Pea Pulav 

When I was six months pregnant my then husband and I traveled to the Detroit area to hand-deliver a product to a customer that had become a friend.  We had never met him or his wife but had several business transactions over several years. When we all met face to face, it was kindred spirits meeting, hitting it off immediately.
 Staying with them was wonderful.  Gita is an excellent cook and taught me how to make several Indian dishes while I was there.  I even got the opportunity to share some of my own cooking with her.  The only downside for me was they are vegetarians.  My gastric bypass surgery has made it so I am dependent on animal protein and become weak and ill without it.  Being pregnant made it even more crucial for to have meat protein.  My daughter took all my food.After the end of the second full day of being with them, which consisted of six meals with no animal protein, I was feeling the loss.  It was late in the evening when I had no choice but to leave in search of some kind of protein.  I did not want to run to the grocery store, buy meat, and cook it in their home.  I felt that would be utterly disrespectful, so I found myself at a Subway of all places.  I laugh now, but it was all we could find open at 10 pm in the suburbs.Before this point, vegetarian food was abstract.  Even before my surgery, I ate meat with every meal.  It was rare for me not to.  I am a carnivore and have no shame in that.  This experience with Gita and Ravi opened my eyes to the depth of flavor and variety to vegetarian cooking and eating.  While I can never be a vegetarian, my respect for the cuisine has grown immensely. Besides gaining a respect of a vegetarian diet, I was able to overcome my fear of Indian cooking.  Yes, the spice list is usually a mile long, but the food itself is rather quick and easy to cook.Pea Paluv is a dish that Gita taught me to make.  Her directions were vague where spice amounts were concerned.  I made some adaptations for easier cooking like using already ground spices.  When I have the time and want to be fancy, I will toast my own cumin and grind it in my mortar and pestle.  I hope I have been true and faithful to what she taught me years ago.  Thanks Gita.