The Temple of the Dawn and a little Mutton Korma on the side

Every day in Bangkok is an adventure for this wander lust lady. From venturing down the city and side streets of my local neighborhood to stumbling across glimpses of the ancient world; Thailand does not disappoint. I came to this foreign land with the intention of expanding my mind, and centering my spirit. Every morning I awake with a lack of expectation of what the day will bring, save one thing—lessons. I am constantly learning. Language, culture, life, but mostly I am learning about myself. I am learning what I am capable of—both good and bad. It is truly moment to moment here, and some moments are better than others. Some moments are bright, shining stars on my horizon that make everything else pale in comparison. Some moments stir my soul and fill me with beatific gratitude. I was blessed to be awash with one of these moments quite recently.

A Saturday morning means sleeping in for those of us who are blessed enough to do the weekly grind. I awoke this particular Saturday a little early and very excited about the day to come. Another traveling teacher and I made our way down to our local pier of the Chao Phrya. The Chao Phrya, for those of you who don’t know, is the river that separates Bangkok from Thonburi. Think of them like the twin cities, you know…Minneapolis and St. Paul? Didn’t know I was a geography teacher, did you? After looking at the maps, and figuring out what pier we were headed to we hopped on one of the river taxis. Now, just to be clear, they are called that, but it is a little bit more like a river bus. You tell the attendant what pier you are headed to, and hand over the appropriate baht. We made our way down the Chao Phrya, and headed to the pier that would take us to the river ferry to Wat Arun. I hadn’t done any shopping since arriving in Thailand. However, the pier turned out to be one tempting vendor stall after another. You see, dear reader (reader count=8, and just a few others…hello others!), I am not tempted to spend my baht on kitschy I <3 BKK t-shirts, or even the cooler variety of printed tees with gorgeous scrolling, and spiraling motifs. I don’t feel the need to don fisherman pants, and in fact the majority of the clothing here isn’t meant for these Italian curves. But the tribal masks, wood carvings, and general display of all things foreign and beautifully strange…ah, these are truly temptations for me. I refrained from diving in and hording as many of these little treasures as I could. At least for now, and centered my sights on the beauty of Wat Arun.

This breath taking temple is a mix of Thai, Indian, and Chinese influence. In the Khmer style, this temple is approached from the pier. Immediately one is greeted by large, shell and porcelain covered spirit houses, and towering, grimacing, tile-armor covered guardian demons. A lush, verdant path leads to the main gate of Wat Arun. On either side of this entrance are prayer houses. These are functioning buildings of glowing white from which devout Buddhists emerge with the flow of serenity around them. For a small donation, anyone can enter and receive a blessing or meditate. These buildings were a curiosity to me, and certainly received my respect. Although I chose to show my respect by not entering, and instead observing from a respectful distance as I know little about Buddhism outside of high school required reading of Herman Hesse. And truthfully, I know myself well enough to know that I am far to fond of Bacchanalian reverie to find myself following a spiritually centered, middle path professing, Eastern spirituality. That being said, I do plan to immerse myself in meditative peace and quiet very soon, if only for a weekend.

I proceeded through the main gate of Wat Arun, and stood in awe of the soaring, spiritual spectacle before me. The main tower, or central prang, of Wat Arun is surrounded by four smaller “satellite” prangs. The central prang is unusual in that it can be climbed. There are three sets of stairs that lead to the top of the central prang. The last two sets of stairs are somewhat steep, and immediately I was reminded of a trip a few years back to the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben. On this particular trip I allowed myself to be talked out of climbing the stairs to the top of one of the most beautiful temples that I have seen yet. I carried away with me that day the beauty, and spiritual splendor of those ruins, but also regret. It would take me a few more years of allowing myself to be held back and doubted before I moved past this. On this particular day, as the sun broke through the clouds, I realized that there was no one there left to doubt me, or to hold me back. I climbed those stairs, stopping at every terrace, and circling around each level so that I could take it all in. In the midst of this I was filled with so much gratitude for the freedom to do this, and moved to tears that words filled my head, and this is what I wrote, “Rhythmic chanting fills the air amidst the ruins of Wat Arun (The Temple of the Golden Dawn). On this overcast day the temple seems to glow, and amidst the chaos of the city of Bangkok—there is peace here. I moved to tears by the beauty of it all, and simply awed that the Universe has seen fit to bring me here.”

What more can I tell you all of Wat Arun? There are no words for the shift in me that place brought this day. I can only say that Thailand is already transforming me.

We left Wat Arun, and headed back across the river. Making our way down the river a couple of piers, left us at the Memorial Bridge and from here we made our way to Praharat—Little India. Now, just so you know, I love Thai food. There are a couple of different Thai restaurants in Atlanta, oh Atlanta…I miss you so, that don’t require a look at the menu. I always seem to get something wonderful, and love everything I’ve had. However, that being said, having it morning, noon, and night for weeks, and what will eventually be months…well, any of you that may have worked for an extended period at a restaurant knows what I am about to say—eventually you come to take the food for granted, and long for anything but the food you once loved so much. I seem to be getting something other than rice and whatever comes on top of the rice at least once a week. I had been craving what I knew would be the best Indian food I had savored in my life since I first realized that there was a Little India in Bangkok. I was not disappointed. Everything that I had was amazing, but certainly no one dish more so than the recipe below.

