easyguru

Badhshah has a line of spices called Kitchen King Masala more like a sub brand. I just found a old packet of Everest Kitchen king masala, it basicaly says Kitchen king is a milder blend with coriander and turmeric as base idealy suitable for vegetable curries. "this classic blend that gives vegetable curries a lordly taste and a mild, subdued flavour. Being coriander and turmeric based, the blend gives curry an appetising golden hue."

How many books do you have http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=47309

I have around 20 Indian cook books and if I include other cooking then around 70 books.

We have one, which has not been used more than 2-3 times. Most of the people have similar story about this appliance, bought but not used. Bong if you are in New Jersey, you can pick it up from my place or you pay for shipping and I will ship it.

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/a...004/metro12.asp There’s a lot more variety on the menu now, from classic burgers to juicy wraps. In the ‘Meal Steals’ section, one can choose from Kentucky Burger, Veggie Delite and Chicken or Veg thali. The Chicken thali here includes a portion of rice, spicy curry, a small portion of salad and a piece of the crispy chicken.

In last couple of years number of new South Indian restaurants has opened in New Jersey. I also saw couple of old restaurants which earlier use to serve North Indian food have converted to South Indian menu. There is a new South Indian restaurant under construction in theTheatre complex near our place which claims it will be the first genuine south Indian place in town. While talking to some old timers who have been in USA for more than 25 years, they have also noticed the same thing. One interesting thing about this phenomenon is that many of these are vegetarian restaurants. Couple of weeks ago, we were in one of this South Indian restaurant and an American walked in asking for Chicken Tikka and the owner told him they only serve vegetarian, he looked at the menu and said but I thought you were an Indian restaurant. Is this a trend in rest of the USA?

There is a Pakistani restaurant here iin New Jersey, which has exactly same kind of eggplant dish . The dish has tamarind and jaggery.in it.

We make this bhaji adding the very tiny prawns that you get in Bombay...also some whole cumin the spice list is added...

I have been to the Edison Hot breads, and was disappointed with most stuff available. It reminded me of Monginis in Mumbai. We also have a new one which has just opened close to our place on route 27 in New Jersey, which most of the time has half the advertised stuff missing. As to people travelling miles, it is because the Oak Tree road in Edison ( where the Hot Bread is located) has one of the largest Indian marketplace and those who do not stay in New Jersey, make the pilgrimage to this place to buy variety of Indian things. Most of the Indian eating places on Oak Tree do well because of the foot traffic. l

Neera is common in Mumbai and Pune, sold by roadside stalls. It is basicaly a palm tree syrup not exposed to sunlight. Once it gets exposed to sunlight fermentation starts and it becomes a alcoholic drink called toady.in few days

Onion bhaji (sabzee) not bhaji ( dumpling) is a common dish in many parts of Maharashtra. It is consumed during the summer as onions are considered as anti dote to heat. Aam ras poli with onion bhaji was a regular menu at our place in summer. The onion bhaji is simple and here is a recipe we use. The only diffrence is that onions in USA have more moisture and do not have the intensely strong flavor common in Indian onion. 4 large onion cut lengthwise 1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder Garlic pods 3-4 cut to flakes 1 tsp Turmeric Mustard Oil Salt Heat oil and put mustard and after half a minute add the garlic flakes, fry for few minute add onion, turmeric and red chilli powder, salt and 1/4 cup water. Cook for 20-25 minutes on low heat till most of the water evaporates. You have to stirr it ocassionaly so that it does not burn. The final product has a slightly sweetish taste. The other common dish of onion is onion zunka which is made with besan, onion, garlic and green chillis.

We cook then in two ways. In the dry version it is cooked with moong daal and a tadka of mustard , green chillies and garlic is given to it. The second version is liquid preperation with roasted groundnut, cumin, green chillies and garlic paste as the sauce.

http://www.zabihah.com/ This is one good source for finding halal grocers and restaurants.

Simmered over low heat.

