On day five in India I thought I was brave enough to go out by myself to a restaurant and order a meal. This would have been fine but I have no idea how to say chicken liver in Tamil, Hindi or any language other than English.
When we planned out our India trip, my boyfriend told me “Everyone there speaks English” I’ve found that to not exactly be true. My boyfriend speaks three different languages, two of them, Hindi and Tamil are Indian dialects and he still finds people here he can barely communicate with.
That means when I try by myself to order chicken liver who knows what kind of organ I will actually get.
We spent th
e entire morning checking out the meat and fish market at the Russel Road markets near Commerce Street. The meat market was interesting but smelled so completely terrible, I would never want to do that again just because the smell was so bad. After checking out carcass after carcass all morning I was dying for some chicken livers by the afternoon!
Once we returned back to the area of Bangalore were we are staying in, Kammanahalli, just trying to walk to the Empire Restaurant was frustrating as there was traffic and so people were driving on the wrong side of the road. Then I almost got hit by a bus because it was driving in THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD on the wrong side of the street, which is not where a bus belongs. After all that the cashier couldn’t break my 2,000 rupee note which was rather frustrating. I had to walk all the way back to our apartment to get the cash my boyfriend owed me. (smaller bills)
After this huge pain in the butt, dodging buses, having my own personal currency crisis, returning to the restaurant and there was some kind of issue with my order and it took
an additional twenty five minutes, which at that point I was ready to eat my own liver.
I was so bummed after that whole long wait and everything I went through, when I got back to our apartment finally to see that I did not actually get what I ordered. So as soon as I get back to California I’m making homemade Chicken Liver Curry! My boyfriends sister made a absolutely fantastic liver fry when we had dinner at their place in the country outside of Bangalore and this is her version of the best liver fry I have ever had.
I know a lot people are afraid of organ meat but it is actually so healthy for you! Organ meats have ten to one hundred times the nutrients of other meats. Plus organ meats are high in Vitamin A. Don’t be scared of organ meat! Liver and kidney are a fantastic and healthy addition to your diet!
Eating dinner with my hands, India style. Liver is so delicious!
Chicken Liver Fry with Fresh Curry Leaves and Saffron
2 teaspoon coconut oil
4 curry leaves
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
1 teaspoon garlic, grated
4 cardomon pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander leaves
1 teaspoon ground saffron
3 chilies chopped
2 pounds chicken livers
1 cup tomatoes, chopped up fine
1 cup water
Heat a pan with oil and heat the bay leaves and the cumin seeds. Add the rest of the spices, and the chopped chilis. Add the garlic and ginger and fry. Add the water and tomatoes. Add the liver and continue to simmer thirty minutes. Garnish with the cilantro.