This post appears in the Personal Touches in the Kitchen challenge.

The first cookbooks I bought once I left my parental home was a strange mix: Chinese food, Indian food and a book about cooking food with a microwave.

Having learned the staples of our Dominican cuisine at my mother’s side, I was ready to explore something new. Needless to say, for a while my roommates had to bear with my endless experiments on “exotic” cuisine. One of the recipes that caught my eye was an Indian dish consisting of meatballs stuffed with eggs. Unfortunately I didn’t feel confident enough to tackle Indian cuisine.

It was on a trip abroad that I first had the chance of trying Indian food. The restaurant was teeming with Indians, always a good omen when it comes to traditional food. The food in their menu looked as heavenly as it looked in the old worn out cookbook. This alone made me very excited to try it. The staff was incredibly supportive of two newbies, who clearly had not tried Indian food before, and couldn’t tell a roti from a papadum.

While they may have privately giggled at us, they were extremely professional and understanding, explaining with patience what each dish was, what each name meant, asking if there was anything that we didn’t particularly like, and making suggestions on how to assemble our first sampling of dishes. I was hooked. I can definitely state that it was that experience that convinced me to venture into the much intimidating Indian cuisine. I couldn’t just wait until I travelled again to eat this divine food.

Not only has Indian food become a regular occurrence in our home (we drag ingredients from the world over to try and get it as close to the original as possible, but I have also become more adventurous with recipes I like.

A couple of years ago I found my old cookbooks, which had been misplaced in our many home movings over the years. And there I found that old recipe with the egg meatballs. I had an idea. Why not take the concept and do something new?

In this case I took the concept of the meatball stuffed with eggs. Nearly everything else is different from the original dish. Using quail eggs mean smaller, finger food-sized meatballs. These are perfect to serve as party food. I bet your guests will love it, mine sure did.

Buen provecho!

Aunt Clara

Want to meet purveyors who are making a difference with their customers? Check out BonAppetit.com’s “Out of the Kitchen”, an ongoing exploration of the relationships that build and sustain the food industry. See how hyper-local food markets operate and how their focus on quality and service keep customers coming back for more.

This is a sponsored story, but the opinions are 100% mine.