This weekend I decided to explore the unknown... I made South Indian breakfast. Not that south Indian food is unknown to Matt and me, I have just never actually cooked any Idli, Dosa, Vada, Chutney or Sambar myself. My obsession with south Indian food began when I first visited Cafe Madras about two years ago. This Mumbai institution has been around for over 70 years, serving Mumbaikers arguably the best, and cheapest, south Indian food in the city. When I took my first bite of soft, fluffy Idli drowned in spicy Sambar and Chutney...I was hooked. I even convinced the owner to give me a tour of the kitchen! I was so impressed and intrigued by the new culinary frontier I had discovered. Now that we live in Mumbai, Matt and I make the 45 minute trek to Matunga every Saturday to gorge on all that Cafe Madras has to offer. The owner's sons know us by name and are always suggesting we try new, more delicious, preparations of our old favorites. Being the curious cook that I am (and because I cannot drive all the way to Matunga every morning), I decided I would try to make Idli, Wada, Chutney, and Sambar....myself, from scratch :-) Though there are various ready made south Indian breakfast mixes you can buy at the grocery store, none that I had tried came anywhere close to Madras.... I decided I would have to do it all the old fashioned way, no cutting corners! But, what is the authentic way to make these dishes? And what the hell is an Idli anyway?!...my American readers may ask :-) Rest assured all your questions will be answered in my next post (+ pictures)...bye for now!
Can't wait to see how your Idli turns out! We have a local Indian spices store, so all I need is serious coaching to try some dishes you recommend for me. Martha Stuart had a show recently dedicated to Indian fashion & food. A recipe for a cauliflower "tree of life" recipe is waiting for me to try.
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your posts!