Some things I've learned about dosa

A couple of days ago the four of us were chatting about Bangalore when Zion moaned, "Please don't talk about dosa! I miss it so much!"

There's nothing like seeing your kid in deep melancholy over something you miss and want too to motivate you, amirite, parents?? So I called up a friend and suggested we get us some dosa on Monday. She was super excited, so today we drove down to Jersey City to taste the wares.

And the wares were OK. I mean, they weren't fantabulous by any means, but they weren't awful either. They were, I suppose, acceptable dosa. The restaurant itself was great-- fantastic Ganesha statue, incense, and really nice people running it. They even brought over mango juice after we'd ordered, "for the babies."

What I've learned though, is that in Bangalore we ate very Bangalore specific dosa. And chutney. And sambar. The masala in the masala dosa was pretty much the same though, so that was nice! And the sambar and chutney I had today were good...they just weren't the flavors I was really missing (though the chutney came closer than the sambar. Through a little mint in there and I'd probably have been over the moon!).

The dosa themselves were different in several ways, even though we ordered the Bangalore style dosa. First off, they were huge! Much bigger than the ones we typically got in Bangalore. But I love me some dosa, so that's not really a complaint. Secondly, the chili powder/paste that generally is understood to define a Bangalore dosa, was not red here. It was a kind of tan color, and a bit salty. Not a fan. Thirdly, and most importantly, the dosa were dry. In the past I'd read that a good dosa should be crisp and not in the least greasy, which surprised me a bit because the dosa we got in Bangalore were kind of greasy. Buttery, really. But in a way that left some oil on your fingers. You know, in a delicious way. And since Bangalore apparently loves butter/ghee, you could order a butter masala dosa and they'd pour an additional little scoop of melted butter on your dosa before handing it to you. I never did that, but now I'm a bit regretful. Next time!

Anyway, I think the non-greasy nature of the dosa that is apparently more standard is what kept me from being a big dosa fan prior to moving to Bangalore. They're good, but they're not (to paraphrase the sugar pushing tiger) GRRRRRREAT.

The place we went to today does sell a Bangalore butter masala dosa...maybe I'll try that in the future. In the meantime we have a couple more places closer to home we want to try out. So stay tuned as I continue my quest to find my beloved Bangalore dosa in the Hudson valley!

Coffee news!

I have several coffee notes this morning.

The first is that my dad loves the south Indian coffee maker I got for him! He has a couple other non-electric coffee makers (a french press and a Costa Rican coffee maker), and wasn't sure that the south Indian one would be all that different, but was very gracious about it all the same. Then he used it, and called to tell me how different the coffee made in it (in the traditional south Indian way) was! So that was very exciting-- for both of us!

And then, yesterday, T called me. T is a devoted lover of coffee, and when we'd met for lunch and shoe shopping last week, I'd bemoaned my lack of properly south Indian tasting coffee. I'd also mentioned that my lovely blog readers had recommended a certain type of coffee, available at many Indian grocers, to me. There aren't any Indian grocers particularly close to me, so I was still living in a south Indian coffee-less universe.

So, as I said, T called yesterday. She was at an Indian grocery store, and had just sent me a picture. Was it the coffee I wanted?

It was! So she bought two bags for me, and I will collect them when I next see her, in a couple of weeks. Can you feel the antici..................................pation?

Still surprising me

We went to Nesara for dinner tonight. We ordered dosa (less than last time!) and some Chinese food, and while we were waiting Robert said, "I can't believe that we've been to these restaurants (Nesara and Prakruthi) more than we've been to any others, and pretty soon we're going to leave and probably never come back again."

I agreed. And I leaned back in my chair and looked around at the room that had seemed so foreign at first, and was now so familiar. When we arrived in Bangalore I took pictures of the menu (remember that?) because there were so many foods on it that were new to me and I needed to go home and look them up to figure out what they were. Now I know that menu by heart.

And then our food arrived and we tucked in. And Nesara, this place I know so well, surprised me. Because tonight the chutney that came with our dosa wasn't particularly coconuty but it was particularly minty! It was incredibly delicious...so delicious that we ended up ordering another dosa, mostly to serve as a vehicle for the chunety.

This is one of the true joys of India. Even after months here-- after months of eating at the same restaurant for heaven's sake-- it still surprises and amazes me.

