Trader Joe's Indian Fare

Or, a “night out” while staying in…

Are you looking for something a little different for dinner tonight or a night this weekend?
What about trying a Dinner/Movie combo night from the comfort of your own home?

Maybe we are a little odd, but we like to team up movies with corresponding cuisine and pretend to be out on vacation someplace else.

The idea originally came to us quite a while ago, during a hot summer. We were in the public library and were checking out the DVD’s  (OK truthfully?  this is soo far back in time, that I remember looking at VHS tapes…..). Anyway we found  ourselves browsing in a section on travel videos to cold places, and so we checked a couple out to, you know, sorta go on vacation without leaving the area. There are a zillion of these travel DVD’s at the library and on a range of places all over the world.

Well, to make this potentially long story short, we LOVED it, and have expanded the “just watching travel videos” to watching films that take place in other countries and more recently, adding some special food/ meals to movie night.  This combination makes it feel as if we have gone on a mini vacation, even if for only one night.

So last Saturday, we watched the movie “Bend it like Beckham” and ate some wonderful Indian food from Trader Joe’s. YUM!
The Movie “Bend it like Beckham” Bend It Like Beckham (Widescreen Edition)
for those who don’t know it, takes place in London and is the story about a young woman who loves to play football  (soccer to Americans).  And how she is trying to find her place growing up between what her parents want her to do (Traditional Indian cultural expectations such as get married and learn to make traditional Indian foods) and her love of playing football and desire to go to college. This movie is touching and funny and has wonderful scenes of  her sister’s traditional Indian wedding along with scenes from the London area where they all live.

For our meal selection we chose Trader Joe’s Brown Basmati Rice and Trader Joe’s Indian Fare Punjab Choley. This is a meal of garbanzo beans in a tomato sauce with some ginger and other assorted spices. This meal is so flavorful that we add another can of garbanzo beans to stretch out the sauce without loosing any of the spice. In fact if you are a “medium spice” kind of person like we are, we highly, recommend the additional can of beans, as the Punjab Choley is very spicy!

We were also supposed to pick up a package of Trader Joe’s Garlic Nan Bread (in the freezer section) but we just plum forgot. Oops! Oh well, I guess we will have to have another Indian Movie “night out” soon! Both the Garlic Nan and the regular Nan are wonderful- they heat up in about 5 minutes.

One new place that we are getting our movies is from Netflix. This is a great service, that seems to work well for busy people. For those of you that don’t know about it, you manage your account on the computer, and select the next video you want, and it arrives in your mailbox. We have not been members that long, but we have both really enjoyed the selection of movies that we can choose from as well as the speed in which movies arrive. To return movies, just stick them back in the postage paid envelope and back in the mailbox. In about 2 days the next movie on your list, or queue, appears in your mailbox like magic. …hmm magic… maybe we should have shepherds pie and watch a Harry Potter flick…

So the next time you are looking for a fun night out, try our Dinner and a Movie “night out at home” instead. With the variety of items that you can find a Trader Joe’s, the possibles are endless.

What dinner/movie combos have you tried?

Do you need ideas for your next dinner/movie combo? Leave a reply after this post, with your requests. Maybe we can brainstorm together…