Late start today, we went back to sleep after 5:45 wake-up call. No early morning workout. It was wonderful to have a slow-paced breakfast with lots of conversation, rather than the gulp-and-run that has characterized the last few mornings. Our group of six was joined by three local teachers, plus Sam, Sanjeev, and Navin who appears to be the official photographer for the CM Center. We went through a local vegetable market to see what was available and to buy a few ingredients. We learned a little bit about bargaining techniques--things that would never fly in an American market ("these chilis don't look so fresh, give them to me for less"). And we took a bunch of cool photos of colorful people, colorful vegetables. We saw a few things that we don't have in the States, a few gourds, a few greens (like drumstick spinach and other kinds of greens they call "spinach"). We're in an spacious covered veranda in the courtyard of an educational trust aligned with the CM Center. This one is called JM Trust, and the facilities are lovely. We're busily chopping small red onions, green beans (for beans pooriyol--yum!). Chris is peeling carrots, we sheeld peas in a big group, the pressure cooker is popping and hissing on a portable stove. The women are chatting with focus and smiles about how much oil to add, how to determine the amount of water needed. The guys are sitting to the side, watching or taking pictures. I asked Balaji and Navin about wearing shoes (personal choice, Balaji prefers to be barefoot--me too). We also compared the local languages in terms of scripts, grammar, difficulty of pronunciation, etc. They admit to struggling with one text of another--Navin has the same problem I do (just less acute) with pronouncing the "h" in Hindi words, like "dh", "gh", "bh", etc. The guys said Hindi grammar is just like English, that Tamil grammar is not too far away. They say that Tamil and Malayalam (the language of Kerala) are very similar, Cannada (language of Karnataka) is similar to Telugu (language of Andhra Pradesh).
So I've spent the last few minutes typing and chatting, so I haven't been observing. Time to get my cooking prowl on.
To get: mor milagai (buttermilk sundried chilis, according to wikipedia). One of the classic condiments of south India cuisine. The ladies I talked to mentioned nothing about all this buttermilk business.
Robyn has just posted recipes on FB for the following dishes we've helped make today (actually, I can take no credit for the success of anything but eating):
- Adai: vermicelli "pancakes" with fried veggies
- Coconut chutney
- Rawa Upma: sort of like polenta
Lou and I snapping shots of Tamil chef!
Adai batter, ready to go
Adai: about to flip! Like thick pancakes with veggies
Getting the thin spatula underneath is key
Onion slice on hot pan,
then touch of oil, then batter
Flash-fried cashews and
raisins to go in jaggery rice
Tamil teacher moonlights as chef
The first stages of coconut chutney
Coconut chutney, ground
and waiting for chilis
Adding fried chilis to coconut chutney for final step
Coconut is easy to cut with the right knife!
Me sneaking freshly shelled peas
Down time during cooking process
Key ingredients to chutney
Full complement of ingredients
Sam CAN cook!
Cooking tools...path to victory!
Courtyard maintenance: she keeps
this place clean!
Adai, just after the flip!
Sam stir-frying like a boss
Tray of garnishes (but we use them
to cook, not just look pretty)
This is what I think of gooseberries
Jaggery melting to add to rice
Tamil teacher, also a cooking teacher today!
Tea break: my favorite time of day!
Fresh veggies for the session
Me sneaking a green bean...shhh!
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