| | Often at Aunty Samuel's we would have upma for breakfast. Upma is made from suji aka wheat semolina aka cream of wheat. That's right! Just like the good old cream of wheat we had as kids. Well ... almost. You still boil it, but before boiling you add mustard seeds, onions, and other vegetables depending on what region you're in and who is cooking. Some people have it soft, some people cook it up thick enough it can be sliced, and some people cook it so that it is "flaky" or fluffy. Aunty put sugar on hers, but I preferred mine with salt, which everyone who ate breakfast with me found very strange ... I personally thought putting sugar on anything with onions in it very strange!
I've had upma a couple times since coming back to the US. It is quick to cook and very filling!
At least once a week, Aunty would go out and buy idlis. A lot of people make these at home, but because there were only a few of us it wasn't really worth the trouble. Idlis are made from ground rice then steamed to make little "buns". These are served with a small bowl of sambhar (sahm-brr, vegetable soup with a few lentils in it) and coconut chutney. You can either pour the sambhar over your idli and then eat with your hand, or tear up the idli and dip them into the sambhar or chutney. Idli are light and fluffy and have very little flavor of their own, but I like them more than they probably deserve!
Now for the biggest treats: the specialties that we only got when eating "outside" (not at home). Because I stayed with a family rather than at hotels, I didn't get to have these as often as more traditional tourists, but that made me enjoy them all the more.
Vadai (vuh-duh or vuh-die) are circular and fried, similar in shape to small doughnuts but savory rather than sweet. They can be just dough, or they can include gram (lentils), onion, mustard seeds, and other spices cooked inside of them. The best vadai I had in my whole time in India was at a bus stop on the way to Goa. They were fresh from the kitchen, and just the right balance of softness inside and slightly crispy crust. Vadai is usually served with sambhar and chutney also, and it's common to order a mix of vadai and idli for breakfast.
And last but not least, the dosa! Dosa is similar to appam in the previous post except that it does not contain yeast. It is similar to a French crepe but it is not sweet. Dosa are made in a practiced way of pouring a spiral of thin batter onto a large griddle or special dosa pan so that it comes out thin and bubbly. Masala dosa are folded around a potato filling which is nearly-mashed-potatoes cooked with mild spices, onions, and ginger-garlic paste. Paper dosa are a tourist treat and are cooked on a huge grill then rolled up, either empty or with the potato mixture inside. These are paper thin, very crispy, and 2 feet across!
In my next post, I'll tell you about an amazing little breakfast place we found while on survey and what it's like to go out for breakfast. :)
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| | Posted 4/29/2009 9:50 AM - 24 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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