All things Indian

Jo Whaley

This weekend has been all about community, Indian style. I went to Ghungroo, an Indian cultural show sponsored by the Harvard South Asian Association. Lots of Bollywood, some dark satires, and overall a great time. It was great to see old faces (very old faces...like people who graduated 2 years ago...) and the usual turnout of so many people on campus who are not South Asians to participate in or watch the show. For a brief moment, I believed in multiculturalism.

Back at old sleepy Med School, my dorm-mates also coincidentally decided to have Indian food night, and went out to buy a bunch of exotic ingredients (fenugreek anyone?) to cook things like Chicken Tikka Masala and Keema and Kofta, and even Roti. I decided to chip in with the cooking. I had great success with the chicken tikka masala, and although we did set off one fire alarm, evacuate the building, and have the Boston police and fire department visit our humble abode, we pulled off the night with all around successful food. The roti was seriously good; it even puffed and everything! In retrospect, chicken tikka masala takes a looong time to make (3 different recipes in one!), so I will reconsider that choice in the future, but the keema and kofta was simply decadent. There was a real sense of community that was created simply from us all cooking together, rolling roti dough balls, and setting things on fire. The smoky, charred smell of success and cardamom was overwhelming.

Upon leaving after the alarm, one police officer turned around and told us, "damn, that there smells good!" as he gestured to my chicken tikka masala.

oh yeah.