rajsuman

I don't have an opinion on the ghee issue, but I must share with all of you my utter joy . You see, I simply love Amul butter. It's not available here, and I can't really bring it back from home, so the most I can do is to eat it to my heart's content while I'm in India. I've tried all brands of Irish butter, and they are all very good quality (as most Irish dairy products are) but it just wasn't the same . Recently I came across Brittany butter with sea salt....ahhhh...pure bliss! Comes very close to my Amul. Now I'm almost beginning to wish I hadn't come across it - the temptation is too great to resist. The butter calls out to me and I can't not answer Suman

Or if your microwave is anything like mine, try the defrost setting for 10 minutes. And there you have it... speedy cooked chicken Suman

I can't wait to get my hands on those other titles. Chitrita Banerjee's book had slipped my mind - reading it makes me wish I had some Bengali friends. Suman

'Fasting, Feasting' by Anita Desai comes to my mind. I read it a long time ago, so I couldn't tell you exactly what was in it. I do have it lying somewhere at the back of my closet. What I do remember is that there are numerous references to food. Meera Syal's 'Anita and Me' and 'Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee' are also good on that account. Suman

Oh no! And slow-cooked is the only way I like them! I've always followed the advice in point #11 and have never had any probs. At least not until now. Now that I know I might, who knows........ ? Did you add ginger to your dal, y'know, to aid the digestive process and all? Suman

It's funny that I never thought about this until I had to eat at a distant relative's place recently. Most of the time, if I'm really hungry, I'll even eat things I really, really hate. And if the food is badly cooked, I can at least appreciate the effort. But this time the food was unpalatable. I've never eaten such badly cooked food or seen such indifference towards cooking the food. There was no thought, no care, no love put into the cooking and it really, really showed. The vegetables were water-logged, the dal was gloopy, the rice was badly cooked. And it wasn't even some difficult, fancy stuff - just ordinary,everyday fare. Most beginner cooks could do better than that. The cook in question must really hate cooking to murder food like that. Anybody with similar experiences?

That's the one I had in mind! Is that of any help? Suman

What do you make with it? I have Chitrita Banerji's 'Bengali Cooking' somewhere - wonder if she makes any references to it? We call it 'Gabbo'. Mmmmmmmm....... Suman

Episure, I presume you're based in Blore now. Next time I'm there I'll definitely be in touch (make it a priority in fact). In the meantime, look me up the next time you intend to cook fish on the banks of the river Shannon (or Liffey). Wish I could make one incognito trip to India and eat my way through all the great eateries. Suman

Hi Monica, When I was working as the Indian Food Guide for About.com, I had to compile these lists of sites. One of them was about Indian pubs etc. One site stands out in my memory. It was called tullyhoo.com or some such thing. I wish I could remember better. I think it was mainly a directory of pubs in Indian metros, but it had info. on beers, wines , reviews, etc. Perhaps someone there might be able help you or have some relevant links. If the site exists that is. I have tried all combinations, but have failed to come up with the site. Maybe someone else knows better. I'll try and see if I have some info. on my hard disk. Suman

Thanks for the welcome Monica. It is good to be back on this forum. Had some great food in India and Dubai as usual. Brought back a tiny stone grinder which is doing its job very well. Episure, thanks again for your recommendations. I was so looking forward to eating at Vishala, but our hostess fell ill on the day we were to go there - so the plan had to be cancelled. My big loss, but I couldn't say that now, could I? We did manage to eat one meal out in Blore, though. Our friends took us to Samarkhand on Infantry Road. The food was nice, but I liked the interior even better. Feels like you're dining somewhere on the Frontier Province. Very well done, although the food is not cheap - in fact it costs almost as much as it does in this expensive city of Dublin. Will post more about the new foods I ate this time - got to go now - baby's bedtime!

yes "angoor" is excellent as well if i'm remembering it correctly (that's the adaptation of shakespeare's : "the comedy of errors" right? with sanjeev kumar playing one set of twins?); "chashme buddoor" is another classic. but the mahabharata scene in "jaane bhi do yaaron" with satish shah's corpse as draupadi may be the single funniest moment in indian cinema (can't imagine such a thing being done in the political climate in india today). there's a lot of food and food references in that movie ("thoda khao, thoda phenko"). about hrishikesh mukherjee's current activities i know little (hope he's still alive). you identified the keshto poem in "chupke chupke" alright: "aaj baag mein khilenga ek gulaab jaise ke pilaye de, pilaye de..." which is where he gets stuck. and dharmendra's solution: "ek gilass julaab" and so we're back on topic. the one flaw in "chupke chupke" is that it inexplicably has gulzar doing the dialogues but the vastly inferior anand bakshi doing the lyrics. Yeah Chashme Baddoor was another classic. I have a collection of all the movies you mention , except 'Chalti ka naam gaadi' (I know I've seen it, but can't quite remember the story). Unfortunately, I've left them all behind at my parents' place. Angoor , indeed, is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. It's being screened on Star Plus Europe on the last Sunday of April (I think) - can't wait to watch it for the umpteenth time. BTW, I can't remember Keshto saying 'Uske differential mein.....' in Chupke Chupke. When does he say that? I gather Hrishida is still alive (at least according to some websites I checked). Here's one to ruminate upon: Gobhi ka phool phool hokar bhi phool kyon nahin hai? Suman

