bague25

I use canned channa when I want to be real quick...

Not Indian and not for this time but it always works for me Take an aspirin BEFORE going to bed - guaranteed NO hangover! Drink a lot of water - I feel for you

Episure Please spare me... I have hubby and daughter speaking English weeth ze frensh accen ALL day long. Give me a break Thanks for the more precise explanation though

Richie111 Other Indian interesting street food: Ragda pattice (potatoes dumplings + dried peas curry) Pav Bhaji (mix veggies mash with toasted buttered bread) Zunka Bhakar (a chapatti of millet or sorghum with a chickpea flour preparation) Can anyone help with a better explanation? Vada pav (a potato dumpling served in bread with chutneys) Sev batata puri (my fav) – hard puris topped with potatoes, sweet & spicy chutney, etc Dahi batata puri – sev batata puri but with some yoghurt

recipe please.. I love fried fish.. Since Suman has not yet replied, may I share My Mom’s fried fish recipe (it's simple & yum). I made it yesterday. ½ kg white fish 1 tsp chilli pd ½ tsp turmeric powder salt to taste 4 cloves garlic crushed 1” piece ginger crushed 3 green chillies crushed 2 Tbsps vinegar 2 Tbsps flour or besan or semolina for a crunchier version oil for frying Mix all spices. Add a few drops of water if needed. Coat fish with this masala. Shallow fry till browned. Serve with an onion salad (onion+limejuice)

You do not "stuff" it per se. Parboil the cauliflower and turn it upside down - carefully remove some core and stuff some mince (that has been given kabab/kofta treatment) between the florets and in the crevices. Turn the cauliflower in a bowl and then more stuffing is used to coat the cauliflower – the whole things is baked and served with a tomato curry. When you wedge the cauliflower to serve, you have a inner meat core, the cauliflower and an outside meat coating From memory one of the older Tarla Dalal books (I think Wonders of Vegeterian cooking has a vegetarian version). There is also a recipe in the Maharastrian Cooking book (title?) by Aroona Reejsinghani. Unfortunately these are Mom’s books, I cannot lay my hands on them and so I cannot be more precise.

oooooooooooohhhhhh -- recipe please Monica I make it by "andaaz" (feeling). I'll reproduce it this weekend, note the recipe and post it then.

I miss Bombay It is Mumbai my dear Get used to it. NO WAY !!!

Sorry Pan Dabba is the tiffin/lunch box. Dabbawalla is the guy who vehicules the dabba Monica had done an article on the Dabbawallas

Richie I was the one who wrote about the onion pet peeve! The replies you have got above are wonderful! I just will add that some things need time and there's no virtue in rushing up the process (cooking onions & toasting spices are two of them). I do not always caramalize the onions – sometimes they are cooked golden sometimes brown. What gets me is that some cooks just to gain a few minutes do not cook the onions enough and others put on the heat higher and burn the onions! The difference between burnt and caramalized onions is a few seconds – just as the difference between toasted and burnt spices… In my opinion, you have put your finger on a couple points that make a whole difference between Indian food and GOOD Indian food. You certainly must be a good cook.

- Rice pancakes stuffed with jaggery, coconut and grated chocolate - Chocolate burfi - Mom's marble sponge cake (not too Indian, I fear)

I was the spoilt girl who had Mom get the Dabba at school and later the dabbawalla got the tiffin (mine was 4-tier) at work

For those who were raised in Bombay... at the gate of every school was a vendor selling "sour' goodies such as: raw tamarind, raw mango, carambole, tiny red berries, etc...The goddies were cut, if needed, and spiked with salt & chilli powder. The one outside my school brightened up whenever he saw me. He knew exactly the day I received pocket money...

In our family picnic food would reflect the cooking mood of my mom. If she was in South Indian mode, we would eat idlies with coconut chutney. Samosas for the north Indian mode. Puri Bhaji (potato) when she felt Maharastrian. Bhisi Bele Bhat when she felt her Karnatic roots reveled. You get the picture - our picnics were fun...

Wholemeal Crank Raw tamarind is used in some parts of India as a souring agent (in place of raw mango). My mother makes a wonderful chutney. I'll post the recipe later.

Monica Do tell us of your fav chutneys and how you use them

Monica I count as one of those who are absolutely envious of your beautiful hands...What's your secret

I just can’t stop gobbling gobi parathas, gobi pakoras and mince stuffed whole gobi with tomato curry

Last year, on my trip to India, I got some pasta, for my pasta-crazy daughter who just could not take her grandma's spicy cooking. I did not quite Like the locally made pasta since it just could NOT be cooked 'al dente'. I then went to one of the swanky places and got a packet of Italian pasta at a price that would give me an attack if I had a weak heart… I wonder if sev counts as pasta…

For me it's - Dal-rice & Fried fish (made by mom) - Puran poli - Sorpatel (that has been stored in an earthen pot for a week waiting to be eaten) - THE M unmentionable word (by the way, I just got myself a couple of dozen and they are WOW!) - Any Bombay street food : Bhelpuri, dahi batata puri, pani puri, ragda pattice, pav bhaji, pav vada....This is only a very small list but if I continue, I'm gonna be seriously depressed

Rice Tikkis Mix leftover rice with cumin seed, chopped chilli, chopped onion, salt, pepper, and egg to bind, some thawed frozen peas. Shape into tikkis and shallow fry till golden.

Suman Thanks for the link. But what I need is more explanation than a recipe. Has anyone tried to make khandvi in the microwave? What's the difference (if any) with the stovetop or pressure cooker version. What to do if you work slowly and need to heat up again ? Does the reheating process affect the end-result? Can someone help??

Monica Your question comes just at the right moment - since a few weeks now, I’m on “chutney mode”. I’ve got myself a couple of books and I’ve made: - Suvir’s tomato chutney - Pear and candied ginger chutney (my own invention – I do not even remember exact ingredients) From Larrouse des confitures (a book on jams, jellys and chutneys + other recipes) – I have adapted each recipe mostly to add more spice: - Rhubarb chutney - Dried fig chutney - Red current chutney I want to try the nut & the peach chutney but I think that will wait till the above have been consumed. I like mixing boursin or any other soft cheese (goat does well) with normal green chutney and stuffing cherry tomatoes for appetisers. Another fav recipe: Mix spicy chutney with the yolks of hard-boiled eggs. The mixture is then piped back into the egg white shells. Take a slice of bread for each reconstituted half-egg. Soak the bread slice in water and press out extra water. Cover the half egg in bread slice. Deep fry till golden and serve with some more chutney. I also bake fish or chicken breasts coated with chutney.

Just for information, Khandvi in Maharastra is called surnoli. Does someone have a microwave recipe they can share??

JW46 The East Indians also make Duck Fugad and Duck Kodhi. I'll PM you the recipes. This may take some time though I have to type them. Vikram Please, please can you PM me your recipes too? I'm sure they are more authentic than mine. BTW, you should be given “honorary East Indian” status (Gosh do you defend us!!)