Since I’m still in the middle of my “break” in between jobs, I have had a lot of time to observe things that are going on around me and contemplate their true level of normalcy (according to the Western mind).
This week, I have two – that’s right, you heard me: two – anecdotes to share with you! But, don’t get too excited. I’m going to share one at a time. The second story is more or less a work in progress. So, get excited…after the sweet nugget below, feel free to anticipate what is to come!
On Saturday, my colleagues, Tina, Shannon and I were invited for a traditional Maharashtran lunch at the home of one of our favorite pastors in all of Mumbai: Pravin! Pastor Pravin has been an invaluable resource for our team at the NGO this past year. He has single handedly helped us to plan at least 8 conferences, has helped us acquire independent witnesses from the local church to volunteer on rescue operations and has started using the small group Bible study I co-wrote in his church. Love him.
After a surprisingly successful and more or less stress free cab ride to Navi Mumbai, the suburb where Pravin lives, Tina, Shannon and I were greeted by a very excited Pravin and equally excited Stuti, age 5, and Joy, age 9. It felt like a true homecoming!
Shortly after settling in, Pravin informed us that his wife, Vandana, would be teaching us how to make puran puri that afternoon! What is puran puri, you ask? Well – it’s a essentially a chapati, or flat Indian bread, with a mixture of mashed lentils, jaggery and masala inside. Kind of like the Indian version of stuffed French toast! After boiling the lentils for an hour, they are doused in a variety of spices, including cardamom and jaggery (unrefined cane sugar). After that, the mixture is blended together in a food processor until it resembles a golden colored paste.
After the dough for the chapattis is made, you take a small ball of dough and roll it out with a rolling pin until it’s about 1 centimeter thick and about three inches in diameter. Then, you take a scoop of the puran paste and clump it in the middle of the dough. After you pull up the sides of the dough around the puran and pinch the top closed, you can pat it down with some flour to smooth it out – it becomes a sort of puran pocket! Then, you slowly take the rolling pin and flatten out the pocket so that it becomes thin and circular, about 7 inches across. To finish it up, you place the puran puri over heat (on a skillet) and brown the top and bottom by applying plenty of ghee (clarified butter – mmm) while you flip it. Voila! To enjoy the best possible Maharashtran experience, you serve the sweet bread with more ghee drizzled on top and dip it in warm milk. Puran puri!
Here is a picture of me rolling out my puran puri! I clearly get me “cheffery” skills from my brother, Jason!
Our day with Pravin and his family was so great. So often in the work I’m involved in, I hear terrible stories of family betraying family; brothers selling sisters, fathers abusing daughters, mothers subjecting their own to a life of captivity in the sex trade. I know the vicarious trauma I’ve incurred by working with victims of sex trafficking has occasionally spilled over into how I view the (millions of) people around me. Unintentionally, I find myself assuming that all families are bad; that all families are riddled with secret lives of incest and greed – my guard is up and I become suspicious of anyone and everyone.
What a relief to know I am wrong. Those things do happen within so many families around the world; but the hope is that God has been raising up families like Pravin’s! Families like yours and mine who love their children, who teach them right from wrong and empower them to seek justice for victims of oppression. Pravin’s family is so faithful. To many, it would appear that they don’t have much. But in reality, they have life to the fullest! The rely on God to provide for them – whether it’s for fees so their children can go to an English-speaking school, for funds to purchase a vehicle so they can minister to people living with HIV/AIDS in the slums, or for the courage needed to boldly walk into red light areas and assist the local police in rescuing women and young girls who have been forced into sexual hell…Pravin and his family demonstrate the power that comes by living in the Spirit.
I am so honored to know them and so grateful to God for giving me an afternoon of “family-time” when I so often miss my own family and long to feel surrounded by love (and good food, of course).
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