Kolam, Where Have You Been All My Life?

Hi. I'm Natasha, and I'm a food-aholic.

So much so, when I get a hankerin' for pork shoulder roast tacos with cilantro cream sauce, I don't care one lick that my oven will be on for six or seven hours on a late-August day. I just kick it up to 300 and say, hey, anything for my temperamental taste buds.

On my more sane days, I like to go here:
I had the misfortune of just discovering Kolam at 4844 S. Memorial about a month or so ago, and I'm pretty sure I've been missing out on this place for at least a couple of years. A friend and I had been meaning to try it, but she up and moved to Texas, and, well, I don't really have any excuses.

Aaron suggested we order some take-out from there a night not so many moons ago. See, when Aaron was in Afghanistan and had the choice of the spaghetti-with-ketchup-like-sauce dish they served at the base or food from the street vendors, he invariably chose to dine out.

The man still won't eat spaghetti, much to my chagrin.

Apparently Afghan street vendors serve a lot of Indian-like food. Disclaimer: I am totally ignorant about Indian and southwest Asian food in general. All I know is that it's good, okay? Back to my story. Aaron ate every curry he could get his hands on, those immensely varied rice concoctions got him every time, and...naan. Between long, lonely hours in a guard tower and his deepening take-out budget (there were no sports cars, stereos or telescopes for sale at the PX), the man was afraid his brain would turn to perfectly moist, tandoor-oven-cooked naan at any moment.

He could probably say a lot more about Indian/Afghan food than I could. After all, he ate it for none months straight. He eagerly gives Kolam his seal of approval.

Here's chicken curry, this incredibly aromatic basmati rice and traditional naan from Kolam.

Please disregard the baby bottle apparatuses. My home is under attack.

I wish the plural of apparatus was apparati. I would love that more than the sun and the moon.

I love Tulsa, but this chicken curry tempts me to give it all up and move to Calcutta. And learn to sing like that lady in The Namesake. And buy lots and lots of saris - orange and pink ones.

Check out the entire menu here (besides Kolam's signature chicken curry, I also recommend the veggie samosas, Kolam's signature naan, and the chili chicken), and put your take-out orders in to (918) 270.1445. Kolam is open for dinner 5-10 p.m., and I hear there's a lunch buffet to take you away from your workday worries.

When you ditch these Oklahoma plains for India's urban vendor-lined streets, even if it's just for a food-cation, send me a postcard. I'll stain it with a tear of jealousy and hunger.