A Celebration of Life

The blast of air hits you in the face as the aroma of fragrant spices envelops your senses. Immediately it triggers the cascade of memories to flood your brain, and evoke a thousand different emotions all at once. You inadvertently close your eyes to intensify your olfactory senses with the fleeting hope of holding fast to the memories of your youth, but to no avail, as the evanescent experience fades away leaving an empty hunger in the pit of your stomach.

People say variety is the spice of life. I disagree. To me, food has been, and always will be, the spice that makes life worth living. It is the celebration of what it means to be human, and bears the weight of a thousand generations of time, tradition, history, culture, and love. For many people, a home cooked meal is the secret pleasure that overwhelms the mind and brings peace and joy in a world that time and time again tries desperately to tear us down. The nostalgia of parents or loved ones who put their hopes and dreams into their cooking evokes the deepest memories that give us the strength to persevere and carry on for another day in the bleak void of the ever-demanding madness we call life.

Throughout generations of families and cultures, recipes have been passed down from old countries to new ones, from ancestors to the youngest generations, and from one nation to another. Even through the darkest strife and the most hopeless conflicts, the one thing that brings the world together is the enjoyment of a delicious meal, not just for nourishment, but for the sake of togetherness. The act of feeding the hungry is one that requires no religion or creed. Whether it is the leftover bones that are offered to feed the animals that scavenge among us, or the restaurants that serve the combination of the freshest ingredients and the finest of spices to their patrons, food in a moment of hunger inspires mankind to bring out the best qualities that make us who we are.

From a young age, cooking has always been something that stirs the deepest part of my passion. Growing up as an immigrant in America, there has always been a profound disconnect between my upbringing and my culture, influenced by an intense desire to fit in and assimilate into what the media always portrayed as true American culture. Despite frequently hearing that America was the melting pot of the world, a place that was built upon the cultures of hundreds of nations coming together for the sake of a better life, I always shunned my roots for the sake of appearing normal. The truth was, and is, that no matter how much people tried to normalize the infusion of culture into American life, the result was always analogous to a mixture of oil and water.

It was only after returning to my home country of Bangladesh, and marrying the woman of my dreams that I realized how deeply ignorant my behaviors had been, and how profoundly ashamed I was that I spent a good majority of my life missing out on an unbelievable culture with a rich history of tradition and delicious cuisine. Bangladesh was a country barely out of its diapers, but seeing the passion of its people and the love that each and every household poured into the traditions that have been passed down since before the birth of the nation brought tears to my eyes. Sitting at a table full of a dozen different foods of my culture for the very first time at the home of my in-laws wasn’t merely a once in a life-time experience, but rather a life-changing adventure that awakened my passion to seek out new cuisine and experience a side of humanity that couldn’t be described in words, but only through bites.

Although much time has passed since the day my new family welcomed me into their home with an assortment of delicacies befitting only a king, I learned to be thankful for every day that I got to experience something new from my culture. To seek so deeply to let go of one’s own culture for the sake of another is truly the most remarkable form of ignorance and conditioning. My word of advice to the many travelers who are undoubtedly lost on their journey towards self-discovery is to put aside the desire for normalcy and embrace what makes each and every person an undeniable facet of humanity: individuality and culture. Of all the things that can purportedly end wars and unite mankind, food is what makes life worth living. And what is food, if not the culture that transcends time and the survivor that refuses to be denied.

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Recipe for Tomato Chicken Roast Curry

1 lb. of chicken leg and thigh

½ cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons pure desi ghee

½ cup of tomato paste

2 tablespoons ginger paste

2 tablespoons garlic paste

½ cup of cashew paste (blend of cashews, milk, and fried onion)

2 tablespoons coriander powder

2 tablespoons cumin powder

1 teaspoon yellow turmeric

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon paprika powder

1 tablespoon of allspice (mixture of powdered cinnamon, clove, mace, fennel, fenugreek, cardamom)

¼ lb. of fresh diced coriander

½ lb. of fresh diced onions

1 cup of fresh non-fat yogurt

Optional: Several seared curry leaves for garnish

1) Bring together all the ingredients and wash the raw items properly.

2) In a large mixing bowl, place the chicken pieces and cover them with oil and the powdered spices. Use your hands to mix thoroughly to ensure the spices cover all the pieces of chicken.

3) Add in each of the different paste ingredients as well as the pure desi ghee, and mix thoroughly to create a spiced marinade.

4) Add in the fresh non-fat yogurt and the raw vegetables and mix thoroughly to coat all the ingredients in the mixing bowl.

5) Set the mixture aside in a refrigerator to cool and marinate for at least 1 hour prior to cooking.

6) Remove from the refrigerator and allow the mixture to sit out at room temperature for at least 15 minutes to soften. If the mixture appears too thick, thin it out by adding a couple of teaspoons of water.

7) Preheat the oven to 375°F and remove the chicken mixture from the bowl and spread them out onto a greased hotel pan. Once the oven is ready, cover the hotel pan with a layer of aluminum foil, and place the pan into the oven.

8) Allow the chicken to cook for approximately 35 minutes, after which, remove the pan from the oven carefully, and slowly remove the foil covering. Flip all the chicken pieces carefully and replace the dish into the oven, this time uncovered.

9) Allow the chicken to cook for approximately another 25 minutes, and lower the heat if necessary. Using a probe thermometer, ensure the chicken has cooked to at least 165°F. Once the excess moisture has evaporated, remove the chicken from the heat and set aside. If desired, garnish with slightly seared curry leaves. This dish pairs well with fresh baked naan bread, and feeds approximately 2 people.