Cooking & Chapati (July 25, 2006)

Being of subcontinental descent, I think I'm particularly snobby when it comes to "Indian food" and all things similarly derived. Imagine my surprise when, arriving in Busia, I learned that there are chapati here! Little did I know that this chapati is not like the standard Indian fare and instead is soaked through and through with oil. That's right, it's an oily piece of fried wheat bread. The first bite is satisfying, but then the vegetable oil starts to congeal in your esophagus and stomach, and by the time you're done you wonder why anyone would eat such a rock and why you decided to punish yourself.

But I actually like chapati, so I called up my mom and asked her for the recipe. Now I have never made chapati, and I think the extent of my capability topped out when I was 5 and was in charge of the rolling pin aspect of chapati preparation. Yesterday I tried the recipe out, and I am pleased to report that we had oil-free chapati liftoff! Now they weren't the best chapati ever made, but they were pretty good. I travelled all the way to Kisumu for the flour and for an appropriate preparation dish. Talk about psychopathic.

So funnily enough, I am getting in touch with my desi cooking roots out here as a much needed break from the food here. This is not to say food here isn't good, it's just a bit routine, and it all consists of stripping food of any and all nutrients by soaking it in oil and cooking out all the insides.