Dinner at M's

We just got back from dinner at the home of our near neighbor, M, who is from southern India. She made us a delicious beef curry with chunks of coconut, a tomato-yogurt dish, a dish with cabbage and mung beans, some crepe-like soft bread (not sure if it was nan or something else), and papadam (crumbly thin spicy wafers). Beef is unusual in Indian cooking, but M. and her family are Christian, rather than Hindu. It struck me as curious that they were Christian, until I found out that she's from Kerala, which has had a Christian population since the first century A.D. Her ancestors may have been Christian for centuries before mine were.

The other guests were our sociable neighbors from across the street, and eventually M's daughter joined us for conversation as well. What a fun two hours! D. was reasonably patient.