The Melting Pot - Indian Food Meets California Culture · 13 July 2007
One of the many themes of The God of Small Things was the theme of losing one’s own culture due to Colonial influence. The book includes a heavy dose of Anglophile discussions and explorations on the effect of the English occupation of India. Though the Colonial era is gone, many countries are still struggling with their identity as independent countries, free from the rule of their colonial conquerors.
(<- Crepe) Though not always a Colonial effect, I’ve noticed that ethnic food is often diluted, or at least affected, by the country that it lands in. My sister’s boyfriend has a great story about eating “Mexican” food in Germany. His German business associates were thrilled to have a real-live Californian to critique their imported cuisine, so they marched him to the local Mexican restaurant. He ordered a burrito. What he was served was a pancake-like batter, folded over a filling of onion based vegetables, with a side of sauerkraut. As he tells it, the Germans looked expectantly at him, awaiting his reaction. “A crepe!,” he said. “You’ve served me a crepe and called it a burrito! Where are the rice and beans? The guacamole? The sour cream?” (Burrito ->) 
Which, of course, is the California conception of Mexican food. And, since we live pretty close to the border, it’s not too far from the Mexican conception of Mexican food, but it’s still not quite the same.
For the foods from The God of Small Things, I decided to recreate the effects of transporting cuisine and make two Indian dishes, one based on traditional methods, and one that’s been Anglicized. To find my traditional recipe I scoured the web for sites runs by women who grew up in India, and were trying to preserve their culture. I found a wealth of them. Saroj’s Cookbook, Ruchi’s Kitchen, and Cusine Cuisine all have dozens of varied recipes.
I also found that the Indian food that I find at restaurants (Tikka Masala, Tandoori style barbecue, Aloo Gobi, etc.) is only a small regional sampling of the many traditional Indian recipes.
In yet another instance of my world knitting itself together, I found that the mung beans I bought a few weeks ago on a whim are a traditional India dal (or pulses) ingredient. I took this as a sign and decided to make a mung (moong) dal dish. In yet another instance of me being blown off track, the mung dal dish that looked too irresistible to resist called for yellow mung. I had green. Now I have yellow and green. (Yes, I know, when it comes to new and interesting ingredients, I have little willpower).
There is a great local Indian market in my area. I was tipped off to it by San Diego Foodstuffs a few months ago and I hadn’t had a good excuse to go check it out, until now. The market was a resale/wholesale combination and they sold most ingredients in bulk. I was overwhelmed by the spice selection. Not only did they have a huge aisle devoted entirely to spices, they were so potent you could literally smell a variety of spicy aromas through the packaging as you walked the aisles of the market.
I ended up with quite a haul of spices (pictured at top) and a basketful of other traditional Indian ingredients that will be making their way into my cooking in months to come. The thing that I love about Indian food is that it’s incredibly flavorful without being laden with fat or salt, relatively easy to prepare, and freezes well. Since I’m on a limited time budget, these are all things that I look for in my daily diet.
Though England and America may have affected Indian cooking, I can guarantee that India is now affecting my cooking as well. It’s a give and take relationship, just as Arundhati Roy described in her book, The God of Small Things. The focus of cultural influence continues to shift, and new cultures are constantly colliding with each other. The only constant in cultural co-mingling is the necessary adaptation that we all deal with every time we escape out of our own cultural bubble and experience something new.
Cozy Toasted Dal (Yellow Moong Dal):
Courtesy of Kate’s Global Kitchen and inspired by Bharti Kirchner. This makes a large batch of dal, and Kate provided instructions for how to prepare part of the batch for reheating.
