Two Wheel Culinary Adventures

Monday night dinner

We found the cleverest idea in Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything Fast”. It’s a bit like quick, deconstructed falafel where the ingredients are crisped and smashed in a pan rather than laboriously shaped into patties and fried. It’s topped with tahini sauce.

For a weeknight that’s a cool concept. We served it on baby kale, chard, spinach and arugula this time but I think next time I’ll also roast and add some winter squash and red onion slices.

The recipe in the book is called:
Chickpea Hash with Tahini Sauce.

Sunday breakfast

Tofu scrambles for Sunday breakfast! This one is filled with diced gold potatoes, crimini mushrooms, red onions and Italian parsley.

Honestly this makes me completely happy and it cuts down on the amount of eggs we eat. Any day or meal of the week we feel like scrambled eggs, this is an easy and healthy alternative and the ingredients are always on hand!

I really love recipe for “Seriously the Best Tofu Scramble” which you can find on their blog. Here’s what’s best about their method: firstly, they know The Big Secret which is Kala Namak, or Indian black salt. This is what makes it taste like eggs. Black salt has sulfur in it and like all sulfurous tasting things, has a reputation as a healing ingredient. I’m afraid I consider that bunk, but it works PERFECTLY in a tofu scramble. Second, they use a spoonful of tahini in with the nutritional yeast sauce. That gives it a very nice cheesy creamy flavor.

I do add some herbs and flavorings to make different tastes. Oregano and thyme for starters, and frequently I use something other than chipotle pepper although that’s lovely too. An equal blend of ordinary chili powder and smoked paprika is nice.

I also use different tofu. There is a Japanese style of tofu called “silken” which should not be confused with the very soft Chinese style silken tofu you see water packed in the grocery store refrigerated section.

Japanese silken tofu is packed in aseptic boxes and is shelf stable. It comes in many firmnesses just like the other kind. The difference is it’s perfectly smooth and not grainy at all. The extra firm kind, crumbled not pressed, is so much more like egg than Chinese style tofu. I buy it in cases on Amazon far cheaper and than it is at Harris Teeter, but you can find it there in the Asian ingredients aisle (not in the cheaper grocery stores I’ve tried).

This tofu is too delicate for most uses. It’s best for puddings and desserts though because it’s really very much like cream in the softer iterations. The diced delicate tofu in a bowl of restaurant miso soup is usually this kind as well. I enclosed a picture of the package on the second slide to help you find it!

Sunday night dinner

On Sunday of that week we made Mom’s Spicy Pork Bulgogi. It was stellar! Mom’s home cooking for the win.

I wish we had had a chance to go get perilla leaves for the wraps, and next time I won’t neglect that step.

We try to keep meat-containing meals to just once or twice a week, since we also have eggs on Saturday mornings. That is about as much animal product as would have been typical for an Italian family in the early 20th century back when everyone was so much healthier. It’s more than would have been eaten in China or Japan around the same time, where heart disease rates were even lower.

Minimizing or eliminating meat isn’t all by itself a miracle. Health takes a great deal of work and planning. Once we’ve spent some years letting it take a backseat, recovering our health takes even more. I find it helpful to remember my grandmother’s attitudes about food in many ways, but also to remember that she did change with the ready access to many rich ingredients in the United States.

I believe in eating everything, though with a care to choose humanely raised products. 13 years as vegetarians taught us that no single ingredient is the whole story and that in all cases, variety and unprocessed foods are the better choice.

Saturday night dinner

I try to make and freeze a batch of “Really Awesome Black Bean Burgers” (find the recipe on ) to have on hand all the time.

They really are Really Awesome. Don’t skip the step of roasting the beans. It’s critical to the right firm texture as well as adding extra depth of flavor.

These would be even better with a spoonful of guacamole, a douse of hot sauce, and some red onions but they’re also tasty just with ketchup. We had a big salad on the side.

For store-bought hamburger buns the best flavor I’ve found is Dave’s Killer Bread, the 21 whole grain variety with the green stripe on the label.

On Saturday mornings we often have an omelette with Gruyère or fontina and some whole grain toast, and I cheat on my no-caffeine policy with a beautiful big pot of black coffee. Decaf sucks. I motor my way through weekend mornings hopped up on the real deal!

