After over 7 months abroad I am back on my home turf, Chicago, for a little while anyways. One of the best things about this city is its diversity. To me, this means reconnecting with the countries I’ve visited by seeing where their immigrants eat, shop, and live.
On my ride home from the airport my father asks if I want to visit a grocery store to fill in the vegetarian gaps of their fridge. Well, it wasn’t just any old grocery store like Jewel or Dominiks, but an ethnic one, selling curry powder, pickle shaped spikey green vegetables, tortillas, and everything in between. As soon as I find the Indian aisle I couldn’t contain my excitement. Mustard seeds, jaggery, tumeric, idly mix, all varieties of lentils, and on and on. The check out lady was even Indian and told me how to cook the bitter melon we bought. Before I left Malaysia I stocked up on some spices, but was surprised to find that they weren’t much more expensive here, and still basically cheap.
This afternoon I went to a Thai restaurant. As I have written, I am not a fan of this cuisine because of the lack of vegetarian options. However, it was nice to be able to understand everything on the menu for a change and not feel like I was paying tourist prices, although for what they charge here, you could eat 4 meals over there. I opted for my favorite standby, pad see yew, which was as good as I had in Thailand (but this time I actually got the extra vegetables I ordered– no translation problem here!). The friendly young waitress was from Bangkok and studies accounting at DePaul University and we had fun talking about where I’d been in Thailand. While waiting for my friend to arrive, I noticed a sign advertising mango & sticky coconut rice… yum!! I mention this to the waitress and she said they don’t have any today :( but for some unknown reason, midway through the meal I am asked if I still wanted any! Hurrah! It was delicious, but a little tastier in Thailand.
My next foray into Asia America came when I needed to buy basmati rice for a Malaysian dish “Cardamom Butter Rice” I wanted to make for the 4th of July. Where else to go but Devon Avenue, or Chicago’s Little India? I was so excited walking by the sari shops, I wondered if anyone could tell I was wearing a dress I bought in India. As it doesn’t look traditionally Indian, no one gave me a knowing glance, but I still felt like I somehow fit in. I walk into one grocery store and ask where the rice was. They either had huge 20lb burlap bags of rice, or overpriced plastic boxes of 2lbs. I ask the sales woman where I could buy it in bulk and I tell her I only need 1 cup of rice, not 2 or 20lb! She says nowhere on Devon do they sell it in self service bulk bins, rather, they only sell “chat” or dried spicy snacks in bins. I tell her I know I remember seeing it, and tell her if it was not here, then somewhere, where could it have been? I get a memory flash of being in a grocery store in Bangalore where they sell it by the kilo. She looks at me quizzically and says, yes, in India they sell rice and lentils in bulk, so then I tell her that is where I must have seen it and leave, hoping to find the 2lb rice cheaper elsewhere.
The sidewalks are thick with families, and older women in saris walking slowly to probably buy the huge boxes of mangos which are now on sale. I find my way to Patel Bros Grocery, where I had been many times in the past. The entrance is so crowded with people I couldn’t figure out why they are all out shopping on a Saturday night. It even appeared there was a line to get in. I see a man with a camera around his neck which made me wonder if there was a special event. I ask an Indian man on the sidewalk why it’s so crowded, and I was informed, “Madam, this is a fine shop which sells dry goods and Indian spices.” I thank him and ask if it wasn’t because someone famous was there? He assures me not (darn). I then approach and realize everyone is in line to get freshly squeezed sugar cane juice, and not to enter the store. Once inside I said twice aloud, “Wow, it’s really so crowded in here” but get blank stares as no one was listening. The store smelled familiar, like spices and incense, and all I could think was, “I am totally moving to India again”, and “I really wish I knew what to do with the stuff they sell here”. One day I will learn to cook more than a basic dhal (lentils)!
I finally find the rice section but no small bags, so I ask a store clerk who informs me they only sell basmati rice in 10 and 20lb bags. Upon further questioning, he says their sister store “Patel Bros Handicrafts”, nearby does carry rice in bulk. Now while I have been to a sporting goods store in India which sells musical instruments, this struck me as odd. I ask, “A HANDICRAFTS shop sells rice?” He assures me it does (but maybe in reflection he didn’t really understand me). Wha? Am I in America or India? I felt like I was having one of those conversations where we were both speaking English, but I was not understanding how the words could make any sense. I buy some Indian cheese, or “paneer” and leave the shop, only to discover there is no rice to be had in the handicraft store. This time, I didn’t even ask.
I then go to another grocery store and settle on a 4lb bag of rice, the smallest bag but still cheaper than the 2lb I saw earlier. As I am in line to pay, the thrifty side of me thinks I should have a look at all the big bags of rice at the front of the store. Maybe they are a better deal. So I get out of line and go inspect the 10lb bags. They are all of different prices, so I ask an Indian looking couple if they knew the difference between the qualities of the rice. The husband points to the one bag and says with an accent, “Zebra is a good brand, very delicious.” Hmmm… rice tastes all the same to me, but I know Asians really can tell the difference. I decide that 10lbs of rice would probably last until Halloween, and return in line to pay for the 4lbs. In the end, I ran out of time to make the dish, so it didn’t get made on July 4th, but on the 7th and fortunately it was worth the effort. Mmm…
Check Costco for the rice.