Peppertrail

I don't know if this can be called a samosa recipe. I make them with store bought phyllo pastry sheets. A few layers of phyllo pastry sheets cut into squares, brushed with ghee, filled with a blend of sugar, crushed walnuts, almonds and bits of chocolate, fold and seal in the shape of samosas and bake till they are golden brown. Sprinkled with coco or powdered sugar when they are hot. Tastes great when they are warm.

I have seen people line up for Chocolate burfis at Grand sweets in Madras. Personally I prefre their traditional sweets. Yes, the taste of Mexican mole sauce with a touch of chocolate. I make my own mole sauce and then order baby back ribs, spicy German sausage and smoked briskett from Texas. I mix mole sauce with the BBQ sauce that comes with the package of smoked meats. Five minutes before taking the meats out of the oven, brush them lightly with the sauce. And also serve extra sauce on the side. My family and guests seem to enjoy it. Being a picky vegetarian, I have not tasted them. But I do love mole sauce with new potato enchilada (Mexican masala doa?).

Drumstick trees can reach a height of about 20 to 30 feet; they have corky gray bark, branching, fernlike leaves, and clusters of white flowers. The dagger-like vegetables grow 12 to 16 inches in length.

As Mongo_Jones wrote Indians do go on picnics. As a child I remember going on picnics to the gardens near Malampuza dam in Paalakkad, Kerala. We took lots of crunchy snacks (murukku, tengavada) and sweets (appam, ellunda and mysorepak) that did not require any serving utensils. There was plenty of homemade lemonade and flask full of piping hot south Indian coffee. Here is a brief passage from Gowri Ramnarayans' article "Evening Picnics along the Cauvery" in which she describes the picnics of her Patti's (grandmother's) time. This picnic was near Cauvery river in Tamilnadu, south India. The article appeared in The Hindu four or five years ago. During the "padinettam perukku" or the first floods of the Cauvery in the month of Adi, it was the time for evening picnics. Women made four kinds of rice, each spicier than the other - yellow lime, golden tamarind, brown sesame seed, and the mandatory curd rice of the Tamils, pearly white and splattered with green chillies and mustard. ("Flavoured with asafoetida juice, made by marinating and gently rolling the gum with your index finger in a small cup of water," Patti will inform you with pride."None of your odourless powders from a box.") Pickles and fries rounded off this meal by the riverside, served on leaves fresh picked from trees near by, washed down with the cool water from the Cauvery. "You cannot imagine that taste. The gingelly oil from the village press had a fragrance quite unique, as did the tamarind from our own trees that we helped to seed and dry." Morning picnics were held in the month of Margazhi. Braving the December cold the village elders (only males) would start on their round of pre dawn bhajans. Such roars accompanied by clashing cymbals would wake the children who would rush out and join the procession as it sang its way to the river bank. Some elderly lady would make pongal on a stove of assembled bricks with sticks of wood. This was not sweet pongal but white stuff dripping with home made ghee ("From a single cow," Patti would add), and sprinkled with jeera and pepper. Oh, to take a dollop of it on a plantain leaf straight from the stove, so that it warmed your palm and tongue in the misty mornings . . . ! edited for typos

Monica: Pictures look great. I have never tried gits mix for gulab jamun. A friend of mine said she used make gulab jamun in pre-gits days with milk powder and pancake mix. Ammini

Influences of centuries of foreign trade, both via the Silk Road through the north and Indian Ocean trade with east and west coasts of India has left its imprint on our agriculture and cuisine. I have only studied the Indian Ocean trade with Kerala. This flourishing spice trade began before the birth of Christ. Nomadic Arabs and ancient Phoenicians were among the first who came to Kerala for trade. Spice trade and commerce between China and south India by sea began as early as 2nd century B.C. The Arabs gained control of the lucrative spice trade by 600 B.C. More than one hundred ships set sail every year from the Egyptian ports of Myos Hormos and Berenice on the shore of the Red Sea toward India. They left in July, at the height of the southwestern monsoon season, and returned, carrying their precious cargo of black pepper and cinnamon, with the northwest monsoons in November. Overland caravans then transported the cargo from these ports to the port of Alexandria. And from there it traveled by ship to the rest of the Mediterranean. Venice and Genova were the major ports along the shores of Mediterranean. During the reign of King Ptolemy VII, about 120 to 116 B C, a Greek sailor learned to navigate his ship toward India’s tropical coast, and thus began the age of Roman trade. Our trade with the Romans was extensive and lasted for several centuries. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Arabs regained control again. During the latter half of 15th century, the royalties of Spain and Portugal financed dozens of expeditions in search of a sea route to the spice coast India. The Dutch and the British followed them. Spice trade was as profitable an undertaking as it was complex.

