Party for a Cause

What do you want for your birthday?

The question that, when asked of my husband, never yields a simple answer.   He is one of those people that is just difficult to buy for…he never wants anything. 

But why should I complain about that?  I will instead count my blessings and tell you about what I did for him as a birthday gift. 

Remember back a few months when I was talking a whole lot about our trip to India?  Well that trip left a huge impression on us.  We often think about the people we helped and want to continue helping them.

So, I threw a party.  For Karl.  It was an Indian themed extravaganza.  All of the donations we collected are being sent over to Chevuru to help buy materials so that they may continue building homes.

I threw a similar party last December before leaving as a fundraiser.  It was extremely successful.  So why not do it again, and make it a birthday party?  

Here is what I made:

1)    Saag Paneer-This was a first for me-making cheese!  I was puzzled though, because the finished paneer had virtually no flavor.  It also completely fell apart and basically became a very thick cream when I stirred it into the saag.  But every cloud has it’s silver lining-even though this dish (my ‘experiment’ dish) turned out nothing like I thought it would, it was the favorite!

Find the paneer recipe here, and the saag recipe here.

2)    Butter Chicken-Butter chicken is delicious because, well, it has an obscene amount of butter in it.  I made this for the last Indian themed party I threw and it was a major hit. 

Find the Butter Chicken recipe here.

3)    Dahl Mahkhani-The world of dahl in Indian cuisine is positively daunting.  When we were at a restuarant in Agra, India, I took a chance ordering something I had never heard of before on the menu.  It happened to be dahl makhani, now one of my all-time favorite Indian foods.

Find the Dahl Mahkani recipe here.

4)    Chicken Tikka- If only I had a big enough grill on which to cook these!  I opted for the baking method this time, which turned out well.

Find the Chicken Tikka recipe here.

5)    Saffron Biryani Rice- There is nothing particularly special about the preparation method for this rice.  I used some spices we bought in India, stirred them around in the rice and water before cooking them.  Unfortunately I do not have basmati or jasmine rice, but sushi rice works in a pinch.

6)    Naan-By far one of my most favorite things to make, regardless of the cuisine.  Who doesn’t like bread fried in butter?

I have used this recipe multiple times and it hasn’t failed me yet!  Find the recipe here. 

To bring the whole Indian theme together, Karl, a friend who also went to India on our trip, and I all dressed in our traditional Indian outfits.  Our friend was also kind enough to offer her services drawing henna onto peoples feet and hands.  

In India on New Year's Day.

Our friends who came to the party donated generously.  We will be donating $500 USD to Chevuru as a result of the party.  This was the only present Karl wanted…to help those less fortunate then us.  (This is partly why I love him so much!)

Happy Birthday, Karl!

Note: If you would also like to help the small village of Chevuru, India build sound homes.  Please visit this website.  Go Longitude is an organization that partners with Ravie Kumar and his team the Association ofRelief Volunteers (ARV).  They do amazing things.  Check them out!

Tuesday December 27th, 2011

So you know that feeling…the one of being somewhere you have never been before.  Somewhere that should be completely unfamiliar.  Somewhere that should challenge your regular way of life. 

The scenery, weather, culture and language are all new.

And yet…you feel right at home.

This is what Chevuru village felt like.  From the moment we first stepped out of the car on the first day, I had a feeling that I was exactly where I needed to be.

Our small group of four volunteers fell into a loose routine:

The day began with breakfast at our hotel in Gudivada.  Traditional Indian breakfast (or peanut butter bread and granola bars for those with stomachs refusing to cooperate with curry) was delicious.  This was my favorite breakfast:

After breakfast, we embarked on our half hour drive to Chevuru.  This drive was one of my favorite parts of the day.  Gawking out the window at the unfamiliar, asking Ravi question after question, listening to the same CD of current Bollywood hits…it never got old. (Find out more about these two movies: Bodyguard and Business Man.)

