Jealousy, Poverty and Spinach

I love, love, love, the Sag Paneer at Indika. If any of you haven't been to Indika then you are truly missing out. Don't just take my work for it, many real life food critics consider it if not 'The' Best then within the top 5 Indian restaraunts in the country.

This particular Sag Paneer has been my comfort food of choice for about 5 years now. It was the last food I ate before each of my surgeries and the first food I ate when I got out of the hospital. I used to drive 30 minutes just to eat an appetizer. That was all I could afford but it was okay, it got me out of bad moods, got me over a divorce, made me smile and made me happy. It used to be that I would go in at least once every 2 months (and often much more) because I needed a "fix." Unfortunately I can't do that anymore because my new career involves an extremely significant cut in income and it's just not in the budget.

Now, Indika has become a once or twice a year treat. That one time a year happened to be about 4 weeks ago for Happy Hour. The owner Anita, who knows of my obsession over her Sag Paneer, mentioned that she had been talking about me recently because they were going to have a cooking class coming up where it would be on the menu. My husband (then boyfriend) and I had taken a cooking class at Indika before and it was wonderful but very expensive. We got to cook food in the restaurant kitchen, all the while drinking wonderful wines, and then sit down to dinner to eat everything we had all made that day.

Of course, I knew that someone had to take this class. I suggested that the hubby do it and last night he did. I begged and pleaded for him to bring some home but he didn't, not even a bite. Momentarily my heart is broken. He says he knows how to make both the Sag and the Paneer, the real test will come when he finally makes it for me. I'll let you know how it goes. If it goes well, you may know beforehand if you hear moans of delight coming from somewhere in the Houston Heights.