Did you know that the average person falls asleep in seven minutes? I hope those seven minutes don't happen for you right now. It would be really awkward to wake up and find that you didn't make it through this because it was just that boring. Plus I would feel incredibly jilted. So try to keep those eyelids open until you finish reading this incredibly exciting entry. Or at least for the next ten minutes.
So there was that really long time where I didn't write anything. And now that that's out of the way, I can move on to something of importance.
I have been learning so much about Indian culture from my coworker, Ina. At least, I've learned so much about her specific culture from her specific part of India. She told me the name of her hometown, and while I can't remember what the name of it was, she said it was a very small town that no one outside of the country has heard of. But if it's all the same to you, I'll just refer to it as India until I can remember which province or part of the country of India it is.
Ina was teaching me about signs of respect that younger persons will show or say to older persons to indicate that they acknowledge their wisdom and respect their years of experience. For instance, I could call her Inaben (EE-na-BEN) when I want to ask her a question about something I'm not sure of. Then, to be funny, Ina will say "Annaben, why did you do this thing?" when I do something out of the ordinary. That's when I know I'm in trouble.
She also said that instead of giving hugs to their elders, they touch the feet of their elders and described it as asking for blessings from them. I find that really interesting. Especially in American culture where young people hold nostalgia for their grandparents while at the same time brushing them off when it comes to life decisions because there's no way they could understand what they are going through in today's day and age. I mean, they can't even operate a computer, right? How could they give me advice about my future if they don't know what an iPhone is? Anyways, I really like the idea that elders are pillars of life in certain cultures.
Nearly every day this week I had a small snack at lunch that Ina gave me. The one that I liked the most was a dessert called laddu (la-DU). A quick search will bring up pictures of tiny yellow flour balls, but I haven't found anything that looks like the one Ina gave me. It was a darker cream color, and it was covered in crunch white poppy seeds. She was telling me the two main ingredients you need are butter and jaggery (JAG-ery, with the R rolled, as in the Spanish language). Jaggery is an Indian raw sugar similar in taste to brown sugar, but more like those cones of raw sugar you see in the Hispanic aisle at the grocery store. You take butter and sugar and put them in a pot on the stove at a very low heat, wait until it's good and melted, then add rice flour and let it cook for a long while to cook out the flour-y taste. Next you add your spices: cardamom, vanilla, almond, and a very tiny pinch of cinnamon. Mix that all together with some white poppy seeds, then set aside to come to room temperature. When it's still warm but able to handle, roll the dough into balls and roll through some white poppy seeds to coat. Then they're ready to eat.
I'm telling you guys, I think I have a cardamom addiction. I believe now that it is the one determining factor in chai teas that tips the scale for me. After graduating college I severely cut back on my Starbucks intake, which meant referring to store-bought tea bags to get my chai fix. After going through several brands, I finally landed on a white chai tea blend from Stash, and would bet you a hundred unicorns it has the greatest amount of cardamom. Ina said they sell cardamom whole at three pounds for ten dollars at the local Indian store. I wonder if it would be normal to see a pale white girl buying cardamom seeds and nothing else at the local Indian store. One day, I'll tell you how that goes.
I also had the pleasure of eating Indian flour tortillas - made from scratch dough with cumin seeds, celery seeds, and saffron that gets a piping hot deep fried bath for about a minute until it puffs up like a balloon. The result is a savory pumped up vessel for steamed and seasoned potatoes, and is delicious even when cold (which is how I ate it). Ina says she makes these tortillas every single day, which seems like a lot of work, but she's probably very good at it by now. I bet she could whip those things up in under five minutes.
Well, that's all for now. I can't promise all of the posts will be this long, or will happen every day, but I am making a pact with a few fellow bloggers to get back on the horse with this new-age journaling idea. See you next time for Cultures with Class.
So glad you're writing again! I look forward to upcoming posts!
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan!
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