{"id":2171,"date":"2011-08-07T10:50:08","date_gmt":"2011-08-07T14:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/?p=2171"},"modified":"2011-08-07T11:24:08","modified_gmt":"2011-08-07T15:24:08","slug":"heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/?p=2171","title":{"rendered":"Heritage…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oh My Goodness, I am TIRED!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I cooked up at storm today. \u00a0Chicken curry, cauliflower and potato curry, coconut rice, white rice, mushroom and green pepper curry, plus I made a tomato salad… and then an Indian dessert.<\/p>\n

My in-laws, all of them were coming over. \u00a0Plus, Sanj’s cousin from India has immigrated her, as has her aunt and family (which is made up of her husband and 2 sons). \u00a0We met them last week and Sanj invited them over today for supper. \u00a0When I asked my MIL if I need to do Indian food, she said yes.<\/p>\n

The pressure. \u00a0My mom is an excellent cook. \u00a0In fact this is a huge part of her identity. \u00a0Everyone loves my mom’s food. \u00a0It has taken me years to really twik my own Indian cooking. \u00a0First, I had to develop the interest in even cooking Indian food. \u00a0It just seemed so overwhelming and a lot of work. \u00a0After getting married, there was an abundance of Indian restaurants, literally around the corner from us and it was so cheap that I really wondered why bother cooking when buying it was the easiest option.<\/p>\n

The foods that surrounded us when we lived in Scarborough (a part of the Metro Toronto area), were all totally different then what I grew up with. \u00a0There were so many different representations of India. \u00a0It was my first time having Butter Chicken… and it was delish! \u00a0It was from this little hole in the wall around the corner. \u00a0When I think of Butter Chicken, this is what I compare it too, though of course there are so many variations.<\/p>\n

I then never worried about missing my mom’s food, as she moved in with us and lived with us the next 5 years. \u00a0Why bother learning?<\/p>\n

Eventually that need, want, desire, came and I discovered the amazing vast world of the Indian curries. \u00a0It’s crazy how different each aunty’s curry is. \u00a0Everyone has and uses their own preferred curry powder. \u00a0Everyone has their own taste they are going for.<\/p>\n

Since I learned from my mom, using my mom’s curry powder, the standard I set for myself is always “How close to my mom’s is it?”<\/p>\n

Indian food is work. Or at least it is to me. \u00a0If I am in the mood to cook, I actually quite enjoy it. \u00a0Today I was feeling the pressure of performing… I mean I am cooking for real Indians that just came from India. \u00a0Yikes!<\/p>\n

My father-in-law looked at my spread and asked if I bought the food? \u00a0lol \u00a0I wasn’t sure if I should be insulted or not! \u00a0I decided to take it as a compliment.<\/p>\n

I think I passed my own test, as there wasn’t much left… well really there was just some of the veggie curries left… who really wants that much vegetables? lol<\/p>\n

Everyone is gone. \u00a0Bellies are full. \u00a0The day is over and I am tired.<\/p>\n

Since meeting this family, I am constantly reminded of what it means to immigrate. \u00a0I mean, it takes me back to my parents and the sacrifice and adventure they had leaving everything and everyone behind to come to this land of milk and honey.<\/p>\n

My mom tell the story of passing a store and seeing the sign, “Pants… $1.99.” \u00a0So she tells my father. \u00a0Upon checking it out, they discover that pants… to be dry cleaned are only a $1.99.<\/p>\n

My girlfriend reminded me that I, too, am in immigrant. \u00a0I forget that sometimes, since this is the only world I know. \u00a0I was 2 years old when my parents came here. \u00a0I feel as American\/Canadian as my neighbour.<\/p>\n

As I watch this family find their footing in this new place… I am so grateful to my parents for all that they went through so that I know life as I do. \u00a0At the same time, I look forward to going back to India someday and discovery all that is part of my heritage.<\/p>\n

\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh My Goodness, I am TIRED! I cooked up at storm today. \u00a0Chicken curry, cauliflower and potato curry, coconut rice, white rice, mushroom and green pepper curry, plus I made a tomato salad… and then an Indian dessert. My in-laws, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,189,6,1,11,55],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2171"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2171"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2177,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2171\/revisions\/2177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}