{"id":13309,"date":"2017-07-10T01:33:40","date_gmt":"2017-07-10T01:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=13309"},"modified":"2017-07-10T01:33:40","modified_gmt":"2017-07-10T01:33:40","slug":"south-indian-breakfast-roti-beet-poriyal-coconut-chutney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/food.hoggardwagner.org\/?p=13309","title":{"rendered":"south Indian breakfast: roti; beet poriyal; coconut chutney"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I almost tripped over a\u00a0little outpost of India on Saturday at\u00a0Chelsea’s Down to Earth Farmers Market, Nirmala\u00a0<\/em>Gupta’s\u00a0‘Bombay Emerald Chutney Company<\/a>‘. I had gone up the street that day\u00a0only to buy\u00a0a few beets to augment the few\u00a0I already had, since those weren’t going to be enough to put together one of my favorite accidentally-vegan dishes later this week, ‘\u2018spaghetti with rubies<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

I ended up purchasing 2 cauliflower-potato rotis, a delicious coconut chutney, and a small bottle of dried fenugreek from\u00a0<\/em>Nirmala.<\/p>\n

I know I’ll be enjoying the chutney, even outside Indian entr\u00e9es, and I’m determined to find uses for the\u00a0‘Greek hay<\/a>‘, since I’ve been enamored of\u00a0that\u00a0exotic\u00a0name for, well, maybe decades. What does it taste like? I think I can go with this description<\/a>, at least for now: “..a slightly sweet, nutty flavor often described as a cross between celery and maple.”<\/p>\n

I immediately made plans for a Sunday breakfast which would be unlike any I had put together before, eventually inspired to make\u00a0some otherwise luscious but possibly redundant beet greens a part of it. I found this simple recipe<\/a> which I used as the\u00a0basis for the side; I was missing a few key ingredients, but I substituted a few of my own.<\/p>\n

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The breakfast\u00a0was of course vegan.<\/p>\n

The only thing missing was the lassi.<\/p>\n

I used to say that for practical reasons alone (storage and shelf space, access to the ingredients), not to mention a relative ignorance of the food cultures, I couldn’t imagine trying to cook meals from traditions radically different from the European, but after my modest experience with this simple breakfast, and with Nirmala’s help, I may be willing to occasionally adjust my practice.<\/p>\n