rajsuman

I was reading Italian Food by Elizabeth David when I came across a recipe where you first fry onions in oil, then add the lentils, fry some more, add water and cook until the lentils are done. That made me wonder if such a practice exists in Indian cooking. Does it? Any advantages of doing this? Suman

Indiachef, Do you ever use chilkewali urad dal? When I was younger and had a lot more time on my hands, I used to make stuffed dahi bhalle (or gujiya as you call them). My Pakistani friend also adds besan pakodis (I forget the exact term she uses for these) to her dahi wadas. Savita, I know the buns you're talking about. I don't make them that often myself, so I'm not sure if the recipe that I have will give perfect results. Let me know if you still need the recipe and I'll PM it to you. Suman

Here's what's in mine: - Fully prepared maa ki daal and masoor dal - so I'm never more than 10 minutes away from eating them when the urge strikes - I know I can pressure-cook it just as quickly, but I really prefer the slow-cooked dals, especially the two mentioned. - Ready-made makki ki roti and methi thepla. These I bought to try out recently. The thepla is really nice, even if it glosses over a bit with the amount of oil in it. I'm waiting to try the makki ki roti with some saag (no sarson unfortunately, palak will have to do). - A packet of fresh (as in not dried) green chana that I spotted with the rotis mentioned above. My mom used to make this curry with this potatoes that I can still almost taste. - Dosa batter - Grated coconut - Ground coconut masalas for Konkani dishes - Onion, garlic, ginger, tomato masala for north Indian dishes - Indian sweets - ladoo, burfi etc., : better in the freezer than in the fridge - I'm less tempted to eat them that way. - Shami kabab, chapli kabab - Other stuff I'd rather not own up to in public Suman

Hi Mongo, Horse gram is used widely in Karnataka. It's called 'Kulitu' in Konkani (don't see how that's of any help to you, still..). I know they make a lot of stuff with it, but the only things I can think of right now is a 'kadi' and a dosa. This is how: Kadi: Boil the horse gram, adding some 1" pieces of raw mango halfway through and cook until the mango is quite soft. Grind some of the cooked horsegram and use it to thicken the kadi, it should not be as watery as rasam, nor as thick as maa ki daal. Baghaar with crushed garlic and broken dried red chillies. Dosa: I'll have to dig out the recipe for this - I love it when my Amma makes it, but for some reason mine doesn't come out half as well. And really, you have to eat it well-made, otherwise it's just one of those what's-the-point-of-this kind of things. For those who haven't seen horsegram, I'll check if I have a photo somewhere. BTW, Mongo, did you get my PM? Just wondering if it got lost somewhere in cyberspace. Suman

Welcome Savita, Do these dishes sound familiar, amchigeli miss? http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=28554&st=0& Another amchigeli, Suman For those wondering, amchigeli = konkani

Mmmmust hhhhavvveeee ddddahhhiiii wwwadddass sooooonn. I haven't made them in a while now and this discussion has only served as a reminder what a stupid,stupid mistake that is. Ever since I got a mini stone - grinder from India, my urad dal fluffs up like crazy. The idlis are heavenly (even if I say so myself), now I can't wait to try wadas. I possibly won't need to add any raising agents. BTW, do you all think of dahi-bhalle as a separate entity or as a synonym for dahi wadas? I don't know where I got this notion from, but to me dahi-bhalles are bigger, made with chilke-wali urad dal, and have a coarser grain. On the other hand, I think of dahi-wadas as being smaller, smoother and creamy-white in colour due to the use of dhuli urad dal. There was this chaatwala in Ghaziabad we used to patronise - I can still taste those delicious wadas. There was a time in my life when I wouldn't be without dahi-wadas on the stand-by in the freezer (which leads me to the next post). Your meduwada idea sounds like the perfect shortcut, Episure. Suman

A friend recently made tandoori chicken on a wood fire. Although it was nice in its own way, it wasn't tandoori chicken as I know it or as is served in restaurants. I would vote for a charcoal-fired chicken anyday over that cooked over a wood fire. Suman

Although we use rice pasta (more like noodles) down south, I suppose vermicelli (pronounced vermi - selli in India) is the only wheat pasta in wide use. You can also obtain macaroni easily. Suman

Not in any particular order: Aloo Samosa/Tikki Kachoris Fried Fish (esp. the one my Mom makes) Rajma, Ma ki Daal, Konkani Bean ghashi with bamboo shoots Idlis, but only if they match certain standards Suman

Hi, This is an off-shoot of a discussion in the Indian forum: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...60entry595350 The rose cookies that are made in Kerala seem to be similar to Scandinavian rosettes. On the other hand, Scandinavia and Germany use cardamom in their baking. I was wondering if there was any culinary /historical /colonial connection? Parts of India were colonized by the Dutch for a while, so it would make sense if cardamom featured in the food of the Netherlands. From what I gather, that's not the case. So how did the cardamom end up in German and Scandinavian cooking? Are the rose cookies related to the rosettes or did they evolve independently? Suman

I believe that rosettes are of scandinavian origin... Rosettes Batter: 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup milk 1 large egg Optional: 1 teaspoon or to taste sugar, salt or vanilla extract or all three For frying: Oil for deep frying Confectioners' sugar Combine all ingredients for batter; mix until well combined. Heat oil to 360 degrees. Sit iron in oil for 10 seconds. Dip hot iron into batter, being careful not to allow batter to go over the top of the iron. Dip battered iron into hot oil. Lift iron; pastry will drop into oil. Lightly brown; turn over; place on brown paper bag. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Thanks jw46! The batter you mention is very similar to that of achappam. Hmmmm... from Scandinavia to Kerala...that's a long way for a dish to travel! I also love the cardamom-scented Scandinavian breads and cookies. Is there a connection I wonder? I can understand if the Dutch used cardamom in their cooking (colonial connection and all that), but I doubt it. So how did the Scandinavians (and Germans) come to use it? I'm really curious now,so I'm going to post this question on the Europe forum. The Oxford Companion to Food doesn't have the answer, nor did Google show any satisfactory results. Suman

