7pm, Aug. 11-12 Farm Dinner INVITATION and menu!

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MENU
hors d'oeuvres
____Pakora: thinly sliced farm vegetables fried in chickpea-flour batter, served with a trio of chutneys of cilantro, coconut, and tamarind
starter
____ Samosa: savory homemade pastry stuffed with curried potatoes served with chutney over Maverick Farms greens
main course
____ Malai Kofta: patties of seasonal vegetables in a mild curry gravy
Masoor Dal: split red lentils mashed with tumeric, ginger, and chili
Palak Paneer: lambs’ quarters simmered with fresh farmer’s cheese
Jeera Pulao: delicate long-grained Basmati rice perfumed with cumin
Raita: chopped farm-fresh cucumbers in cooling homemade yogurt
dessert___ Madras Coffee and Sabudana Kheer: Cardamom-Tapicoa made with local honey and milk
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An Appalachian-Indian Farm-to-Fork Dinner!
This menu gives us a chance to learn more about one of the world’s great cuisines, while showcasing the incredible bounty of our summer garden with a variety of flavors most of us don’t get to try very often. Farm-fresh ingredients will always be the focus at Maverick Farms, and each course will feature just-picked vegetables with a few special imported treats, including fresh tumeric, vanilla, and cinnamon a friend just brought us from Madagascar (giving us the indirect inspiration for this meal!), and free-trade organic coffee roasted locally by Bald Guy Brew. We’re thrilled to have our friends and Indian-cookery experts Christine Dave and Sujata Thapa helping to organize and prepare this meal. Both bring a commitment to local and organic food, and a great respect for the traditional cooking of South India. Please specify when you make your reservation if you prefer MILD or SPICY for this traditionally vegetarian meal. The suggested donation is $45/person, BYOB.

Here’s a great description of Southern Indian cuisine (from information collected by the San Francisco restaurant Dosa):
In a region of over 450 million people there is much diversity within the cuisine. South Indian is part of a larger, varied and ancient culinary tradition. This region consists of a richly diverse linguistic, religious, cultural and political area that covers the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Geographically, it covers the vast peninsula of India and is densely populated along the coasts of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

Many of the South Indian dishes are rice-based, which are combined with lentils. Coconut is also important ingredient due to the large coastal areas of Southern India.

What are curries?
Curry is an English word that most probably was derived from the South Indian word Kaikaari. Kaikaari, or its shortened version Kaari, meant vegetables cooked with spices and a dash of coconut. It may have become the symbolic British word for Indian dishes that could be eaten with rice.

Some mistakenly believe that curry is a specific Indian spice or that curry automatically implies spiciness. Here in the U.S. it has come to mean a blend of spices (mainly garam masala) that is mixed with coriander powder and turmeric. Curry powder is sold in many supermarkets in the U.S and many dishes in recipe books published here call for curry powder.

Indians, in India, generally do not use the term curry powder. In India, and in many parts of Asia, particularly Malaysia and Singapore, curry means gravy (the thickened liquid part of a dish) that has a blend of spices. Needless to say, since each household can make its own blend there are countless variations of “curries” in India.
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