MASALA DOSAS & POTATO CURRY
Two Wednesdays ago. 11:42 a.m: a Black and South Indian American stands on the podium of the Capitol building, in her purple outfit. She repeats along what a Bronx-born Latina Supreme Court judge intones, becoming the first female vice president in this 245-year-old country. I should be doubly proud, since Argentina, my native country, had the first female president in history. A record, unfortunately, held by a weak head of state who was deposed by the military junta two years into her reign. (Worth another musical. A sequel to Evita since they shared the same husband.)
After the inauguration ceremony, I googled “what are kamala harris’s favorite foods.” Lots came up including a video in YouTube that shows her, then a Senator, cooking Masala Dosas and Potato Curry with Mindy Kaling, a comedian also of South Indian ancestry. Both Kamala and Mindy’s mothers came here when they were in their teens and died young. The video shows them prepping and telling family stories as the cooking evolves. (You can tell a lot by the decisive way Kamala chops her red onions.) Don’t expect a precise rundown of the recipes. This is family cooking. You learn as you converse, sharing idiosyncrasies that transcend individual kitchens.
John teases me that I save too many empty glass jars with good lids. From now on, I will always remember Kamala bursting in her iconic laughter, as she mentions that her mother used empty Taster’s Choice jars to keep all the Indian spices fresh, a tradition she and Mindy still follow.
— New York City, 2/1/2021