Lyon la Belle

Hi folks!
I am overdue for an update, and I'm afraid it shows the low activity happening in France!

Nonetheless, what's new? Well well, after being to Lyon several times for transit, I finally got the opportunity to not only be in Lyon for a while longer, but got a 5 star tour of the majestic city (nothing to envy with Paris I tell you!) with Dikran and Evelyn. I got to see lot of buildings (Dikran's passion!) dated for centuries with the Romans! It makes me think of Asterix and Obelix! He was an excellent guide, and everything was walking distance. And somehow, everything was accessible for free! No tourist trap. Good, I don't like tourist traps!

It started with a nice meal at an Indian restaurant. Do I need to tell you how much I was craving Indian food?! You have to know, in France, Indian restaurants are scarce. Also, most of the restaurants are non-veg. And not to mention the price in Euro! Bottom line, I had enough of pasta-pizza-sandwich! Perhaps my expectations were too high, but the quality and quantity for the price didn't leave me satisfied (I am spoiled with my Chennai experience!).

I had a plan B in store! I asked Evelyn, who happens to be from Mumbai (how convenient!), to teach me how to prepare a delicious Indian dish called Dal (lentils). And since there is no Indian store in the vicinity of where I stay, I was brought to Madras store (yes yes!) in Lyon and got all the spices for a Cooking 101 class! After hours of hard work and good smells, I let you admire the results of the cooking class (for this one, I don't have any credits!):


It turned out the salad was more yummy than the Dal. Evelyn did a big exception to allow me to be in the kitchen, she normally doesn't let anymore breath down her neck! She promised next time I come over to cook another dish, but ALONE this time!
I didn't wait more than one week to put this beautiful wisdom into action. See for yourself my first chef-d'oeuvre!

I have to say it was a first attempt, and maybe I needed to add more colors. I realized only later that I forgot one crucial element in all the Indian dishes: salt! Yes, I ate without salt! I'm happy to be still alive! At least, the next time I can only improve with salt (!), more veggies, and a little less burnt rice :) I will not publish the recipe yet, just give me one more month of experimenting and when I come back to India in December I will teach them how we prepare a real Dal!!! Until then, keep eating well, and send me some good recipes for me to experiment, in the comments below!

P.S.: I certify that my first dish was edible!