I dont think I've laughed so much in a long time. Keshto lives forever in the big bar up there! you're welcome episure--"chupke chupke" is one of the great film comedies--surpassed only by "padosan", "jaane bhi do yaaron" and above all "chalti ka naam gaadi". bringing this back to the topic of food, do you remember the poem keshto is trying to compose in the movie and how dharmendra finishes it for him? I love all the movies that you mention there, Mongo. I would add 'Angoor' to the list. 'Jaane bhi do yaaron' has easily the most hilarious Mahabharata adaptation I've ever seen. I also love most of Hrishikesh Mukherjee films. Is he still making movies? Is this the Keshto poem you're thinking of - Baang mein khilenga ek gulaab? Love it. And how about Srivastavaji PK aayen hain? Suman

Hi Vikram, My first guess was that you probably ate the pith of the banana tree - but then again that needs to be cooked and is definitely not sweetish. It is a long off-white cylinder which is very fibrous. We add it to our bean ghashis - I simply love the stuff! Wish I could eat it more often. I've seen it being sold in Malayali foodstores in Dubai, so we Konkanis can't be the only ones eating it. Or are we? Suman

Hi all, God, have I missed this forum! Still, it's nice to have a backlog of posts to catch up on. Had some great food that I can't wait to replicate (or try to, anyway) in my kitchen. I so badly wanted to get back some traditional cooking utensils this time, but a) didn't know where to find them in Blore b) didn't have the time to go hunting for them c) even if a) and b) were not the problem, wouldn't have wanted to pay the exorbitant excess baggage rates to Europe. You in the US are SO fortunate with the baggage allowance that you get - we get a measly 20 - 25 kgs. per ticket. Yeah, there is something about cooking fish in the earthen 'chatti', isn't there? My grandma used to cook hers in an ancient black one - wonder where that's gone now? Apparently, the earthen pots also act like ACs and help keep the fish curry cool so that it wouldn't spoil easily. As for the mobile 'smithy', it was one of my most favourite things to watch as a child. I used to find the whole process fascinating. So happy to be back @ eGullet Suman

Hello Gautam, I'm looking at you open-jawed in admiration. Are you a food scientist? You've given me exactly the information and resources I've been looking for. THANK YOU - you're a font of knowledge. If I'm not troubling you too much, would you be able to give me the ISBNs of these books? Thanks a million, Suman

Hello Episure, Thank you so much for your kind invitation and also your recommendation re. the restaurants (BTW, are you known as Episure everywhere you go? ) . Unfortunately, we'll be away from Bangalore after the 20th in order to attend a wedding (that's the reason we're visiting India during this peak season), we come back for a day then fly to Bombay and then Ahmedabad. We're in Ahmedabad only for a day. It's going to be SO hectic! We've got such huge families on both our sides that we can't fit them all in in a single visit. Would you believe I haven't eaten out in India in a long time - I long to, but our relatives want to cook for us(and we feel blessed to have so many people who shower us with such affection) - there just aren't enough meals during our 3-week stay in India to cover all our relatives and friends. Result? We end up eating between breakfast and brunch! You can imagine the result of that - weight gain! However, I digress. I hope I can try out your recommendations. If there's any change of plans and we're in Blore after the 24th I'll PM you. I'll be in Dubai in Jan. - that's where I make up for the lack of eating out in India. It's going to be very difficult to stay away from eGullet, but I doubt I'll have the time to even gaze at the computer while in India. Merry Christmas and happy new year everyone! Suman

Hello Sudhir, Thank you for a very interesting class. I'd really appreciate it if you could elaborate a little further on the role of gluten in Indian breads. For example, how does gluten behave when the bread is baked, deep-fried or shallow fried? I am quite interested in this, but whatever literature I have found refers to Western breads. I am not asking you to get all scientific, although I'd be thrilled if you did. For example, it would seem to me that you'd get soft chapathis with a lower gluten (adding oil reduces the gluten, makes softer chapathies) and yet you get good results when the dough is kneaded well, which only encourages gluten-formation. That really puzzles me. Thanks, Suman

I'm going to be in India (Bangalore, Bombay, Ahmedabad) next month too, and yes the tickets (not easy to obtain even a couple of months ago) were definitely not cheap. Couldn't help it - we had to be there in Dec-Jan. Suman

Hi Pongi, Wish I could send you some urad dal over! It's terrible, isn't it, when you can't get the right ingredients for the job? It used to be like that when I first came to Ireland, but it's a lot better now. I suppose you could try making the dosas that don't need urad dal. Have you tried pesarattu or adai? There are many others too. Sympathetically yours, Suman

