NEWSLETTER: Autumn 2005

India Travels

January 2005 saw us once again tripping through India and Sri Lanka with our Spice Discovery Tour, accompanied by 16 of the most amenable people we could have hoped to meet. Booking all accommodation with the excellent Taj Group ensured very comfortable rooms everywhere we went, and the itinerary ran without a hitch. Our group has returned home armed with lots of new knowledge about peppercorns, nutmegs, tea processing and clove trees, and can now speak confidently about the difference between cinnamon leaf oil and cinnamon bark oil.

Whilst in Delhi, we visited a very large Sikh temple which has a kitchen staffed entirely by volunteers who produce food for up to 20,000 people a day – at no charge. The cost of food is borne by the temple, and the food is available for people of any colour, any caste, any religion who desire to partake. We were impressed by this example of people living out in daily routine what they preach in their religion.

Dough for chapattis was mixed in a bathtub-sized electric mixer, then kneaded and rolled by about 50 volunteers sitting on the floor around a work surface. The flattened chatappis were then cooked on a hotplate the size of a dining table to seat 12 – this was bloke work, although mostly women kneaded and shaped. Fine Sikh gentlemen with eye-catching beards and turbans presided over the vats of vegetarian curries – all simmering in woks about 1 metre in diameter. The generous meals of curries and breads were served into tin plates with moulded sections. More women volunteers carried the full plates to the many lines of visitors seated on the floor of an area the size of four tennis courts. Beyond the eating area was the biggest “dishwasher” we have ever seen. Running the length of 2 cricket pitches was a series of 5 or 6 concrete “pools” of washing-up water. Volunteers would furiously scour each plate, then hurl it discus-like to the next pool, where the action would be repeated. Each pool of rinsing water was cleaner than the previous one, and finally the sparkling tin plate went flying into an enclosure fenced with wire mesh, where it piled upon others to drain and dry.

The only thing that marred our trip was seeing the heart-breaking ruin of homes and livelihoods along the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Although the cinnamon farm that we visited was far enough inland to have escaped damage, the scenes along the coast road were shocking to us all, even though we had seen the television footage.

Anxious to ensure that we did not appear like camera-toting tourists with ghoulish curiosity, we passed the hat around our group (who had all already donated money from Australia), and found we had a very praiseworthy equivalent to A$750. With the help of our guide, we bought many towels, sheets, pillowcases, hairbrushes, tea towels and floor mats, as well as toys, cricket bats, school bags and balls for the children. We stopped at Kahawa, where tents had been set up by the combined Indian and Sri Lankan navies, and we were able to hand the goods directly to those so desperately in need. The smiles and positive attitudes of the homeless people – some of them children who had lost their entire families – moved most of us to tears, and it was a subdued group who returned to our bus, counting our blessings and thinking hard thoughts about materialism, selfishness and pettiness.

The food in Sri Lanka tends to be hotter than much Indian food, not only from chillies but also from pepper. We encountered a “black” chicken curry, which was indeed very dark from a large quantity of pepper, without the lovely ochre/brown curry gravy that we usually associate with such dishes. It was delicious, and we were disappointed to be unable to get the recipe. Another dish that grabbed our attention was a “white” curry of cashew nuts and green beans. It’s a bit rich for a main dish, but makes a very interesting side offering, and here’s the recipe.

1. Place the first seven ingredients into a saucepan and bring to the boil without a lid.
2. Reduce heat and continue at a low simmer, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes until coconut milk reduces to a thick cream.
3. During this time, heat the tempering oil and fry the curry leaves and mustard seeds for 30 seconds.
4. Add the oil, leaves and seeds to the curry.
5. When the sauce has reduced and thickened, remove from heat, sprinkle the roasted curry powder over the top and cover until ready to serve.

Herbie’s Classes

Herbie’s classes have now resumed for the year. There are two levels – the first is the Spice Appreciation Class, which you must do first in order to progress to the Spice Workshop, involving some hands-on blending. This year Jacqui’s popular Spice Advice class is scheduled not only during school hours on weekdays, but also on some Saturday mornings to make it more accessible for people in the workforce. The class timetable is on the website, or you can phone Tami at the shop for dates and availability.

Happy spicing as we look forward to cooler days and warmer meals!

Herbie and Liz