My best moments at dinner parties are
when traditional Indian women wearing saris and nose rings come up to me
in the kitchen and casually ask me something like "Idu panninela
vaanginela?" (Did you make this or buy this?) There are many
variations of this question. But the bottom line is they liked it but
are not sure if its real.
And this is the key to much of my cooking. I usually minimize the steps and keep some flavors intact. Add that unexpected flavor or ingredient in familiar dishes like sun dried tomato pieces in Tamarind rice. Perhaps this is the thrill a painter of fakes or a counterfeiter experiences when one of their creations escapes detection and is passed off.
I will include a few dishes in this genre as well. And for my friend Vaidyanathan, who, with ill concealed disdain, has been reading some of my recipes and tells me "that it's good that I have learned to like these ill prepared foods, I will add a special section of some traditional South Indian Recipes made the way my grandmother would make them. And you can make these easily if you respect the ingredients and visualize the taste you are trying to create. But they should never taste exactly the same twice.
And this is the key to much of my cooking. I usually minimize the steps and keep some flavors intact. Add that unexpected flavor or ingredient in familiar dishes like sun dried tomato pieces in Tamarind rice. Perhaps this is the thrill a painter of fakes or a counterfeiter experiences when one of their creations escapes detection and is passed off.
I will include a few dishes in this genre as well. And for my friend Vaidyanathan, who, with ill concealed disdain, has been reading some of my recipes and tells me "that it's good that I have learned to like these ill prepared foods, I will add a special section of some traditional South Indian Recipes made the way my grandmother would make them. And you can make these easily if you respect the ingredients and visualize the taste you are trying to create. But they should never taste exactly the same twice.
