v. gautam

Hi Rona, I indeed have a long and close association with the palash, as many from the plains of the rivers Indu [male] and Ganga [mother] do. Japan has certain connections also with the flower: the tree and its wood are sacred to the Buddhist monks, and in a peripheral way, impinge on the culture of Japan. It is this connection that led several wonderful Japanese landscape architects to take the lead in designing the Buddha Jayanti Park on the Upper Ridge in/near Chanakyapuri, New Delhi on the occasion of the 2500 birth anniversary of the Shakyamuni, Gautama Buddha, whose Jayanti, or birth, enlightenment and passing away we celebrated on May 19, 2008, on the full moon of the month of Vaishakha. Drawing on their magnificent skills in preserving the natural and wild aspects, exactly the spirit described in the ancient Sanskrit word "tapovana", a forest retreat for pursuing spiritual quests. YThis was something that Buddhists monks actively sought out and remains a most significant element of the tradition of the FOREST TRADITIONS or dhutanga monks of Burma and Thailand to this day. More on these lives can be read by rferring to Taungpulu Kaba Aye [burma, Brahmadesha] and the books written by Kamala Tiyavanich, as also the disciples of Ajahn Chah and Ajahn Mun. Back to the Buddha Jayanti Park in New Delhi, the natural dry forest fortunately supported not just the deep red but also the highly prized ochre variant of the Palasha flowers. Magnificent natural glades were arrranged where mature copses of trees in full flower surrounded grassy areas for sitting and contemplation and pebbled walks in the manner of Zen temples. How well these have survived the ravages of modern Delhi, one cannot say, as this information is from 1973. As to the honey, one has never tasted such. These trees grow in mixed forests with Terminalia species and others like Shorea, Dalbergia etc. that also flower at the same time. How far it is possible to separate honey flows and how far these things are the artefacts of a romantic/commercial imagination and helps sell and preserve the few remaining patches of natural landscape left in India [a most worthy cause, if that is indeed where the money is going] is difficult to ascertain with any degree of accuracy. There could well be a certain unfortunate amount of romaticization and possible issues with "truth in labelling" in these matters. The similarity you have noticed is something in common with many arborescent legumes: Erythrina crista-galli in LA, for example, the red flowers on tall trees, might be the ones you have seen. These 'claw-like' flowers are repeated in many tropical tree legumes as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butea_monosperma [?]

Dear Takadi, Your enthusiasm for wok cooking and the rush of high flames reminds me of the scene in the film "Jaws": the old curmudgeon fisherman and the youthful scientist eager to bag the shark. Guess who is who? I spent too much of my life in front of the roaring flames in a very busy Thai-Lao [mainly take-out ] restaurant. Not as elaborate wok-hei as Chinese, but enough stir-frying. No pao, only 19, 22, and 24 inch woks with ears. You should see the backs of my fingers! handling the heavy vessels has contributed to severe nerve damage in my right arm, along with a previous condition, so that technique is has its own pitfalls. I mention all these personal details in the hope of convincing you [at last?] that the "flash in the pan" [pun intended] is not everything! As I wrote in the other thread, Ah Leung, Uncle ben and Prawncracker and others here manage to eat very well indeed, as does most of China, without singeing themselves or damaging their arms! [Go to the film Man Woman Eat Drink : there you will see absolute masters of technique and substance. That's where one should be learning. NOT Chef Balcer.] I got a great rush coming to work each day, and still feel the excitement of moving the wok and all the rest of that "nonsense"!! Make no mistake! I love my 22 and 24 inchers on the 16-32 jets and think the pao is for the birds [just kidding!] Just between friends, for a Western audience 2 excellent texts teach velveting very well. One is Barbara Tropp, but her style is a bit long and involved. Irene Kuo is most accessible, teching velvint in oil, then a modified one in water [good for claorie counting] and a third, slippery coating, very useful for quick, home-style cooking. See if you find these useful. Besides Ah Leung's trusted frying pan, you may even find a 6 quart shallow-ish pressure cooker [stainless steel] bottom useful as a stand-in for a wok on certain types of stovetops, gas or electric. Cooker bottom halves allow volume, to cover for the steaming interval, and have a flat bottom. Make sure the model you have has a flat bottom. Junkyards in many areas sell odd/mismatched cooker bottoms for a couple of dollars. They will retain some heat and the stay-cool handles are very convenient. Happy cooking.

