Right here, right now, we are going to talk....Food. Indian Food. Real Serious Indian Food.
Luke Bonney, you asked how the food was here. I don't think you ever expected to get an entry dedicated to you because of it.
I love food. And yeah, a lot of us like food--but I really, really, really like food. I've not refused one item of food once so far here, and I am proud of it. It has indeed led to some life-changing experiences.
I absolutely love how food and eating and meals are such a huge part of Indian culture, how standard it is to invite someone to have lunch at your place, to constantly offer tea and samosas at any given moment. It is so warm and familial and delicious all at once. And it reminds me loads of Taiwan and China and it makes me miss all of the amazing food I get there, which is kind of masochistic to think about.
So, be prepared to salivate. Chalo on this foodie adventure together.
Let's start with the basics. Chapati, or Roti, is standard Indian food fare, a pancake-crepe type bread used for soaking up curry goodness and much more. Here I am making roti for the first time, managed by Monika, the younger sister of my friend Sonia. You roll out the dough of unrefined flour and water, you cook it on a flat cast-iron (I think) pan, and THEN YOU SET IT DIRECTLY ON THE FLAME OF THE GAS STOVE. This is pure magic. It puffs up, kind of pita-esque, if you do it right. Which I did...eventually.
Fruits and veggies galore--I can't even imagine buying produce from a supermarket, it makes me nervous. This is one of my favorite stands in Ramdarbar, for the prices, the fantastic quality, and because the seller guy here has dreadlocks down to his waist. My favorite deal: 1 kg cucumbers for 10 Rs (25 cents).
Ok, we're getting a little fancy here. First take the naan, the bread made exclusively with the help of a Tandoor oven. This was garlic naan, which is even more delectable. Match that with (from left to right) paneer something (unaged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice), mixed vegetables, aloo (potatoes), paneer masala, and chana (chickpeas). It was easily the best meal I had in Jaipur, one of the best in India, and probably in my life generally. And the cost? Around 120 Rs each--$3.
Mangoes deserve their own photo. India KNOWS how to grow a mango. I've never had so many kinds before, in so many ways--chutney, curried, on ice cream, in popsicles, in creamsicles, with a knife, without a knife, squeezed, crushed, juiced, pickled...you think of it, they've done it.
We ate out quite a bit before we got gas finally for our kitchen, and then Ganda and I kind of went all out buying the staples. Words are not necessary, just appetites.
A friend, Sharung, showing off Ras Malai at Sindhi's Sweets, a Chandigarh favorite. Indian sweets are ridiculously sweet--sometimes sickingly so (say that 5 times fast). But I love this stuff, because it has the right balance of sweetness and texture and everything. It consists of balls of paneer soaked in sweetened, thickened, creamy milk. Yum.
Dedicated to Mitch, Tej, and Amy--samosas! Today at our ceremony for work, we bought samosas for like 60 people. 2 samosas for 7 Rs. What a deal...It's usually a mix of potato, onion, spices, and green chili, wrapped in a pastry-like skin and deep-fried, served with a sweet tamarind sauce. Creamy, sweet chai is not necessary, but why would you ever separate such a well-matched pair...
Dedicated to (is this weird I'm dedicating pictures of food to people?) the Kumar family. Dosas, introduced to me by Anurag Kumar, have easily become one of my favorites. It's pretty much a pancake made of lentils, but with the perfect crunch to it. And I also love it for the coconut chutney--gotta learn how to make that before I go...Kristina loves dosas, too. And is rather excited about this one...
Golgapas and Chaat! My introduction to these was in Chandigarh with my friend Shivika at Gopal's restaurant, but the ones I had (shown here) in Delhi with Nilima were the best by far. A North Indian specialty, chaat mainly just means a set of savory snacks, most likely surrounding some fried dough. Golgapas are the round fried ping-pong-looking balls in the background. You tap it with a spoon to create a small hole, fill it with a potato mixture (on its left) and then fill it to the top with a mint water. Getting it into your mouth without leaking mint water everywhere is probably 99.9% of the fun (and tastiness).
Another memorable meal--our first in Chennai. It was 35 Rs. (less than $1) each for all you can eat, though most of us only managed this amount. Papad on the left, a chip-type made out of lentils, then a sweet rice cake, curried veggies, pickles, and rice all served on a nice banana leaf. How economically and environmentally friendly, too!
A break from India, and a trip to France. In Pondicherry, Sander and Ganda and I searched for nearly 1.5 hours for the perfect French restaurant for breakfast, and came across Le Dupleix, after a recommendation by some (surprise) French tourists. The hotel was incredibly posh, and the food was amazing in the open courtyard under a mango tree. Fresh fruit (look at how aesthetic it is!), flaky croissants (plain and chocolate filled), homemade apricot jam, and cafe lattes. This is also known as bliss.
I've been trying to learn as much cooking as I can (can we say @ Iron Chef Revival?), and after I shared that wish with Bibha, one of my co-workers (next to me), she promptly invited me to spend a Sunday with her parents and two sisters, learning how to cook. Pooja taught me how to make matter paneer, paneer with peas in a tomato sauce, while Anu demonstrated the miracle of pooris, or fried rotis. Bibha made the raita, yogurt (curd) with cucumbers and spices, and their mom had made chana (chickpeas) and some other veg dishes earlier in the day. I love yogurt to begin with, and here its served with almost everything to tone down the spice and help with digestion (clever). It was an awesome day, I was constantly in the kitchen, with various people circulating in and out to teach me something new. The meal with well-enjoyed, and the company was so much fun...and again I was welcomed into a family, no questions asked. I swore after that meal that I wouldn't need to eat for another 24 hours--until we went shopping and got chaat at the market...and then some samosas a little after that. Oh, the fun never stops...
Part I: Fin.
Note to self: buy roti pan this week...
