2 The ties that bind Cooking secrets passed from mother to daughter By CRIS LEYKAUF THEIR FOOD binds the communily almost as strongly as their religion. East Indian cooking, with its distinctive spices such as cumin, tumeric and coriander, is a bit too strong for some western palates. But for those who grew up wilh the rich aroma of curry scenting the kitchen, western food is just as un- attractively bland. “Tf we eat the spicy food we can’t eat bland,”’ ex- plains Gurjest-Parhar. She and her husband are former owners of the Rendezvous restaurant, which recently shut down. The restaurant featured a small East Indian menu, and was the only one in town to do so. It had a small, but fiercely loyal customer base. Parhar, like most East Indian women, leamed her cooking secrets from her mother and other older women in the family. In her case, her auntie was her tain teacher. “For the girls i’s a have-to thing,’? she explains, ‘Not all girls have to work outside the home, so they have to know how to cook. Men go outside and look after work and women look after home."” Parhar moved to Terrace from India in 1982, and her cooking was praised by friends and family. “Everybody keep saying to me — oh, you should have a restaurant.” It’s not easy to stay true to East Indian traditional cooking while living in northem B.C. We're far from the warm climate which produces many of the foods used in that cooking. Parhar is disdainful of many herbs offered in the grocery storc, so she grows her own whenever she _can, such as cilantro or fenugreck, Some herbs she dries, and others she freezes. A few herbs can’t be grown here, and aren't even available in town, So the family occasionally travels to Prince Rupert or Vancouver to stock up on items such as mustard oil. As for her special curries, Parhar blends them from a combination of herbs, such as coriander, black pep- pers, cumin and tumeric. “T use a lot of ginger and garlic,”’ she says. Curries have been the mainstay of East Indian cooking for as long as she can recall. Even the salt Parhar uses doesn?t come from a box — instead it’s rock salt, She keeps the crystallized tock in a sealed jar, preserving its salted egg taste. Parhar also grows her own vegetables, such as egg- plant and summer squashes. In the East Indian culture, food can also assume re- ligious significance. Many East Indians are vegetarians, says Pathar, and are forbidden to eat meat because of their religion. That creates some complications in the kitchen. If'a cook tauches-a meat dish with-one utensil, she can’t - then touch a vegetarian dish with it, for fear of con- Sikh religion teaches living honestly THE SIKH religion was established over 500 years ago with the first Gum, aman named Nanak. Like most prophets in history, Guru Nanak came at a time of turmoil in India. There were two main reli- gions vying for power at the time -— Hinduism and Islam. It is believed that Guru Nanak was born with pure qualities. He declared that he was neither of the: Hindu nor Islamic faith, but was instead created by God. Through his good deeds Guru Nanak gained a fol- lowing and thus began the Sikh religion. »Guru Nanak was followed by nine other buman Gurus. Their wisdom is recorded in a holy book known as the eleventh guru, Granth Sahib. This book is a compilation of the living wisdom of tlie Guru’s teachings, and followers of the Sikh religion treat the book as a person, By SALWA FARAH LITTLE AGILE fingers beat two drums known as tablas, producing a steady and intricate rhythm that reverberates in the small room. From a painting on the wall Guru Gobind Singh surveys the room with a piercing gaze. The other Gurus are also pictured on the wall, a golden halo il- luminating their saintly brows, This is Sam Gill’s prayer room. He’s here every morning to meditate on God and the teachings of the Guru’s that define the Sikh religion. While most kids his age would rather get the extra half hour to sleep in, this 11-year-old boy doesn't miad being roused from his sleep to pray. That’s because Gill is a baptized Sikh boy and leads a more disciplined life than most children his age. “T's a disciplined life because you have to get up earlier and can’t eat meat and stuff and have to pray twice every day,’’ explains Gill, Baptism in the Sikh religion is called Amrit — meaning nectar, When a boy becomes baptized, he drinks this nectar and become part of the brotherhood of Sikhs, the Khadsa. Gill has always wanted to be baptized, but it was only two years ago that his parents allowed him to go through the ceremony. “(Mom and dad kept telling me I wouldn’t be able «to handle it because its such a disciplined life — but * * finally they let me.’’ : Every summer Gill goes to a week-long Sikh camp “where children learn the Punjabi language, history, ‘ and traditional music. He was fascinated with the rites of baptism and felt it was something he wanted to join in. The baptism was performed by five baptized Sikhs who said prayers while crushing and stirring the nec. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, February 11,1998 - AS COOKING NAN is simple —- if you know what spices to use. Gurjeet Parhar often cooks the un- leavened bread for her family. She was taught the secrets of traditional East Indian cooking by her aunt and her mother. tamination — ina religious sense. Strict followers of this doctrine are forbidden even to cal eggs. But it’s getting easier for them and for others to fol- low a traditional East Indian dict. Parhar says local grocery slores are responding to requests from the East {udian community for specific foods. ‘When Parhar-opened her ‘restaurant: she had a chance to share those foods with the rest of the com- “The Guru is one who bestows learning —— brings us from the darkness into light,’ said Swaran Cheema, the priest at the Terrace Sikh temple. The Guru is a messenger from God sent with ihe duty to bring harmony to earth. Sikhs are bound to listen to the wisdom of the Guru. The ward Sikh literally means disciple of the God. “We are supposed to be going on the teachings of the Gurus and these teachings direct us to do good deeds and not to harm anybody,’’ explains Cheema. As a priest he has a duty to lead an honest life, dis- playing the virtues upheld by the Gurus. That’s also the duty of any baptized Sikh. “What we attain for is a break from thal cycle of life and re-birth,’' says Cheema, The concept: ‘of reincarnalion is also an integral belief in the Sikh religion. each day with prayer SAM GILL plays the tablas while his little brother Sahir accompanies him on the harmonium. The boys use the instruments to help guide them in their hymns, yoo munily. “LT love cooking. If I want to create something new I make my own recipes,” she says. Often shell com- bine the best elements of two or three other recipes. Although Parhar’s restaurant has since closed, there’s another option for those who’ve developed a taste for East Indian cuisine through her cooking or who'd like to give the food a try. Harayana’s — a new restaurant west of town — offers alarge range ‘| of East Indian dishes. A person could go theoretically. be reborn over & million times, into human, animal, and even insect forms, Through good deeds a Sikh can escape this cycle of death and rebirth, achieving the ultimate goal of joining with God. The acceptance of death plays an important part of the religion, “Tf we remember we’re going to die, then there wouldn’t be that much evil,’’ says Cheema. He sug- gest'none of us are immortal and our souls will ultimately be judged by the creator, There is no heaven or hell in the Sikh religion. In- stead everyone has the options of doing good or evil. “Heaven and hell are just concepts that people talk about. When we pray we pray to God ‘may we be devoted to you’ and not, to take us to heaven — we pray to be good peaple.” These five k’s are what identify the Sikh religion from any other. They are called Kakkars because the words describ- ing each all start with the letter K. Kesh is the long hair. Baptized Sikhs don’t cut their hair and if thev are. men. don’t shave their beards as a sign of divinity. Kaagha, the wooden comb is a sign of spiritual dis- cipline (as well as keeping long hair clean). Kara — the steel bracelet — is a sign of one’s com- While Gill is too young to wear a turban, he wears a patka, a type of scarf to keep the hair tidy, It is topped with a joorah, ora bun. Sometimes Gill docs miss the odd prayers, but he always tries to make up for it during the weekend. “'That’s another rule, you can’t lle,’” confesses Gill. Religion is a big part of his life and it helps guide. him in everyday life, “When Ido my homework and stuff, I have to get everything donc on time.’’ That’s because he has to CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag Dangerous street Dear Sir: I wonder if the planner who figured it was a goad idea to put the sidewalk right beside the road on the newly-paved sec- tion of Sparks has ever been, down there. Maybe he/she should try to get up or down that small stretch of road in front of Clarence Michiel school between 2:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Not only did they put small children right beside the road, but they took away the small section of shoulder that some obviously unthinking, or ignorant, parents used toa park on while waiting for their kids after school, Now these idiots park right on the street. Both sides. Guess how much room