(The tea I had after dinner was surprising too...surprisingly over-steeped. Oh well. They can't all be the kind surprise that makes your eyes roll back in your head with delight.)

Spicy

You might remember, back in the early days of our India adventure, that I mentioned that the food here was much spicier than what we usually eat in NY. Robert and Zion loved it from the start, I quickly adapted, and Liel...not so much. She is super sensitive to spicy food. Super sensitive. I have a fair amount of sympathy for this, because I was the same way as a kid (my mom used to put ketchup in my burritos instead of salsa. And yes, I am embarrassed to be admitting this in a public forum), but I have still felt sad about all the delicious things she's missed out on while we've been here.

But! Last night!

We'd gone to Prakruthi for dosa, because holy crap, it is so hot that I can barely face cooking. And the fact that I'm still slogging along with my rice cooker kitchen is getting more and more frustrating and boring, but of course we're leaving so soon (16 days) that there's no point changing it up now. So anyway, I weighed my options (2km walk in 94 degree, 6pm heat? Or cook?) and off we went.

Now when you order dosa around here you always get a coconut based chutney on the side, and then depending on what type of dosa you ordred, you get another dipping sauce. Plain and masala dosa come with sambar, while onion and set dosas come with some kind of curry. My favorite dipping curries are the ones that feature turmeric and potatoes, and that's what we got last night.

And somehow, Robert managed to convince Liel to try some of the dipping curry. And even more amazingly, she liked it, and didn't find it too spicy! Of course it isn't spicy really at all, but Liel might have a bit of a stubborn streak (no idea where she got that from), and usually knows whether she will like something well in advance of actually trying it. And trying it had never yet, before last night, changed her mind.

Anyway, we sat there, all of us eating dosa dipped in deliciousness and talked about how lucky we are to have gotten to live in Bangalore for the past 5 months. It's a great town, and the entire experience, even the rice cooker, has been amazing.

It did cross my mind to wonder what Liel could have learned to eat, and enjoy, if we'd had another five months here. But I can be kind of greedy like that. It's kind of like If You Give a Mouse a Cookie...if you give a girl 5 months in India, she's going to ask for 5 more months...

We've come a long way (but are still piglets)

We haven't had dosa in upwards of 2 days and the kids were not happy about it. So tonight we headed out early (by Indian dinner standards) to have dosa.

But when we got to Prakruthi it was mobbed! At least 2 dozen people in line, and not a single available table. Robert sighed in a very sad yet resigned way and headed for the back of the line, but I suggested that we go to Nesara instead. Sometimes I have my moments.

So we walked over to Nesara. It was a bit crowded for the time of night, but we got the last booth (the kids favorite) and settled in.

We didn't need to discuss our order, because we always order the same thing when we have dosa dinner at Prakruthi. At Prakruthi. That'll be important in a moment.

The waiter came over, smiled and held his pen and notebook ready.

"Three plain dosa", said Robert. The waiter nodded and scribbled in his book.

"Two masala dosa", Robert continued. The waiter looked up, surprised, and did a quick mental count of the number of people at the table. Four. He raised is eyebrows, but wrote down the masala dosa too.

"One onion dosa", Robert went on. The waiter's eyes bugged out and he stared at Robert in disbelief. "And one set dosa."

At this point the waiter actually laughed at the apparently absurd amount of food we were ordering. Robert and I laughed too, partly out of embarrassment, but mostly in amusement at the shock our huge American appetites were eliciting. The kids were oblivious.

While we waited for our food I noticed a white couple across the room taking a long time with their menus...a sure sign that they hadn't been to Nesara often. And I'd never seen them around campus before. So I was not surprised that when a waiter came to take their order confusion promptly ensued. My guess is that they tried to order Indian food, not knowing that at the IISc restaurants it's not available between about 4-7pm. Robert and I tried to decide if they spoke English and needed help, as things didn't look like they were clearing up, but then one of the managers came over, and after a lot of head shaking, pointing, and finally some head bobbling everything seemed worked out.

And then our dosa came.

Now, the dosa at Nesara are more expensive than those at Prakruthi. But so is everything at Nesara, so we hadn't thought much of it. However, in the case of the dosa, at least, there is a reason for the price difference. And the reason is that you get more food. Probably about 50% more food. Suddenly the waiter's shock made more sense (though in fairness, the people who take our dosa orders at Prakruthi still sometimes laugh about them, and we've been making them about 3 times a week for months).

