Michael Mitchell

Hello everyone! My name is Michael Mitchell and I am a fourth year student in Professor Fortier's INTL 190 class, Food and Culture in South Asia. I am not very familiar with the food and culture in South Asia and that is why I was very interested in taking this class. Growing up in Santa Cruz, California, I was never really exposed to food that originated in this part of the world. Although this may sound surprising, it was not until my junior year of college that I actually tried food from South Asia for the first time. My sister took me and my brother to an Indian cuisine restaurant called Ambrosia Indian Bistro, where I ordered a plate that had chicken tikka masala, paya, paratha, and basmati rice. I absolutely loved the dish and it inspired me to try more foods from that region. I love to cook and wish I could make more of these dishes from South Asia, but I am on the baseball team here, at UCSD, and it can be very difficult to find time to cook. However, that has not stopped me from trying South Asia's amazing food, all thanks to Trader Joe's frozen food section (cue the heavenly music). It may not be the authentic cuisine from South Asia served in the finest restaurants but I have come to love meals such as roti, aloo chaat, and basmati rice with vegan vegetable balls. I have not been able to travel to South Asia and do not know much about the culture, nevertheless I am eager to learn more about the spectacular regions and all their wonderful features. All of this is very new to me, and I cannot wait to dive head first into this quarter's class.

ROTI

Here is delicious recipe I found for roti on Cookipedia that I recommend everyone tries:

If these steps are not direct enough, I have attached the link to the exact recipe so you can enjoy this tasteful meal: https://www.cookipedia.co.uk/recipes_wiki/Roti

Ingredients:

1 cup of white flour
2 table spoons of vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
2 table spoons of yogurt
1/2 cup of water

Process

Combine all measured ingredients in a bowl and mix until you get a doughy figure (I recommend that you put it in a food processor to save time)
Take the dough out of the bowl or food processor and add flour to the wet dough and let it sit for 30 min
Cut dough into small slices the size of quarters
Heat up a pan with 2 table spoons of vegetable oil
Place small dough slices into pan ad cook for 2 min on each side
Remove slices and enjoy

Trader Joe's "Must Try" Meals Inspired From South Asia

Since I do not have time to cook that often, these are the frozen meals at Trader Joe's that I highly recommend:

Chicken Tikka Masala Aloo Chaat Kati Pouches Fiery Chicken Curry

South Asia Culture Video

Here, I have attached a brief video showing the wonderful landscape and cultural traditions that many people from South Asia follow. I am learning about the culture myself and I believe this is a beautiful video and great introduction to the beauty within this region of the world.