that leaves the other traffic, I totally agree with school-zone speed limits, but il is ridiculous when other traf- fic has to craw] and weave between these idiots parked on both sides of the street when there is a parking lot right beside, and in front of the school. Has our planner heard of ‘No Parking’ zones? Or can’t our town afford the yel- low paint? Some schools in Vancouver and Burnaby have instituted these no parking zones for two blocks around the schools and they seem to work. It gives the chil- dren a chance to disperse somewhat, so there is not a big congregation of kids trying to sneak across the street between crosswalks and risking injury or worse. On numerous occasions I have seen parents screaming out their car window at their child to hurry up, arms waving, and they are nowhere near a crosswalk where it is safe to cross. What are these im- beciles teaching their children? It is just a matter of time before some- one hits a small child that dashes out be- tween these morons to get to his/her equally asinine parent parked across the street, and I hope to hell it isn’t me. Something has to be done about this dangerous situation. Brad Mazurak, Terrace, B.C. Abortion law void Dear Sir: Ten years have gone by and Canada still does not have a Jaw that will protect hu- man life. Canadians are still struggling with the issue of abortion. In 1995, the last year that abortions were counted, there were 106,658. This is up from 70,023 in 1988 when the law against abortions was struck down. Through ultrasound technology ‘we know much more about fetal’ develop- ment. Those in favour of the procedure have had to admit that it is not just tissue. By the time most abortions are dane, there is a tiny, fully formed baby growing in its mother’s womb. Surgical techniques have been devel- oped so that doctors can perform life saving and corrective surgery on the baby still inside the mother’s body. This puts Canadians in a huge dilemma. On one hand, we gladly go to great lengths and financial cost to save and protect the life of one baby, while in another part of the hospital we are forced to pay or partici- pate in the killing of another life. Dr. Morgenthaler has also had to admit that there is a killing of life during abor- tions, except he calls it ‘‘potential tife’’, What does that mean? If a woman chooses to carry her baby to term, it is a baby. If she chooses not to, she can do anything she wants to it right up until the moment of birth. A woman in Ontario did. She shot her child and tried to kill it two days before her son was born. He then needed surgery 1o remove the pellets fom his brain. It saddens me to think that ‘‘potential mothers” are not being encouraged or counseled to value and protect the life within them. Abortion in Canada has never been legalized. In 1988 the abortion law was struck down, leaving a void, where any- thing gocs, Canadians need a law that will protect those who cannot yet speak for them- selves, Sharon Vanderlee, Terrace, B.C, ‘Onward, citizens Dear Sir: Now that the issue of recall is behind us, Ict me extend my thanks to the ‘seventy-five per cent of the Skeena con- stituents who refused to sign the petition fora variety of reasons, My job is to represent the people of Skcena. The challenge now is to heal the divisions created by the recall campaign. ] extend an invitation to anyone with con- cems to call me; discussions are the basis . forunderstanding. Helmut Glesbrecht, MLA, Skeena 5 He’s a good guy Dear Sir: The unsuccessful vicious atlack to recall Skeena MLA Helmut Giesbrecht . has -achleved nothing more than stirring up dissension and ill feelings. I have lived 44 years in the northwest and have experienced economics that were both goad and bad. Many MLAs have come and gone, Our present MLA is al least cqual to most of mitment to Truth and is similar to a wedding ring given by the Guru, Kirpan \s the dagger {most Sikhs only wear a sym- bolic small dagger) and it is to Aefend the weak recite the evening prayers before going to sleep. As for missing out Big Mac’s and pepperoni pizza, Gill doesn’t’ seem to mind, Besides, being a vegetarian is the ‘in’ thing. - ‘tar in a bowl, explains Gill. * “After that everyone gets ina fine and they put the : nectar on the eyes and hair and (hom we drink it,’’ : Being baptized nicans following sirict rules. + ‘We always have to. wear the. five k’s the tenth against oppression. .. Gill doesn’t seem to be bothered by looking dif- them and better han some. : « gum gave ws — and we're not supposed to leave Kachera are boxer shorts and they ‘symbolize ferent than other kids, he just tells them ‘‘it's my reli- _ Fred Glover, them on the ground,’’ he says. chastity. ” gion.?? Terrace, B.C.