Hi Takadi, If you go to the Cooktek website given upthread, you will see a photograph of the 2 major variants of the induction wok stove with the curved bowl, one with analog controls, the other digital. The energy input comes from the curved stove base and the wok has to be ferro-metallic or induction-competent. In other words, your ordinary range of carbon steel, spun-steel, cast-iron or the fancy Demeyere special temperature-controlled induction metal. The price today is in the range of $1500 for the professional model, which is high for the casual hobbyist as you suggest. But compared to the danger of bringing indoors a fast stove with NO back shield, NO side shield, NO evidence of requisite venting and NO evidence of the types of space separations that are mandatory in the US for fire safety codes, besides the hilarious fact of NOT being allowed to fire up a propane device indoors for any reason EVER, an unsecured fast stove sitting on an ordinary stove top, if you discount all of these things any one of which will put you in trouble with the law for a long long while, then $1500 seems very sensible. Not to mention the safety factor for you and your guests to whom you will inevitably be demonstrating wok cooking. By "you" I mean the rhtorical "you" not you=takadi. Whatever Chef Balcer is doing, may he long prosper, but you need to be clear about what technical elements of his activities are not permissible under US conditions, and for good reason. You do possess a turkey fryer rated for outdoor use in the US that you use for wok cooking. Washington has a fairly long season when outdoor activities are possible: its winters are short and mild compared to the Northern Tier. So there are just 3-3.5 months of the year when you are really prevented from outdoor wokking. Not too shabby. The extraordinary risks of indoor fires and personal injury, to my mind, far outweigh these few weeks of relative deprivation. I believe our esteemed friend Ah Leung manages to eat well without setting anything or anyone on fire, even though he has only an ordinary stovetop. Ditto Prawncracker and Ben Hong and so many more. If people still cannot resist their creative urge, then $1500 is very cheap in terms of reducing BUT NOT ELIMINATING risk, especially that from short-circuiting. Please read Jongchen's post upthread very, very carefully before deciding on whether your living space will support an induction device and of what wattage. Sorry to be such a stick in the mud but even a small accident becomes very expensive in so many ways: financial, legal, your personal insurance history of the future degraded etc. Please keep all these real world realities in mind. The US insurance industry has a long and penetrating memory.

Spike, I shall offer you a convoluted reply, the same one I was given when I went to an expert seeking advice. First, what you are looking at is a Tarhong type "fast stove". Fast stove is a literal translation of "quick cooking" or stir frying. Tarhong is the company whose products are most readily available in the US from restaurant supply stores. They cost between $ 40-60, for the aluminum and brass, respectively. You can then choose to add bells and whistles, including a 0-30 psi pressure regulator and a metallized safety hose connecting the liquid propane tank to the stove. You should also think about anchoring the fairly light stove securely, since the wok and cooking movements will move it around. Then there is the matter of a very powerful vent, a steel, fireproof backwall and other elements approved by the fire safety inspector plus your insurance agent. Absent these, you will be voiding all policies on your house and will be in legal violation of fire safety codes if in an apartment. That is especially grave if there are minors, elderly or disabled individuals living with you, or in adjacent apartments, where they could be endangered should a fire break out. Sorry if I sound officious, but you saw the flames in the pan. I have a lot of experience, having cooked professionally. This is not a matter to be taken casually. Things look simple and exciting but can get out of control very quickly during entertaining and such. Oil burns are extremely dangerous and painful. I asked a woman who owns 2 Chinese restaurants plus the most successful Asian grocery in town what her advice was about home wokking. Her answer was that she had spent $10,000 to set up a SINGLE natural gas ensemble at her home, the money going towards the special (bigger pipe) gas connection, but also for all the necessary features required for fire safety and venting. Then she took me to the back of the store where they have set up an informal kitchen as they work incredibly long hours. There they have a 2 burner wok ensemble, a beautiful compact, stable, stand-alone natural gas stainless steel stove (available in Chinatowns: I could get you the descriptive Chinese characters!!) "Your Tarhong fast stove costs $50, and my stove there costs $500, she said. You have my answer." Under most circumstances prevailing in the US, it would be difficult to persuade me to use a fast stove indoors. Heavy duty Cooktek induction stove yes [with Asian or Taiwanese vent], gas fired fast stove, most emphatically not.