But we plunged bravely in, and managed to eat nearly everything we'd ordered. The fact that we didn't actually eat it all is just another indicator of how very much food there was, because I think this is the first time since we've been in India that we haven't eaten every last scrap of food at our table. We're like locusts that way. Or piglets.

Piglets are much cuter than locusts. Let's go with piglets.

Mangoes

Mango season has begun here in India, and I'm so happy to be here for at least part of it! I love mangoes, and had been told that mangoes in the US simply didn't compare to those available in India. And now I can taste and decide for myself!

I bought two different types of mangoes this week- the small sindhura mango, and the larger badami mango. The sindhuras I bought still aren't ripe, but today one of the badamis was, so Zion and I ate it (Robert wasn't home, and in any case he and Liel both find magoes, "just OK"). It was delicious! It was so delicious, in fact, that within 10 minutes of finishing it Zion was lying on my bed staring at the ceiling and wondering if any of the others were ripe, and if they weren't, when they might be. After a few minutes of this he got up and went to the kitchen. He came back, mango in hand, to inform me that he thought this one was ripe.

"I'm obviously not as experienced as you, mommy", he said, "but I think this one is ripe. It's skin is mostly yellow, it is squishable, and it smells delicious."

I thought it could use another day, but this new did not deter Zion, who wanted to try it right now. So I peeled it, and we ate it (and I think I was right. The bits I got, closest to the pit, were on the sour side. But the bits Zion got were sweet as sugar!). Zion declared "the king of mangoes".

After that he checked all remaining mangoes, sindhura and badami alike, in case I'd missed any other ripe ones. He sadly reported that I had not, but made note of the ones he thought would be ripe soonest.  Then he told me about his mango-checking strategy.

"When a mango is ripe it will have a good color-- yellow, or orange, or red--, smell delicious, and squish", he told me.

So there you have it :)

Kerala, part 5- now with a houseboat!

The word on the street was that anyone spending time in Kerala should take a backwater cruise, preferably an overnight one (or longer) on a houseboat. Seriously, every time we told someone we were going to Kerala this was the advice we got! So we paid attention, and booked ourselves a night on a houseboat.

At our request the boating company arranged for a cab to pick us up from our hotel and deliver us to the boat. On the drive over we saw an elephant cruising along the side of the highway!

We saw another one later on, on a smaller road. It really is pretty amazing to see elephants just out and around, going about their day!

Around 11am we arrived at our home for the night.

We were an hour early, and I wasn't sure if we'd be allowed on, our would be hanging out on the bank with our luggage. I needn't have worried, though! They let us on the boat right away and gave us each a fresh coconut beverage. It was hot, and the drink was much appreciated!

Then we checked out the boat, and enjoyed the view.

Robert even had a go at the wheel.

And then we were off! We saw a cool shrine

and lots of beautiful back water scenery.

It was so relaxing and beautiful! We hung out on the deck, the kids wrote in their journal (though they'd  surely tell you that journal writing is NOT relaxing!)...

After an hour or so we docked for lunch. And man, what a lunch!

It was unbelievably delicious. All Keralan style food, which is full of coconut! Yummmmmm. We stayed docked for a bit after lunch while the crew cleaned up, and the kids ran around on the deck and played a game with spell scrolls they made.

Then boat got going again. We read Harry Potter, and saw more gorgeous bits of backwater Kerala.

There was a lovely sunset, which was accompanied by a friend banana and coffee snack.

And followed by a lovely dinner!

Now the downside of our houseboat extravaganza was the sleeping. We'd arranged to have an extra cot so that we'd have room for all of us. There wasn't one. The bed was also full size, not queen. But there wasn't much to be done at that point, so the kids and I squeezed into the bed, and Robert slept on the short couch. I should say "slept" because he didn't do much of it. Neither did I. The kids slept great however, and I guess that's really what matters!

The next morning we had an unremarkable breakfast, two cups of coffee, and were met at the dock by a taxi to take us to the airport. We got there in record time (our driver was the most aggressive we've yet had in India) and spent a dull 5 hours waiting for our flight home.

I gotta say, it was really nice to fly in to Bangalore. It felt like coming home, and I was happy to see the city, and especially our neighborhood, again.

