10 days in 3 cities day 9: home cooked curries

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Of all the meals that I've planned on this last leg of our food tour, surely this had to be the one I looked forward to the most.  Hours after enjoying dinner at his eponymous restaurant, my friends and I regrouped for lunch at Gaggan Anand's home.

Gaggan wasn't at his restaurant last night when we dined there.  He was on his way back from Europe, and landed early this morning.  Apparently he dropped his bags off at home and went right back out to the market to shop for lunch, and apologized for not having a lot of ingredients in his home kitchen.  On the other hand, I felt terrible for intruding on his family time on a Sunday.

At least I didn't come empty-handed.  Knowing that he wouldn't take payment from me for last night's dinner, I brought along a very special and exclusive bottle of sake I brought back from Japan.  My new local restaurateur friend immediately recognized it - even the vintage that wasn't labelled anywhere.  But what my host cared more about were the cans of soda I carried from Hong Kong... this was a childhood memory, and probably brought him more happiness than any sake or wine I could give him.

Poor Vladi had to play sommelier on his day off, and poured us a round of Champagne to quench our thirst.

Olivier Horiot Cuvée Métisse, dégorgée le 18 Octobre 2017 - mmmm definitely dominated by pinot noir.

My friend started cooking two versions of the same meat dish with curry leaves, star anise, and black pepper. The difference was in the level of heat. Of course, Hello Kitty thought neither version was actually spicy...

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Next up was something else tossed together in a pan...

The rainbow garoupa was cooked with stinky beans (สะตอ), which are always tasty.  Seasoned with coriander, chili, and turmeric.  The fish was really tender and bouncy.  Just wonderful.

We lifted the lid of the big bowl to find it full of gobi, which had been seasoned with cumin, turmeric, and green chilis.  I loooooove this dish!

2013 Muster Morillon Graf - huge toasty nose, a bit pungent on the palate.

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The highlight today was always going to be the curry.  And no surprise that this was crab curry.

Served with 5-year-old Indian basmati rice.  Seriously yum.  Guess which of my friends had thirds?

There were also lots of delicious local fruits for us, like mangoes, pineapples, and wax apples.

2004 Grillo Pecoranera - very fragrant with eucalyptus and stewed fruits.  Savory on the palate.  Still pretty tannic and grippy on the palate.

This was a nice and relaxing afternoon, with honest, delicious food.  And OF COURSE Vladi stocked Gaggan's cellar full of bongwater... but thankfully he had a very nice collection of Whisky, too.  Very grateful for my friend's hospitality and for letting us invade his house.

Before we knew it, we had to leave for our dinner appointment...