The perfect food, what is that you may be asking, well It’s called butter chicken. It’s so perfect in taste and the feeling you get when you eat it. Every spoon is better than the one before. It’s pure perfection, you can’t do anything to make it better. It’s not too creamy, not to watery, not to sweet, and it’s not too salty. At this point, you may be asking what it is and is it actually that good. Well, that’s a good question. It’s an Indian dish that is made with tomato soup mixed with cream and blended in with some whole cashews till its creamy and some golden fried chicken chunks are added in the end. It’s simple but something out of this world.
So Shazaad, Abu and I all pause for a good 30 seconds and say our prayer. So the first step I take before I devour it down is unwrap the silverware and place the fork ,knife and the spoon down, and I ever so gently place the butter chicken on top of the jasmine rice, I place it gently so it won’t flatten the rice. I pick up the spoon and only the spoon. The fork and knife are just for show, so I excavate the rice and butter chicken so perfectly that the bottom of the spoon is white and the top is this vivid orange so I gently place it in my mouth so I won’t mix the two before I start chewing, that first bite feeling takes you to a different universe, it’s so unusual I cant explain it. It’s like trying to explain the color red to someone that never seen it before, the second bite gives me a rush of dopamine that opens my ears. At this point I can actually hear the soothing Indian music playing in the background. There is something about the third bite that ceases to amaze me, as soon as that spoon touches my tongue my vison gets clearer and my senses start to tingle, the rest of the bits combine the feelings from the first three bites together, until that precious last bit. I carefully place the spoon in my mouth and take a good 45 seconds of chewing, then I swallow, that swallow ends the whole experience then reality hits me. It Takes me to a place I wish I didn’t have to be at. Paying the bill Even though the food was amazing the bill didn’t look so awesome, but the cash was worthless compared to that mind blowing meal that lasted 30 minutes. Just having that particular Butter chicken is a life changing experience for all my taste buds and if I could always indulge in something this beautiful, I will never stop. Take my word for it. After that devastating last bite, and the devastating bill, Abu and Shazaad are screaming,
“Let’s go your always the last one to finish, stop taking so long.” So, I stand up and walk to the cash register, just to be seen by the same rad waitress and I hand her my $20 and tell her to keep the change.
At this point in life it’s almost like a tradition, and it all starts the moment I run out the mosque. Ever wonder how this tradition even started, it all goes way back to the day I met Abu and Shazaad. Who knew that that one beautiful noon prayer would make a life lasting friendship and a unique tradition? At the prayer Shazaad, Abu and I were all surprisingly praying next to each other. Shazaad stomach started growling and I looked at him thinking he passed gas and I started to laugh and asked, “You straight bro.” and he looked at me and started laughing and he said “That was my stomach, I’m just very hungry.” Abu on the other side of me said “I’m super hungry too bro.” All
three of us started laughing out loud, and I introduced myself to Shazaad and Abu ,they already knew each other prior to this encounter, and Abu asked me “You hungry too” I said “I guess” so Shazaad said very boldly “you wanna come eat with us we are heading to this awesome Indian restaurant that’s only 2 minutes away from the mosque” so I replied “No I’m good, but thanks anyways” and he was like “Dude, you don’t know what you’re missing out on” so I laughed and replied “I guess it won’t hurt to go with you guys” and Shazaad said “Alright lets run out and hop in my car before traffic starts to approach.” So, we run out and put our shoes on and get in Shazaad’s car and drive off super-fast. As soon as we entered the big golden doors a whole new tradition started. I walked in a place that I didn’t know at the time will change my life forever.
From there on Shazaad, Abu and I became close friends never missing that perfect plate of Friday butter chicken. It’s not only the food that’s perfect, it’s also the way It brings me closer to my friends. After I visited the place, I started to develop an emotional connection to the restaurant. No… I’m not weird. But every time I walk into that particular restaurant, I feel the stress rushing out my lungs, every breath, I inhale
the joy and exhale the dark moment in my life. It’s kind of like my own psychologist that I can’t talk to. It finds a way to remove everything negative in my life and replace them with positive. Just those 40 minutes in the restaurant fills me up with joy, and recharges me for the next time I visit, it’s awesome but there’s always a fear in the back of my mind that I’m dependent on this restaurant. I never try to think about it, but what if the restaurant go’s out of business or I stop enjoying the food for some reason were will I go next to release stress, there is no other place like this, and there will never be a anything that can even slightly resemble the feeling I get the second I walk in to and the second I walk out of this restaurant. Lets just hope those days never come or at least don’t come soon.
What a person eats says a lot about their personality, for example people that are vegan usually love animals and believe they have a soul like us humans, people that eat non GMO, non MSG or gluten free without being allergic to them are usually healthy eaters and care about their body’s. A way a person eats sometimes describe them in general. there’s sometime a traditional way of eating most foods, but you can eat it a different way, usually it may break that tradition but what truly makes it a tradition is the way you fit it in your life.
I really like how you added a lot of pictures in your post, it helps the reader visualize the experience of eating butter chicken. Adding pictures and a video definitely makes your blog extra interesting and interactive!
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