Despite the windows being down as I drove back to my apartment from downtown Harrisonburg, an occasion whiff of Taj of India sitting in the passenger seat wafted on the breeze to my nose. On a mission, I arrived at my apartment, threw off my mask, and immediately proceeded to prepare a plate of the Dal Tadka Raj that was already filling the room with the powerful smell of buttery lentils and garlic. 

I arranged the food on my plate how I imagined it would have looked served fresh from the restaurant kitchen. First, a big scoop of basmati rice, followed by a couple scoops of the main course, a quartered naan filling the other half of my plate, and a collection of chutneys filling what little space was left. 

I picked up a piece of naan and loaded on top a heaping mouthful of rice and yellow lentils. The ghee sauce ran off the end of the naan on one side, and on the other, began to drip down my fingers towards my arm. Not wanting to lose any more of the precious liquid, I readily began my journey into what became one of my favorite meals of the summer. 

The lentils themselves are full of flavor, these particular ones called Pigeon Peas, and are a little larger than most of the lentils I have had in the past. The ghee and garlic sauce this dish leans on is full of flavors from an assortment of herbs and spices: cilantro, red chili, onion, cumin, and turmeric, to just name a few. I ordered the dish medium-hot and found that to be right where I felt comfortable, plenty of spice to get the experience, but not so much to send me to the fridge frantically searching for milk. I opted to pull the chili pepper off the plate early though, as I may have easily and regrettably overlooked it when I started to get really into my meal. 

The naan was perfectly fluffy and buttery on the inside with a thin smoky seared crust. It was not only a vehicle for moving the Dal Tadka from my plate to my mouth, but I often found myself eating just plain naan, holding onto the light flavor as long as I could.  

Chutneys are an often overlooked element of a complete Indian meal. This particular meal comes with three different varieties: mint-cilantro, red onion, and tamarind. My personal favorite was the mint-cilantro, with the cool garden-fresh taste contrasting sharply with the spicy lentils. The onion chutney added appreciated texture and a splash of color, and the tamarind was sweet and just a little tangy.

While I don’t have any credible basis or in-country experience to truly authenticate Indian food, this was among the most enjoyable experiences with Indian food I can recount. I nearly finished the entire meal, but mere bites from the finish line, I realized I had stumbled into territory at the edge of comfortably full and within sight of regret. Fortunately for my roommates, this meant they too could share the Dal Tadka Raj experience with me.