On Indian Food and Upset Tummies

Pre Story: Our friends Gina and Paul invited us over for for our very first taste of Indian food. Paul is from England and he has a friend from home whose mom is from India so Paul had a completely authentic recipe.

Story #1:
I am super IGNANT when it comes to cultural food. I have always been a pretty picky eater and just recently I have been making a pitiful attempt to explore new cuisines. Nick and I had never had Indian food before so we were pretty reluctant when Gina and Paul invited us over for an authentic Indian meal. Why they couldn't just cook us some safe cheeseburgers, I don't know. Unfortunately for me, on our way over to their house my stomach started hurting... badly. I don't know much about Indian food, but what I did know was Indian food + upset stomach is not a good combo.

By the start of dinner my tummy was feeling a little better (thank goodness). I told Gina earlier in the day that I was a bit nervous that I wouldn't like the dinner and that I didn't want to offend her and Paul's cooking. She told me not to worry and if I don't like it then she will not be offended. Either way though, when someone cooks you a nice dinner, it is rude to be like "Sorry guys! I only eat kid friendly food!" So when the meal came out on the table I took one look and it looked like a small muddy swamp in a crock pot. I was polite and plopped a serving onto my plate. I took my first bite and instantly knew I was going to be in for a long dinner. There were so many new tastes going on that I couldn't even focus on what I was eating. I tried to eat as much Indian bread (Naan) as possible so it looked like I was eating anything. I somehow ate as much as I possibly could which was about 6 bites. With each swallow of chicken I envisioned it coming back up and how on earth I would handle that situation of puking on Gina and Paul's nicely set table. I graciously thanked them for dinner and lied through my teeth. I said that I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVED my first taste of Indian food.

Lucky for Nick, he actually enjoyed the meal. Lucky for me, Nick stopped at In 'N Out Burger on the way home for me so I could get a cheeseburger animal style with fries for dinner.

Story #2:
When it comes to food, I am up for anything. Growing up I was definitely a picky eater; however, after I studied abroad in Spain while I was in college I put my old ignorant eating habbits in the past.

It helps living with Nick because he is even more adventurous than me when it comes to food. He pushes my limits on a regular basis and makes me eat new and spicy foods, even when it hurts my tummy. We call my tummy the wimp even though my heart wants to eat the new foods. I was super pumped when Gina and Paul invited us over for Indian food, or "invited us over for an Indian" which is what British people call eating a specific cuisine.

On the ride over the Gina and Paul's my tummy started hurting at a very inopportune time. I have heard through the grapevine that Indian food allegedly can cause an upset stomach, and I hadn't even eaten the Indian food yet so this was NOT a good start to the night. I took deep breaths and drank some water once I got to Gina and Paul's. I mentally gave my stomach a pep talk. "Come on! Cooperate! Don't pick Indian food night to be the night you decide to be sensitive, cause if you're feeling icky now then just WAIT until later."

I sat down to dinner and ate some Naan which is very plain to settle my stomach. It worked and I ate baby bites of my first taste of Indian food. I discovered the upset stomach or not, I LOVE Indian food. the meal was fantastic and unlike anything I had eaten before. Luckily for my stomach, it enjoyed the meal as well. Thank goodness for us both because could you imagine how embarrassing that would be if I had some real stomach issues at my friends' apartment? I think that would have to be a post of its own.

Highlight the text after the star to reveal which story is true * The true story is story number two. Me, Nick, and my upset stomach actually loved the Indian food. I highly recommend anyone to try it over In N' Out Burger any day. Hats off to the chefs. Now we have to have them over for an Italian. It is also true that I have become an adventurous eater, in fact we ate Mongolian food for the first time last weekend. I recommend that, too!