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It
Must Be Southern, Dahl
By Julie Taylor
Julie
Taylor tells us that, "It
is believed that a balance of colour in food brings a balance in diet.
The more intense a food’s pigment, the greater its disease-fighting
properties."
The red-purple family is considered to be the best, cutting
the risk of heart disease, preventing blood clot formation, and heart
and lung disease.
The contrast of
spicy-hot and refreshingly cool gets the blood pumping. And what better
way than starting a meal with an appetite building sweet and ending
with a limejuice and spice-slathered betel leaf as a digestive?
The temperate climate
of Southern India shows through in the food—an abundance of fish,
vegetable and rice dishes such as briyani
and pilaff served on a banana
leaf. Soft, soothing curd cheeses and raspberry or mango flavoured
buttermilk lassis. Spicy-hot
kebabs topped with homemade pickles, yoghurt and chutneys, and chapathis
or rotis with which to scoop
it all up. Eating Indian is a feast for the senses—seeing, smelling,
feeling and tasting.
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Learning the Tricks
1. Never ask for beef
or pork. The majority of Indians are either Hindu or Muslim. In the
Hindu culture the cow is a sacred animal and for Muslims pig is
considered unclean. This is why some Indian restaurants serve only
vegetarian food. To be safe, read the menu first.
2. Never offer someone
else your jutha (food or
vessel that has come in contact with your mouth). This is considered to
be rude and unhygienic.
3. Indian food is to
be eaten with your hands—with the help of naan
or roti (breads), or course.
Eating is considered to be a very sensual activity, using as many of the
senses as possible: tasting, smelling, looking and touching. But
remember to only use your right hand, the left is not for food.
4. Don’t ask for
alcohol. It’s not a part of the Indian dining experience. Try
something different like rhas
or lassi (buttermilk).
5. If someone invites
you to a meal, it generally means they are the host and will be paying
the bill. So, if you’re doing the inviting, make it known beforehand
if you’re going dutch.
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Feel It in Your Fingers
For Chinese food you
finally mastered the use of chopsticks. So why not learn how to use your
hands when eating Indian food. Here’s how it is done.
Collect a small pile
of rice and sauce on your plate, pick it up with a twist in your wrist
with four fingers—the thumb remains free. Manoeuvre the food into your
mouth with the tips of your fingers and without touching your lips.
Using your thumb, pop the food inside. In Northern India it is quite
impolite to use more than the first two segments of your fingers, but in
the South, it is permitted to use your whole hand.
South Africans eat
more rice with saucy gravies—so chapathis, rotis and naans are a great help to the novice, and can be torn and used as
scoops. Make sure you have serviettes on hand.
Photography, Recipes and Styling: Christoph and
Diane Heierli
What
you can find in the latest Good Taste - March issue:
 With
summer in full swing -and work too- you probably need some tips
on how to create healthy fast food options in your home. Well,
look to Asian Noodle dishes, prepared within minutes, and tossed
with healthy vegetables and a spicy sauce they are perfect for a busy
lifestyle.
And
while you might like to have your food ready in minutes, we know you
like to savour your afternoon adventures, and what better place to do
this than Constantia. Along with the many vineyards in the Constantia
Valley, there are other attractions to fill up your afternoon. A place
where life can be savoured, slowly.
Art
lovers are in for a treat this issue with off-beat stories from
maverick photographer Obie Oberholzer. And Hilary Prendini Toffolii
chats to Herman van Wyk, a blacksmith in Cape Town, who reveals how he
got into blacksmithing. Keep reading, and remember to take things slow.
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For more on India see
THINK
PINK
Through a cloud of pink Karen Watkins takes a
personal scooter tour of the Pink City, during the spring festival of
Holi. Jaipur
is known as the Pink City because it was dressed in pink to welcome the
Prince of Wales in 1876.
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