Wednesday, July 19, 2006

 

The sublime white thing

While sour curd is something I detest completely, I seem to have developed a taste for sour cream. From potato chips to vegetable salad, there is no vegetarian dish in the North America that comes without sour cream. Even if it makes me feel that westerners lack imagination when it comes to variety in food, I don’t conclude against them. I give them the benefit of doubt because I have no idea about their non-vegetarian cuisine. Having relished sour cream for days, I wanted to find out what exactly goes into its preparation except cream-turned-sour. Eventually it turns out that there is nothing other than what its name suggests. Sour cream is simply the result of bacteria action on heavy cream and the fat content is a good 20%. After learning this, my taste for sour cream suddenly soured.

Then, there is this eternal confusion of setting curd Vs. buying curd. I stuck with Dannon like many others do. I started to fall in love with its consistency and flavour. I used it with everything, adai, dosai, idli, rice, upma, bread. As a result, I ran out of stock every other day and it made no point to visit the grocery store just for Dannon. Therefore, I resorted to setting curd. But, there was a slight problem. The set curd tasted like Dannon, but had a stringy consistency that made me hate the very idea of setting curd. Thus, my love for freshly set curd came to an abrupt end.

One fine day, my cousin invited me for dinner and the authentic taste of freshly set curd was amazing. She, another ‘thayir sadam’ like me had brought the culture of curd from India which she had carefully carried over for years together. I waited no longer to request a small box of curd and started to set curd at home since then. Believe me, there is nothing to beat the taste of freshly set curd. There is always a reserve box of curd lying somewhere in my fridge for the fear of losing the culture. Every morning, when I tilt the box of curd slightly to check if it is set properly, there is an enigmatic fear in the pessimistic part of me. But, day after day, the sublime white thing would sit there, still, ordering instant calmness in me.

Comments:
unga oorla possible. enga oorla kashtam. blame it on weather etc.

another Question that has been burning my mind - what does your friend do when entire family goes to visit india for a month how does she preserve the curd culture?
 
As any other person of average prudence would do, shed bring back another one from India...unakku enna aachu? Pasiya, feveraa?:))

I really dont mean to be rude...but you said 'burning in your mind'...I coudlnt resist laughing:))
 
"Pavel's" is the yogurt that comes closest to Indian curd. You will find it in every Indian store and every Indian fridge in the bay area.
 
I miss ur lunch box Ujwal!:(

TDNA, We are such a choosy set of ppl. Look how we all want everything Indian...or closest to Indian!
 
ah ha - no doubt inspired by gowri ramnarayan's South Indian Manna
 
Absolutely right, Tilo.
 
ujji, can you believe it, people actually bring bacteria across the Atlantic? I am not guilty of it, Casement, coz I borrowed the culture from a friend like you did.;-)
 
I share a similar excitement on seeing well set curd and just sour enough. I also share a similar paranoia about losing the strain for resetting even though I could just walk across the road and ask for some from any neighbour!
Sometimes one things that these fads are unique and then you find that there are so many like you. I guess it is a part of the collective Tamil psyche!
 
Turns out, Usha, that it's not only Tamil psyche, but Indian psyche!:))
 
Ohh..I miss namma ooru "thair":-(
 
yep no matter how great a feast is, but you always tend to wait for that kewl curd rice to sign off. and if the curd is thick and tasty...mmmmm..casement that was a hearty post/meal
 
death to thayir sadham.
 
did u show the title of the post to kadavul-vasudevan-pranthaman ? seriously! show only the title :-)
 
Hey, chumma Krishna nu sollittu poyen...kashta padra:)) Unga budhi enakku teriyada??? 5 varshama pathundu dane irukken. Perverts da neenga ellarum!
 
/* Hey, chumma Krishna nu sollittu poyen...kashta padra:)) */

ellam deference thaan!

/* Perverts da neenga ellarum ^/

we are senior members of the perverts club. And as a responsible patron I pointed it out.
 
Absolutely right, Tilo....


acknowledge paannaradhu...
 
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