Anyone which had visited Medan, capital city of North Sumatera District, Indonesia, certainly know Kampung Keling, central area in Medan which occupied by India generation. At this place is food paradise for India’s original food. You’ll find restaurants which serve India’s food culinary. So if you are traveling in Indonesia, or have vacation, try to visit Medan and enjoy the India’s traditional food.
Briyani Rice
One of original food is briyani cooked rice, traditional food culinary from East India. Briyani seems like fried cooked rice, but there is no frying process when cooking this food. All of spices and condiment, such as coriander, dried chili, rough and refined ‘jintan’, garlic, onion, ginger, turmeric cooking together with goat meat, chicken meat, or vegetables, depend on kinds of briyani.
All of condiment and spices material above cooking until half of cooked. When cooking, put in yoghurt so that meat is softly. After that, put in water and the rice. After cooked, put in cow oil so that rice do not hard when it cold.
Cow oil is butter substituted. This oil made from cow head which frizzed and take the essence. If we use butter, briyani rice will hard when cold.
For whom which vegetarian, briyani cooked rice blended is cauliflower, carrot, string bean, and beans.
Usually, briyani cooked rice served with ‘sambar’ or ‘dalca’ and ‘pineapple pajri’. Sambar seems like curry spices, but sambar basic material is green peanuts. Pineapple pajri is pineapple shred which cooked with sugar and chili.
Several kinds of bread
There are several kinds of bread which India’s origin. Specific bread from East India called dosei, from north India called chapatti, naan, and tanduri.
Dosei made from rice flour. The batter mixed with ulenthe peanut, specific peanut from Tamil which could grow the batter. So, it is not need a soda.
Eat a dosei have to accompany by cathni sauce, which made from coconut, peanut, chili, onion, and ginger. Dosei also usually eat with sambar. There are may kinds of dosei, mixed with eggs, goat meat, chicken meat, or vegetables. There are also no mixed, the taste is tasteless but become delicious when eaten with cathni or sambar.
North India bread is use different material. Chapati and naan made from commonly bread flour. Naan usually cooked with patch it in border of rubber soil porcelain, chapatti cooked on flat wok. Tanduri made from wheat flour.
Three kinds of those bread, usually eaten with daal, kind of gravy made from green peanut, which spiced by onion, garlic, ginger, chili, and turmeric flour.
An eating ceremony completely if pulled tea served. Pulled tea is tea mixed with milk. The mixed process is interesting, tea-milk liquid move from one cup to another cup from up to down, so seems pulled.
So don’t forget to visit Medan, and enjoy India food. Your traveling to Indonesia will have different color, because taste India food in Indonesia.
This article source is from KOMPAS, written by Khaerudin, titled ‘Menikmati Cita Rasa Masakan India di Kampung Keling’, translated and edited by reog.