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HOUGHTON MIFFLIN, 1999
(available in paperback from Mariner, 1999)
THE CHARACTERS in the nine short stories that make up Pulitzer Prize–winner Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies all have something in common. They are caught betwixt and between two cultures. Living lives without the moorings many of us take for granted, some are new immigrants, some are expatriates, and others are visitors to a homeland they never really knew. Lahiri’s characters muddle through universal trials and tribulations, from decaying love to alienation to enduring hope. They are sympathetic individuals.
Cultural assimilation is a major theme in Interpreter of Maladies, and food plays a major role throughout the book, principally as a touchstone for the culture left behind. Lahiri infuses her stories with the smells and tastes of the Asian foods her characters long for and often re-create in their new surroundings. Food is an important part of their identities, and the rituals around cooking and eating provide a rich backdrop for the stories in Interpreter of Maladies.
“When friends dropped by, Shoba would throw together meals that appeared to have taken half a day to prepare,” writes Lahiri in “A Temporary Matter,” the first of the nine stories. “From things she had frozen and bottled, not cheap things in tins but peppers she had marinated herself with rosemary, and chutneys that she cooked on Sundays, stirring boiling pots of tomatoes and prunes.” From shrimp malai to fish cooked with raisins in a yogurt sauce to chicken with almonds, Lahiri’s book is a veritable feast for the senses.
A Bengali immigrant who was schooled in London prior to his arrival in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1969, narrates another of Lahiri’s stories, “The Third and Final Continent.” He has come to establish himself before the arrival of his new bride, Mala, and rents a room in the home of an older woman, Mrs. Croft. When Mala arrives from Calcutta, Mrs. Croft helps ease the awkward transition to the arranged marriage, declaring Mala “a perfect lady.” The protagonist recalls this as the moment when “the distance between Mala and me began to lessen.”
As “The Third and Final Continent” opens, the protagonist recalls preparing egg curry in the rooming house he shared with other Bengalis in London. He prepares the same dish for Mala as his only gift to welcome her to America.
Jhumpa Lahiri, who is of Indian descent, was born in London, grew up in Rhode Island, and now lives in New York City. Lahiri contributed a recipe created by her mother, Tapati Lahiri, for hard-boiled-egg curry in mustard sauce, and explained how the dish came to appear in her story.
This is a version of the dish the husband cooks for his wife, Mala, in “The Third and Final Continent,” and it is the first meal Mala has in America. The recipe is my mother’s invention.
The dish is very much an everyday family dish. I never remember my mother making it for company. (This is why I’ve never seen it in any Indian restaurant, I gather.) Usually egg curry is what she would make when there was nothing else to cook with, i.e., when supplies were low and a trip to the grocery store was needed. But I always loved eating egg curry and thought of it as a special dish nevertheless, if only because we ate it infrequently. It is also economical, compared to cooking meat or poultry, and I gather that it’s often one of those things Bengali bachelors know how to do.
NOTE: You can find mustard oil in most Indian grocery stores.
2 tablespoons whole mustard seed 2 tablespoons corn oil 8 hard-cooked eggs, cooled and peeled 1 teaspoon turmeric |
Pinch of cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon salt Mustard oil (optional) (see note) |
In a small bowl, soak the mustard seed in a little water to cover, about 20 minutes. Rinse the seeds in fresh water, then blend them with some of the water in a blender until thick, pale, and creamy (this will take a few minutes). Set aside.
Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the eggs and fry until reddish brown in color (don’t move the eggs around too much, but try to get an even color on all sides). Transfer the eggs to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Mix the turmeric and cayenne with a bit of water to make a paste. Add this to the remaining oil in the skillet. Return the eggs and cover them generously with the mustard paste.
Add salt and simmer, covered, over very low heat until all the oil rises to the top, and the sauce has reduced until it thickly coats the eggs but is not dry-looking. Remove to a serving dish and top the eggs with a drizzle of mustard oil. Serve with white rice.
Yield: 4 servings
Mango lassi, an Americanized version of India’s most popular hot-weather beverage, is common in Indian restaurants. In the United States, it is often flavored and sweetened, but in India it is served plain or salted, rarely sweetened. Lena Shelton of San Francisco brought this refreshingly tangy, light, and healthy drink to her Interpreter of Maladies book club dinner.
