5 Courses of Indian Food

Tonight we tried a new restaurant in Austin specializing in South Indian dishes, which happens to be vegetarian. The four of us enjoyed a 5 course dinner; starting with a lentil soup, served with a side of Papad (roasted, crispy lentil tortillas). We then each got a Samosa served with the traditional Green Chutney or Tamarind Chutney. This was followed with a potato and pea stuffed Dosa served with two different sauces. Finally the main part of the meal arrived - two bowls of basmati rice and two different curried dishes; Avial (Vegetables simmered in coconut sauce, Yogurt and Spices), and Palak Paneer (Home-made Cottage cheese cubes cooked with spinach and spices) and a house special of Cauliflower lightly covered in a red coating and fried. These dishes were served with a basket of freshly baked Naan bread. Everyone's favorite was the Cauliflower, with the Palak Paneer running a close second. The feast was rounded out with Ras Malai (Home-made cottage cheese marinated in condensed milk, flavored with rose water and garnished with Pistachio). Even though this sounds like an enourmous amount of food, we gave it our best shot and still came home with leftovers. A very enjoyable feast which we will look forward to again in the future.