Cooking Class and Indian Provisions

Last year I discovered a new culinary love-Indian food. This obsession began with a delicious dinner of Bengan Bhurtha (roasted eggplant and garlicky spiced tomatoes and vegetables) at Sitar in Knoxville about a year ago. That first dinner was followed by countless Indian lunch buffets (FYI for Knoxville residents-Sitar's buffet has more variety, but Taj's is less runny, more spicy!). Anyways, from the moment I set foot in China, I have pursued Indian dishes with even greater fervor as the cuisine is plentiful, cheap and most importantly, very vegetarian. Now I am not a typical proponent of eating out-more expensive, more calories and no joy or relaxation of cooking for me. Whenever I have considered cooking Indian food for myself, however, I have always come up short on both ingredients and dependable recipes. So last week when I had the chance to join some international women in Shekou for an Indian cooking class, I jumped in with enthusiasm!

The class was held at a British friend's home down the street and was taught by her friend from India. In attendance were a variety of lovely ladies: the places represented included England, Scotland, Hong Kong, Japan and the Seychelles. As you may imagine this made for quite interesting small talk while we waited for the onions to become translucent and the tomatoes to reduce. I found myself smiling and savoring the moment as I realized what a rookie I still am at cooking (and life) as I listened to the chatterings of such a worldly bunch. We made two dishes-Rajma Curry and Jeera Rice. Rajma means red beans, and the curry was a tomato and onion based pan of deliciousness, seasoned perfectly with a long list of spices. Jeera is the Indian word for cumin, and the simple, fragrant basmati Jeera Rice we cooked paired perfectly with the Rajma Curry. All in all, I left the class with a new respect for Indian cuisine and a better understanding of the spices and the basic techniques such recipes entail. More than that, though, I walked away feeling as though I'd had a privileged glimpse of these women's lives, from their favorite spices to their bizarre Asian adventures. I made two resolutions as I made my way back from cooking class. One, I will someday start a recipe/cooking class exchange with friends, and two, I will someday travel to Bhutan, which is apparently one of the most lovely, unique destinations in the Orient.

As I mentioned before, the Rajma curry recipe did have a long list of ingredients, a few of which my family's spice drawer has never seen. To find these ingredients, our instructor had warned us, we would have the best luck ordering from an Indian foods store on the other side of Shenzhen. Although she suggested we have the supplies delivered, my Mom and her friend and I decided it would be more fun to go to the "Indian Provisions Store" and check it out for ourselves. Armed with a business card we set out with our driver this morning. After 45 minutes, one stop for directions and two phone calls to the store owner, we were finally met in the street by the two men who run the store. They guided us past stalls selling dried fruit and clothes and into an apartment-like building. We took the elevator to the 18th floor and walked to Room C. The door swung open to a rather empty living room, and we followed our guides inside past a bedroom and a bathroom to the store [room]. We exchanged "this is a new experience!" glances and set to work finding the spices and rice we needed. As we checked out (in the traditional calculator and exchange of yuan manner), we struck up a little conversation. The two men were from Calcutta but had been here in Shenzhen for 5 years. Once our transactions were complete one man helped us back downstairs and politely waited with us for our driver. Mission buy Indian food ingredients accomplished!

Pictured above:

Amchoor Powder-ground dried mango for the sour kick to balance your curry

Garam masala-aka five spices powder

Green cardamom pods-what the ground cardamom in you pantry is made from, a key component of spiced milk tea and many sweet Indian dishes

Black cardamom pods-stronger, distinctive cardamom used in savory Indian dishes

...I'd just like to note that I didn't include the 2 kg of very authentic looking bags of Basmati rice we purchased in the picture because they are currently in the freezer. Mary's China rule is to freeze all flour, rice, pasta, etc. for 24 hours before we use it...to kill whatever may or may not be hanging out in it. I'd like to say it's strictly a precaution, but then again I did find a bug (thankfully frozen dead) yesterday in the flour when I was making beer bread...Oh China.