Happy Birthday to me in Southern India
Woke up on my 52nd birthday in Bangalore, India! How surreal. When I went down for coffee my usual guy wasn't working. The new guy responds to my request for coffee with the query: "black?" to which I respond "milk please" and then he says "Indian coffee?" Well, now I say "yes" because I don't care what that is, I want it. Turns out it is the coffee I've enjoyed every other morning since I've been here. So now I have to look it up. I find the answers to the questions I had wondered about:
South Indian Coffee, also known as Filter Coffee is a sweet milky coffee made from dark roasted coffee beans (70%-80%) and chicory (20%-30%), especially popular in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. (Bangalore is in Karnataka.) South Indian coffee is brewed with a metal device that resembles two cylindrical cups, one of which has a pierced bottom that nests into the top of the "tumbler" cup, leaving ample room underneath to receive the brewed coffee. The upper cup has two removable parts: a pierced pressing disc with a central stem handle, and a covering lid. The upper cup is loaded with fresh ground coffee mixed with chicory (~2 tablespoons of mixture per serving). The grounds are gently compressed with the stemmed disc into a uniform layer across the cup's pierced bottom. With the press disc left in place, the upper cup is nested into the top of the tumbler and boiling water is poured inside. The lid is placed on top, and the device is left to slowly drip the brewed coffee into the bottom. The chicory sort of holds on to the hot water a little longer, letting the water extract more flavour from the coffee powder. The brew is generally stronger than western "drip style" coffee.
And while I was on a google-roll, I looked up my breakfast: Poha - a vegetarian dish of pressed rice seasoned with cumin, turmeric and indian spices. It is served with a coconut chutney (complete with green and red chiles). Yep, that's what I've been having. I just thought of it as "breakfast curry".
After breakfast I worked out, worked for awhile, organized my packing and then met my taxi driver - the same man (nickname: Nag) who took me to Mysore the day before. Off to the airport - I took many pictures on the way again. (Album here.) Once in the airport I had a frozen coffee and then a very pleasant flight on Kingfisher Airline.
Arriving in Delhi I was met outside of customs by a handsome young man bearing a bouquet of flowers and a card with my name on it. Turns out that Deepa remembered that I had mentioned it would be my birthday. Not only did I have flowers at the airport - and trust me, lots of people were met by a guy with their name on a board, but NOBODY else had flowers waiting! - but the folks at guesthouse where I stayed had baked me a cake! An incredibly yummy chocolate one! Except for the part about not being near any of my loved ones, it was a very nice birthday!
South Indian Coffee, also known as Filter Coffee is a sweet milky coffee made from dark roasted coffee beans (70%-80%) and chicory (20%-30%), especially popular in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. (Bangalore is in Karnataka.) South Indian coffee is brewed with a metal device that resembles two cylindrical cups, one of which has a pierced bottom that nests into the top of the "tumbler" cup, leaving ample room underneath to receive the brewed coffee. The upper cup has two removable parts: a pierced pressing disc with a central stem handle, and a covering lid. The upper cup is loaded with fresh ground coffee mixed with chicory (~2 tablespoons of mixture per serving). The grounds are gently compressed with the stemmed disc into a uniform layer across the cup's pierced bottom. With the press disc left in place, the upper cup is nested into the top of the tumbler and boiling water is poured inside. The lid is placed on top, and the device is left to slowly drip the brewed coffee into the bottom. The chicory sort of holds on to the hot water a little longer, letting the water extract more flavour from the coffee powder. The brew is generally stronger than western "drip style" coffee.
And while I was on a google-roll, I looked up my breakfast: Poha - a vegetarian dish of pressed rice seasoned with cumin, turmeric and indian spices. It is served with a coconut chutney (complete with green and red chiles). Yep, that's what I've been having. I just thought of it as "breakfast curry".
After breakfast I worked out, worked for awhile, organized my packing and then met my taxi driver - the same man (nickname: Nag) who took me to Mysore the day before. Off to the airport - I took many pictures on the way again. (Album here.) Once in the airport I had a frozen coffee and then a very pleasant flight on Kingfisher Airline.
