Adventures in cooking Spaghetti Bolognese...Indian Style

I was chatting casually to Nicolas, one of our French volunteers working in the boy's orphanage last week, when he mentioned an idea he had as a treat for the boys. “I’d really like to give them an Italian experience,” he told me. “I’d like to cook them spaghetti bolognese next Sunday for lunch. Would you like to help me?”

How could I say no? Having never cooked for so many people , 14 boys plus at least 6 adults, and liking to be organised I started preparing straight away. First thing was the shopping list because being India, I wasn’t sure that we would be able to buy everything we needed at the supermarket. A quick look in Nilgiris, the local supermarket confirmed this.:

• Pasta, garlic paste, olive oil, salt, sugar and even dry pasta herbs. Check.
• Mince meat, tomato paste. Negative.
• Tomato puree as an alternative? Check.
• Fresh tomatoes and onions from the Grand Bazaar market. Check. 
• Mince meat from the grand Bazaar. Negative

So how were we going to cook spaghetti bolognese without mince meat?

With 5 days to spare, Anja, a fellow volunteer from Germany, and I set out to find out where we could buy mince meat. Our first stop was Satsanga, a local restaurant, that Anja told me has spaghetti bolognese on their menu. They told us they order their mince meat from Bangalore and would sell some to us for 260 rupees per 500 grams. 260 rupees per 500 grams! That’s around AUD$11 per kilo and as we needed 3 kilos, way too expensive.

Next I tried an Italian restaurant. They told us they bought it from the market, pointing in the direction of the Grand Bazaar. But I couldn’t remember seeing any meat there besides fish when I wandered around its tight-nit stalls. Anja tried Bon Bakes, a bakery that also cooks spaghetti bolognese. They told her they use chicken. This sounded quite unusual to me but we agreed we could probably do the same as a last resort.

Upon returning home, I asked the ladies who run the Day Care Centre where I live if they knew where I could buy mince meat. Bingo. They told me I could buy mutton or goat for around 160 rupees per half (kilo) at a market just around the corner from the temple heading out of Pondicherry on the East Coast Road AND that they would take me on Saturday morning to buy some. Although bolognese is usually made with beef, this is the land of the holy cow, so mutton is the next best alternative.

On Saturday morning, I got out of bed at 8am to get ready for the weekly volunteer’s meeting at 9am only to remember it was a long weekend! It was French Independence Day on Monday and Pondicherry’s Independence Day on the Tuesday so the Day Care Centre was closed until Wednesday. Nobody was going to be there to take me to buy the meat. At this rate, spaghetti bolognese was going to become plain spaghetti pomodoro or some other variation. But never fear. Arasu, Prime Trust’s director came to our rescue and agreed to come and pick me up the next morning and take me to the market to buy minced mutton.

At 8.45am we headed off down Mahatma Gandhi Road. Unlike weekdays, the street was relatively bare of traffic but that’s not to say it was free of the constant honking of horns from what traffic was around. As we cruised down the road, Arasu pointed the weekly Sunday Market setting up along the side of the road. “You can buy anything,” he told me. “Even computers.”

We parked the bike outside the Mahatma Gandhi Road market and walked into the meat section to Arasu’s favourite mutton store. We ordered 3 kilograms of mince mutton for 400 rupees per kilo (without bones and fat). It was to be minced by hand so we took the opportunity to go for a coffee and Indian breakfast of pongal which is a rice porridge served with dhal.

Back at the IVC headquarters (the Volunteer’s house), preparations started at 10am to serve lunch at 1pm. Tomatoes chopped. Onions chopped. There was even time for a rest before cooking had to start at 11.30am exactly. Everything was going smoothly and to schedule until 12.35pm when we ran out of gas for the stove. But never fear, Arasu came to the rescue once more with a quick dash to get another gas bottle.

Whilst it may have been served later than expected and it may not have been a truly authentic bolognese, the boys loved it. “Super” one of the boys called out after he had finished his plate. Kelly, a returning volunteer from Scotland, overheard them say in Tamil that it was really, really good except the spaghetti made them feel so full! Whilst there were plenty of leftovers, they didn’t last long. The boys finished off the rest for afternoon tea at 4 o’clock.

Until the next adventure.....

Kym

The mutton shop

 Anja doing a great job chopping the onions

 Me with a couple of the boys just before serving up lunch

 The boys enjoying their spaghetti bolognese

 The rest of the boys eating their spaghetti bolognese

 Nicolas playing with some of the boys

Why volunteer with India Volunteer Care? Let me tell you my story....

Hi! My name is Kym. I’m from Australia and I’m on an extended sabbatical. I visited India for the first time in 2008 and ever since then I have longed to return to this incredible country. In my first visit I saw some amazing sights in the north, the Taj Mahal, Varanasi’s bathing and cremation ghats and the Amber Fort to name a few. But what captured my heart the most was the amazing kids I met along the way. Although many looked poor and rather dirty, there was so much joy bursting out of these children that they freely shared as they came running to greet me or they waved at me giggling and shouting “take my photo.” This time, instead of having the usual “tourist” experience of India, passing from place to place and seeing the sights, I wanted the opportunity to settle in one place, connect with the people especially children and try and be of service where and how I could.

After extensive search and consideration, I decided to volunteer with India Volunteer Care (the sister organisation of Prime Trust). These days there are so many organisations that offer volunteer arrangements. Some are not-for-profits and some appear to profiting from the time you voluntary provide in service of others. Most offer full-board arrangements and projects selected prior to coming to India. That is where India Volunteer Care (IVC) and Prime Trust are different. They are non-profit, sister organisations that work closely together as IVC volunteers work on Prime Trust projects. The small establishment fee that you pay (only 10,000 rupees) goes directly to the organisation along with the rent that you pay for your room to help fund Prime Trust's projects.  Food is not provided so you can cook for yourself in the kitchen or go to one of the many Indian or Western Restaurants in town at a price that suits you. IVC is very flexible. You don’t have to select your project until you arrive. This allows you to settle in, go and visit the projects that are of interest to you and then make your decision. You can even get involved in more than one project if you have the time and your schedule allows for it.

The other personal reason I selected IVC is that I love to be out of a big city and where possible near the sea. Many of the other organisations are based in the bigger cities such as Delhi but IVC and Prime Trust are based in Pondicherry. Pondy, as it is affectionately know, is big but not too big although it is still crowded and busy and chaotic as most towns are in India especially in the early morning and evenings. Pondicherry has a long rocky beach called the Promenade on the Bay of Bengal. It’s a great place to check out at night as many of the locals come to walk or sit on the rocks and watch the sea. There are also many other beaches north and south of Pondicherry where it is possible to swim if you are careful of rips and undertows and you can even learn to surf with the local surf school. I have found that Pondicherry has a more laid back vibe than the North and I really love being here.

Before I came to Pondicherry, I had thought that I would volunteer with women and children. But as I have learned from my travels and life in general, not everything turns out as you plan or think it will. After looking at some different projects, I have just started volunteering at the boy’s orphanage that is run by IVC’s sister non-profit organisation called Prime Educational and Social Trust (known as Prime Trust). The orphanage houses 14 very spirited boys aged 4 to 16. This is where I feel that I can be of most service at the moment and where my help is most needed with a particular focus on improving their English. 

I am very excited about this opportunity to work with them over the next 6 weeks and I hope to keep you updated about my adventures with the boys and in Pondicherry as well.

 The Promenade in the late afternoon

Boys at The Mother Home orphanage, practising their English writing 

That's me wearing sunglasses, cruising the mangroves at Pichavaram with Anja and Nicolas, two of my fellow volunteers