When we arrived in Chevuru, the children immediately sensed our presence and hunted us down.  Many of the children were fortunately on Christmas vacation from school.  

After arriving, we were treated to a cup of chai made from the milk of a water buffalo.  Mmmm.  I miss that chai. 

And then, the work would begin:

Building walls, mixing cement, passing concrete, passing bricks, returning concrete trays.  Back and forth.  Back and forth. Much more on this later.

Then one of the best times of the day: lunch time.

After lunch, we would either work more, play with the children or visit the homes of villagers.  All of these tasks-we were repeatedly assured by Ravi-were equally important. 

Visiting the homes of villagers was impossible to avoid.  This is because the children would drag you there whether you wanted to go or not.  The opportunity to serve and give hospitality to people who will accept it gratefully is not something these people get to do very often.

As volunteers who traveled to Chevuru to help and give to those in need, learning to accept the hospitality without guilt was our own personal challenge.  How could we accept these gifts knowing full well that those giving have next to nothing?  

We had countless discussions among us four volunteers regarding this matter.  Ravi helped us by giving us the view of the people: joy at being able to give a stranger hospitality that would not be met with scorn.

For myself, it was an incredible feeling that doing something as simple as accepting a delicious cup of tea could be so meaningful to someone.

Sometimes the smallest gestures can truly carry the most meaning.

This gracious woman took us to her home and offered us coconut water. 

Raj Mohan

Dressing up as a samurai was a great experience, but there are a few reasons why I mentioned I will only watch next time.

Reason number one: 

Going to the restroom is a maaaajor undertaking.  It basically requires taking off most of the outfit, doing your business and getting dressed all over again.  All of which takes a long time.  This is why most of us decided to hold it.

Reason number two:

Because of the first reason, we had to watch our liquid intake. 

Reason number three:

It was hot.  And because of the aforementioned reasons, dehydration was inevitable. We drank some green tea and water throughout the day, but because of the heat and subsequent sweating, we needed more liquids.

Reason number four:

The straw footwear that was at least three sizes too small.

Reason number five:

By the end of the day, we were famished. 

Fortunately, all of these drawbacks were very easily remedied and I would still strongly encourage everyone living in Japan to do something like this at least once.  The fantastic photos are definitely worth the discomforts.

Also, you feel amazing once you take all the hot constricting armor off, drink a bunch of water and eat a ton of food.

Which is exactly what we did.

A group of us went to one of our favorite restaurants in Ogawa: Raj Mohan, a fantastic Indian restaurant.  (Karl and I go at least once a month.  The people who run the place are very nice.)

Keema Curry with Eggplant

Samosas

Kebab, chicken tikka and tandoori chicken

cheese naan

Mutton Saag

Keema Curry

Naan

 If I had to choose one type of food to eat for the rest of my life, Indian food would be it.  

So delicious.

Curry

What comes to mind when you think of curry?

I think spicy.  Not necessarily mouth-on-fire spicy, but rather spicy as in lots of flavor. 

In Japan, curry and rice is a standard meal.  I have it at least a couple times a month for school lunch.  It’s fine…definitely the least spicy curry I have ever eaten.  Which is very Japanese.  (According to this cookbook, the Japanese cuisine focuses on bringing out the foods natural flavors as opposed to adding flavors to it.)

Growing up, the curry I was familiar with was a dry Chinese beef and potato curry my parents would frequently make.  It’s delicious.  My child brain thought that is what curry was.  It never occurred to me that would be such a vast variety of curries.

Fortunately, I have since been enlightened.  Indian curries, Thai curries, Indonesian curries…the world is full of amazing and different curries.

So what do you do when you have an incredible Asian cookbook with sections for each country?  You make lots of curry, that’s what you do.

Here is the latest attempt:

Thai green curry chicken.  So spicy.  So good. 

One of the greatest things about making curry is that it is so easy.  And it can be really quick to make.  A winning combination for the fulltime workers who still want to eat healthy and delicious homemade dinners!