From All Over the World

I'm a fan of comfort food, especially American comfort food.  Its easy to get into the habit of making the standard, easy, patriotic staples and not venture out of your comfort zone.  But some of the food I've had recently has been spectacularly tasty, easy to make and most importantly, not from around these parts.  

The MIL made a very tasty dish last night and she got the recipe from none other than an "Indian Street Food" restaurant.  Very authentic and very unusual this dish made the husband and I raise an eyebrow until we tried it.  It now must be a frequent visitor to our family's table.  

The recipe was as follows:

2 Russet potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch cubes

1/4 red onion, finely chopped

heaping tbsp. date sauce/chutney (I'm still trying to find out the proper name for this)

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1/3 can pinto beans

Indian snack crunchies (something like this)

1. Boil potatoes in salted water until just tender (al dente) - allow to cool

2. Fold together potatoes, onion, date sauce and pinto beans

3.  Refrigerate until ready to serve (should be served chilled)

4. Add and cilantro on top crunchies

Another thing I wanted to mention is that my twin brother got me an awesome cookbook called "The Spice Bible".  My brother has always been one of those people that can't wait to try some new, exotic dish and wanted to share one of his own cooking staples with me.  If you're sick of the standard, salt, pepper and paprika and want to try something new and exciting I highly suggest picking this book up.  It not only explains the different spices, their taste, texture, etc. but has lots of yummy recipes to go with each spice.