The God of Small . . . Naan? · 20 July 2007
It seems like it’s been ages ago that I finished reading The God of Small Things. The story has run its course and left its traces in my life, as good stories should. It scattered little fragments of awareness and knowledge into the subconscious well that I try to tap and then flitted away to make room for new things. It was hurried on its way by my absorbing read of Tim Power’s Last Call and by my fun activities last weekend.
What better time then, to post my second recipe, a dish of Indian origin that’s been influenced by and adapted to American cooking?
In the God of Small Things, the characters are caught in a constant tug-of-war game. On one hand, they cling to their cultural traditions. Rahel’s family frets that she is divorced, Rahel’s mother suffers beatings from her father in silence as part of her role as the dutiful wife, and Rahel marks how the status of an Indian woman in part relies on the length of her oiled hair. On the other hand, the family fawns over Rahel’s uncle, who was educated in England, and over his English wife and daughter. They embrace The Sound of Music and, as children, Rahel and Estha idolize and imitate Julie Andrews.
My first Indian recipe was a tribute to the traditions in this book, an attempt to create as authentic of an experience as possible. I immersed myself in traditional websites and went to a local Indian market (where the only other non-Indian person shopping was a man with his Indian wife). My second recipe is an attempt to capture the way that food is influenced by culture and place, just as people are influenced by colliding with other cultures.
One of the things I love about going out for Indian food is the naan. One of the things that I love about San Diego is the awesome produce we get here. As Maia recently posted, the stone fruit here in San Diego is over the top this year. The end of the cherry season is quickly approaching, so I nabbed a bag while I could, somehow forgetting that 2 pounds of cherries is a lot for one person to eat (especially when the weather is so warm that fruit left on the counter ripens in a day). When I remembered that one of the current events over at Is My Blog Burning called for creative fruit bread recipes, it all seemed to come together. I’d make cherry filled naan and combine the best of both worlds.
After my last success with bread, I was on a yeasty high, but all the yeast based naan recipes called for traditional rising methods. I wasn’t sure I was ready to tackle yeast without the help of the bread machine, so I decided to try a baking soda recipe. I think it was a bad decision.
My naan baking attempt was fraught with difficulties. The recipe called for the naan to be baked at the highest temperature possible, close to the broiler, for 5-6 minutes. According to the instructions, the naan should “puff up” during the baking process, at which point it is almost ready, and you must watch it carefully, for fear it will burn. Sounded simple enough.
Naan take 1. Burned at 3 and a half minutes. Sticky on the inside. I decided to move the oven rack one step further from the broiler.
Naan take 2. Burned at 4 and a half minutes. Sticky on the inside. I decided to roll the naan dough thinner.
Naan take 3. 4 minutes, no burning. No puffing either. Naan was golden brown, but tough. Decided to move back up to the top oven rack and continue the thin roll.
Naan take 4. 3 and a half minutes. No burning. Sticky on the inside, tough on the outside.
Naan take 5. Left the pan in the over for 10 minutes so the heat was distributed evenly. Top shelf, 3 and a half minutes. No burning. Sticky on the inside, tough on the outside.
Naan take 6. Left out filling. Top shelf, 3 and a half minutes. No burning. Sticky on the inside, tough on the outside.
None of my naan attempts puffed. They look reasonably pretty, especially when the cherry filling is exposed before cooking them, but they don’t taste very good and they don’t look like naan. According to Mamta’s Kitchen (not the recipe I used) the leathery consistency comes from not having a hot enough oven. I think it may also have to do with the lack of yeast in the recipe I used. Has anyone made naan successfully? I’m up for another round, but I think this time, I’ll stick with the traditions of the experts.
Cherries,
Indian Food,
Stone Fruit,
The God of Small Things
Posted by fortrix
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jean pierre · 23 July 2007, 23:43
NAAAANS! i love naans!!
whoever invented them needs to be sainted!
charlotte made some curry the other night and it nearly caused an argument when she told me that there weren’t any naans… :)
then last night she made some curry again and i went to the shop especially to get some :D
i would’ve loved to have seen your naan attempts! its a pity they didn’t come out as you hoped, but it looks like it was loads of fun to do.
i don’t mean to laugh at your misfortune but i keep on laughing when i read about how they turned out – getting burnt or becoming sticky! its just so funny :D
Kim · 24 July 2007, 22:58
Laugh away! For me, cooking is a fun adventure, which is why I usually post about things on here that are experiments. I aim to either share something new in the hopes that someone will be inspired to try it, or, failing that, to provide at least a bit of entertainment ;)
jean pierre · 26 July 2007, 08:15
well i’m entertained and charlotte will be inspired when she sees this. :)
it looks like great fun.
Stefan · 5 August 2007, 11:58
that graph is too funny lol
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