Yellow rice and fowl curry, all puns are part of the Sunday lunch traditions.
The curry maybe fowl or foul and its a variable, but the rest are standards on a Sunday and this is a tale about how things have changed.
Rewind to a time many years ago. A simpler time. A time when lives were lived at a slower place. A time when families had pews in whatever place of worship they... worshipped at... My father drove us and my grandparents, to a market after the Service. These days it would probalaby be defined as a 'Wet Market' - and it was wet. We slushed through puddles of mostly water to the meat market, to buy our Sunday lunch - and if it was chicken, it was alive.
I'll skim over the details here, but that chicken ended up on our table for lunch. It was "processed" at home. 'Nuff said.
While the Brits have their Sunday Roast, we have our Sunday Lunch.
Todays' Sunday Lunch was Yellow Rice. Rice with Saffron, infused with Cinnamon, Cardamon, Cloves and Black Pepper-corns.
The spices are wrapped in a cheese cloth put into the rice while it boils. The Saffron is stirred through.
Accompanying the rice; a white potato curry
With coconut milk, tomatoes, curry leaves, onion, and a few green chilies to zing things up!
A spicy Coconut Sambol is also a must.
Simple, yet oh-soooo-special!
And then comes the curry. Today it was Chicken. But a good Red Pork Curry, or a Black Meat or Pork Curry... It's all good.
Chicken. With meat on the bone!
These days we have the option of buying from Supermarkets, our favourite cuts of Chicken and we prefer the leg and thigh pieces.
And then there's the rice pullers. I've written about them before, but today we had...
Available in one form or another, worldwide!
Popadoms! Strangely, we've never had them in India! At home, they make a regular appearance on our tables.
Lime, dried in the sun, with lots of salt - boosted for a sambol!
The Lime Pickle Sambol. A personal favourite of mine. Pickled lime, with onions, sugar, and chilli. The Best Rice Puller In The Worrrlllld!
Todays' 'Traditional lunch' was supplemented by two dishes, brought by a friend who is a pretty darn awesome cook (whom I'm trying to persuade to join FoodTribe).
A deceptively simple dish, that was SOOOO rich in flavours!
Fresh - and I mean FRESH prawns fried with onions, curry leaves and tomatoes (optional) and steamed in their own juices with ...
Fresh Fish. Fried - with chilli flakes, salt, pepper and tamarind.
Fried Fish. Again, ohhhhh so fresh, and ohhhhh so delicious!
Things have change. Our 'wet markets' are all but gone and the idea of a family sitting down for lunch have all but died - but then the pandemic came and we are rediscovering the pleasure of having meals together. Especially on a Sunday. So Yeah! That's one plus for the global pandemic.
Sometimes, it seems to me like a return to the old days would be a good thing. But then I realize that without the tech that gives us communities like FoodTribe, we would be a poorer planet to be on. So, as always, it comes down to finding a balance and ... isn't that what cooking is all about?
There IS hope for us.
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Comments (5)
All the food sounds delicious! That rice must be very aromatic, lovely!
It was!
I do like curry. I hope your friend joins us.
Me too!
Now that is Sunday lunch I don't mind being invited for 😜