Enjoy,

The Epicurious Gypsy

 Ingredients:

1 kg mutton, cubed, washed

4 cloves

2 elaichi

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

2 large onions, finely chopped

5-6 green chillies, slit

1 1/2 tbsps ginger garlic paste

1 large tomato, chopped

salt to taste

1 1/2 tbsps oil

1 1/2 tbsps ghee

3/4 tsp garam masala pwd

chopped cilantro leaves for garnish

For marinade:

2 tsps red chilli pwd (adjust)

1 1/4 tbsp coriander pwd

3/4 tsp cumin pwd

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 1/2 cups thick yogurt/curd

Make a paste

1 1/2 tbsp poppy seeds, dry roast for 4 mts, soak in water for 10 mts

4 tbsps grated fresh coconut

4 cashew nuts, soak in little water or milk (optional)

1 Add the curd, red chilli pwd, turmeric pwd, coriander pwd, cumin pwd, half of the ginger garlic paste to the washed mutton. Keep aside the marinated mutton for 30-40 mts.
2 Heat oil and ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel, add whole spices and bay leaf and fry for few secs. Add the chopped onions and fry till transparent. Add the green chillis and remaining ginger-garlic paste and saute for 3 mts. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for 4-5 mts.
3 Add the marinated mutton and cook over medium heat with lid till the water from the meat and yogurt is almost absorbed. Check in between and stir.
4 Add the poppy seeds-coconut paste and salt to the mutton and mix well. Cover and cook for 4-5 mts. Add 3 cups of water and salt. Cook with lid on simmer till the mutton is tender and the gravy thickens. Add garam masala pwd and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Turn off heat.
5 Serve with pulao, biryani, coconut rice or rotis.

Note:

The cooking time will depend on the quality of mutton used. If its tough meat, it takes longer to cook.

Crunch Critters on Khao Sarn

The sound of leaves crunching under children’s busied feet as they hustle down the darkened Oak Park sidewalks. Candy bags clutched tightly in little fingers, as goblins, ghouls, and little witches make their way from one warmly lit porch step to the next. A small, ghost white, little girl with midnight black hair and a tinfoil tiara skips down the street happily humming the bars to “Monster Mash”. Is this some idyllic scene from a Disney movie or a memory from my own childhood? Well dear readers (reader count=eight, and <gulp> a couple hundred lurkers) to be honest I’m not quite certain myself, and what I have found in my educational research on the workings of the human mind leads me to believe that our memory constructs itself continuously and creatively. That being said, the point is still clear…I have always had a love of all things Halloween. The ritual of pumpkin carving, and roasting the seeds after, the creative construction of costumes, the spooky stories, and the mayhem and mischief in the air—this is Halloween.

Some years have been better than others. As an adult I’ve made many memories that will be carried in my heart for years to come. In fact when it comes to decadence, debauchery, and dancing I have been thrice blessed on the devil’s nights. However, it is quite possible that last night’s festivities will be carried with me far into the future. The Thai have a saying that I am learning to live with, and quite possibly love. “Mai pen rai” they say, or “never mind”.  You see, learning to go with the flow is most definitely one of my biggest lessons here. Going into the weekend I had already let go of my desire for something that would make me feel a little less homesick. I had found a night here that would be comparable to a fabulous evening of maudlin marauding back in my hometown of Atlanta, but had opted to join the group’s activities and head down to

Khao Sarn Road

instead.

Khao Sarn Road

is the backpacker’s destination in Bangkok. Any night of the week it is crammed with vendor’s stalls filled with funky beach wear, Asian printed t-shirts, and a various assortment of Thai dishes and delicacies. However, on Halloween night it was a crazy kaleidoscope of chaos. A small troupe of traveling teachers and I made our way from the local Bangkok neighborhood that I now call home down to Khao Sarn. A short cab ride later, and the traffic came to a jumbled stand still. We hopped out of the taxi and picked our way around vendor’s venues and snack stalls. The thundering noise of the crowd filled our ears, and the glow of a lit platform adorned with deejay and psychedelic screen illuminated our path. This was Halloween on Bangkok’s busy city streets.

A sea of faces greeted us upon arrival. Needless to say it was only a few moments in when we lost one of our numbers who went rushing off after familiar faces. Khao Sarn is packed with bars, and on this particular night the crowds were so chaotic that they came spilling out onto the streets, and it became nearly impossible to differentiate between street traffic and busied bar patrons. Our group gladly took in all of the sights and smells. It would have been impossible not to get caught up in the madness of it all. Let’s just say much fun was being had by all, and the vibe just spread. There were definitely some differences between the Thai costumes and the farang costumes. The majority of the Thai seemed to revel in all things spooky, scary, and sticky, whereas the farang took this night as an opportunity to come silly, slutty, or stupefied. This was easy to do with some of the costumes we saw that night.

Point taken? Now, I have promised you all culinary curiosities, and I promise to not disappoint. Bangkok, just like any other town has it’s standard bar food. Late night, naughty noise-makers need nourishment (say that three times fast). However, in Bangkok there is always an adventure to be had. As one of my new dear friends likes to say, “Ahhhh, Thailand…how strange you are sometimes.” It was not long before we found a snack cart that would make Andrew Zimmern salivate. There it was, a vision of glowing beetles, bugs, and scorpions.

Did you think I was joking? I am sad to report that this night was not the night I would try one of the crunchy critters. Calm down! I have a year, it may happen yet. Instead, I opted for a treat that I had heard several people describe with stars in their eyes. After experiencing it myself, I can see why. I have included a video clip that shows the making of this Thai treat for your viewing pleasure. I promise that the next post will include a recipe. Until then…

Enjoy,

The Epicurious Gypsy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFb9hn_FcSQ