and ingredients. But I cannot handle heat at all. Coming from South Louisiana, this makes me a bit of an oddity. Sauce piquant, jambalaya, red beans and rice—I rarely order these dishes in restaurants because they usually make them too fiery for my wimpy palate.
Indian food is the same way, and Dakshin is no exception. I've learned a trick, however, to surviving a potentially five-alarm buffet—"Follow the Children."
Yes, it's pathetic. Yes, it's embarrassing. But it works. Parents aren't usually going to let their kids eat overly peppery foods, and kids (bless their highly sensitive young taste buds) aren't usually going to go for it on their own accord.
Since the restaurant was filled with families having a nice Saturday lunch, I had many survival guides for my meal. I followed a lovely little Indian girl of about six to the buffet and wound up with the following combination:
- Vegetable cutlets: a spicy mashed potato/vegetable croquette. A little on the hot side, but still delicious.
- Medhu Vada: fried lentil doughnuts. These were great (along with the iddly) for taking the burn out. And they tasted pretty darned good.
- Iddly: These are white cakes made of rice and lentils. Alone, they would be bland and unmemorable. But at the first sign of heat on my palate, iddly became my new catch-phrase for pain relief.
- Uppma: a very flavorful mashed potato and vegetable dish that was just a hint hotter than the other items I had, but ooh so worth it.
- Hakka noodles: basically, this was veggie lo mein, and it was delicious. I filled up twice on this one.
- Madras Fish Curry: I just took a piece of fish out of the sauce and ate it. I found that most of the heat is in the sauce, and the fish alone was exquisitely seasoned.
- Butter Masala Dosai: now, one of the things I loved about our meal was the dosai. The servers did not leave them on the buffet, but carried platters to the tables so diners could get them hot and fresh. I actually went back to get the name of this item, because I want to order it next time we visit. It's basically a rice and lentil crepe stuffed with uppma. The crepe is crispy, not soft, and you can eat it with your hands. This was hands down my favorite item of the day.
Fey, on the other hand, tasted everything on the buffet, because she's not a wimp. She swears the way to get past the fire is to take a spoonful of yoghurt and swish it around your mouth. This actually works--in fact, most cultures that enjoy tongue-seering spices often have their version of yoghurt--sour cream, mayo, you name it. It's a basic survival trait, and Fey is very smart to use it. And while that may be true, I think I'll continue to stick to the Kindergarten Method of Indian Food Survival. An ounce of prevention is worth an ounce of yoghurt, with no messy pain to get in the way.
Side note: One of the presents I bought Fey for Valentine's Day was one of those god-awful dancing/singing toys they sell in Walgreen's. You know, the obnoxious ones that play Love Me Tender or Tequila? I hate them, but Fey loves them, and (see above) it was all about Fey. This particular fellow, quickly dubbed Oscar, was a bright pink and purple monster who played Muh-num-a-nump (beep beep be-dee-deep) from Sesame Street. Oscar quickly became a favorite of the wait staff, and several stopped by our table to hear him sing…over and over and over.
I am such a great girlfriend.
Our pagan store jaunt and dinner at Varanese, coming up in part three.
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