Thursday, September 17, 2009

Out Before I'm Even In

After having only recently joined The Daring Kitchen, I think it's time for me to quit. The rules are simple: you make a prescribed dish once a month, following the recipe given. This should have been my indicator that this club is not for me. Instead, I was intrigued by the idea of belonging to a group of cooks around the world, united by one taste for one month.

I couldn't participate in August due to my vacation plans and furthermore, I didn't find the recipe all that alluring - even if it's from the chef of El Bulli. The month before that, I refused to participate because the key ingredient was skate. After having seen rays on a dive, I refuse to promote the fishing of these beautiful creatures. I'm also opposed to cod, the suggested substitute. So here I am, in September, preparing for the challenge.

Dosas. In theory, fantastic. I consulted with my Indian Friend J (IFJ), and he gave me some ideas. Then I read the recipe. The recipe that I have to follow. It calls for spelt. This is where I bow out & say "No, thank you". I was fine with the vegan meal. I was fine with preparing the 3 components of dosa, filling, & sauce. But somehow, following a recipe for Indian food taken from a trendy restaurant in Toronto seemed wrong. Don't get me wrong - Fresh has good food and some amazing lemonade. Although I think their noodle bowls are great, I just don't know how inspired I am to make them at home.

IFJ says that there's a place down the street that has super-crispy dosas on Saturdays. In the meantime, I made my own. The dosas are out of chickpea flour, the filling is a potato marsala (I cheated & used my Grandmother's favourite curry mix), and the chutney, again, I cheated & used grated coconut. The result: interesting, and certainly a healthy basis for the steaks I had later that night. I won't be repeating the recipe but I certainly have been inspired by it. I will be going to the Indian place down the street tomorrow for good dosas.

6 comments:

Jhonny walker said...

Hi...your Dosas's look absolutely crisp. And loved your post. Thanks for the red flag on 'joining cookclubs'--I was contemplating barefoot. But I was afraid of what you made absolutely clear in this post-- that it is not for me :)

taste traveller said...

I'm happy i joined. Now i can quit! ;) i'll let you know how the 'real' dosas are.

Jhonny walker said...

Okay!!! and the recipes too!

kiss my spatula said...

wow - gorgeous looking dosas!!

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Cooking clubs can be nice - but I just can't make the commitment to make something fixed every month...especially in view of the difficulties I'd have getting basic ingredients. I do enjoy watching other people do it though. :)

taste traveller said...

Jhonny - this lady from Bengalore is notorious for not sharing any of her secrets.

KMS: Thanks.

Murasaki: I'm with you on this. I've seen your contributions to The Paper Chef & I think that a local cooking club would be easier (we'd all have access to the same stuff) but it'd lose the cool global aspect. But the pictures in these clubs are pretty! ;-)

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