Farmboys and Indians

One of Mrs. Farmboy’s favorite stories involves my longstanding aversion to Indian food. For years she knew that although I have a decidedly adventurous palate, I had declared that I didn’t like Indian food. She left it at that.

Then about 15 years ago, while visiting with friends in New Hampshire (without me), she was their guest at an Indian restaurant in North Conway. She realized how much she’d missed one of her favorite cuisines and asked me to explain. “Well,” I replied, “I had some bad Indian food once in my younger days.” And where was that? “At a church supper in Iowa when I was in college,” I replied. She’s still laughing.

As it turns out, not long after that conversation, we were vacationing over the mountains from North Conway, and it seemed like a perfect opportunity for a culinary adventure. You can guess what happened next. I loved it so much that we drove 45 minutes back to the restaurant on our last night of vacation.

Saying yes to naan

Not only have I moved on: these days, I regularly prepare Indian dishes. In the past few months, I’ve cooked everything from green curry beef skewers to Indian-spiced pea fritters. I’ve cooked Curry Chicken Breasts with Chickpeas and Spinach, and I’m particularly fond of the classic butter chicken.

Now that it’s cold, and comfort-food season, we’re moving into stews, casseroles, and other warming dishes. This week when I received my weekly e-mail from www.ckbk.com, a web site that’s home to a growing library of digitized cookbooks – 360 at current count – it featured The Complete Indian Regional Cookbook and How to Cook Indian, plus a link to 2,500 Indian recipes.

Here’s some perspective for those like me who haven’t traveled there. If the map of India were placed atop the continental U.S., it would stretch south-north from the bottom tip of Texas up well into Canada. From east to west, the widest portion would stretch from New York City to Denver. Just as American cuisine varies across such an expanse, so Indian cuisine has its regional specialties. Northern Indian dishes range from noodle soups to crispy corn fritters. In the south, fruits – tamarind, lime, and mango – and fish and shellfish are the building blocks of the curries on the menu. Central India is agriculture and dairy land whose specialties include creamy kormas and crunchy spiced potatoes, and is home to a tradition of cooking inspired by the royalty, whose palaces were located there. Since India has historically been a crossroads of cultures, Western dishes are influenced by other regions, including Persia and Portugal, while flavors in the east borrow from neighboring southeast Asia.

Currying favor

As for me, I’m off on adventures in new recipes. This week, I made Kerala Chicken Stew from the southeast region, with bone-in chicken and potatoes in a spice blend with cardamom and cinnamon. I’ve also set aside a recipe for a pear and cucumber salad that originates across the northern border in Nepal. There are plenty of vegetarian choices: Cauliflower, Peas, and Potatoes in Tomato Sauce appeals to me, and I want to try Batter-Fried Spinach Leaves and Royal Corn Curry from the Punjab. On my list is Pork in Garlic and Vinegar from Goa, as it’s Vindaloo style – the signature dish introduced by Portuguese traders who brought pork preserved in vinegar from home. “Vindaloo” derives from the Portuguese “vin” plus garlic (ahloo).

Yes, my aversion to Indian food is a thing of the distant past, although Mrs. Farmboy (an Eastern Snob) is still chuckling. How about you? If you’re one of many who don’t care for commercial curry powder, keep in mind that a lot of Indian dishes don’t call for it – and even if they do, you can make your own spice blend to taste. What’s your experience with Indian fare? If you’re not a fan, have I succeeded in convincing you to give it a try?

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