Weekend lunches are often the same thing we eat for breakfast on weekdays: a smoothie for Frank, and a bowl of frozen fruit and nuts for me.

Friday night dinner

We typically make more than one serving of anything we cook, and stash another night or so of it in the freezer. This means we can buy and cook ingredients efficiently but don’t have to eat the same thing multiple times a week. It also prevents us from wasting anything we buy.

On Friday we defrosted a quick sauce I’d made a few weeks before. It had homemade sausage made with humane ground turkey, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, peppers, garlic, whole grape tomatoes, a sprinkling of dried thyme and oregano, and splashes of Marsala.

I served it on whole grain farro, which I like to cook in vegetable stock with bay leaves, black pepper and garlic to make it more fragrant. Farro is wonderfully flavorful on its own, and makes a fun change from pasta or gnocchi.

Thursday night dinner

Thursday we made Mark Bittman’s Tofu and Cauliflower a la Suvir from his book “How To Cook Everything Fast”.

This is so ridiculously easy it’s almost embarrassing and it’s SO good! It’s a kind of shorthand version of Cauliflower Manchurian, that Chinese diaspora Indian snack food. Instead of battering and deep frying the cauliflower, it’s simply pan fried in olive oil and he adds in firm tofu to make it an entree. The sauce is literally ketchup, garlic, and a little hot pepper. Talk about dorm room food but it’s really delicious!

We served it on brown rice.

Wednesday night dinner

Wednesday we made an easy sesame noodle dish with tofu.

I sautéed what vegetables I had, and in a separate pan but the same method some rough-torn tofu, in toasted sesame oil with a little garlic and ginger and some pinches of salt.

At the end I added hoisin sauce and sesame seeds to both pans, and continued to sauté until the sauce became thicker. Doing the tofu separately makes it easier to brown and crisp it without breaking it up too much.

I tossed it all with some cooked soba (buckwheat) noodles and we added sriracha to our individual portions. Easy!

Tuesday night dinner

Tuesday we had Chana (split Indian chickpeas) dal with butternut squash. The recipe is from Odisha, in Northeastern India, and it’s flavored with Panch Phoron, a lovely Bengali spice blend containing nigella seeds and fennel, among other ingredients.

It was an easy meal with brown jasmine rice.

The recipe, called Odia Buta Dali Alu Tarkari, is from a cookbook I’ve loved for years called Vegan Richa’s Indian Kitchen by

Monday night dinner

Last Monday we had what I have come to understand is called “pasta alla Norma” although I think it’s just a no-brainer way to use an eggplant. My family often made this in the summer. Sauté big slices of eggplant in olive oil with pinches of salt, then dice them and add them to a quick tomato pan sauce flavored with garlic, red pepper and oregano. Throw in lots of fresh parsley and maybe fresh basil as well at the end. It’s always best not to cook the eggplant in the sauce, but to toss it in at the end. That way the diced chunks stay more whole and aren’t absorbed into the sauce.

I use whole wheat spaghetti. Barilla makes a fine tasting one. I am less of a fan of short pasta shapes especially in whole grain, but normally a chunky sauce like this would be better on a short shape of some kind.

Ricotta Salata is the traditional cheese for this pasta.

Lunchtime

The lunch formula in this house is some sort of vegetable and bean combination. This week we did salads with lentils and diced, pan roasted sweet potato. Dressing was my usual garlic, olive oil and balsamic thickened with hummus and strawberry jam.

Next week I think it’ll be curried chickpeas with pan-crisped shredded potatoes and sweet potatoes, and whole grain pita bread to go with it.

Frequently I make spicy, garlicky greens in vegetable broth with Lima beans-one of my favorite lunches!

We usually try to limit our intake of animal products to just a few meals a week, so legumes are a hugely important part of our diet. The fiber and protein are so healthy and really if we eat eggs or meat or dairy more often we can’t keep our average saturated fat intake below the Heart Association recommendation of 5-6% of our calories.

Importantly, manufactured meat replacements really aren’t any better that way. Between the added sodium and saturated fat, not to mention the highly processed ingredients, those things aren’t a huge part of our diet either. We could make our own, with tofu and wheat gluten. Most often I would rather just have real food for our protein: just beans, tofu or tempeh, not a faux food. Grandma always believed in the REAL THING, and so far in life I find she wasn’t wrong.

