Well, it’s been another almost-fortnight of food coma with visiting relatives. Actually just one: my uncle was in town after almost a decade, and so of course my mom made sure we fed him All The Things.
Except that in his case, All The Things is a very wide sweep, because it includes the full regional Indian vegetarian canon they grew up with, plus our (nuclear) family’s non-vegetarian canon that was also a regular part of his life. It’s been interesting how we have hit almost every one of Dad’s favorite things to eat and to feed people, because while we had Aging Dad for many years, my uncle’s meal requests were all Peak Dad, and brought back the best of memories and flavors.
Some of what we ate (some pics are on WFD):
- Farewell dinner (tonight): Dad’s signature shrimp and peas (with jumbo shrimp my dad would definitely have approved of), dal, and rice. (Mom had some of the peas in masala plus leftover paneer curry.)
- Crab curry and rice: Mom’s signature, my favorite dish (as in “last meal” favorite), and a standard Sunday lunch when we were growing up, eaten at uncle’s request so I had to thank him because the last time we made this was… a year ago? maybe two? The crabs were absolutely delicious, and loaded with sweet meat. (Mom had paneer in the same curry.)
- Fried fish, dal, and rice: Fish was fabulously fresh pomfret, family fave. (I made Mom masala cheesetoast and vegetable soup.)
- Goan Pork Chilli Fry: Another Dad signature, and one we haven’t eaten in years, actually. Mom gave me the outline of ingredients and I tried to recreate it from taste memory. (I baked a tiny focaccia for mom which she had with asparagus soup and an assortment of cheese.)
- Lamb Breast (ribs) and Chops: Oof. Another Dad special, and a rare one at that. Can’t remember the last time we ate this. (Mom had some leftovers.)
- Prawn curry (with potatoes) and rice. (Mom had squash and cauliflower in the same curry.)
- Parsi Mutton Dhansak with ALL the fixings (kababs, fried dried bombay duck, papad, kachumbar).
- Chicken Curry: Our simple fallback and family favorite, and the first dinner home for my uncle. (Mom had cheesetoast and soup.)
Lunches were a cornucopia of Indian vegetarian delights that I am too full from and too tired to list. Maybe we should fast for a few days. Seems unlikely though 
I also baked after a long time: the aforementioned tiny focaccia (with olives) for mom, and a tiny orange olive oil cake for the rest of us.
Next week plans (you might notice that we are feeling massively Asian food-deprived at the moment):
- Indian Chinese: hakka noodles, chilli chicken & paneer.
- Sushi bowls! (Maybe I’ll crisp up the rice a la COTM Recipe Tin Eats’ Nobu copycat)
- Oyako Donburi OR Salmon & Mushroom Pot Rice
- Thai green curry (chicken for us, mixed veg & paneer for mom)
- Viet Garlic Umami Noodles with cabbage, lemongrass-brined chicken (cherry bombe via @sallyt), mom protein tbd
- Bulgogi bowls (beef, garlic spinach, sesame carrots, gochujang) and/or Japchae
- Spanish tortilla, chorizo, alioli (pasta for mom)… yup, this keeps on keeping on my list
