Scoot over, Julie & Julia...

It's Megan & Ruta now. I love cooking. I love making new recipes. I love when the new recipes not only look as good as the pictures, but taste delicious. I love using tons of spices, herbs and ingredients. I love all of this until I embark on a huge meal and then I wonder what in the hell I've gotten myself into.

I love Indian food. The way they make the eggplant, potatoes, rice and beans taste like heaven has been a mystery to me. So, I purchased an Indian food cookbook. "5 spices, 50 dishes" by Ruta Kahate. The mission of the book is to provide meals that only use 5 spices (coriander seed, cumin seed, mustard seed, cayenne & tumeric) and deliver tastes that will fool those eating that you slaved in the kitchen all day.

I present to you meal #1...

1. Spicy Eggplant & Tomatoes
2. Spicy Seared Shrimp
3. Lentil-Rice Pilaf
4. Crunchy Cucumber Salad with Crushed Peanuts
5. Roasted Onion Raita
6. Thalipeeth (skillet bread)

All in all, it was a great meal. Not sure why I felt it necessary to try SIX new things in one day, but I was so excited about all the delicious sounding recipes that I just decided to try a whole bunch. Oh wait, yes I do...cause I read this: "According to the principles of Ayurveda (an ancient science), a balanced meal should contain six tastes- sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent and pungent - and a variety of textures and food groups." I might as well have been trying to make stuffed duck or beef bourgogne. (BTW- if you haven't seen Julie & Julia- I highly recommend. Cute stinkin' movie.)

It was pretty darn spicy (especially the eggplant & tomato which sported an entire teaspoon of cayenne). I asked Robby what his favorite was and he was commenting on how he liked all of the different flavors, and that the eggplant was delicious, but hot. I asked- "Was it like a party in your mouth?" He responded; "More like a fist-fight."

Oh, and I didn't have to fool them that I'd been in the kitchen all day...I had.