The wind whistling across the cold, high, plain; sky-high mountains to the south and west and an endless desert to the north. You walk with your pack and your pony across the desolate, dry meadow. In the distance there are horns and bells crashing and booming to banish evil spirits. Silence and then a rhythmic batrachian chorus of monks starts to invoke a powerful Goddess. A little bit of Tibet.
We had another dinner with friends on Saturday that featured Seven Dishes from Tibet. Tibetan food is really interesting because it is a blend of West and South Asian trends and distinctly East Asian elements such as star anise, soy sauces and daikon radish. Dishes are usually cooked in sesame oil or a roasted peanut oil and have strong blends of tomato and cinnamon or cloves.
The Menu:
Appetizers
Chicken and Daikon Momos
Spicy Tomato Sauce for Momos
Spicy Eggplant Fritters
Main Courses
Lamb Shamdeh
Butter Chicken
Mushroom and Peppers
Spinach with Peas
Grounds
Rice with Butter and Cardamom
Boiled and Dry-mashed Potatoes
Our guests brought dessert so I didn’t get a chance to lay my Pistachio Yogurt or Tibetan Rice Pudding on them – but still the meal was really delicious – or so my guests said. All recipes are of course from the upcoming Volume Two of Silk Road Gourmet.
The Chicken and Diakon Momos are wonderful, half-moon shaped pastries filled with a delicious blend of minced chicken, daikon radish, onions, ginger, garlic and a fair dose of Tibetan Garam Masala. The momos are steamed and then served with a delicious Spicy Tomato Sauce for Momos that complements the flavor of the momos.
Spicy Eggplant Fritters are slices of eggplant dipped in seasoned chickpea flour fried lightly in roasted peanut oil that are delicious.
Lamb Shamdeh is a delicious, anise infused stew of lamb, onions, tomato and pepper. Its rich, deep flavor resounds with cumin, coriander and turmeric along with a touch of soy and cilantro.
My Butter Chicken is a dish from the diaspora community of Tibetans from Northern India with generous portions of Tibetan Garam Masala and Tibetan Tandoori Masala. It has East Asian elements like lime juice and distinctly South Asian elements like cashews, cumin and lots of yogurt.
The vegetable mains included Mushrooms and Peppers which is a blend of red bell peppers and shitake mushrooms that are stir fried with ginger, garlic, soy and rice vinegar. Shitakes are a great replacement for the mushrooms from field and forest that Tibetans would use. Spinach with Peas is another greta dish in which spinach and spring onions are stir fried in dark sesame oil along with pigeon peas, black pepper, chili pepper and soy sauce. The curries were served on a bed of Rice with Butter and Cardamom and a ground of very Tibetan boiled and dry mashed potatoes.
A great meal with good friends – nothing is more healing for the overworked. Laughter, good will and a run down of thefoods that the Britishers are missing in the US. Food from so far away brought us closer together on the Silk Road. (Words by Laura Kelley).