Thus ended our Kerala adventure. It was magical and fantastic, up to and including the part where we returned to Bangalore. Which makes it pretty much the perfect trip :)

Kerala, part 4

Fulbright arranged for a tour of some of the historic places in Cochin on the last day of the conference, so of course we signed right up. Free tour that someone else organized? Yes please!

First though, we ate. Lunch that day was a traditional Keralan style meal, and it was so delicious that I'm still dreaming of it.

Here we have a banana leaf plate loaded with Keralan red rice topped with a banana yogurt curry. Moving clockwise you'll see salt, dried and fresh banana, mango and lime pickles, something horseradish-y, a tamarind chutney, three types of vegetables, and a papad. I stuffed myself as thoroughly as possible, and regret that I don't have a bigger stomach. Oh Keralan food, I will remember you and miss you always!

After that we loaded onto several large buses, and set off for St. Francis church. Our guide seemed very knowledgable, but the PA system at the bus apparently had only one volume: deafeningly loud. I spent most of the time with my hands over my ears. Somehow both kids managed to fall asleep!

Anyway, here is St. Francis church. It was the original burial place of Vasco de Gama, but his body was later removed to Portugal. There's still a sign and arrow in the church pointing to where he used to be.

Then we walked a short ways down a street filled with tempting stalls full of colorful things to buy. But our guide was firm: we were to buy nothing until later. I can't blame him-- the idea of trying to herd a group of 35 shoppers down the street sounds pretty unfun!

But still, I wanted to stop and examine the goods, you know? Liel did too. She told me, rather wistfully, that she'd noticed there were a lot of pretty things for sale. Nonetheless, we pushed on, to see...Chinese fishing nets!

That's the Arabian Sea right there. Our guide explained that these nets are the traditional way of fishing in the area, and they're not used for commercial purposes, but by families catching their dinners.

What really struck me about the Arabian Sea though, was it's lack of bathrooms. Liel can go all day without visiting a bathroom when we're out, but that day not so much. Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've helped your child crouch down to pee next to a rock on a beach on the Arabian Sea, feet away from hordes of tourists, vendors, and locals out for a stroll.

Luckily there was a really pretty shaded park area nearby, with a cool painted tree and some great wall art, so I was soon able to put the whole "peeing on the beach" incident out of my mind...or so I thought.

I really like the way Jesus and Krishna are cuddling up next to sign that says, "Please help me".

Then we got back on the bus and headed to Fort Cochin to visit the Dutch Palace. It's a museum now, and no pictures are allowed inside, so you'll have to make do with some pictures of the outside, and the knowledge that there were some amazing murals from the Ramayana inside.

And here we have Zion, looking awesome.

Not pictured is Liel, telling me that she had to poop. Also not pictured is a bathroom, because of course there wasn't one. However, you can see a field in the background, right? It's amazing how much an empty field starts to resemble a bathroom when you have a desperate child, that's all I'm saying.

Moving on!

Our last stop was a 16th century synagogue located in a part of Cochin known as "Jew Town". You can't take pictures inside it either, and it's quite beautiful. The floor is made entirely of hand painted blue and white Chinese tiles, there's a gorgeous Ark, tons of crystal lamps and candelabras, and big airy windows. The outside is rather less picturesque, I'm afraid! At any rate, the synagogue is still in use by the 8 remaining Jews in Cochin. I couldn't hear everything our guide said, but I believe that most of them left in 1948, presumably for Israel.

Jew town was full of shops, which were now allowed to visit. I would've liked more shopping time, but beggars can't be choosers!

And anyway, what I really liked were all the Jew Town signs. I can't get enough of them!

Cafe Jew Town! I should open a cafe by that name when I get back to NY, don't you think??

Dosa

I have a new food love, and its name is dosa.

Dosa are these amazing pancake/crepe things made from a rice and black lentil batter that's been fermented. They taste sort of like an amazing, buttery, crispy sourdough pancake. If you get a plain dosa it comes with sambar (a saucy vegetable stew) and coconut chutney. Masala dosa comes stuffed with yummy spiced potatoes and a red chile paste (apparently this is largely a Bangalore thing- the red chile paste, not the masala dosa!), and sambar and chutney. Set dosa, which are particularly popular here in Karnataka, are pretty much just like pancakes in texture (ie not thin and crispy on one side), come with chutney and a different vegetable stew, flavored with turmeric and no tomatoes. Onion dosa come loaded with sweet purple onions, and yes, chutney and veg stew.

