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easyguru

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  1. 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."

  2. 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?

  3. 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

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. I might have some good news soon on the importing mangos to the US issue soon - or at least more precise news. I've been trying to follow up about the exact reasons for the refusal.

    The head of the Ambo Konkan festival told me that the initial reason given by the US govt was fruit fly, so a decontamination unit - something about a vapour heat process - was built in Vashi (on the mainland near Bombay), but the mangos were still rejected. He muttered darkly about NAFTA.

    I finally tracked down a govt of India source in the food quarantine department in Faridabad and he told me a detailed report has been prepared and sent to the US trying to respond to their concerns about the import of Indian mangos, and they were now awaiting the US government response.

    Once I get back to Bombay, I'll follow up on this, and hopefully try and get a copy of that that initial report,

    Vikram

    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.

  8. Thanks for the note easyguru. India is very diverse and this article is meant to show the diversity. It was a big wedding. Its meant to show how urban weddings are getting bigger. Its not meant to depict a rural wedding.. which is also equally beautiful.. but on a different scale.

    Although cakes are not a part of the traditional Indian weddings.. there are cakes today in many weddings that I have attended.

    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

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