Bhasin: Could you please specify which recipe you'd like? I'd be glad to share it with you. Are you asking for Neeru Dosa recipe? As for the chutney, like Peppertrail, I had no access to fresh coconuts when I first moved to Ireland. I used to make a pretty convincing chutney with desicccated coconut and cashewnuts. In fact my husband, a coconut-lover, actually prefers this chutney, so I still make it despite an abundance (well,nearly) of fresh coconuts. And I like to believe it's healthier than an all- coconut chutney(although that never stops me from eating masses of coconut). I must try your almond version Peppertrail! Sounds good. Pongi: Perhaps Vinod, his mother or Monica are better-placed to address your dosa-making problems , but if it helps, here's what I've learnt from nearly eight years of trial-and-error. The consistency of the batter, the room temperature, the fermentation process, the heat of the pan, the type of pan all make a difference to the dosa. Different dosas have different requirements. Let's just talk about the crisp dosa for a minute. I have two different pans and the same batter will produce different results on these two pans. In the same way, sometimes I find a thicker batter gives a better result than a thinner one. I still haven't nailed it completely yet, but lesser and lesser of my dosas get binned these days compared to when I started. I suppose it's down to practice in the end. You do need urad dal (split black gram) for this and the batter has to be really smooth and lump-free. To eliminate the excess bubbles, try beating the batter vigorously with a ladle. I wish (and not for the first time) there was some kind of kitchen gadget to measure the consistency of things. Cooking would be so much simpler! Does that answer you question partially at least? Suman

I feel the same Kimabima. Only my parents understand my passion for cookbooks, no-one else does. Not even my best friend, not even my husband. I keep dropping hints that I'd like cookbooks (or even book vouchers) as presents but they don't get it. Nobody does. They can't see why I would want more cookbooks when I've already got so many. I get jewelry for presents and I know most women would think I'm mad for not being happy with that, but really I'd much rather have a cookbook instead. We tend to move every few years, so I have to think a lot before I buy a new cookbook, especially if it's a large book. I can't part with them once I own them. Monica, I'm SO sorry to hear your plight - I'm seething on your behalf here. My mother has lost quite a few books like that. I hope I never do - I might be physically ill if I did. The only books on display in my kitchen are the not-so-precious ones. The real treasures are all upstairs in the study where not many guests go. My other pet peeve : people who ask you for recipes but will not share theirs with you. I'm only too glad to share my recipes with anyone who asks for them, but I'm really beginning to get annoyed with this girl I know who only takes, never gives. Suman Edited to add this: I think I must be the only one in my region who the librarians see checking out more cookbooks than any other type.

I'd posted this question in an earlier discussion, but it got buried somewhere, so here it is again: What unusual things do you bring back from India? I've brought varak, copper vessels, the traditional butter-churner (mathani, even though I don't use it - mainly for decoration purposes), dried rose petals, bamboo shoots in brine, raw mangoes in brine.... Still on my list/wish list: Hyderabad ka potli masala, brass vessels, the black claypot my grandma used to make her famous fish curry in, surahi (a bit far-fetched I know), bharanis. Suman

This site should have this warning attached: eGullet may be harmful to your waistline! Last night I was exhausted, so after the children were asleep I decided to go straight to bed myself. However I thought of just checking my mail before I called it a day. One thing led to another and I found myself browsing eGullet. The eGCI class on South Indian breads was so inspiring that I ended up having an early breakfast (Thank God for the batter that was sitting in the fridge) - early by about eight hours! Finally when I got to bed it was several hours and dosas later Suman P.S. Ever tried dosas with pulikaichal (sp?)? MMmmmmm.....

Great class Vinod and Monica! Somehow your mother's touch made it even more special Vinod. Have been meaning to make appams at home for ages now - the pictures have given me all the incentive I need. We have traditional South Indian breakfast at weekends, but I already have dosa batter out of the freezer for tomorrow. (Here's a time-saving tip: Always make double the quantity of dosa batter - freeze half of it and then it's there when the urge comes. It freezes well. ) Appams will have to wait (again ) for a while. My mother-in-law makes the best idlis I have ever tasted in my life, but no matter how accurately I try to duplicate her, they never come out quite the same. I suppose my Sumeet can't compete with her stone-grinder . I have a few questions Vinod: 1) I make my idli batter in my Sumeet wet-grinding attachment. The idlis are fine, but they are not pure white as they are meant to be. They look slightly jaundiced. Would you know the reason? 2) I make dosas in a non-stick pan and they come out great, but I still would love to bring back a traditional tawa when I go to India this time. My mother had given me a new, heavy 'edge-less' one, but the dosa sticks to it. Any tips on choosing a tawa and conditioning it? To Episure: Ever try Neeru dosa (water dosa) while in Karnataka? Yummmmm.... To Bhasin: I know the packet ones are really convenient, I have used them several times myself. But still it's just not the same... Suman (would you believe a south-Indian like me disliked dosas and idlis for much of my teenage years? My mother would take all the trouble to make a good dosa/idli-sambhar-chutney (the works) breakfast and I would reach for the loaf of bread. So ungrateful! I definitely know better now that I'm older and wiser. Can't have enough of them now!)