Say WHAT???

Now what would you say if your husband came home one day and announced that he was moving the whole household to another country? When it happened to me, I was totally fine with it because it was just the two of us, we had almost no possessions (being practically newly weds) and our destination was not on a need-to-know basis.

But what if he had asked me to pack up a houseful of dishes, furniture, clothes, tools, animals and servants? And when I ask "where are we going?" (just so I'll know what sort of clothes to pack, you understand), he would say "Not sure, dear, we'll get instructions on the way." How would an average woman respond to such a request?

The torah doesn't say but, knowing what we later learned about her temperament, we can safely assume Sarai did not take this calmly. I suppose it went something like that:

"Oh, you impossible, exasperating man. How in the world do you come up with these cockamamie plans? What do you mean 'we're leaving'? Did it even occur to you to consult me on the subject? Wasn't it enough that you took me away from Ur Kasdim? Now you want me to move again? And for what? Do you have any clue about what is involved in such a move, even if I was to lose my mind and agree to it? How do you plan to carry all of our possessions? Or do you think I should leave everything behind? Because I am telling right now, it ain't gonna happen.  And what will the neighbors think? Not only are we the only monotheists in the whole world, we are now to also be the only ones leaving without a forwarding address. What am I supposed to tell my friends? How am I supposed to keep in touch with them? Facebook will not be invented for thousands of years yet. Look, Abe, I like city life. I like living in a modern house, going to the market, gossiping with the girls by the well, having an afternoon tea with my friends. Why, just the other day I got this awesome recipe from my friend Firoozeh; she's new in town. She says she comes from some land called, if you can believe it, "paras", where they talk with a funny accent but cook some really interesting food. She gave me this recipe for an amazing soup and dumplings, and I know how you love dumplings. If we leave, I do not think I will ever be able to acquire the ingredients for this dish. Are you absolutely sure you want to risk it? Wait, where are you going? You are not seriously leaving me to do all the packing by myself, are you? Hmpf. Typical."

In the end, he talked her into it. Just as later, he talked her into passing as his sister, and he talked G-d into reconsidering the destruction of S'dom, and he talked Efron into taking money for the cave of Makhpelah. Very convincing fellow, our ancestor.

And so Sarai organized the servants to pack the pots and pans, and the clothes, and the tents, and the  animals. And, like any woman worth her salt, she must have packed the special herbs and spices of her native land because she knew what men usually tend to forget: that, while traveling exposes one to new and exciting adventures, it is the familiar smells and flavors of home cooking that make the strange new place feel, at least a little bit, like home. 

And as time went by, I hope Sarai learned to love the new land she came to call home, made new friends and exchanged new recipes, knitting patterns and gossipy tidbits. And found happiness. 

I know I did.

A little before Rosh Hashana, my friend Mara (who is, Baruch Hashem, doing much better) sent me a link from her Rabbi about interesting recipes for the chag, and asked if I knew what chickpea flour was. Do I ever. It's a staple in Iranian cooking and might have been the above mentioned recipe Sarai learned from the woman who came from a land where they talk with a funny accent. 


I am bringing it here exactly as it appeared in the email. Give it a try. You can buy chickpea flour in the special flours isle at Shoprite (where they also have stuff like rye flour and rice flour, by a company called Bob's Red Mill. Their hechsher is K)

Chicken and Chickpea Dumplings (Gundi) in Chicken Soup

Adapted from Encyclopedia of Jewish Food by Gil Marks
Dumplings:

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1.5 cups chickpea flour 
• 2 medium yellow onions, grated
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• About 1 teaspoon salt
• About 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• About 2 tablespoons water

Soup:

•  2 quarts/boxes chicken broth
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• Salt to taste
• Assorted chopped fresh herbs: any combination of basil, parsley and cilantro

1. In a medium bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients, adding enough water to form a mixture that is smooth but not sticky. Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours. Using moistened hands, shape into smooth 1-inch balls, about the size of golf balls.
2. In a large pot, add the olive oil, sliced onions and celery and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, turmeric, and salt and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the gundi, cover, and simmer until the gundi are tender, about 40 minutes.
3. Add some chopped fresh herbs to your soup bowl. Spoon dumplings and broth over herbs and serve.






Aren't we all glad Sarai was willing to leave everything familiar (again) and travel to an undisclosed destination (through the desert, no less) and make it her home, thereby starting the "wandering Jew" trend which led, eventually, to space exploration? Because how else would we know what Mars looks like?