tryska

i like navy bean soup too - with either ham or a smoked turkey leg in it. i also like white beans, oil-packed tuna and red onions with some balsamic over it, and a chickpea, tomato and red onion salad flavored with a touch of barbecue sauce and fresh cilantro.

suvir - i'm racking my brain thinking of the one that used to be here near me - it was run by christians, so that may be why - but it moved to someplace out of my general 3 mile radius about 3 years ago, and i can't remember the name anymore. there was also another one - but i'd only been to that one once and it was definitely not in my area. i remember being absolutely shocked tho.

i think they are - and i've never tasted anything like them anywhere else, whether indian home cooking or indian restaurant - i have no idea what essential steps she skips, but it turns out alright anyway. actually i've been craving white radish dhal and rice for several weeks now, unfortunately i can't find the white radishes anywhere.

yeah i agree..that's a better way of putting it - most do wind up being non-veg with veg offerings. we've got quite a few that are strictly veg tho - one near me does all types, but was actually started by a south african indian couple.

the bread is fresh at Olive Garden? where is yours located? the one near my house serves those oblong breadstick type things, which coem from frozen. actually the bread has gotten progressively worse over the last 5 years, now that i think about it. might just be that location, tho. i prefer the local italian across the street from me, now. mmm..real live garlic rolls.

god i love dekalb farmers market. unfortunately, one day i realized it was 50 miles roundtrip to drive there, and stopped going, except to prepare for thanksgiving (that's a ritual). ( i live in vinings too)

heh. seeing lots of familiar faces in this thread.

my mother hated to cook, so our home food was very pared down. it typically meant a meat dish of some sort, and rasam and rice, dhal (sometimes with either beet, radish, ladyfinger, spinach, or vegall) and rice, or uppuma alongside. or a biryani. if she was well rested and in the mood to make it, it would be meatball curry and puris. my favorites which i find myself making when i crave homecooking is egg or meatball curry, rasam (especially when i am sick) with rice and something that i named "karuppu curry" when i was young (essentially twice cooked meat - once as a curry, then fried to evaporate the liquid off). also white radish dhal over rice with ghee and mango pickle makes me happy.

meat was always the center of our meals at home we were christian) but to me, anything that doesn't bleed is considered vegetarian. as for restaurants here in the US, they typically handle it by being all-veg to attract indian and non-indian veggies, or they have a broken down menu with various meat offerings. (sometimes even beef)

i was going to suggest tandoori gobi as well. roast cauliflower is yummy. also corn, portabellos, and eggplant. if you get the huge eggplants you can cut them into thick steaks. i've always pierced them and marinaded in good seasons italian dressing. another idea as a side, for both veg and non veg alike is to roast some whole garlic heads on the grill and then spread bread with the roasted cloves.

i wonder if you could use TVP. Anyone tried it?

ah...that makes sense. a bottle of vanilla syrup would go a longer way than a case anyways.

well..having a mother who hated to cook. when i turned 13, and she started working with my father at their business, dinner became my responisiblity. witht he added bonus, of mom leaving me a blank check each day to go get whatever i felt like cookign to make dinenr for the family with. of course the downside is that i'm completely incapable of making a dinner for 1 or 2. i work best in batches of 5-10 servings.

why not jsut buy him a case of vanilla coke?

thanks torakris - it's fascianting how taboos come abotu, no? and thanks for digging up the korean thread - i wonder if the rules go out of the window when it's a korean BBQ/Sushi restaurant, liek the one down the street from my house.

i see. that's interesting.

hmmm..mango pickle and peanut butter? i've never tried that. garlic pickle's pretty good tho.

ouch.

vertical in the rice is a religious no-no? why is that?

i think this is a good rule of thumb no matter what culture you are form or in. *lol*

actually this thread made em remember my room mate in college's older sister went to an all-girls junior college in Mass. they got to request whatever they wanted for their evening meals, and it was not unheard of to get lobster thermidor, or beef wellington, and tortes for dessert. man was i jealous!

i typically just look at ingredients - or when in doubt - go for clear or fruit-like beverages - except mountain dew and surge or whatnot.

Stevia is not approved for use in foods as a high intensity sweetener (it's not GRAS). It is, however, approved for use in flavor systems, but not if it's purpose is to impart sweetening. Thaumatin, Lo Han Guo, and other natural high intensity sweeteners are similarly not approved for use in food applications (though for dietary suppliments, they are fine). That's one of the reasons you don't see mainstreaming of the natural HIS's in food items. There are also technical difficulties associated with what is essentially a small spice industry - many of them are very hydroscopic (absorb water readily) and all of them have strong off flavor notes associated with them, especially at the use levels that would be required to impart a significant sweetening punch. thanks sebastian - that's a shame really. tho i guess of all of the artifical ones, sucralose is probably the best. i can't stand nutasweet or ace-K - they both give me a wierd reaction in too large of an amount. and i'm over glycerols and the other sugar alcohols after workign my way thru a box of labrada leanbody lemon chiffon bars. ook.

gary - i've never eaten in that scenario, so i'll ahve to keep that in mind if it ever comes up. and torakris - good to know i won't have to worry abotu it in Japan either!

yeah i know the feeling...India is the same way, with very strong taboos. Thankfully my dad wanted ot raise us, especially me being a girl, without the baggage that cna come with culture, and he was ambidextrous, so rthere was no stigma in the house - however i did have a Hawaiian Chinese nun in the 3rd grade, who first tried to make me right-handed and then gave up on that and tried to make me hold a pen like proper right-handed person would. that didn't take either, and i still write sorta upside down. I'm glad I haven't been commiting some unknown faux-pas, and will happily continue to use my chopsticks with my left-hand. thank you!