21 July: Cooking Demo; Twists of Fortune at Golconda; and no place for the thirsty
I'm writing this entry from my hotel room, 218, which in the US would be on the 3rd floor, they still use the British system here where you have a ground floor, then up one to the 1st floor, etc. I just tried to go find a place for a beer somewhere in the hotel. Turns out the only place serving is the minibar in my room, where this cold Kingfisher Ultra (that's "Lite") is just under 200 rupees. This is a country that doesn't drink much, compared to other places I've lived. However, a few Indian friends have disagreed pointedly--Indians drink plenty, they say, and in its concentrated pockets its a big problem. Well, yes, I guess that exists everywhere. But from what I've seen (outfits selling beer/booze are few, not much obvious public drunkenness, almost no evidence of discarded liquor cans or bottles on the street) there's nowhere near the drinking here that there is in Russia, the US or even W. Europe. Japan's maybe an unfair comparison because only part of the population drinks. And actually, we haven't been to any hip Indian bars, no interaction with the younger working set, except the few who are working for either USIEF or Sanjeev, our guide. And those guys are too busy to throw down on a regular basis. Plus, like most unmarried Indians, they live with their families. Ok, not Sanjeev, but most Indians live with their folks until they get married, and even then they might all move in together as a big joint family.
One more thing on this room--well, two. It's on the smoking hallway, and I do not love that. None of the folks around me smokes, but the stale air holds traces of former smokers. Ick. And to think I smoked for years. Glad those days are gone--what was I thinking? And there are subtle touches around the hotel that reflect the more Muslim influence of this area: signs about where you can and cannot consume liquor, including one posted at the bar/restaurant entrance saying no alcohol to those under 21. There are no tobacco/alcohol signs in several spaces, so I was surprised to see 2 hallways reserved for smokers. I haven't seen much smoking here, cigarettes, bidis (hand-rolled, sold on the streets for a few rupees, apparently the choice of the poor), but I have smelled marijuana in the street a few times. I think that's super illegal here. Muslims don't tend to fool around with that sort of stuff, legally speaking.
Jeez, this room is freezing. Doesn't matter how high I put the temperature or how low I set the fan. It's uncomfortably cold.
So Wendy Sierra arranged with the chef and the cafe maitre d' for us to have a cooking demo this morning. We learned how to make dosas, three types of very simple chutneys, and pesarattu, a sibling of the dosa unique to this region. It does not contain urad dal (a kind of lentil essential for dosas). The chutneys were coconut, ginger and beetroot, each made fresh daily (Indians are NOT into leftovers...at all), and consisting of only the main ingredient, some green chilis and a bit of soft lentil. I have to do more investigation, because I didn't believe my ears. I promise to post the recipes as soon as I receive them from the chef.
The demo was short but we got a basic how to, saw the technique in action for getting the dosas nice and thin, and they're sending us a list of the recipes so we can hopefully replicate these at home.
Hey Sugarplum! Remember me asking you to eat a lot of dosas on my behalf?? Now I can have you MAKE a lot of dosas on my behalf! Please do post recipes--I have not had any success with dosas, but my Keralan neighbor here in Bhutan informed me that one cannot make dosas unless the climate and altitude are correct, so I guess Portland, Maine is inhospitable to dosa making! I LOVE coconut chutney (THAT I can make) and am curious about pesarattu-what is it?
ReplyDeleteI never visited Golconda when I was in India. It looks as though it might make another trip to Tamil Nadu worth the effort!
love,--s