Vega Premium Sport protein drink

So I am not totally happy about getting some of my protein from a processed product. But as I’m heading into menopause and also running a fair amount these days, I am concerned to try to ADD lean muscle rather than lose it. That is definitely a long term project of swimming against the tide of the aging process!

The maximum protein that can most likely be utilized (rather than stored as fat) is somewhere in the realm of 2.1g/kg. This is more than is strictly required for health, but I try to give my body the best case scenario if possible! I do strength training also in the hopes of preserving lean muscle tissue and I would hate to waste the effort.

it’s not out of reach for me with the addition of around 20-30 grams of protein and I really need to get it in as few overall calories as possible. Thus the drink. It’s not awful as long as you get used to the flavor of the stevia sweetener. I have this around mid day, and then go for another run on my lunch break.

Women don’t get enough counseling about the significant health consequences of menopause. We need to prepare ourselves well ahead of time to be as healthy and strong as possible so that we’re less susceptible to the onset of heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and all the rest.

It doesn’t help that right around the time of our lives when work, family commitments and all the rest of adult living really absorb our effort, we SHOULD be focusing on our health and yet we’re often still taking health for granted as a leftover mentality from younger days. So we become sedentary and aren’t vigilant about nutrition, and we sail into our 40s ill prepared for middle age.

We’re trained to imagine that we’re at the mercy of our genetics but it really doesn’t work like that! Depending on the lifestyle we provide to our body, different genes will express. We have SO much leeway to help ourselves!

My first real meal of the day is post run #1. I love it!

I have a cup of green tea and a fruit and nut bowl containing: apples, strawberries, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, ground flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, and a teaspoon of amla powder. I top it with plain soy milk and have one vegetarian sausage as well for a bit more protein.

That’s a big list! Here’s why I evolved it this way:

I do not love eating nuts and seeds. This meal has evolved out of a need to combine several foods I try to eat daily, AND give me a delicious medium in which to hide a couple of the ones I don’t like!

Amla powder is an uncommon ingredient in the west but is used in Indian cooking. It’s a VERY odd tasting fruit, in dried and powdered form. It’s from an Indian gooseberry. It may do nothing other than adding more vitamin C and antioxidants to the bowl, but there’s some evidence that it can reduce LDL and help control blood sugar. Most ways of taking amla are downright disgusting tasting, to be honest. It must be an acquired taste in India but I’m not personally a fan! Sprinkle it on your fruit bowl or whizz it into your smoothie, though, and it basically disappears. Mix it in well, and please don’t say I didn’t warn you about the taste! I use about a teaspoon a day.

I include the frozen mixed cherries because TART cherries specifically are good for athletic recovery and reducing inflammation caused by exercise. Sweet cherries don’t seem to have such a strong effect but like the other berries in my mix, are still heart and brain healthy and full of antioxidants. They also help with arthritis pain, which I hope is helpful for my hands.

I admit a lot of our grocery budget winds up in breakfast. I believe berries, seeds and nuts are critical to eat on most days. I consider the cost to be an investment in our long term health. I do use frozen fruit, which is usually less expensive than fresh. It’s also more like a delicious fruity bowl of ice cream that way!

First installment! First thing in the morning before I go running, I eat a little watermelon or cantaloupe.

Protein in the morning is not magic. There’s no particular reason you should have to eat any special thing at any point in the day to avoid blood sugar crashes. If that’s happening I have definitely learned there’s a problem with the overall diet or health, not the timing of foods.

The ancient world, by and large, survived on two meals a day. There’s nothing special about breakfast per se.

I have learned that as long as my diet is of very high quality, satisfies my protein, carbohydrate and micronutrient needs and has enough calories to equal what I’m burning in the 24, my body could not care less exactly when during the day I actually eat any of it.

I can wake up and do an hour of interval running on an empty stomach. I’m not wiped out or underperforming.

What I eat first thing is more to do with convenience, to be honest, since it’s hard to run effectively with a big leafy salad in my stomach.

That said, melon is one of the world’s healthiest low-cost foods. It’s worth incorporating regularly for the lycopene and other nutrients. Not only that, but watermelon in particular has some special properties for endurance athletes. It can reduce recovery time and increase endurance, probably due in part to one of the amino acids that is richer in watermelon.

