So That's Where it Comes From...

[Warning: The following post may be a little more descriptive than some of you will appreciate.]

Yesterday I was with someone when they bought chicken to cook for dinner. This was my first experience buying uncooked chicken meat in India. Now if I remember correctly, in America we grow chicken inside of styrofoam trays with plastic wrap on the top. In India, they grow chickens into these funny looking birds that are alive and flapping about inside a little enclosure. It seems like a funny system to me, but perhaps those styrofoam trays are hard to grow in this climate, so growing chickens in bird form works better for them. Who knows?

Anyway, my companion told the chicken salesman the weight of chicken he wanted, and the seller found a chicken of approximately that weight. The chicken was flapping around like crazy, but the seller held it tight with only one arm. Using his other arm he used a knife to slice halfway through the chicken's neck. He then dropped the chicken in a large bin, placed a board over it. We listened to the chicken flop around in there for about five minutes. My companion explained to me that this was to let the blood drain out of the body. Eventually the noises stopped, and the salesman pulled a red, lifeless chicken out of the bin. He finished cutting the head off, and then chopped off both feet. I then watched as he pulled the feathers and skin off of the chicken as if they were merely a wrapper. He sliced the body up, put the pieces in a bag, and handed us the bag. A few hours later we were eating a wonderful chicken dinner.

They may have a different system for it here in India, but the chicken still tastes pretty good. You just need to learn to get over seeing it butchered in front of you.