Keeping in mind Jongchen's very important and useful post upthread re: household electric supply, people might want to consider one of two options: 1) free-standing induction stoves dedicated to woks 2) flat induction surfaces with woks designed to operate on them, specifically Demeyere [spelling?] curved woks with 3 little 'legs' and temperature regulating metal construction [ max. 475F] 1)http://www.cooktek.com/products_apoSpecsWok.html 2)http://www.demeyere.be/default.asp?CID=2349&SLID=1 http://www.demeyere.be/default.asp?CID=6914&SLID=1 http://www.demeyere.be/default.asp?CID=4389&SLID=1 There will be no "flames in the pan" no wok hei in either 1 or 2. Save this, there is a range of wattage available, 1.8-3.5 kW to match various household current capacities, and there is a 5kW Cooktek said to be released soon. Because so much more of the available energy is available for heating [at least 80+% as opposed to 30-40% of a gas flame], the induction appliance may be the "hotter" of the two, all other things being equal. Safer for the cook and the house as well. Instant temperature control. Worth a look.

Dear Miss J, A few suggestions: Red Currants: very decorative and edible; perennial. Can be pruned and trained as edging. if you need variety list you can ask Malling-Merton ag. research station, Wye College, local ag. authorities or pm me Ribes odoratum 'Crandall' Clove-Scented Currant Description: 4-6’tall x 4-6’wide (cutting propagated) Spring bloom. This intensely fragrant, fast growing heirloom selection of a native currant was originally chosen for its abundant crop of flavorful black fruit. But its clove-scented yellow spring flowers and mahogany-red fall foliage make it a plant with three seasons of garden beauty. Thrives in all but dry sand or wet clay soils. Zones 4-8 http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/...paign=Fragrance Autumn-fruiting or primocane raspberries: almost without prickles: mow them down in winter,new canes bear fruit from July onwards. Alpine strawberries. Also the Swedish strawberry cultivar "Snowvit." Roses are very edible, esp. petals grown without noxious chemicals, including noxious organics. Delightful in ices, desserts, garnishes etc. Seek out roses with Old Rose or Damask fragrance: e.g. "Gertrude Jekyll", "Memorial Day" "Dusky Maiden" Madame Louis Laperriere": go to Peter Beales Rose Nursery. Desprez a Fleur Jaune [official name today "Jaune Desprez"] Gloire de Dijon [ British strains somewhat weakened] Mme. Alfred Carriere Mrs. John Laing Mev. G.A. van Rossem

Please check out the ideas here: The benchmark faloodas of Mumbai:Badshah's had 3 faloodas Royal, Kesar and Shirazi post #19 http://www.gourmetindia.net/forums/index.p...wtopic=490&st=0 See post #13 for pic of kesar/saffron falooda [above link ] "Royal Falooda is made with Rose syrup. made this today with home made Rose ice cream. ...Vanilla/Strawberry ice cream ....." post #25 for pics and recipe ideas