Mixture 1
- 2 cups yellow split mung beans
- 2 quarts water
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 whole serrano chile, or other fresh or dried hot chile (I used a fresh serrano)
Mixture 2
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander seed
Mixture 3
- 2 tablespoons mustard oil (equal parts vegetable oil and horseradish sauced may be substituted if you can’t find mustard oil)
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons minced ginger
- 2 teaspoons minced serrano or jalapeño chile, with or without seeds (I omitted this)
- 1/2 teaspoon ajwain seeds (equal parts celery seeds and thyme may be substituted if you can’t find ajwain seeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala (The garam masala I bought is a mixture of cardamom, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, star-anise, and other spices)
Method:
Toast the yellow mung beans in a hot, dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently(yes, really, otherwise they will burn) until light brown, about 8 minutes. Rinse and drain.
While beans are toasting, boil water in a large, heavy saucepan. (Beans will expand in volume so make sure to use a large enough pan to allow for this).
After water has come to a boil, add the mung beans, turmeric and whole chile. Simmer on low, uncovered, until the beans are tender but not mushy, about 30 minutes. Stir the beans occasionally to keep them from sticking to the pot.
When the beans are tender enough to be broken easily between your thumb and finger, stir in the salt, sugar, cumin and coriander. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes for the flavors to blend, or turn off the flame now if reheating later.
At this point the mixture can be set aside and reheated before use. Or, for a mild taste, you can serve the dal as is, skipping the remaining step. (I tend to like my Indian food mild, but I braved the final step, omitting only the extra chilis and the citris juice).
Make sure the dal is fairly warm. Just before serving, prepare Mixture 3: Heat the mustard oil on medium-low heat until hot. Add the bay leaves, ginger, and minced chile.
Stir and cook until the ginger begins to brown. Stir in the ajwain seeds and garam masala and cook for a few seconds; do not let the ajwain seeds burn. Stir the mixture into the pot of mung beans. Remove the mixture from the heat, stir in the lime or lemon juice and serve hot in small bowls or cups, with lemon or lime wedges. (Remove bay leaves before serving.)
Dal will be slightly watery after cooking and will thicken as it cools.
Though not particularly photogenic, this dish was awesome. The flavors blend together so well they are complex, yet not overpowering. Without the double dose of chilies, I wouldn’t even call it spicy. I ate it warm with whole grain bread and will be eating leftovers with rice on Sunday night.
Colonial Era,
Indian Food,
Masala,
Moong Dal,
Mung Beans,
The God of Small Things ,
Vegan,
Vegetarian
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The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy A Visually Stimulating Weekend – Part 1
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jean pierre · 18 July 2007, 23:11
all this talk of ingredients is a bit over my head – my repertoire is limited to pasta, stir fry and oven-baked fish at the moment. but the food looks delicious! i think i am definitely going to have to point my wife towards this site…!
i can very well imagine that indian cuisine will start to influence your own cooking style. your experimenting and exploring looks like great fun.
one of the things i love about living in england is the way indian cuisine is made here. i looove the creaminess of some of the dishes! :D indian food is one of my favourites (if not THE favourite) foods!
i really liked “the god of small things”, so i can see how it has inspired you.
haha, i’ve also had a first-hand experience of funny german cooking! a germany guy once made me some pasta and it was awfully thick and doughy and… sort of hairy, if you know what i mean…?!? :(
Kim · 19 July 2007, 23:06
I’ve heard wonderful things about the Indian food in England. I’ll be in London for a few days this fall and I’m dragging my traveling companions to an Indian place for sure!
Hehe, maybe your German friend made you spaetzle? It’s sort of thick and doughy, but I guess it could be called pasta.
jean pierre · 23 July 2007, 23:32
AAGHAJAAHAAHAHAHAJAJAA!!!! yes, it was spaetzle!!!! eeeeuuw.
hahaha! its funny that it wasn’t pasta! but they shouldn’t have said it was pasta in the first place – the fools!
but at least i don’t think the entire german nation is incompetent at making pasta anymore. seeing it as a dish in its own right doesn’t make it that bad anymore… who knows, it might even taste nice if i know thats what i’m getting myself in for! :)
well, there are lots of different kinds of styles of indian cuisine here, so i’m sure you’ll find at least one you like. with your appreciation for cooking i’m sure you’re, at least, find it interesting.
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