Diwali 2023

I know I have been AWOL for a while. I am participating in NaNoWriMo for the month of November. I've already won, I have 71,000 words written. The project is going to be fun to edit.

Anyway, the holiday season for David and I started two weeks ago. The holidays are for exploring Philadelphia, enjoying the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the beauty around the river. Autumn leaves are replaced by snow, and warm sunshine with longer nights.

After we spent an hour and a half touring the Korean Art exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, we decided to make our way to Ammas South Indian Cuisine. When we arrived at the restaurant and walked through the door, it was standing room only.

David: "It's pretty crowded. Let's see how long the wait is."

Me: "It is a beautiful sunny November day. Everyone had the same idea."

I cut through the crowd and found the hostess. I asked her how long the wait was and she told me about 5-10 minutes. She handed me a clipboard and had me write down my contact information.

I made my way back to David and I told him, "It's a 5-10 minute wait." I'm grateful he could hear me with how loud the restaurant was. David was willing to wait. I found a seat on the bench and he stood right next to me. More people came in and were shocked to see how crowded Ammas was. They did the same thing I did.

It was 12 November. As I was watching all the massive dosas, tika masalas, and every Indian dish known to man pass by us, the scent hanging in the air leaving our mouths watering, it dawned on me. I knew this, but my mind was on making a memorable experience for David. This would be his first time eating authentic Indian food.

Today was Diwali! Of course Ammas is crowded, everyone is celebrating Diwali! Yet, despite the crowds and everyone being festive, we were seated within 10 minutes.

We were handed menus and I knew what I wanted. David wasn't sure and he told me to pick something for him. I really wanted to order him goat, but it was pricy, especially during Diwali. A lot of the specials were Diwali themed, and I found something within our budget. I ordered him the chili chicken. I ordered my dosa, a gluten-free crepe stuffed with mashed potatoes. Before I was diagnosed as Celiac, I loved samosas. Sadly, Samosas aren't gluten-free, but dosas are and they taste just like Samosas.

We placed our order and I had fun taking photos of David with the Diwali filters. He doesn't like them, but he knows they give me a giggle and he went with it. As I was playing around with the Diwali filters, I noticed that everyone around us ordered dosas. David was shocked with how large they were. Every table had one.

Then, David's chili chicken came out. His meal arrived first and the waitress told me to be patient because everyone is ordering dosas and mine may take a bit. I told her I understood. Dosas must be the way to enjoy Diwali! It was just nice taking in the vibe and experiencing Diwali with my love.

David had such a great idea. He knows how I love to take photos. He would take a photo of me with my food with his phone, and I would do the same with his phone. When my dosa came out, we did just that. David captured me biting into the gluten-free crepe with such vigor.

It was David’s first time trying authentic Indian food and he loved his chili chicken. I was able to share some of it with David and he loved the dosa too.

We want to go back to Ammas in between Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Years, but probably in the New Year. Next time we want to order the goat and that would be David’s first time having goat. I reassure him that goat tastes like lamb and he’s looking forward to trying it.