Never a dal moment
Hello there!
Over the past four months, I have made many attempts at trying to cook authentic Indian food. Here are some valuable lessons that I learned:
1. Most recipes call for at least five spices
2. Stores sell pre-mixed masala and curry packets
3. Turmeric stains cabinets
4. Cooking dal (lentils) takes forever on an electric stovetop
5. When slicing green chilies, you should puncture vertically to get the most spice
6. Sometimes chickpeas have beetles under their skin
7. Nothing beats homemade Indian food straight from the source
My first adventure in cooking was a few weeks into my rotation. I love to cook at home and was starting to feel like a blob from eating either frozen or restaurant food. I spent over an hour in the spice aisle at the local grocery store, consulting the help of nearly every single attendant, until I had the spices needed for my Tarka Dal. It is a yellow curry lentil dish that is warm, spicy, and goes great with rice! When I asked for green chilies, they thought I must have meant green beans. They were amused when I explained that I would like to make the dish spicy and led me to the chili section.
I went home and spent the entire afternoon simmering the lentils and putting endless spices in the pot. I even added extra green chili peppers to ensure that my coworkers would find my dish to have some flavor. One thing to explain is that my team always eats together (usually after 2pm) and everyone brings a dish from home that their mothers or mother-in-laws have prepared. Then what I call "The Great Sharing" begins. Each container is passed around so that everyone tastes a bite of all of the delicacies. This lunchtime ritual is a perfect example of the communal nature of society here. Needless to say I was eager to bring my own dish to share with the team.
For my first attempt, my team politely, yet hesitantly, took a bite of my Tarka Dal. They told me it was a good try and to keep cooking! It was not until I told them how I found made the dish they explained that I could have just purchased a spice packet that had all of the spices premixed...That would have saved me a lot of time, but I always enjoy a challenge! I asked if it was spicy, explaining that I cut up extra chilies and they laughed. It was bland. I'm not going to lie, that took the wind out of my sails, but I was determined to try again. On the walk back to our desks, a colleague leaned over to me and said, "Don't worry, I'm not a good cook either!"
Tarka Dal:1 Breanne: 0
I've made Tarka Dal two more times and now I am almost close to cracking it. When I explained to my coworkers that I really enjoy cooking and would like for them to share any recipes that they have, they were confused. Recipes are not written down here. They are passed down from one generation to the next. No one could tell me how their incredible lunches are made because cooking is not studied, but learned.
My last attempt to cook a new dish was last weekend. I had a bag of chickpeas and all of the spices in my cabinet. Following a recipe that I found online for Chana Masala, I had to soak the chickpeas overnight. I was excited to make one of my favorite dishes that I get at Trader Joe's back home and prove to myself that I could master the yummy recipe. Instead, when I opened the fridge the next day, I found little beetles all over the chickpeas that I had soaked. Talk about depressing! I had to scrap the whole thing.
When I am back in the U.S. I will start making Indian food a part of my everyday cooking. It is so delicious and can be made in large batches. I am lucky that Patrick loves spicy food as much as I do, which makes him a great guinea pig for my adventures with green chilies.
I can find solace in the fact that I tried to learn to cook...and that I found a restaurant in Mumbai that serves food I imagine my Indian grandmother would make if I had one.
Cheers,
B
I wasn't kidding about the spices
Tarka Dal tastes much better than it looks
I wish photographs could capture smells...see that whole green chili?