The recipe calls for roasted beetroot. The only beetroot that I normally get to see here is the cooked, vacuum-packed kind. So I chop it up into about 1 cm dice and add it towards the end. You can also drizzle some walnut oil on top if you have some lying about. Suman

Hello again Ammini, Here's another (and I believe, ancient) Indian recipe to use up leftover pomegranate molasses. I found it in a wonderful book called 'The Spice Trail'. I've made it so often that now I just add in things rather than follow measurements precisely. It comes out good every time. Make Rajma as usual, add some chopped beetroot to it along with PM. Adjust the seasonings. Garnish with chopped walnuts. Not only delicious, but also stunning with its burgundy redness. (It occurs to me as I write this that you could perhaps throw in some fresh mint ) I haven't typed out the recipe for copyright reasons, but if you need to clarify something, please feel free to PM me. If you're into Middle-eastern food, PM goes very well with lamb and mint. Suman v

Episure, The tool that you describe - steel ruler with ball bearings - is it sold specifically for Khandvi? Or is it something you came up with? Either way, it sounds interesting. Bague: I haven't tried this recipe myself, since I use the pressure-cooker, but hope this is of help to you. I'd be interested to know how it came out. http://food.sify.com/recipe.php?id=13268626&cid= (Don't be shocked when you see the photo, it's not the khandvi) BTW, we make something called 'Soornali' too, but for us it means a slightly sweetened fluffy dosa. Suman

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 Ditto here. I once bought coconut oil from a health food store and discovered it had no aroma, no taste. Why would I want to add all that saturated fat to my dish if it doesn't contribute to the flavour? The sesame oil situation was the same. I used to combine the strong Chinese sesame oil with some veg. oil, but while it was better than nothing, it still come close to the gingelly oil I'm used to.Now of course, I'm glad to say, we have lots of Asian stores selling excellent sesame and coconut oils. Suman

I suppose when you're terminally ill, you really don't mind the Pissky if it promises to cure you. I have heard of cases ( through reliable sources) where the Pissky has done just that. I definitely won't do it just to boost my health, but if it's a 'do-or-die' situation, hey I might as well! Suman

Hi Melissa, If you could post a photo of the dal soup in question, we might have better luck guessing what it is. Suman

Hello Ammini, Here's my recipe (if you can call it that): Dilute pom. molasses and add sugar to taste. Serve chilled with ice. Maybe you can even do something a bit jal-jeera-ish to it like add some chat masala or rock salt, but I haven't tried that yet. Suman

Aroma to me is the smell of: Onions/garlic being fried, any tadka,chapathis puffing over embers/gas fire, potatoes being deep-fried, spices/nuts roasting, freshly-cooked rice, freshly-popped corn, cakes/cookies/breads baking Odour to me is the smell of: kababs, roast chicken, sausages, bacon, dried fish (even though I love eating them) And yet funnily enough, while I couldn't stand the smell of mustard, hing and curry leaves during my second pregnancy, I used to love the smell of cooked sausages and bacon and devour them by the cartload. Suman

The Dhokla thread reminded me of my most favourite Gujju snack - Khandvi. Do you cook the besan mixture in the microwave, pressure-cooker or on the hob? Any tips for spreading the mixture really thin? I know you're supposed to work it while it's still about a thousand degrees (how do the professional Khandvi-makers spread it with their hands all day, day in, day out?), but are there any techniques or tools to make the job easier? Suman

I love pulikaachal too. Normally I'm not a sweet-and-sour kind of girl, but I make an exception with pulikaachal. I keep a big jar full of it in the fridge, ostensibly to make puliyogare, but in actual fact I'm lucky if I get around to making the rice with it. I use it in sandwiches, eat it with dosas and this most frequently, stand in front of the open fridge heaping spoonfuls in my mouth. Suman

you're welcome band girl I know you can't stand the smilies Mongo, but it's your own fault that I use them here. Poor you! Just when you wanted to forget all about mangoes.... Suman

I'd be interested in seeing some desserts with tamarind! I love the way it makes my copper and brass vessels shine. That sounds very interesting Vikram. Must try it sometime. Somehow I can almost taste it - is it a bit like pomegranate molasses? The sorbet, the BBQ sauce and the syrup sound delicious too. I love the taste of tamarind (especially the concentrate) but I have never done more with it than the usual stuff like sambhar, tamarind rice, meethi chutney and curries. I did, however, make a drink out of pom. molasses which was quite nice. Suman

If only all store managers were as helpful as that. Suman

For years after I moved to Ireland, I used to long for the pinkish-red Indian onion. Nothing I cooked with the yellow onion commonly used here tasted like it did back home. I couldn't puree/process the onion raw because that made it taste so bitter. I got around the problem by using hand-chopped onions and boiled onion paste. The red onions were available, but they were either too expensive or had layers too thick. Now the situation is much better, red onions are good price-wise as well as quality-wise (even though they do not compare with the Indian onions). These days I use yellow onions for cooking (funny how you get used to things, now I find red onion when cooked spoils the colour of the dish) and red for salads, raitas etc. Don't use white onions at all. I do sometimes get shallots to make sambhar or chutney. Suman