Sunday, August 28, 2011

Murgir Korma (Bangladesh) vs. The State Fair (MN)

This weekend, my last before the start of the school year, started with a culinary adventure from Bangladesh and ended with the Minnesota cultural phenomenon that is the State Fair. Friday night I cooked up murgir korma, sweet chicken curry with yogurt, for dinner. This recipe from Extending the Table was a fun experiment in flavors. The curry was one built within the recipe. The book did give me the option of substituting 2.5 tsp of curry powder, but where is the fun in that? So I patiently fried ginger, clove, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, red pepper, turmeric and salt in with the onion, garlic and oil. It was heavenly, and literally brought John to an abrupt halt when he caught the scent. This recipe actually gave me a lot of 'optionals' which I chose to use. I'd come this far with the list above, why not add a bit more? My only concern was whether the boys would eat it or not.

To our delight, the dish was delicious for all. The curry was sweet and delicate, perfect for the young palates of the boys, who are just starting to enjoy flavors beyond cheese and peanut butter. The boys gobbled up their chicken with little interest in my attempts to talk with them about the origins of the recipe in Bangladesh. Instead we talked about the day's swimming adventure, giggled about this and that, and had seconds. It was the most relaxed I had been all week.

Today we went to the State Fair for a different sort of cultural experience. It is such an event that I can't help but use capitals when I type it out! The Great Minnesota Get Together. It was Suki's introduction to an annual event that he will share with us for years to come and an event that Ian now can't wait to get to. John and I have an eating strategy from way back that allows for making our way around the fair. We share everything we buy so that we get to try more things, even though we eat less of them. There are a few exceptions, like the Pronto Pup and the frozen cider sticks, but for the most part it works well. All four of us shared, in the order we ate them, Pronto Pups, mini donuts, frozen cider, turkey sandwich, sweet corn ice cream, cheese curds, strawberry milkshake, french fries, and honey sticks. It was quite the afternoon of feasting, yet the acts of sitting on the edge of a bench and in the strollers, sharing our food, usually with just one or two spoons, was intimate, even surrounded by a couple hundred thousand people.

These two experiences were such opposite experiences for our family's palate, from a dish made from fresh ingredients and joy to mass produced and fried.  But they ended up really being about the same connection of being a family, sharing, giggling, eating, talking. As time goes by and our family gets busier with sports and activities, when our boys grow to need several Pronto Pups of their own to make it through the day, we may need to be more intentional about creating these moments, but I have no doubt we will. We are building the foundation now, one meal at a time.

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