Speaking of "Benares", its chef Arun Kochar has this review: Lahori Karahi House 777 London Road, Hounslow, Middlesex, 020-8577 3344 This place serves typically Muslim dishes, very Pakistani street food in style, which I love. The chef is a dab hand with lamb, and does a wonderful lamb kidney dish, gurda kaleji masala, spiced with black cardamom and black pepper. Definitely my favourite takeaway. http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/s...2271181,00.html For more reviews by current residents of London who are native South Asians you could try here: http://www.anothersubcontinent.com/forums/...p?showtopic=280

Channie, If you find a restaurant supply house and buy McCormick in large sizes, that is a very good quality turmeric. Brands like Swad are not adulterated, merely mediocre in quality compared to the tinned McCormick. Whether Mccormick in plastic will prove to be inferior to the tinned small batch, I cannot say: a factor of turnover rate, exposure to light +plasticizers, plus what the company formulates for its restaurant trade. The heavily adulterated kind is safely far away from you, confined to the cheap restaurant trade in India. I am reasonably certain that the major brands sold in the US by Indian packers are NOT adulterated either with dyes or lead salts. If you read my post carefully, you will see my qualification about the mass market trade IN INDIA. If you go back to my earlier posts, you will note my further reiteration of MEDIOCRITY with respect to Indian brands sold in the USA, NOT ADULTERATION age, and oxidation caused by exposure to light and air in plastic packaging. To set your mind at ease, I myself consume SWAD brand in significant quantities, perhaps 100 times more each day than you will ever consume at comparable rates in your life. And propose to go on using this same brand, or LAXMI or any other reputable Indian powdered brand in the future. Just like all pre-ground spices, the quality is mediocre. But that is my fault, not the brand's. It is a bit like people who choose to purchase pre-ground black pepper! Some things are just not meant to be stored in their activated forms. I am sorry to be so opinionated, but with very few exceptions [Charmaine Solomon: meats, Ammini Ramachandran: Kerala vegetarian, Kurma: vegetarian] very few Indian cookbook authors really guide the absolute beginner in ways that actually bring out the true flavors of North Indian foods. I know there will be howls of protest from those who now consider themselves past masters, having taught themselves to cook from this or that book, but I have to stand by what I said. I know about those masters having cooked their recipes!! Being a wonderful person does not make one a master cook! This is doubly true about dishes containing fried onions or meat described by them.

Gabriel is absolutely right. If you are cooking with turmeric that stains your fingers when you eat the cooked food with your hands, that is a very dangerous sign. Recently, I warned about this on another Indian food forum and a mild skepticism soon turned to consternation when, upon experimentation, the people concerned found what they had consumed. Turmeric is not yellow, and anything shading towards yellow is dangerous: cheaper restaurants in India use very heavily adulterated stuff and I hate to mention the word lead chromate, given the prices of metals, but some dye that has the same color as this salt does certanly is the culprit. Additionally, good turmeric should have a strong characteristic aroma associated with the powder. The weaker this aroma, the older the product or the more adulterated. So, the combination of a bright color tending towards a burnt orange but on the upper scale, for want of a better term in my ignorance of hue, shade, color etc., and a very bright aroma that immediately should prickle your nose, testifies to a good product. If you can, buy from a mart like Gabriel's that guarantee grinding their own. Or, buy the whole dried rhizomes themselves from various Indian vendors. The innate quality will vary like wine from different price points, but you will be getting a reasonably pure product [pesticides, soil contamination etc. are another issue best not discussed here!!]. The rhizomes need to be soaked for several hours or overnight and and cut into smaller chunks before making paste. Nonetheless, these will defeat ALL but a special purpose Indian blender, grinding stone or a laboratory quality blender. Still, there is no comparison to Indian (or at least Bengali) food cooked with fresh ground turmeric paste. Combined with other fresh water ground spices, the quality of the food is as different as say a French dish cooked with a master brown [sercial Madeira] stock reduction and quality red wine as opposed to soup cubes and grocery store cooking wine! *[ Another caution: urea is used extensively in Bangladeshi puffed rices as whiteners. There needs to be a strong demand made on the FDA to test the frozen seafood coming from China and Asia not just or nitrofuran medications, which tha agency doesa very good job with, but testing frozen whole fish for formaldhyde, extensively used as a preservative to extend shelf life.]

