"This is a pie chart describing my favorite bars. And this is a bar graph describing my favorite pies."-Marshall, How I Met Your Mother
Before artisanal toast was deemed the next big food trend, my guess was that a likely candidate for having it's big moment would be pies. I smugly ran my hypothesis on a food lover friend who informed me that pies were apparently already trendy in 2011 and had their year. How did I miss this? Maybe I was still standing in line for a cupcake?
Which got me wondering..how much amazing pie have I missed out on? Luckily, one delicious piece of pie I have enjoyed and suggest everyone try is the Chai Pie at one of Houston most beloved restaurants, Pondicheri. (Pondicheri is definitely one of my Houston favorites as mentioned here.) Just pop in on a Sunday and you'll see the eatery bustling with hip twenty-somethings nursing hangovers, Indian families enjoying traditional fare and after-church crowds. As a fan of the eatery, I am kicking myself for not trying the Chai pie before, as it is one of the restaurant's most popular items. Pondicheri describes it as a " layered pie with caramel, chai spiced cream and candied cashews". The crust is made of crushed, iconic Indian cookies: the famous Parle-G biscuits. (If you have ever had a Parle-G cookie, you know the image of that iconic wrapper with chubby little girl flashes in your head). The candied cashews and the chai flavored cream filling are a delight. If you love a good spiced pumpkin pie, you'll love it. And any pie that manages to taste this unique and rhyme, is worth a try.
If you're not in the Houston area, you can try this recipe for a similar pie.
Happy Memorial Day weekend!
image source: Pondicheri photo, filtered with Waterlogue app
-SD
