Dinner theater

I stumbled across a delicious sounding recipe in the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens: Slow cooker Indian chicken stew. Doesn't it look delicious?

My thoughts upon seeing this recipe, in this order, were:

1. OMG I love Indian food!

2. I haven't seen my neighbor Yogita in a while. I should have her over for dinner.

3. Hey! Yogita is INDIAN. I'll make this dish and she will be so impressed that I have mastered a chicken stew recipe from her culture.

4. BONUS! This is a slow cooker recipe, which means kudos and accolades will soon be mine for very little effort on my part.

Those thoughts became the basis for my little dinner drama.

The setting: a weeknight. Yogita comes over. I prepare the recipe but leave out the spinach. I even use basmati rice instead of regular white rice. At this point, the kitchen smells great and I am convinced that I am awesome.

Scene One

Yogita takes her first bite.

Yogita: Why are you taking my picture?

Me: I just want to see your face when you taste how awesome this stew is!

Yogita: Is this for your blog thing?

Me: ...yes.

End scene.

Scene Two

Me: So....does this taste like authentic Indian food?

Yogita: No. But it tastes okay.

Me: So you'd never find this in India?

Yogita: No.

Me: What about at an Indian restaurant in the United States?

Yogita: Um...no.

Me: What about at an Indian restaurant in the United States, where I am the owner and cook?

Yogita: .....yes. That's where you would find this dish.

End scene.

Overall, I think Yogita was very entertained by my attempt to cook real Indian food. And amused that this is what passes for Indian food in Better Homes and Gardens. I thought the recipe was okay. I give it five stars for the ease of preparation, but only one star for flavor. I expected, and wanted, something with a lot more kick. This had no kick at all, though it was tasty and seemed like a very healthy dish.

Twenty stars for the theater, though. I am a bit of a Drama Queen.