HEY PAL, 'TORNDOORI' IS OUR BIRTHRIGHT!
THE 30-MINUTE GOURMET
News Paper – Bangalore Times, TOI
Published on - July 23, 1999
Author - RAJ MADNANI
Parmigiana, glorious parmigiana! The Italians took over America with such a fierce onslaught that when Americans today eat Italian food, they like to believe that they introduced the cuisine to the Italians. The ownership trend continues in many ways.
An American recently drawled to me: "Heey, Raajer, you ever had our Torndoori food?" Wait a minute, pal, you can't take over indian food, I thought. To squash any further debate I yelled, I was born in a torndoor!
Our basmati, garlic and gourd are gone. Sambar powder is next! I hope Mr Hegde plans to file for a patent on our tandoor before we start importing cute little pink and yellow tandoor CKD kits from New Jersey.
Maybe we can play these tricks on the Italians who played them on the Americans who are playing them on us. The karma of italían coke! Let us inform our Italian friends in Italy (and Delhi after the elections) that Mysore filter coffee, all two yards of it, is the precursor to the Italian cappuccino coffee. We invented it; we drank it first. We made the decoction after infusion of coffee grinds and subsequent extraction. The espresso machine conveniently copies this-we must protect ourselves immediately. Anybody desirous of forming milk foam on coffee must apply to our Ministry for a license. Every coffee espresso machine all over the G-8 world must be registered with the Indian Government for collection of royalties. This must feel good to Mr Yeshwant Sinha who has shown extraordinary restraint in raising taxes.
It was in the Indus Valley, amidst peacocks and flutes, that the simple tomato was born, quietly moving to India after 1947. We should immediately submit a picture from the world's oldest civilisation and register the tomato. Any Italian who now eats tomatoes or sauce must pay a small user fee. What about the tomato made into an Italian pizza sauce in the US? Too complicated for WTO? Not really. For a small fee, Quattrochi should be the appointed agent to collect our royalties and dues from the Americans, careful to avoid Swedish banks.
Let's get back to the parmigiana. In New York, the parmigiana is the street food of Italian origin. Every pizzeria serves it. With bread, on a roll, with pasta.
There's a heartiness to it, like eating a dosa on the street. To make parmigiana you need to prepare a not-too-delicate tomato sauce, the quick tomato sauce.
In a small skillet, drop finely chopped teaspoon each of garlic and onions into a tablespoon of oil. Empty a small tomato puree pack, frying and stirring until you think you've had enough. With a pinch of salt, dash of basil and a dash of oregano to taste, let the sauce simmer about half an hour, covered.
Coat a thin chicken breast fillet with breadcrumbs (or any other batter for a crispy coat) and fry it in butter. This will lead you to chicken parmigiana. If you prefer a tasty vegetarian option, you can slice an eggplant (brinjal) thin and also fry it in the same way, making a thin, crisp cutlet.
Place the hot cutlet in a serving dish, a large dollop of the quick tomato sauce, be generous with the mozzarella cheese on top, dash of oregano, sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes, and melt the whole package in your oven for about 6-7 minutes at 190 C. Prego, I mean dekho, you have chicken parmigiana or eggplant parmigiana.
Serve with pasta and garlic toast.
If you have invited any of your Italian friends for dinner, from Bangalore, Italy or Delhi, admit nothing Italian in the recipe.
They may want to patent it right away. Protect yourself, call it murgi ya baigan parmanan danamayah. They'll never be able to pronounce it.
Buono Appetito!