Just my opinion: Japan always believes itself short of "cultivable/arable" land although it has a very large percentage of land cover under forest, waste and mountain slopes. Some or even a great deal of this is amenable to producing food: not neat rice paddies, but excellent quantities of sheep milk, smaller cattle like Japanese and Dexter for milk, goat for milk and meat, llamas for meat and fiber, millets and a great many fruit and vegetables. Rice and fish are very recent additions to the diet of Japan or at least the Japanese masses, from a historical perspective. Her mountains and uplands have fed and housed her children throughout history far more munificently than has the oceans, save for the littoral peoples. We have an aging population clustered around too few mega-centres, such that these types of farming becomes less remunerative. Much worse, and forgive me for expressing an unwelcome opinion, we have a nation of heroes shackled by all manner beliefs self and other imposed post 1945 so that the very idea of breaking out of conventional molds seem horrific, even sinful TODAY. And this from a nation whose extraordinary capacities for change and adaptation point to equally extraordinary qualities of the soul. I have a huge personal debt to Japan that can never be repayed. My great uncles and uncles involved in actively opposing British power in India fled to Japan around 1908. Some married Japanese ladies and stayed on, some kept fighting every day of their lives until freedom was won. But from them I got a glimpse of the changing Japan 1908-1970, the struggles, the sheer effort put in by each citizen. I hate to see a Japan made subservient to any other power, the role she has chosen. So also with agriculture, Japan can easily break ree of sel-imposed shackles if she so chooses. She has the second highest balance of trade surplus in the world today and now is the time to invest in the future, keeping her interests foremost, not the USA's not anybody else's. Just a se did dring the Meiji era. This is bounteous land, but not made for rice or flatland agriculture for the most part. Its ancient monks were yamabushi, the new farmerswil will be a bit like them!! And the changing agricultural horizon will have to recognize this yama-factor, which has been ignored so far. Hence the ruinous costs. P.S When I see Hiroyuki-san'son with his love for mushrooms and sansai and his keen scientific interest in plants, with his honored grandfather's influence, I think to myself, maybe here is the coming generation of yamabushi scientific farmers who will understand how to nurture Japan's mountain slopes without harming and produce healthy food at much lower cost than the present. That One Straw Revolution guy is sheer nonsense for the real world of producing food for 100 million people: we need real scientists, deeply learned.

Slightly off-topic but not really, when you add up this http://www.axilltv.com/at/news.php?id=2047 plus this http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JD22Ad02.html we find that certain mineral fertilizers central to rice farming will be becoming sharply more expensive over the coming year(s), up from USD250 to 650 now and no end in sight. These potash minerals also are central to many chemical industries and will affect export earnings as well. As a result, rice prices in Japan may be expected to rise sharply in the future along with those of horticultural products like strawberries produced in hydroponic culture. Vegetable prices in genera will also rise, as will fruit produced in-country, all high consumers of potash. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants particularly! Three countries contain most of the world's exportable potash: Canada, Russia & Belarus. Everyone else has to scramble for the same limited deposits. Phosphates share a similar story, concentrated in just a few spots in the world in exportable amounts. This is not scare-mongering, but goesto emphasze that our presnt systems of agriculture are too wasteful of resources. The term "productivity" is consistently confused with "yield" whereas it is a function of yield as well as the the efficiency with which inputs are utilized. Cropping systems and cropping patterns are unsustainable in all parts of the US, China, South Asia, Brazil etc. The public has grown inured to hearing this, but rarely has it chosen to become well-infrme about this most vital area affecting lives and the political economy of nations: oil, Iraq, plummetting dollar ad its faiure as a fiat currency lop back into global unres caused by agricultural systems long out of kilter. Unless people decide to grow their attention span to grasp these serious interlinked issues in the depth they require, we all shall permaently remain in the thrall of sensation mongering rascals, be they politicians, or absurd elements like the Slow Food movement that cater exclusively to the extremely wealthy. One example:Without understanding what GMO is, what the different types are, the pros and cons, how and who could misuse them, we have blanket sloganeering because it is convenient, emotive, simplistic and serves all manner of personal agendas.

