Pieces of cow udder mixed with sheek kebab.
My husband and I went to a house party last night. A friend of ours invited some people over because his parents had gone away.
It was turning out to be an enjoyable evening — good music, a few drinks, and interesting conversation. Then, starters were served. Our friend had arranged for the food to be brought in from a reputable local kebab shop.
The sheek kebab (spicy minced lamb) was delicious. Very tender and flavoursome.
But what were those other pieces of meat?
I recoiled in revulsion upon being told that they were khiri (cow udder). I couldn’t hide my shock or horror. Not only were these Hindus eating cow udder, they considered it to be a delicacy! How could that be? Was it really cow udder? Surely not! (But yes, it really was).
The other foreigners at the party were just as adverse to eating the udder as I was. And they were French, with no qualms about eating escargot (snails).
The host was full of profuse apologies for offending my western sensibilities. No doubt, as he happily chewed on the marinated pieces of udder, he couldn’t understand my reaction though.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Okay I would have tried it!
But then I have eaten fried scorpion in china and no I did not throw up!
But I have never heard of Khiri … is that a regional specialty? I imagine it would have tasted like tripe. Growing up vegeterian in India, there is much about Indian meat cooking I was not exposed to. That I embraced meat eating enthusiatically after leaving India, just means that this particular apple fell far from the familial brahmin tree
Holy cow! I don’t do well with organ meats at any time. I think I probably would have turned green and I’m sure that’s an insult to the host in any nation.
I’m an avid avoider of eating organs too! As for whole creatures such as scorpions, cockroaches and the like, no way!!
AnotherKiranInNYC – oh dear, another Brahmin falls prey to the wicked west! lol.
I think Khiri is a Muslim food. It’s a common roadside dish in Maharastra. I’m not sure if it’s popular anywhere else (and don’t plan on finding out!!).
Any Hindu who eats a cow is not a real Hindu, in my opinion.
There are reasons beyond just “food taboo” that abstaining from cow flesh has developed in Hindu culture.
They don’t know their own culture, and maybe they don’t want to.
If they don’t want to – no problem, that is their free choice.
I come from a priestly family but I am guilty of tasting ground beef
Heck even my family back home knows about it and no they are not mad at me.
That being said even after trying all kinds of meat and sea food around…. I am done trying non-veg stuff.
I am much more comfortable being a vegetarian and am sticking to it for the rest of my life
Cant beat em… I do realise the hindu sensibilities and veneration for a cow. I do see your viewpoint. India has always been an agricultural society and cattle was used to till the soil and was quite the farm implement and as a source of fuel etc. It was symbol of economic well being. No wonder we venerate the animal and other animal life forms. I do treat my laptop nicely too, and perhaps worship it because it helps me make a living. I am really not being facetious here at all. I am being completely serious. So I totally understand why I am not supposed to eat cattle meat. I get it, totally. I grew up with those ideas.
But what I really like about Hinduism is the interpretive nature of that way of life. I eat meat, have crossed the seven seas and even cohabit with a western man who considers himself an aethist (oh the horror!) and am mother to little half brown children. However I do still consider myself a Hindu. I also really like the fact that while you may not consider me a Hindu by your interpretations of being Hindu… it does not change my own claim on being Hindu.
By some classical rule written in some text somewhere I should probably be drowned in the Ganga (since a mere dip with do nothing for me) for having lost caste and whatnot, but it is not binding. There are no fatwas. I like that. I can be me and still be a pretty good person and Hindu.
So yes, I see your point, and I also see mine. I can be at peace with that.
Another Kiran: You didn’t see my point. My point has nothing at all to do with the economics of keeping cattle alive. But in your response, rather than “getting” my point, you’ve actually “proved” it, honey!!!
And it’s got nothing to do with losing or keeping this “caste purity” b.s.
A Hindu who eats beef is like a Muslim who denies Muhammed. And not because of econonomics.
Don’t know why you brought up marrying a white man (has nothing to do with being Hindu or not). But I’m glad you married one. I think if more Desi women started to out-marry, I mean in really, really high numbers, Desi dudes might wake up, take notice and stop taking them for granted.
And there used to be plenty of fatwas in the South Asian caste system. In fact, I think there still are amongst various communities.
Cant beat em…. My version of Hindusim is obviously different from your understanding of it and so I can certainly agree to disagree.
“Cant beat em…. My version of Hindusim is obviously different from your understanding of it and so I can certainly agree to disagree.”
Yes, of course. Didn’t mean to come off as judgemental or condemning in anyway. We are all free to eat whatever we want and we are all entitled to our own opinions. Its all good.
20 years in the USA, and Im still as vegetarian as the day that my boat docked in the US (or my plane may have landed in Atlanta, it was a long time ago.)
Many are the times that I have gone to bed hungry, but I did not break and bite into an animal ! And that was back in my student days, when I could not afford a car to go grocery-shopping.
Actually, these days, the USA is probably the second-most vegetarian-friendly place now, after India.
There is not a single vegetarian Indian dish that can’t be cooked in the USA, using inredients from the USA. (the Masalas might still need to be imported from India).
And so, I sneer in ill-concealed contempt for any Indian who forsakes his vegetarian ways after landing in the USA.
As for foreigners sojourning in India, when in India, why not develop an appreciation for the wonderful Indian vegetarian cuisine, because, after all, India does vegetarian like no other place on earth.
@AnotherKiranInNYC,
I think it is unfortunate that you praised your Hindu-status by taking pot shots at Muslims. Unlike the propaganda you are being fed in the West, Islam is not about fatwas. Reducing a complex and multivaried religion into a Fox News soundbite doesn’t make your Hindu stance of openness and individuality very persuasive. And seeing Hinduism in practice, no, I wouldn’t call you a practicing Hindu. And, personally, I don’t care what you are — as long as you don’t use your religion to knock mine.
It is not like ‘desi dudes’ have their choices limited between eternal bachelorhood and a desi wife. Just because Americans despise ‘third world men’ doesn’t mean the rest of the world does.
“It is not like ‘desi dudes’ have their choices limited between eternal bachelorhood and a desi wife. Just because Americans despise ‘third world men’ doesn’t mean the rest of the world does.”………………..
I appreciate masala from time to time, myself!
I hope, you guys realize that like the christian priesthood was corrupt, the hindu priesthood were too… We were not always cow worshiping vegetarians and all of the hindu priest class is not vegetarian either… as for animal body parts…DISGUSTING, is the word.