September 15: Indian Food

Ok, so you know how there are 30,000 different kinds of breads in an Indian restaurant, and even the most dilligent of us sometimes have a hard time remembering just which is which? Now I know why. I have watched an Indian cook in action and I am in awe. Sheer stupefied awe I tell you.
The changes in how you make the breads is so subtle -- and yet the end results are wildly different.

I arrived back in Bangalore yesterday and went straight to my friend Meeta's house. We'd talked about doing some day trips from Bangalore in my last few days here, and as we discussed possibilities we invited her mother to join us too, but she seemed on the fence. She did, however, offer to make us food for the road.

Meeta's mother rolling out chapatis as quick as lightning.

Which is how I ended up watching her make chapatis. And parathas, and 10 other kinds of bread -- because here's the thing. It's all made from the exact same dough. It's just water and whole wheat flour and a litle salt and it's kneaded for about five minutes, and then, then, the only difference is in how you roll and cook it. Except the differences are dramatic. And Meeta's mother is a multi-tasking demon.

She pinched off a piece of dough and rolled it into a ball. This she dipped into flour and then began to roll out with a small rolling pin, with quick motions that simultaneous thinned the dough and span it in a circle until a perfect round was formed. Then she put it in an ungreased, round-bottomed cast iron pan, until it was lightly browned. Then she moved aside the pan and placed the bread over the open gas flame. And it puffed up. Flour and water and a little heat. Wow, is bread cool.

This was not the end of the show however. She then rolled out from the same dough triangles of parathis -- a thoroughly different affair, without puffing, but light flaky layers. After that, she put two balls of dough together with a smear of ghee, and rolled it all out into a circle. After this was cooked in the frying pan the two pieces just pulled apart, and look! two chapatis for the work of one. The whole thing was just incredible.

We ate some lunch, and began discussing world religions. I was explaining the difference between Judiasm and Christianity, when Meeta's mother jumped up and said: "We can discuss these kinds of things in the car! I'm coming!"

We did discuss religions on the trip -- but mostly I have to say we discussed food. They asked me what a typical dinner in the U.S. was like (hard to answer, of course, but I described the stereotypical meat and potatoes and overcooked broccoli). We talked about American desserts (made with refined white flour for cakes; lots of pies). They talked about having roasted a bird last December (despite the fact taht Meeta's mom doesn't eat meat) and told me how to make crisp deep-fried cauliflower, and they insisted that chapatis really were made from nothing more than flour and water. I'm still amazed. Next time I come, Meeta's mother has promised me a 2 week cooking course. Yum!

Posted by karenceliafox at September 15, 2004 11:00 PM