The good, the bad and the delicious

[ileliberte]

The Good:
This video, Ghanan ghanan from the movie Lagaan. A shining example of Indian movie song and dance with beautiful music, lovely lyrics, nice dancing, an actual Indian setting and a sequence that fits perfectly into the narrative. Handy subtitles included.

The Bad (really bad):
This story about a couple who went through in vitro fertilization, then abandoned the twins when they found out they were girls. And have the temerity to ask when they could start trying for a boy. The couple is of Indian descent,(ETA: Apparently not of Indian descent, just in India to get the in vitro procedure done since it would be illegal in Britain because of the woman's age. Consider this now a rant at those British who are so immensely unenlightened as well then :/) which is sadly unsurprising. It's always been a huge problem in families with lower income, areas with lower literacy rates but it's not like the upper echelons of society have done much better either. Obviously, decency does not depend on literacy or social status. I hope this couple is shunned by everyone they know here and in India given how easily they'll probably be identified by their age, and are made to pay for child support after they're made to find a loving family for the twins. Bastards.

The Delicious:
Since this post seems to be rather India-centric anyway, I'll round it off with Indian style egg rolls. It's nothing at all like Chinese eggrolls, and once you see the recipe, you can imagine my surprise at the first eggroll I bought from a Chinese food cart. This is easy and fast and can have as many variations as strikes your fancy, and the main ingredients are flour tortillas, eggs and tomato ketchup, along with whatever you want as the filling.

For one egg roll:
1 flour tortilla
1 egg
A small amount of oil (vegetable, canola, almost anything will do)
Ketchup
Salt and pepper

Filling variations:
Cooked shredded chicken + chopped cucumber + chopped tomatoes + chopped onions + a small section of lime/lemon to squeeze over it all
or
Shredded Mozzarella cheese + chopped green peppers + dash of hot sauce
or
Cheese + chopped onions + cooked black beans...
ok, you see where I'm going with this? Pretty much most stuff works. My favorite is the first combination, the easiest to make is the second combination, and everything is great.

Beat the egg like you would for an omelet, with some salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and pour the egg into it.

Make it spread in a circle about the same diameter as the tortilla, and while it's still runny, place the tortilla carefully over it so that the tortilla now covers the layer of egg. Don't cook the egg too much before you add the tortilla.

Press down gently all over the back of the tortilla, so that the egg sticks to it. Let it cook for a little while on medium heat until you can lift up the edges. Now, flip it over and let the non-egg side of the tortilla get heated up. You can turn off the heat now, the residual heat will make sure the tortilla crisps up slightly. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't crisp up too much.

Once it's done, lay it egg side up and smear it with tomato ketchup. I use a lot, but it all depends on how much you want. Place all your ingredients in a column about a inch or so from one side, and then roll it up so that the filling is in the middle. Crimp and tuck in the lower edge of the roll so nothing can fall out, and finish as fast as you can :)

In India, the tortillas are replaced by parathas, still flour, but thicker and cooked in much more oil, and a lovely mix of flaky and soft. I use tortillas since they're cheaper and easier to find and work with. Filling there can also include mutton kababs/chicken kababs. If you're putting in spicier stuff as filling, make sure to saute the onions a bit so it goes better with the taste.

Comments

[22by7.livejournal.com]

the lagaan song is one of my all-time favourites. it's so gorgeous. and every year i find myself playing it in july when i'm waiting for the rains.

the bad: that is so unbelievably disgusting. people like that do not deserve to raise children.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Oh yes. When I first bought the cd, the nor'westers were just starting and it was so amazing to listen to the song while it began raining outside.

Yes. I hope they're not allowed to raise any other kids ever.

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

Yum! The egg rolls sound delicious. I shall have to try and make some.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

It should be fun, I like both the preparation and the consumption stages :D

[muccamukk]

I think "Mitava" (?) was my favourite song from Lagaan, but they were all wonderful.

