Authentic India

Cooking in an Indian Home!

One of the highlights of my time in the South. My (non-English-speaking) Guide took me to an Indian Market place where I saw nothing on the shelves like you would see in Australia. The fresh market place was a real eye opener! There were many men sitting on a wooden box or in the mud with a wooden box in front of them, and their fish for sale, displayed in the open air. The fish varieties were small and the meat was hanging in tents. A butcher was chopping meat with an axe on a raw old stump, covered in gashes and dried meat from previous preparations.

We then drove deep into the tropical jungle and arrived a tiny concrete house. The house was as big as a king size bedroom but had a loung corner, bed corner, sectioned off kitchen corner and table in the middle.

The Grandmother and the mother taught me meal preparations on the dining table. Behind them is a bed and a sink!

There was also an upstairs area, half the size of the main living area on the ground floor. There were 7 people living in this house. Father, Mother, Grandmother, Great Grandmother, daughter and 2 sons. They also had some chickens, many trees and plants and a each several meters away. The family welcomed me in and taught me to cook several authentic Indian dishes, the traditional way. They didn't speak much English, just words like "Chilli" "Rice" and "Coconut."

My Indian Meal.

I had previously learnt the respectful way to eat Indian*. However some regions have different techniques  We ate from a Banana leaf, there was coconut rice and popadoms and all sorts of spicy bean salads and sources. 

*Most Indians eat with two fingers of their left hand. they gather a bit of spicy goo and add it to the rice to provide texture to pick up a mouthful. They then place it in their mouth, without tilting their head back, or touching their mouth with their fingers. 

I payed many respects to the family for letting me into their hoe. I left them a tip through Fragrant Nature and they would have been able to feed their family for the  remainder of the week, with the food I left from the lesson.

This is me with the daughter, next the the GranMother and Father.