Breakfasts at Paliam

After returning from India, all I can think about is the wonderful wonderful food.  I will try to describe that deliciousness here, but trust me, it will be difficult.  This is simply food that you have to taste to believe.  I will start with the breakfasts.

Ok, first up are cutlets. Normally not a breakfast food, these heavenly wonders are made with ground beef, potatoes, and delicious spices.  They are coated in very fine breadcrumbs and fried to a delightful dark brown crisp.  That first bite is truly heavenly; first a wonderful crunch which then reveals a soft savory center.  If I could eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be these cutlets and rice.  I did attempt these on my own recently, with very dubious results.  The inside filling was close to being right, but the outside just didn't live up to it's impeccably high standard.  I will try again though, maybe success is one day within my grasp.

Ok, on to these playful little sausages.  They have a bit of a bite to them, but once you get through the casing, the insides almost melt in your mouth.  Much lighter in color than normal sausages, these are are made a some sort of soft pork.  Or maybe they are chicken.  Who knows, and honestly who cares because when covered in sauteed onions, the combination is divine.

Now we are at vadas.  These look like doughnuts but definitely are not the American sweet coated in a sugary glaze variety.  I actually don't even know what these are made of, probably some lentils or something, but the are spicy and soft and sometimes the outside is crunchy and they are good when dunked in some sambar.  Probably not my top food choice in the list, but they are good when the mood strikes.  In the background of the picture, you can see the cutlets again, and to the right of that is egg masala.  Yum.  This is basically hard boiled eggs smothered in tomatoes and onions with tons of spices and the result is really quite delicious.  For some reason, it never seems right to me to eat these with anything else, like rice or starches, I just like to load them up on my plate and gulp them down.

And lastly, there are parums. This treat certainly at times seems more like a dessert than a breakfast.  Parums are very ripe plantains which are boiled to an almost caramelly deep yellow color.  They should be served warm, cut in half, and slathered with butter.  Then comes the best part...the sugar.  Something about the Indian sugar just sets my mouth watering.  It is similar to turbinado sugar, those dark heavy crystals in the  oversized brown packets occasionally jammed in with all the multicolored packets that profess to be as good as the real thing.  But Indian sugar, it is the real thing, better in fact.  The crystals are large, but not dark at all.  My memory is that it is always served in a small metal canister with a tiny spoon and that there is a constant presents of ants trying to get at the potent sweetness.  However, I am getting severely off track.  Plantains, butter, sugar - the combination is a hat trick of flavors which will certainly start your day off right!

The last great component of the perfect breakfast meal is and always must be beef stew.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of it, I was too busy scarfing it down.  And like all extremely delicious foods, this stew is hard to describe but I will do my best. Beef chunks are mixed with potatoes and carrots and onions, all boiled along with garlic and ginger to be incredibly tender, moist and flavorful.  They are bathed in a delicious broth, made from boiling coconut milk and the juices gained from boiling first ingrediants.  The end result is a delicate balance of flavors, great when ladled over bread and eaten with your hands.  This is good not only for breakfast, but lunch as well.  It used to be my favorite meal, but over time other delicacies have replaced it.  But it remains in my heart as a nostalgic favorite, guaranteed to brighten any day and improve any mood. Well that's a quick summary of the breakfasts.  Other various foods eaten on the trip are soon to follow!