Episure, Sorry for propagating that misunderstanding. I somehow got the impression you were some sort of lead person of this thread after Suvir Saran and Monica Bhide stepped down, the latter after the first. My mistake, obviously. gautam

Thanks for the price: it seems about standard for the $8/lb US for small quantities. If you enjoyed a pilau, perhaps you might like to experiment next with a kacchi biryani, where the meat is marinated and put in raw and slightly cooked rice is placed on top, aromatics like saffron added, sealed with dough, brought to a simmer on a stovetop and baked in an oven on a falling temperature: Here you will find discussions and a pictorial: post 134 http://www.gourmetindia.net/forums/index.p...opic=134&st=120 When you have gained more experience: http://www.gourmetindia.net/forums/index.p...topic=134&st=40 post 45 post 69 post 102 http://vahrehvah.com/popvideo.php?recipe_id=3249 http://vahrehvah.com/videos.php

In Philly, probably not; will root kill during winter. But try and see, experimentation is science! Even elsewhere, the flowering stem will set seed and die down. Very weak tiny, straggly offshoots may persist at the crown [junction between root and stem] in very mild winter areas. Don't know if these are worth anything or will actually survive. It is grown as an annual in the Himalayas, Korea, Japan , in locations having climates with relatively mild winters compared to the northern tier of the USA, zones 6 or lower.

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2005/05/10/stories...51000960400.htm

Hi Rona, When making gulab jamuns, you may wish to check out this video for directions on technique:

Kissan is a well known brand for ketchup, jams and many household necessities. This venture into dairy must be a departure from their usual. I have not tried it, but it will be at least on par with Amul, i.e. a very good ghee, but without the smokiness of wood of dung fires. For all practical purposes, unless there is a departure from the high standardsof all their other products, it should serve you well. Ghee, not clarified butter! Vijaya is a benchmark brand. Amul is a blander everyday workhorse for deepfrying, general cooking, allpurpose desi ghee. Laxmi brand, made in the US, is mild but good. New Vrindavan, also made in the US, is good. Golden Temple or Nanak [something similar along those lines ]made in Canada is good too. If you don't mind my asking in public, I have am curious as to which retailers are stocking this item and what they are charging? Thanks much.

You may also wish to visit Indiatree, a travel and info site run by Indians and expats for travelers to India. Plenty of seasoned Goa hands there, anxious to give advice that is well worth taking!! Just now both places are pretty hot and muggy, though; so make a note of the climate around the time you plan your trip, it will have a bearing on your enjoyment of food and general moving around. Goa: A. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx Chef Urbano de Rego at the Taj Holiday Village, Goa: a great master who has been collecting and perfecting, for past 3 decades hidden heirlooms of the Goan Christian and Hindu communities Fresh Cashew Fruit Shakuti: a rarity both in the main ingredient, very lightly cooked, and in the special combination of spices, a specialty of a small group of Hindu masons. This meal was cooked by them at the end of a big job, spicy to make them tear up and remove all the dust and grit from their eyes and skin!! You may need to temper the decibels with some excellent Goan-type bread and rice. Try both and see how the flavor changes with each combination. Mango Sanson/sarson: derived from sarson, i.e. mustard: a vegetarian dish from the Christian community. Semi-ripe, sour mangoes cooked in a mustardy-tart gravy, eaten mixed with a good dose of rice. You may wish to contact Taj Village via email and even Chef Rego, and see if he would accommodate special requests. Don't get fobbed off with food cooked by underlings, unless the Master is directly supervising!!! Ask for his special recommendations, lesser known treasures, things out of the beaten path, things that might vanish once this elderly scholar-chef is no more. Everyone eats and can cook shrimp, crab and fish! B. Hotel Venite: Prop. Luis Antonio Francisco D'Souza. Very atmospheric, Hotel = restaurant, walls covered with graffitti left by 40 years of tourists. Tisane = porridge of sprouted Finger millet, ragi, Eleusine coracana, eaten with honey: the most ancient food of Goa. Chouricao/chorizo sandwich, Goa's specialty Bebinca : a layered cake made with coconut milk C. Sahakari Spice Farm at Ponda, 1 hour away: 130+ acres of working farm containing all the major spice plants, pepper, vanilla, nutmeg etc. plus cashews and a distillery for the cashew apple, making "feni" Goa's notorious white lightning. Above information all courtesy of NDTVcooks.com, Vinod Dua and Seema Chandra, translated/commented upon by me where necessary.

