saltypig, tandoori chef
last week i was ordering my usual veggie deal at a subway when the lady behind the counter asked if i were a vegetarian. she recommended i check out a new indian restaurant where she works. today i did. introduced myself to the owner, and told him i’d be happy to help him set up a minimal web presence for free (WTF, i’m retired; what else am i gonna do with my time?). so tonight we’re working on some of the verbiage for his listings, and he uses the word “tandoor”.
i know i liked tandoori chicken before i went vegan, but i’d forgotten that a tandoor is the special oven where indian food geniuses cook what may be my favorite bread in the world — naan. nobody messes with indians when it comes to serving fresh, fresh bread. well, this guy is right up my alley. soon as i asked about the word tandoor, he takes me back to the kitchen, lights up the tandoor, and starts making naan right in front of me. they roll the dough onto a sort of hard pillow, then reach into the tandoor (velly hot!) and slap it directly onto the side; the dough sticks and you pull the pillow thing back out, hopefully with your arm as well. the chef uses two long poles to manipulate the bread after it’s on the side of the tandoor. i’d seen this done plenty of times through a kitchen window at the restaurant where i cut my teeth on indian food (via an indian girlfriend), but never been right there. this sort of direct demonstration may be what makes me happiest in life. no shit. i love it (like when a starbucks gal a couple of weeks ago took me aside and explained their ordering code).
the first naan wasn’t looking ideal, because the oven wasn’t hot enough when he started it. the second looked perfect though, and i asked the owner if i could finish it, doing what he’d shown me with the first. so i put the bubble-popper skewer pole in the center, then used the scraper pole to get the naan off the side and onto the skewer pole. sweeeeeet! (he cheated though, turning the oven off while i was klutzing my way through; apparently, it’s usually a “burn the hairs off your arm” operation.)
that’s some good eatin’, naan straight outta the tandoor. i’ll be learning plenty hanging out at this place. hmmm, i wonder if there’s a new indian girl in my future. 
November 15th, 2007 at 00:08
Very cool Salty, gotta love the special oven variety of cooking, it tastes absolutely sensational. Can’t beat that special oven flavor. You got my tongue stewing in its own juices as I read your post.
I’m from Greek heritage and whilst growing up the folks made a domed wood oven out in the back yard beside the BBQ. I swear my father used to stoke that sucker up on Sunday just so he could make his favorite lamb and pork dishes. Anyway it was always great when Mum would whip a few loaves of bread and a couple of pizzas and place it right into that oven for about 20 minutes and bam as kids we couldn’t sink them down the hatch quick enough.
We still enjoy the pleasures of the oven but I get a real kick when we have friends over at the folks place who may not have experienced the flavor of traditional Greek wood fire oven and just to see their facial expressions from the delights of virginal flavors is a real treat that leaves a lasting impression on them, and brings back that warmth of cultural tradition from inside of me that sorely miss nowadays.
~Kali Orexi~