A summer evening in Harlem: view down 5th Avenue of Central Park and Central Park South

Sean and I have been trying to get together with many of the wonderful parents we’ve met through Liam’s daycare here in Harlem. Wendy and Jorge are the parents of Arturo, who is a beautiful little boy in Liam’s class. Arturo and Liam are only a couple of months apart and started in the infant room together when they were only 6 months old. We were invited us to their terrific place with a spectacular view of Manhattan from Harlem. Sean and I thought we would make a couple of Indian dishes for the potluck, especially since Wendy is a fan of our blog, but we haven’t yet had a chance to cook for her.

Arturo, left (16 months) and Liam, right (14 months)

Dinner is ready boys, let’s go to the table!

If you’re getting together with friends this summer, try your hand at a homemade Indian dish by making something from Big Apple Curry! It’s easy to pair many Indian dishes with other cuisines, and making something authentically Indian isn’t as hard as you might think. Grilling some Indian-style chicken on the barbecue can quite honestly be paired with just about anything you’d make for a casual dinner on your patio anyway.

Indian-styled grilled chicken is an easy addition to any BBQ

We marinated our Indian-style grilled chicken and whipped up a batch of our Baingan Burtha. Jorge made a delicious Mexican tomato rice dotted with fresh vegetables, alongside a dish of stewed zucchini, tomatoes, and onions. With some corn on the cob, we were set! Many supermarkets now carry packages of naan bread, which I picked up on the way to Wendy’s apartment. It was an Indian-Mexican summer dinner with flavors that blended perfectly together — the charred, tender chicken, smooth and smoky eggplant, tomatoey rice, and lush zucchini were scooped up by naan fresh off Jorge’s tortilla pan.

Jorge’s homemade Mexican rice

Check out our Indo-Mexican menu:

Summer Potluck!

Easy Indian-style Grilled Chicken

Smoky Mashed Eggplant with Spices (Baingan Burtha)

Mexican Rice

Zucchini, Tomatoes, and Onion

Corn on the Cob

Naan

If you’re up for the challenge and want to bring an Indian dish to your next potluck, and have any questions at all, just post a comment below!

Who said Indian and Mexican cuisines can’t be blended together? From bottom left moving clockwise: Mexican rice, Indian-style grilled chicken, baingan burtha, stewed zucchini and tomatoes, naan bread.

Don’t you just want to sink into that seat with a glass of wine?

The view of Central Park and Central Park South from Harlem