We make both Tindora ( in Maharashtra it is called tondli) and Guvar. Both the recipes are very simple. TONDLI 1 lb Tondli/ Tindora cut lengthwise 1 Onion sliced lengthwise Garlic sliced 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds 1 tbsp oil 1/2 tspTurmeric Salt to taste Heat the oil and dump mustard and once it starts cracking add green chilies and garlic and fry for a minute. Add the onion and stir till they are half cooked add Tindora, Turmeric and salt and little water and cook till the tindora is soft and all water evaporates. GUVAR 1 lb Guvar cut in to around 1/2 inch pieces 3-4 Garlic pods 1 tsp mustard 2 tsp oil Turmeric Salt 4-5 green chilies. Heat oil and put mustard in it. Add green chilies and garlic fry for few minutes add Guvar, turmeric and 1/2 cup water and let it cook till tender and very little water is left. Add salt in the final stages as it tends to make the guvar hard to cook if added in the beginning.

Anyone has experience of making pickle with the localy available raw mangoes in USA. Which one are best suitable for pickle making.

Raw mango panha I think is one good cold soup. We make it both with cooked raw mangoes and also uncooked version.

Punjabi Cook Books http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=44481

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=42328 This link has compilation of Indian cooking books related threads.

Panchranga Mixed Pickle Sweet Lime Pickle Chilli Pickle. Amba Haldi Pickle Mango Pickle

Best Book Depictions of Indian Food & Cooking, Novels, Travel, all except cookbooks http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=40426

Internationally, fruit flies are proclaimed quarantine pests. The change of damage by fruit flies is so great that many countries impose strict trade barriers and prohibit the import of fresh, potentially infested produce from endemic countries. A country or region needs ftuit fly free for a certain period of years before it is certified as fruit fly free. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation sets the standards for these areas. Last week there was a large article in Wall Street Journal on Thailands effort to declare one of its region fruit fly free so that it can export mangoes to USA. http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1086217...ticle%2Dbody%29 A Filipino Mad About Mangoes Scientist's Long Struggle With U.S. Food-Safety Rules MANILA, Philippines -- Most security guards in the Philippines check visitors for guns or explosives. But on the small island of Guimaras, they are on high alert against a particular tropical fruit. "Mango, ma'am?" queries a port guard, flanked by a sign showing the yellow fruit marked with an X. It's all part of Filipino scientist Hernani Golez's crusade to increase Philippine mango exports to the U.S. It took Mr. Golez 14 years to persuade the U.S. in 2001 to certify that the central Philippines island of Guimaras is free of a winged brown pest called the mango-pulp weevil and to permit mangoes from Guimaras to enter the U.S. Today, Guimaras remains the only place in this mango-rich archipelago to have that certification, and authorities are vigilant against visitors bringing in possibly contaminated mangoes from other provinces. While the mango-pulp weevil was discovered on the remote island of Palawan in 1987, none of the country's top 10 mango-producing provinces (Guimaras is No. 19) have been found to contain the insect. Yet because of regulatory hurdles, it could take another five years to certify other islands as weevil-free and able to export to the U.S.

I think the wedding you attended is an extreme example and certainly not representative of urban weddings also. I have attended some of those types, but they are for the multi millionaire kinds. In fact typical urban weddings are becoming much simpler and extremely compressed events due to economic and time factor. In almost all cities there is industrialization of wedding. Television and movies have also helped in standardizing most of the weddings. The marriage halls and hotels become available in most cities for fixed hours, most of the menus are standardized, the pandit also offers a standardized service, the flower arrangement, music is all available as a menu for different price. Most of the pandit also now days find a muhurat ( the sacred wedding time) to suit the wedding hall availability

There are no cakes in Indian wedding unless it is a Christian wedding. Also that article depicts a particular type of wedding ( Punjabi Wedding) and is not at all representative of a typical wedding in India.

Aged basmati or any rice cooks faster. The aroma also improves with aging. To prevent worms in India dried Neem leaves are added before storing the rice.