LOOK AT THE COLOUR!!

one of the really nice things about family medicine is that people really want to all about you. i have played 1000 (ok, 5) different get-to-know-you games over the last few weeks. the unfortunate thing is that everyone brings up hobbies. what do you do for fun? what do i do for fun?

i've decided that i like to cook. i find all the chopping and stirring kind of meditative. (callie, meanwhile, becomes increasingly more infuriated that i'm standing SO FREAKING CLOSE to the cabinet with her snacks and not giving her any.) so anyway, the other day i was at the indian grocery with a friend from mumbai who's doing his residency here, and i found instant rava dosa mix. for those unacquainted, a rava dosa is something like this:

(courtesy of http://www.sailusfood.com/2008/04/09/rava-dosa-a-photo-tutorial/)

crepe-like in appearance, but savory and delicious. in india, i was especially drawn to these when my little american tummy just could not handle any more curried fiber. anyway, the "instant rava dosa mix" had me convinced that any monkey could pull this off, so i set to work this evening.

what a catastrophe! my dosas were getting fissures, they were turning into piles of glop, they wouldn't flip, they were not good. finally, i enlisted the help of this man on youtube. i'm putting the link up because i know you're bored and i think he's hilarious.

still, though, i was struggling. cursing. "i'm trying to make a bleeping dosa and it's not working!" i screamed at my poor friend on the phone, who clearly did not deserve to bear the brunt of my culinary failures. i switched oils. more. less. i let the batter sit longer. i mixed it more. i mixed it less. epic failure, as evidenced by this dosa graveyard:



i guess my mistake was that i was thinking it would be like making pancakes, when really it was totally different. i went smaller. and then, magically, i turned the heat up and it made a difference! check out this humble, hard-won success.


doesn't look like the one up top? shove off, i say! close enough. of course, by this point, i'd eaten so many corners of oil-soaked dough that i wasn't even hungry, but the next time, i'll be ready. which leads me to my point. maybe it was the mojito i was sipping all the while - the indian grocery also sells really cheap limes and mint - but i really kind of enjoyed that little adventure. now i just need an idli pan.

oh, and yes, i am seeing patients these days, and i really kind of love it! it's really hard, and i'm in a constant state of "where do i go? where are the lab slips? are you the nurse i'm working with? what the heck is going on here?" but once that subsides, i think it's going to be really great.