Twenty spices in one hour
Yesterday I went to the shuk (the outdoor market) in Jerusalem with my mom. Our intention was to go eat kubbeh soup – and I already started a blog post about the importance of having kubbeh in your life – but as we walked down the steep hill to the Iraqi Shuk, the section of the market where we were told we’d find one of the finest kubbeh soups in town (at Azura) we stopped in our tracks and turned to face a very cute little Indian vegetarian restaurant. This is what we saw:
איצ’קדנה The woman in the picture was peeling a big bowl of garlic. (Photo by Deena Levenstein)
Ma: Should we eat here?
Me: I think I still want kubbeh.
Ma: I think we should eat here.
Me: I think I need kubbeh.
Ma: I’d really like to try this place today.
Me: OK.
So, the kubbeh post will stay a draft for today, hopefully to become a post in the near future. My mother was so right. Our lunch there ended up being one of the most exciting culinary (and other) experiences I’ve had that I can remember.
It was set up like an old-fashioned restaurant where you go in and your choices aren’t what to order. Basically you can choose to eat or not to eat. OK, I exaggerate. Here were the choices we had to make for the main course:
1) Small
2) Medium
3) Large
We chose the business lunch which was medium including a little soup (which comes with every meal) and chai tea. Here is visualization of our experience. A before and after:
What an amazing experience. The rice had fried onions, a couple different seeds and raisins. The soup probably had over five spices, including (I’m guessing) cinnamon, cumin and turmeric. There were four vegetable side-dishes including a chickpea dish, potatoes with a mustard sauce, red peppers and a sprout salad. And, of course, there were four chutneys served to go with everything. A coriander mint one, red pepper and I can’t remember the other two. And a little bit of yogurt.
Every bite was exciting and neither of us left stuffed but both of us left very satisfied. Wow, am I happy my mom persisted!
Oh, it’s kosher, of course. Click here for contact information.
This is what it looks like inside:
So cool! Thanks for the great info and pictures!!! Got to try it out!
My pleasure, Tsip! Meet you there?