One of the themes of this western winter looks to be chile rellenos*. Already a favorite dish and a restaurant target when I get to New Mexico, the idea of  documenting the deliciousness came up Wednesday night when Angeliska and I went out for a late dinner. So… ¡Vamonos!

Place: Nasha, Austin TX

Variety: Tex Mex-Indo Fusion

Verdict: delicious. An unbattered chile stuffed, in my case, with spiced lamb, and sauced with tikka masala. Nasha’s going to get another visit when I return to Austin in April. This dish gives me an opportunity to define my terms. I’m going to be pretty expansive re what’s a chile relleno (literally ‘stuffed pepper’). The criteria I’m going to use are 1) the pepper needs to be conical: pasilla, si, bell pepper, no, 2) there needs to be something inside the pepper, and 3) there ought to be a sauce involved, though I’m willing to entertain exceptions.

*I’m thinking that the plural might want to be chiles relleno, but that seems a little pedantic and precious. I might change my mind…