Historical fact! Ancient and wild watermelon strains weren’t, and aren’t, sweet. It’s debatable whether it was cultivated for the flesh or perhaps solely the seeds, which are also edible and nutritious. They’re still an ingredient in several ancient foodways. Either way, it was always an important food. As of a few years ago it was confirmed by DNA sequencing and by analyzing a watermelon leaf found placed on a mummy, that Ancient Egypt cultivated a sweet tasting variety of watermelon that was eaten for its flesh. The strain may have originated in Sudan, and is now eaten all over the world.

I thought I would do a little series on what I eat in a week! My particular food choices aren’t special, they’re just my unique style of meeting my body’s needs as healthfully and enjoyably as I can. To start it off, here is one of the best resources I can suggest for those who are navigating this project for themselves. This book is short, readable, and enjoyable as a cover-to-cover experience as well as a quick reference to “reality check” many food health claims that we might hear. Most importantly, it emphasizes how much freedom there truly is to build a personal diet that is health promoting or even health restoring.

I have a new tea to love! carries so many Oolongs that it’ll take me some time to explore them all, but my first try is wonderful. Black Drqgon surprised me with its almost buttery quality, so strong my first cup made me believe I had overused olive oil in my omelet! It definitely enhances the mouthfeel of anything you eat along with it. In a very good and satisfying way! Second brewing of course this was less obvious but still a very nice cup of tea. I love this kind of Oolong with savory (not sweet) breads and breakfasts. This one is more in the dark, less green family of Oolongs. My apologies for my lack of recipes of late, I have been spending most free moments in a massive garden overhaul when I’m not sanding guitars to try to get through our current builds!

Little Pizzas!

Behold, my father’s toaster oven solution to a couple of hungry daughters. This hardly needs a description, just top as desired and toast on “broil” until the cheese has lovely brown spots on it!

Vegetarian Sandwich

Here’s my interpretation of the sprouty, cheesy sandwiches of yore. I always loved them even as a child. In summer, add a slab of wonderful ripe tomato, but in winter I don’t care for the mealy grocery store tomatoes so I leave them out.

Lay out 2 slices of toasted, whole grain, seedy bread.

Spread half with:
Hummus, homemade or store bought

Spread the other half with:
Garlic and herb soft cheese, such as Alouette or Boursin. Alternatively and just as good: use a nice slab of some grainy, full flavored cheese like cheddar, or a sticky soft cheese like Brie.

Assemble the rest of the fillings between the layers:
Half a ripe avocado, mashed
Quick pickled red onions and cucumbers (see my prior recipe)
A thick layer of clover, alfalfa or broccoli sprouts
Baby spinach, kale and chard leaves
The tomato, if desired.

Cram the top onto that mile high sandwich and make sure you have a napkin!

Simplest Garlic and Spice Quick Pickles

This couldn’t be any easier and works for sandwich stuffing or just standing with the fridge door open and sneaking a bite!

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp fine iodized salt
4 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cucumber, sliced thin
1/2 red onion, sliced
A pinch of red pepper flakes OR a sliced jalapeño or Serrano pepper

Combine all the ingredients and stir well. Refrigerate at least a day in advance for optimal flavor!

Years ago my sister gave me a copy of Martha Stewart’s Cookies. It’s a handy tome with a pictorial guide in the front of all the recipes divided up by texture. In the “Soft and Chewy” section I found these Chocolate Malt Cookies. Frank loves malted chocolate candy, so it sounded like a fun reason to buy malted milk powder for the first time since I was a kid. The cookie batter was especially delicious, in my opinion. You should definitely not eat cookie dough!

It’s been a minute! The past month or so we’ve been so caught up in guitar work we haven’t had time for much original cooking or dining out-and anyway, everyone needs a break from indulgence after the new year starts. Frank’s clutch needs to be replaced also, and our Thanksgiving ride back from Richmond really was pretty miserable for his left hand. Harleys never have a light clutch to begin with but his is now a real bear and we don’t want to get caught away from home if it dies completely. However! This week we’re celebrating our lutherie milestones and the coming year’s big projects. Azar’s in Hilltop was the perfect spot for that today-on a Tuesday when many restaurants are closed around here, we had a sweet server and a feast. We’ve loved as long as we’ve been living in Hampton Roads. We enjoyed felafel and lamb burgers with their signature, not-to-be-missed garlic and herb fries, as well as their peasant salad. Dessert was, per the label on the case, an “Awesome Lia”, a nest of shredded phyllo filled with marzipan and drizzled with honey. On the radio, meanwhile, was a creative mix ranging from Mediterranean pop to Ella Fitzgerald. Never a dull moment!

