Random Rasam Thoughts

I woke at 1:15 AM and watched a documentary on William Eggleston.  That prompted me to venture into the kitchen and just photograph 'stuff.'  However, that didn't work.  Then I got the idea of going to Meijers, an all night store, and photographing food, maybe a few stray lost souls out in the middle of the night in need of a can of bacon and bean soup, or some avacadoes.  However, those harbinger feelings of pressure told me I better not wander from from a visit to the throne first.  I love taking dumps, butt the problem is I don't stay long at all.  In and out.  Out.  Butt my love of books makes it virtually impossible to wander into a water closet without a book in hand.  Today I really wanted to read about India while attending to my functions.  Please - no connections between my desire and necessities.  I often read spiritual literature on the porcelain   India fascinates me and I've had a book on my shelf about India for a long time and lately it calls out to me.  "The Elephant, The Tiger, and the Cell Phone."  I stopped in at a bargain bookstore over the weekend and found a pristine hardbound copy for under $5.  I thought it would look nice on my pile, below the paperback version I already have.  Then it dawned on me...if I have two copies, that must mean I really want to keep it.

India fascinates me.  Five or six years ago I decided I wanted to only eat Indian food.  I had been a vegetarian for years and American food just doesn't work so well for a vegan.  Try eating at KFC with a group of friends.  Well, actually, if I had to be totally honest, I'd have to confess that I don't have a group of friends.

When I decided I was going to curry myself (the word 'curry' was probably invented by the British to describe the incredible spices of Indian dishes that they consumed during their invasion and occupation of India) so I went through my kitchen and tossed out everything resembling 'American' food, especially the spice shelf, and replaced it with those beautiful spices of India...turmeric is so intensely yellow...powdered chilie powder...such a deep hue of brownish red...the slight greenish tint to unroasted cumin seeds...the delicate shape of basmati rice grains...the veins of fiber running through a block of compressed tamarind...And I stocked up on cookbooks.  At first I really didn't 'get it' about Indian cooking and picked recipes randomly out of various cookbooks.  I spent whole afternoons preparing an array of dishes and slowly started learning more about the secrets of Indian cooking.  Part of my problem was I was still thinking American and compartmentalizing the dishes.  A pile of legumes sitting on a plate.  Then I discovered the secrets of dal.  They are incredible and when cooked, melt into a sauce/paste.  I have all the main dal on hand at all times...toor, moong, masoor, urad and channa dal for tempering.  Each one is so different.

Rasam and sambars are SO delicious.  There is nothing like them.  Which reminds me...I would love to make a steaming bowl of rasam every morning.  My living situation isn't ripe for that dream at the moment.  I found an incredible cookbook of vegetarian South Indian cooking and made the most amazing dishes from it.

I love music, all kinds of music, from speed death metal to ragas.  It was a natural for me to slowly wander into the Indian music culture, both classical and modern.  I picked up a few Indian students (I teach music) and started listening to Hindi rock and began teaching it.

When I first visited Indian markets, I must say I wasn't well received.  That was over twenty years ago.  However now I have built good customer relationships with my two main sources of Indian groceries.  One store even presented me with a canvas "India Town" sack to carry my groceries home.  I bought three pressure cookers, two of Indian origins.  I began making up my own recipes and even had one published on You Tube on the wonderful channel, "Show Me the Curry."  You can view it here.

I find, as a general rule, that Indian people are happy, positive in nature, and very colorful.  Color is so important to Indian culture, and color is so important to me as a photographer nut.

Next life I am going to travel through India and photograph the wonders.  I have too much to photograph in Detroit this time around.