Suman: vermicelli and semiya are the same thing. Ammini

jw 46 and skchai: Thank you. ammini

Being from Kerala I am not qualified to talk about paneer. Cheese is not an ingredient in traditional south Indian cuisine. But I do love paneer dishes. At best tofu may look like paneer, but taste wise, it certainly does not.

quote: [The $14 million Lloyd Weber Indo-British musical, “Bombay Dreams,” after fair success during its 2-year run in London, was finely chopped and grilled to well done by local and national U.S. media when it premiered at the Broadway Theater on April 29th. Bombay Dreams may have done okay in UK but the Americans have given it a big thumbs down, or all digits down.] I wonder if all those critics used so many culinary metaphors because Madhur Jaffrey's Curries to Kebabs was on sale in the theatre lobby. I have read some of the critical reviews, but a local TV channel in New York did a rather favorable review and even showed parts of Jackson Heights and reported that people could buy Indain music and clothes there. I saw this mucial while it was still in previews. The audience, mostly Americans seemed to be enjoying the music. I think even if the show is not a great success, the music CD may sell well.

The Indian snack you described seems like semiya uppuma. Very thin noodles are crushed into small pieces, toasted in a little oil, and then cooked with sauteed green chili peppers, freshly grated ginger, mustard seeds and curry leaves. In Kerala we can't seem to cook anything without coconut, so we garnish it with grated coconut and cilantro leaves. As much as I love Italian food, I don't like to combine Indian food with Italian food. May be I am too old fashioned - I don't like fusion cuisine. I like to cook both Italian and Indian in the traditional way. It is probably partly culture and partly tastes.

On top of the list plantain banana chips and jackfruit chips. Most savoury snack dishes made from Besan, rice flour and urad flour (that covers a whole lot- murukku, kara mixture, thattai, ribbon pakkoda, cheeda and more) Crispy dosas with fresh coconut chutney and dosa podi. I am getting hungry writing this. Let me stop and go make some dosas.

Ok, Episure, if you insist. I agree with mongo_jones that Italian pasta is almost entirely a restaurant phenomenon. During my last visit I was surprised to see pasta dishes in many restaurant menus. Then there are those Maggi brand noodles which children seem to enjoy. But is that really pasta? I don't know. My undertanding is (please correct me if I am wrong) that pasta is made with duram wheat flour, water and eggs. In Kerala (and in other parts of India too) we make a dessert, Semiya Paaayasam with very thin wheat noodles made of just wheat flour and water. These noodles are first toasted in ghee before cooking with milk and sugar. We also make a savory dish semiya uppuma with these noodles. The dish takes its name from sevian, the hair thin wheat noodles that were introduced to us by Arab traders. Another pasta look alike dish is idiyappam, rice-noodle cakes with fresh coconut filling, that are steam cooked in banana leaves.

I know what you mean. For many years I also went home for three weeks at a time and was never able to sit down and talk to everyone about those family recipes. I flet bad that my children who grew up here will never know their legacy. Six years ago I decided to do something about it. I started writing down the recipes from my mother's and aunt's letters which were my only source of Kerala recipes during my early years of stay in the U.S. Then during my visits home I took the time to speak with family and our old cooks. After September 11th when the financial markets were collapsing, I took a chance to leave my job and decided to concentrate on my project. Ever since I have been going home for months at a time and talking, collecting, testing and writing down those recipes - 180 plus so far. Someday hopefully I would able to move them from the hard drive of my pc to the pages of a cookbook.