It’s been some years since we messed with a GoPro, but one thing hasn’t changed: the initial image of us scratching our heads and staring at the buttons. What do you think that message means? It beeped…is that good or bad?

May all who see this enjoy a safe and happy holiday season in your own special way!

Frank’s Lunchtime Chipotle Eggplant Tacos

For our health and that of the planet, we try to keep weekday lunches to a veggies-and-legumes framework. Frank has been scarfing these tacos with pleasure this week, not at all a small achievement since he’s not a big fan of either eggplant or mushrooms. However, done right they’re meaty and very satisfying!

This made enough for 5 servings.

Combine on a baking tray:

1 eggplant, peeled and diced
1 pound crimini mushrooms, washed and diced
1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 T Smoked paprika
Black pepper and iodized salt to taste
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
Olive oil

Toss and roast at 450F, scraping the pan several times, until concentrated and beginning to brown but the centers of the eggplant dice are still soft. Perhaps 30 minutes or a little less.

To the roasting pan, add:

4 cloves garlic, diced
2 cans of black and/or kidney beans, drained and rinsed
4-5 juicy tomatoes, diced
1 large red onion, diced
1/2c raisins
1/2c pumpkin seeds
A big spoonful to taste of canned Chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Stir the remaining ingredients into the eggplant mixture and return to the oven to continue roasting until the onions and tomatoes are cooked but not overly browned, another 20 to 30 minutes or to taste.

Serve in warm whole grain corn tortillas.

Here’s my trick with the tortillas!

Rub a tiny bit of olive oil on both sides of storebought whole grain corn tortillas, and sprinkle a little bit of fine, iodized salt on each side.

They can go into the oven on a baking tray at 350F OR if you’re only doing two, like Frank does at lunch, you can put them straight into the toaster oven with no tray.

Either way you can choose to make them into tostadas by baking until they’re crispy, 15-20 minutes in the oven, or you can just toast/bake them until they’re a little bit browned and still flexible. They hold together much better like this for eating tacos out of hand.

Alternatively you can fill your tortillas, fold them in half, and crisp them in a pan on the stove with olive oil. This way ends up using more oil and takes longer, so I don’t do this too often.

Happy Birthday, !

I rolled fresh blackberries in edible gold luster dust to decorate Renee’s birthday cake. It’s Ottolenghi’s chocolate cake, and I frosted it with a simple buttercream: beat 16 oz of soft cream cheese and 1 stick of soft butter until smooth, add a splash of vanilla extract and two cups of powdered sugar, and finally beat in 8 ounces of white chocolate (not “white chips” but actual white chocolate) gently melted in a double boiler and stirred smooth. Whip until smooth and refrigerate until it’s solid enough to keep your cake sturdy!

Sri Lankan Style Dal

This Sri Lankan dal is different from any Indian dal I ever tried. It’s creamy with coconut and fragrant with fenugreek, and there’s no tartness. Although you can take the easy route and use red lentils as I often do, try to find an Asian grocery store and buy some toor dal. It has a perfume and delicate color that’s really special.

In a medium pot, simmer until cooked through and reasonably smooth, stirring often. The final texture is a matter of personal preference, and dal will get thicker as it sits so you may prefer more water, particularly when reheating leftovers.

2 cups toor dal, well washed and soaked for 1 hour, then drained
1/2tsp turmeric
1 cinnamon stick
3-4 cups water
Half a can of full fat coconut milk

When the dal is done, season to taste with:

Fine iodized sea salt

Tempering the dal:
This is the last step before serving. It allows you to develop the flavors that get richer when cooked in oil.

In a small skillet, sauté:

1 red onion, sliced
Olive or Coconut Oil

When the onion is beginning to be translucent, add:
20 fresh curry leaves
1/2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1tsp fresh ground fenugreek seeds
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Continue to sauté, stirring constantly, until the spices release plenty of aroma.

Blend the tempering oil and spices into the dal and “churn” with a wooden spoon until it is relatively smooth and well combined.