I'd had dosa before coming here to Bangalore, though not often. My favorite Indian restaurant in Harvard Square served them at their Sunday brunch, but the line was long, and I often just skipped them. Honestly, the dosa I've had in the US have been fine, but not great. Not the kind of dosa you might find yourself dreaming of at night. Not that I know anything about that, mind.

But when we got here and I had dosa in India my whole perspective changed (side note: it also sort of changed about spicy food. Now I just accept that my mouth will be burning to some degree while I'm eating, and that when I'm done I'll have some curd or plain rice and it will go away). I love and adore dosa. I think I'd eat them every day if I could. In fact, I'm going to have dosa for dinner tonight, and then again for breakfast in the morning before we fly to Kochi. I'm giddy at at the thought of having dosa two meals in a row!

What I am not giddy about is returning to the land of sub-par dosa. It has become abundantly clear to me that I'm going to have to learn to make dosa upon our return, and quickly. My friend Tiju recommended that I buy a dosa pan before we leave, but what I'm more concerned about is a grinder. Traditional dosa are made by soaking or parboiling rice and urad dal and then grinding them into a smooth batter. I've started reading up on this a bit, and the consensus seems to be that the only American appliance that might be up to the job is a Vitamix. I know folks who swear by theirs, so I might go that route, but those suckers are $300-400, and while I can't put a price tag on my devotion to dosa, $300 would buy you one heck of a dosa around here.

Actually, once I typed that I had to do the math. $300 would buy you 1000 plain dosa or 820 masala or set dosa at our favorite place. I wonder how long it would take me to make and eat 1000 dosa? Not in a food race kind of way, just in the course of normal life. Hmmm.

If you have tips, recipes, or recommendations for making dosa, I'm all ears! It really is one of the best foods in the entire world. My friend Aaron says they're kind of like buttery Indian burritos, and I think the comparison is apt, especially since burritos are another of my all time favorite foods. In fact, I'm generally a fan of foods that are their own (edible) containers. So helpful and delicious. 

Little things

Sometimes it's the little things that make you happy. Like the other day when we came out of our apartment building and saw a monkey with a pink sheet on the wall across the street. I have no idea where the monkey found the sheet, but  it was sure having a good time with it.

First it examined its prize a bit.

Then it tried it on.

And finally, it tasted it to see if the sheet was good to eat.

The monkey was still chewing on the sheet when we left, but has since abandoned it, so I'm guessing that it did not find the sheet to be particularly delicious.

Another thing that makes us all happy is seeing our favorite stray campus dog. We've named him Prakruthi, because, as I've mentioned, he hangs out at our favorite restaurant of the same name. Zion is particularly fond of him, and asked us to take some pictures of him and Prakruthi when we saw him relaxing in the shade a few days ago.

Robert was taking pictures of them too, which is why Zion is looking in the other direction with particularly wide eyes. Trying not to blink and all. And as you can see, the dog is looking in that direction too-- clearly boy and dog have bonded ;)

Actually, last night Zion suggested that it would be really nice if we could take Prakruthi home with us when we go back to New York. Sigh!

And finally, no post about the happiness of little things would be complete without a picture of our local Happiness Station!

Oh Coke, bringing happiness wherever you go!

(The white sign with a Coke bottle on it is advertising a 200ml bottle of Coke for Rs 8-- about 15 cents.  The green sign above it says that Prakruthi will accept all outdoor catering jobs at reasonable rates. I can barely express how much I wish we could bring them back with us!)

Pictures from our week

Here are some pictures of the things we've been up to this week :)

I took an artistic picture of my fruit bowl, sitting on the otherwise useless induction cooker.

Zion noticed this cool black and white butterfly on campus.

We saw some "cows in outfits" (as the kids called them).

We went to a really exclusive park ;)

We had several lunches at our favorite (and always crowded) restaurant (spot Robert in the background!).

Liel finished Fluffy's new dress, and made her a necklace and a circlet besides.

And I finished this shawl, and took a blurry picture of it with my iPhone.

I hope your week was colorful and fantastic as well!