cooking indian food- part one: SASA
Hey guys, it’s been a minute. Sorry for the absence.
After vacation, I went about a week of dining hall food (mostly chicken and veggie wraps) before my next meaningful culinary experience. It didn’t dissapoint. In fact, this might have been one of the better meals of the year so far. I’m one quarter Indian, and Indian food was a huge part of my childhood. On special nights with the whole extended family at our lakehouse, my grandfather used to cook a delicious dinner of Saag Paneer, Chicken Tikka Masala, Dahl, and Roti. It was magical to sit and bond over traditional, nostalgic, delicious food. Whenever I’m home for school, my family always takes a trip to the nearest Indian restaurant and loads up on our favorite dishes. The leftovers typically last me a while. Suffice it to say, Indian food is my favorite cuisine. Point-blank.
When I saw an all-school email advertising the opportunity to cook and eat Indian food with Mr. Webster, the school’s head of dining services (click here for a one-on-one interview!), I jumped at the chance. A group of around ten students, most having some connection to Indian cuisine either by heritage or personal history, gathered in a school kitchen to cook up a meal of naan, butter chicken, and dahl.
Part one- the naan. Above is a “before pic” of the naan before we put it on the cast iron pan. I’ve made naan before, but this was much better, for two main reasons. First, cooking the naan on cast iron, rather than broiling, allows it to retain it’s flavor and texture much better; you get a nice crunchy exterior and fluffy exterior, while keeping the flavor of whatever spices, herbs, etc. you added to the dough. Secondly, I folded garlic into the bread- game changer. Garlic naan is just better.
Next, the butter chicken. Butter chicken is an Americanized dish, but it retains the essence of my favorite parts of creamy chicken tikka masala. We cooked the chicken in a pot with diced onions, tomatoes, and a variety of spices (including garam masala, of course); we then added in a sauce made with yogurt, a mix of spices, and some more veggies and herbs. It tasted fantastic.
The best part of this night was the end; sitting, eating, swapping our opinions about the best types of Indian food and the easiest dishes to prepare. The perfect demonstration of food’s ability to unite us in joy. Everything tasted great.