India Sweet House seems too far away from NYC. Is there a good recipe for saag paneer?

Episure: I don't know why anyone would prefer frozen fish over fresh fish. Anyway being a vegetarian I am not qualified to answer that question. Yes they do get fresh fish in the U.S. May be Indian fish is also price competitive? In any case India exports a variety of seafood to U.S. and other countries. Here are a few exporters from Kerala and their product list. This is by no means a complete list of exporters. And I have no idea who exactly are their customers in the U.S. Cochin Frozen Food Exports Private Limited is a USFDA green ticket holder. Plant has USFDA HACCP compliance. European Union approved plant. Facilities approved by Government of India under self-monitoring system. Products include Fresh Water Shrimp, King Fish (Seer Fish) Reefcod, Red Snapper, Ribbon Fish and Pearl Spot Fish. Bharath Sea Foods export frozen marine products to Japan, U.S.A, E.E.C, Canada, Turkey, U.A.E., Gulf, Korea, Seafood products include Shrimp, Cuttle fish, Squid, Crab, Ribbon Fish, Seer Fish, Tilapia, Milk Fish, Anchovy, Pearl Spot, Mullet, Eel, Jelly Fish, Silver Pomfret and Black Pomfret. Geo Seafoods has approval for EEC countries and possess 'green channel' facility for the US Food and Drug Authority. Products include Seerfish (Spanish Mackerel), White Snapper , Yellow Fin Tuna , White Pomfret, Emperor, Pearl Spot, Barracuda, Japanese Thread Fin Bream, Tuna, Scad and whole cuttle fish. R.F. Exports offers a wide range of seafood products to the major global markets which include the USA, Europe, Japan and China. The product range includes head Shrimp, Squid, Cuttlefish, Octopus, Fish and Fish Products, produced to the specifications and requirements of customers. Ammini

Mongo: I checked with my friend in Delhi and she tells me that Tildil and Tilsona are two brands that are readily available in grocery stores in Delhi. In Khan Market she has also seen sesame oil imported from China and other East Asian countries. INA Market is another possible source. She din't say anything about the aroma of the two brands Tildil and Tilsona. I have not bought these brands in the South. Ammini

In my previous life as a commodities analyst for an international bank I had worked with several seafood exporters. One of them used to get a substantial portion of his shrimp exports from Kerala. According to this exporter shrimp from India has great demand from seafood restaurants in the U.S. On one of my visits home, I had toured their shrimp freezing and packaging facilities in Kerala.

Episure: Thanks a lot for posting the recipes. Ammini

Mongo, I know where to buy good sesame oil in south India. Delhi, I have no idea. I will try to find out from my friends there. Ammini

Whippy: I have bought parachute brand coconut oil at Indian grocers in NY. Sorry to disagree- it doesn't have the aroma of coconut oil I get in Kerala. It has nothing to do with the age of oil. May be they go through some sort of processing before they are exported. I don't know. Ammini

Mongo: The sesame oil in India is dark in color and has a very good aroma. The sesame oil available in Asian stores in NY is called tosted sesame oil and it has a good aroma. However, the sesame oil in Indian stores is clear oil with no fragrance at all. It is the same with coconut oil too. The oil we get in the US does not have the taste or flavor of the coconut oil available back home. Ammini

Could you identify what vegetables are used in this dal? In Andhra they make a mildly spicy Mango dal using semi-ripe mangoes and mung dal. I have seen this served as a thick soup in some Indian restaurants.

Suman: That sounds interesting. Would love to try your recipe. I use tamarind for sambhar, tamarind rice, green chili chutney with tamarind and toasted sesame seeds, Coconut chutney powder, and the Kerala specialty Puliingi -with green chilies, ginger and tamarind.

My favorite churneys are Fresh coconut chutney with green chilis and ginger, Mango chutney, Shallot Chutney, fresh coriander chutney, and spicy coconut chutney powder.