Yes, pukht being an Indo-Iranian root as in Sansrit pAka, pakkva to cook, to ripen, cooked, ripened =pukht; dum as in breath, referring to the steam in an enclosed vessel placed on embers, a sort of makeshift pressure cooking, employing minimal water. Indian meat braises are often said to be placed on "dum", i.e. "matured" on very low heat in an enclosed vessel. What you read in most popular books askin you to add water to "curries" and simmer is a wrong technique. People learn from a few popular writers imbibing really wrong technique and then consider great masters and experts of Indian cookery, pontificating at length. Unfortunately, most of the popular writers are not masters of their craft, merely charismatic public figures. Meat cookery is not their forte. Sorry to say, nor do the tandurias understand the meat cookery of north Indian braises and gravies and rice-meat combinations. In the US, public cleverness is all that matters. If you are seriously interested, we can invite you to forums where we discuss minutiae of the meat and its cooking. It starts withthe feeding of the animal and the nature of the fat depots and types of fat and the liquid crstalline structure of the fat with each feeding regime. This has a direct relevance to what goes on during the "dum", the shape an size ofthe vese, and how ad wha sices ae absorbed.

A few more for Bangalore: http://pleasuremountain.wordpress.com/2007...re-restaurants/

Some might like to consider the Cooktek professional induction single wok stoves in the 3.5 and 5 kW models. They cost around $1500 BUT numerous advantages attend their use. No flames, instant heating, a certain degree of portability, rugged construction. The fire safety aspects make them worth serious consideration. Indoor cooking year round. In gas appliances only about a third of the heat is reaching the wok, even less the food to be cooked. In the induction stove, a minimum of 80% of the electrical energy, perhaps more is directed to the steel wok, making the apparently lower "power' equivalent to a much higher (BTU) rated gas burner.

In northern India, and especially Punjab, beetroot mainly, but sometomes the red carrots mentioned here, are placed in clay vessels with crushed mustard seeds, salt, water and what else I don't know, sealed and I presume allowed to undergo lactic acid fermentation. This reddish juice which goes by the name "kanji" is drunk stright and much relished during the warmer months.

Actinidia, kiwifruit, would be endemic in South China and Yunnan, and has a powerful proteolytic activity. Several species of Actinidia including the the modern kiwi, an quite possibly several more fruit from the cashew nut and fig families. Mangifera spp. and Artocarpus spp. e.g. Artocarpus lakoocha could be a candiddate. Incidentally, our common dried fig is a powerful tenderizer and used very eefectively in northern India as a combination tenderizer, stuffing, flavorant et al. for rolled leg of lamb. Dried fig soaked in whey or buttermilk, and any herbs you fancy ground to your liking rolled up in a butterlied leg of lamb, tied, marinated for a while, cooked in a romertopf or similar unglazed clay vessel under dum as we say in India, i.e. internally steamed externally vessel roasted on embers:delicious.