In a Bengali Kitchen

 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012 – In a Bengali Kitchen

I’m always on the lookout for new food adventures.  So when the FCPS Adult Education catalog came in the mail last month, cooking was the first section I turned to.  As usual, there was a wide array of classes, ranging from Italian and Greek to bread making and cake decorating.  If you want to learn how to make dim sum or paella, there’s a class just for you.  But I knew right away which class I would take:  Curry in a Hurry.  The description for the 2-session class promised an exploration of India’s diverse culinary traditions.  Here was a chance to expand my knowledge beyond the basics of Indian cuisine.  As I drove over to Woodson High School for class last night, I was thinking  about the food I’ve sampled at local Indian restaurants and wondering which regions of India they came from.  Masala dosa, I’m pretty sure, is from the southern part of India.  But how about dhal makhni and pongal and all of those heavenly vegetable creations? 

It turned out that our instructor introduced me to a regional cuisine I’d never encountered before, i.e. the cooking of Bengal in the eastern part of India.  While we sipped chai from Styrofoam cups, she demonstrated three typical dishes from Bengal:  a fish dish with potatoes in a rich tomato and onion gravy; shrimp and bottle gourd (a vegetable resembling an enormous pale zucchini) cooked with a mixture of whole spices; and an sweet and spicy tomato and date chutney.  Although I have quite a collection of Indian spices at home, I learned about ingredients I’d never cooked with before:  ghee, white poppy seeds, mustard oil and panch-phoron, a lively mixture of five whole spices.  I also learned how to make the characteristic Bengali garam masala, which consists of cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom, in equal parts.  

Working in groups of four, the members of the class recreated all three dishes in the student kitchen area.  Meanwhile, our instructor cooked a big pot of rice to accompany our food.  Afterwards, we set out a buffet and feasted.  Despite the late hour, I was an enthusiastic participant.  The flavors were absolutely delicious and so unusual.  It was nothing like the Indian food I’ve eaten in restaurants. 

Of course, we couldn’t go home until we’d cleaned up the kitchen.  This type of cooking used more pots, pans, utensils, and pieces of equipment than any cooking I’ve done since last Thanksgiving.  It was after 10 p.m. when I finally packed up containers of leftovers, took off my apron, and transported myself back home from Bengal.  Already, I’m eagerly anticipating the regional Indian cuisine we’ll discover at next week’s class.