Home Cooking in Tamil Nadu: Part I

I write this in the throes of an unmerciful jet-lag. I am eleven hours of pure confusion right now, eating cereal at dinner-time and squinting at the sun. New York's streets are covered in slush, and I keep making ludicrous mistakes, such as taking out the trash in flip flops.

My high school biology teacher once told the class about foreign exchange students from South and Central America who came to the US and got depressed. Turns out they needed their daily, subtle narcotic fix of chili peppers... which release endorphins!

Mango chutney; my friends watched with unguarded apprehension as I took my first bite. SPICY, tangy, and somewhere between the land of chewy and crunchy: February is not mango season. I survived, and was the better for it.

So I am just back from Chennai, the fourth largest city in India, located in the Southern state of Tamil Nadu. Dare I say... gluten-free capital of the world? Of course one has to be on their guard against the rogue protein no matter where they are, but traditionally, South Indian cuisine is rice, vegetables, and lentils. In all sorts of glorious and delectable manifestations. Nowhere to be found was the tempting, buttery naan I remember from The Curry House buffet on Madison Avenue. Begone, foul gluten! (Typically, Indian restaurants in America serve a more Northern Indian cuisine.)

South Indian food is less heavy, less creamy, and hinges on a particular and unusual, tangy flavor: the pod fruit of the tamarind. It is the main flavor for the traditional sambar stew and the rasam soup, which I will cover in Part II of this entry.

I was lucky enough to stay with my dear friend's family, and we were double-lucky to eat most of our meals at their home. First thing in the morning we would have coffee - to my surprise and delight, Tamil Nadu is a coffee growing region! The super-fine grounds are prepared a bit like Italian espresso; in a special metal pot on the stove. The milk is heated, and a generous portion of sugar added. It is served in two metal cups, meant for pouring the coffee back and forth: cooling, mixing and frothing the delicious beverage.

Rich and creamy. Milk in other countries always tastes so good. It comes delivered to the house; so do the vegetables! Every morning you can choose from a variety of greens and tubers, cauliflower, okra, and peppers. There was plenty to be seen from the front window of the living room... on my first day, a wandering musician with a sacred cow came past to perform for donations. He blew into his wooden flute and the cow shook her head, ringing the jingly bells that she wore around her neck.

Stand by for coverage of lunch, dinner, and eating out!