Shikha Kapoor developed this recipe for Masala Art, a restaurant in Needham, Massachusetts, which she owns with her husband, Vinod.
NOTE: Mango pulp and rose water can be purchased online.
¾ cup (6 ounces) plain yogurt 1¼ cups cold water 1 cup prepared mango pulp (see note) 1 tablespoon sugar |
8 ice cubes, crushed (approximately I cup) 1 teaspoon rose water (see note) Crushed pistachios for garnish |
In a blender, combine the yogurt, water, and mango pulp and purée until smooth. Add the sugar and crushed ice cubes and blend again.
Add the rose water and serve chilled in a tall glass, with pistachios over the top, if desired.
Yield: 6 servings
“We learn about our heritage by reading and discussing books about South Asia or with South Asian themes,” says Shalini Passales, coordinator of the Network of South Asian Professionals (NetSAP) Book Club in metropolitan Washington, D.C. NetSAP–DC is a nonprofit organization committed to identifying and celebrating the diversity of South Asians in America through professional development, community service, and public awareness.
Interpreter of Maladies is a unanimous favorite of the club. “It takes great talent to develop characters in short stories, but Jhumpa Lahiri takes you right into the characters in each story,” says Passales. “Lahiri’s prose is less flowery and descriptive than that of some older Indian authors, and her clean, concise writing style appeals to our group members.”
Lahiri’s title story, about an Indian-American family named Das visiting India with their children, is Passales’s personal favorite, and one that provoked an interesting discussion for the group. “Lahiri depicts the crossroads many Indian-Americans face,” says Passales. “We could relate to the characters returning to India, where some things make sense but others don’t. As Americans in India, the characters don’t fit because they stand out as foreigners, yet in America, they don’t fit in either.”
Passales also notes that even Indians who grow up in America have to try to assimilate. “Your parents are Indian. But you’re Indian and yet American. You’re like a coconut: brown on the outside, white on the inside. You hold on to your Indian culture, your values, and your heritage. Yet if you travel to India, the way you dress, the way you walk, and the way you make eye contact is more American, and people can look at you right away and know you’re from abroad, even if you are fluent in the language.
“In the story ‘Interpreter of Maladies,’ Mrs. Das was able to connect with India on more than a superficial level, even though she didn’t feel a sense of belonging when they first arrived,” says Passales.
The Vegetarian Society of Washington, D.C., promotes vegetarianism through both educational and social activities, and VSDC’s book club is one of several social events held each month. Although their book selections often relate to vegetarian themes, the group has read a wide range of fiction and nonfiction over the past twelve years.
The VSDC Book Club discussed Interpreter of Maladies over a dinner of South Indian delicacies at the Amma Vegetarian Restaurant in Washington’s Georgetown district. They sampled masala dosas (pancakes stuffed with potatoes and onions), aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower curry), and a lentil-and-rice dish. “For appetizers, we chose samosas, fried turnovers filled with vegetables,” says Beth Preiss, the club’s coordinator. “In one of Lahiri’s stories, ‘This Blessed House,’ samosas were on the menu at the housewarming party that turned into a hilarious hunt for religious ‘treasure.’”
Lahiri’s beautiful writing and fully realized characters, Indian and American, young and old, female and male, impressed the group. “Lahiri’s descriptions of food preparation contributed to the richness of the book,” says Preiss. “From the first story, in which a now-troubled couple had marked their recipes with the date they first ate the dishes together, to the last, in which a bowl of cornflakes and milk became one of the most memorable meals in the book, food played a part in crafting her stories.”
For their Interpreter of Maladies dinner, the Epicureaders of San Francisco created a Fragrant Springtime Indian Feast, a meal that lived up to its title, according to member Lena Shelton.
“I think that one of the predominant qualities of Indian food is the fragrance of the spices,” says Shelton, “and this fragrance is also a quality of springtime.” For the dinner, the Epicureaders contributed dal (lentils), crab curry with basmati rice, shahi paneer (a dish made with a soft cheese), curried couscous with roasted vegetables, peach chutney and cilantro yogurt, potato and cabbage rolls, spicy cauliflower, an assortment of Indian breads, and rice pudding with raisins, almonds, and saffron for dessert.
Shelton brought the refreshing Indian drink sweet mango lassi, which she describes as simple and traditional. “The predominant flavor of the lassi is yogurt, so the mango adds a nice touch.”