Sri Lankan flavors are SO much different than Indian ones although many dishes might look similar and share similar techniques. This meal was a thrilling departure from our usual dal-and-curry routine! It was also quite simple to cook. I’m hooked on Sri Lankan foods now, especially given how many vegetarian options there are.

We made “White” pumpkin curry from book “Far Eastern Odyssey”. The “white” (not roasted) curry powder is rich in fennel and fenugreek seeds, making it quite refreshingly different than other tastes!

There is also a dal which I adapted from some online research-recipe for that to follow-as well as Pol Sambola.

If you would like to try a very similar recipe for the pumpkin curry, try this one from :

https://www.theflavorbender.com/sri-lankan-pumpkin-curry-recipe/

And from the same site, I made the Pol Sambola from that section of this delicious looking salad recipe which I will certainly be trying soon! This coconut sambol has a really unique sweet-sour-toasty-spiced flavor that sets off everything else.

https://www.theflavorbender.com/chicken-and-melon-salad-with-coconut-sambol/

This cookbook is by far the best I bought and used this year. It’s a survey of several cuisines so you get a real variety of flavors, and more than that EVERY recipe I try is excellent and, as far as I can test, authentic. This book contains the ONLY recipe for Pad Thai that got me replicating the flavors I love-because for once, in a western recipe, the ingredients were right. I always adapt to our tastes a bit, which is why I’ve shared a recipe or two from this book but written “my way”. Honestly though, I would recommend this cookbook to everyone to try for themselves. Even better, there’s a bibliography in back for deeper dives into each cuisine. These recipes aren’t westernized except to the extent of making it simpler to shop for and prepare in a western kitchen. However, there’s no substitution of ingredients where they just don’t turn out like the original, as you find in a lot of cookbooks. This also happens to be a very enjoyable television series that is worth watching! My favorite part is Rick Stein in his home kitchen making a rather messy and simple home version of whatever you’ve just seen-showing you just how reasonable and relaxed it can be to cook these wonderful dishes at home.

The sandwich that only happens once a year! (That’s probably a good thing)

We’ve always loved everything they make at Tamarind. Our favorites include:

Lilva Kachori, little fried balls of green legumes in a Gujarati style served with a sweet sauce and a spicy one. This might be our absolute favorite!

Samosa Chaat, which are the potato and pea samosas everyone recognizes but they’re brought to the next level by splitting them and covering them with curried chickpeas and chutney.

All the filled Dosas, which are a Southern specialty: giant thin pancakes with a spoon of filling in the center and a side of sambar for dipping, and coconut chutney.

All the vegetarian dishes are absolutely top notch. If you’re not sure what to try, get a thali! It’s a platter with a full meal of various dishes that’s a little different each time. You’ll get curry and something crispy and some raw veggies and a chutney and a sweet, as well as rice and/or bread.

We feel too that the last few years they’ve not only expanded their menu, but brought the meat dishes up to the same excellence as the vegetarian ones. I personally feel that wonderful vegetarian food is rare enough in this country that it’s a bit of a shame to eat meat in a place like this…but I will admit that Frank’s Murgh Makhani was as good as I’ve had anywhere. That is so popular in America I’m not surprised they offer it, but I think of it as a bit of a fancy restaurant food in India so not quite a snack food!

We rode our bikes purely to buy some dal and curry leaves but we couldn’t pass up a meal at Tamarind while we were there! A perfect quick break from the guitar shop. And-no weekend is complete without a picture of me at the gas pump!

One of the best things that came out of a poor job I had for a year, is that we found Tamarind. All that year I enjoyed ducking in for a quick Indian street food snack and to say hello to the kind man who often stood behind the counter-and for a quick update on the cricket scores.

To get there, from Chesapeake the 168 bypass leads to 464 towards downtown Norfolk and beyond to 264, to the Military Highway/13 exit. The shopping center to your immediate left after getting on Military is the place, and you can duck right in or turn left on Poplar Hall and around the little roundabout into the shopping center.

There are two businesses there, owned by the same family as far as we know: an excellent Indian grocery store called Royal Bazaar where I buy all my dal and specialty vegetables; and Tamarind, the street food restaurant.

It’s always a good sign when the wonderful smells are already wafting out as you park your bike! Tamarind is a street food and snack food restaurant. Most Indian restaurants in this country seem to conform to a recognizable pattern but Indian cuisine is so much more! Snacks are one area where Indian food really excels.