Thank you for the recipe. I'm going to try it for lunch.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like all the songs from that movie. Mitva is definitely a good one.

You're welcome, I hope it turns out nicely for you :)

[lazar-grrl.livejournal.com]

I once read that there were fewer girls born to upper-class couples than lower-class ones because the wealthier parents could afford more tests to determine sex. Instead of abandoning the girls, they simply abort them before they're born. I hope those two can never have any more children. As someone who will never be able to have children, I would happily adopt their little girls.

Parathas are very similar to naan, right? I only have a recipe for naan, and have used it enough that I can make it well.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Yes, very true. The Indian government's banned doctors/techinicians from telling parents the gender of the child if a sonogram needs to be done, and the sale of ultrasound machines are supposed to be regulated, but if you have money and a doctor without conscience, the ban makes no difference. There are huge gender imbalances in parts of the country. Given how many people want children, it's horrifying how callous these people are with the ones they're blessed with. I hope they're made to pay both financially and socially for what they did, for the rest of their lives.

Parathas aren't really similar to naan. Naan is leavened bread, with yogurt in it, parathas are simply made with flour and water and then pan-fried with ghee or oil. If tortillas were thicker and pan fried, that would be a paratha. They'd be much easier to make than naans too, if you'd rather make the whole thing from scratch than use a tortilla :)

[lazar-grrl.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank you. I was thinking that they were both just varieties of fry bread, but naan and fry bread are both leavened. Unfortunately, the only tortillas I know how to make are Cuban and basically omelettes. Hmm, I should be able to find something to substitute. ::hauls out her compendium of recipes gathered from relatives on five different continents:: Or I could just buy tortillas...nah, that's too easy :)

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Heh, it's very easy. Take some flour - Wheat flour's used sometimes, but I've had it with just white flour too, only thing is, it gets tough faster than wheat flour when it cools, so keep that in mind - make dough with a tiny sprinkling of salt and however much water you want to use and knead till it's slightly springy. Tear off portions that would make a paratha as large as you want for your pan, and roll it out till it's about a few centimetres thick. Dust the surface of the rolled out dough with some flour, oil your frying pan and fry it on both sides till it looks sort of golden brownish. You could use as much oil as you're comfortable with, just make sure it's not so much that the paratha's almost deep frying. Just a light greasing of the pan will do fine, just make sure you turn it over enough and keep it from sticking to the pan.

[lazar-grrl.livejournal.com]

If you take out the cinnamon, that's the recipe for my aunt's cinnamon fry bread. Which makes sense, since she's Indian. I didn't know that was paratha; everyone always just called it fry bread. Yay, something I already know how to make! (For once.) Thank you!

[mahoni.livejournal.com]

I've listened to that song dozens of times, but never knew what it was about. Granted I'm a little overemotional in general lately, but still -- knowing what they're singing about, dude, that song makes me cry! (In a good way! But still. :P)

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Aww, yes, it is a beautiful song. I love all of the songs of that movie. I'll see if I can find more songs with subtitles for the ones that have good lyrics.

[delphia2000.livejournal.com]

The tortilla rolls don't appeal to me, but I made your chickpea recipe last night for dinner and it was delicious! We had it over rice since I don't have way to get naan.

I'd be happy to trade my teenage son for the twin girls. I can't think of a worse punishment for those people than to give them my sulky teen. :o)

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Cool, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Haha, I guess not XD

[disktop.livejournal.com]

The bad: The couple are actually British. They went to India for the fertilisation and had the kids in England and abondoned them. The reason they went to India was because she's too old to have the IVF procedure in britain legally.

[ileliberte.livejournal.com]

Really? I just straightaway assumed they were Indian, because, well, for obvious reasons. Not like it doesn't happen in other places too...Thanks for the info, I updated my assumption. Rant still stands, now directed at those British who are so immensely unenlightened as well. I hate people sometimes. Also, I don't know if you watch much tv or anything, but watch Bones if you're looking for anything to watch, it's a lot of fun.