Chicken tikka masala (Curry on Wheels)

I have fond memories of this dish from the Biryani cart. Perhaps it's because it was one of my first experiences into the world that is street meats, but that dish has been burned into my mind as something that I would consider phenomenal... moist and succulent chicken drowning in sea of a creamy and smooth yogurt sauce flavored with spectacularly strong spices and hot sauce, all sitting atop a bed of deliciously fluffy yellow Basmati. When I saw this on the menu of 'Curry on Wheels,' my spirit soared, and I thought... maybe, just maybe it'll be awesome like Biryani cart's is.

Now, Wikipedia tells me that there's no fixed recipe for the dish, only that 'the only common ingredient was chicken.' You know what? It's true, that's probably the only thing the two interpretations shared in common. I don't like being a negative Nancy about food, but this was a dish I seriously couldn't get behind. Instead of fluffy yellow rice, I had mushy stuck together rice, that was both under and overcooked simultaneously (I don't know how you even fuck up something like rice so bad). Instead of a thin yogurt sauce as spicy as it is smooth, you get something doused in cream... heavy and overpowering in dairy flavor. The chicken... well, to be completely honest, it was bland and dry. Maybe my expectations of the dish were too high, or maybe I got a bad batch of it, one way or another, it made me sad. So sad that I probably won't be returning to try anything else on the menu (not that I can, it disappeared from it's regular spot next to Pottruck).

NYC peeps, be thankful that Meru and his cart exist. That stuff is the shit.