I’ve wanted to take part in this for a while but couldn’t figure out what food to pick. Yesterday I did! Garlic bread sticks with cheesy dip, the domino’s kind.
I’ve had a special relationship with Dominos. Back in college, I would put aside money every month to buy Domino’s. At some point I was ordering only garlic breadsticks with cheesy dip. But Domino’s has a rule that you can’t just order sides unless it’s for more than 365 rupees. So then I would order 3 boxes and have it for lunch and dinner. It was one of my simple joys.
Last December, I went vegan. Disclaimer: My veganism has not been perfect. Not yet. I’m trying to figure out what it means to me. However, I had not had any garlic breadsticks since before I went vegan cause I was traveling. I’ve been craving them since.
Yesterday, we had to leave Auroville and go to Pondi for medical reasons. On the way back, I decided to have one last breadstick cheat day. We bought 5 boxes. And I ate 3.
Now my stomach is upset for having so much dairy after so long. But I have to say, totally worth it. Sure, there’s some guilt associated with it, but what can I say, the tummy wants what it wants. Also, now I have this memory to carry me through the rest of my time as a vegan. So I’m not complaining.
When you make it, I wouldn’t really care if it came out like Dominos or not. I’ll just be really happy that you tried! It’s the thought that counts. I would be happy that my last non-vegan cheat meal got immortalized this way.
My experience baking, eating and feeding garlic bread
- I love Dominos. That and Dajaj Shawarmas from Marrakesh were the two things I missed the most after shifting to Amravati. When Dominos came to Amravati I would eat there every time I could afford + anytime someone offered to buy me food. Mummy got hooked to the garlic bread and the chocolava cake. We would pick those for her even when we were passing Dominos.
R and I have been writing to Marrakesh asking them to open a branch in Amravati. - I have come to judge food by it’s time-to-make to time-to-finish ratio. Croissant at 60:1 hours is one end of the spectrum and Salsa is on the other with Hummus and Besan ke laddu in the middle. Garlic breadsticks and cheesy dip fall on the Croissant side of the spectrum. It takes you 2 hours to make it and it is gone by the time you get the apron unstuck from your hair!
- I have a favourite yeast. There I said it. I have a baking yeast I love and swear by in the short 2 months of baking. After my first few failed attempts at cinnamon rolls and bread, when I found how to test yeast, it changed my baking experience. And now one of the joys of my life includes watching my yeast activate and bubble. Perspective: I still don’t watch cooking shows.
- I had the best evening feeding garlic bread to fam. Kaka-kaki-babyR had come after a walk in the park, papa-mumma peaked out of the kitchen for a taste and dadi made a run for it in the commercial break of one of her marathi tv shows. BabyR was at it from the start to the end and mummy complained that she didn’t get to have any. These evening snack get-togethers have become rarer as I cook less frequently, but when they happen, I store the happy from it to regurgitate on bad days.
“I am figuring out what it means to me” is the most important thing I learned to say in my life. The knowledge that ideologies don’t come one-size-fits-all changed my life. Principles that seemed hardcoded turned out to be lego blocks too. After deciding what feminism means to me, I became brave enough to decide what a career means to me, what education, companionship, social capital meant to me. I stopped wearing ideologies that felt tight on my boobs, ones that are loose and feel like sloppy gunny bags. Now I am able to look it over and tailor it, so it fits right.
Recipe
Coming soon