Episure

Yes, that would be a good idea for US egulls to partake of a Lagan nu bhonu. I am lucky enough to have another friend Percy B who is marrying in a couple of months. Percy, how many Parsi egg preparations can you think of? Could you post them in the eggs files topic, please.

Just wondering, Episure, if you've ever tried Joel Robuchon's trick of returning the warm potatoes to the pot (emptied of its water, of course), mashing them there and then drying them out over a medium flame for 4–5 minutes, sans oil and stirring constantly. Thanks, everyone, for your input. It's the kind of discussion that makes this forum so useful. Am really looking forward to making — and eating! — aloo tikki soon. Carswell, Joel Robuchon's tip sounds logical, I'm sure it will work, I'll try it the next time. Thanks. stuffed with Sevruga or Ossetra?

Something similar, I like my tikkis served on a bed of Chivda/ Bombay mix or whatever you all call it there. And raw onions and chatni.

Boil the potatoes till soft, remove from the water as soon as possible and let cool on a rack. This ensures moisture evaporation and will go a long way to make the tikkis kadak(crisp and crusty). Mash them with a fork and then knead with a little salt till it becomes a stiff dough. If need be add leftover bread which has been toasted and pulsed in a grinder. Par boil chana dal till 'dal dente'( ) and saute with a little ghee or oil in red chilli powder, amchoor, jeera and a little garam masala. Stuff this spiced dal into a rolled out roundel of potato and close edges to form a ball. Flatten with hands and shallow fry as in Monica's' pictures. Tips: ->Dont forget to let the boiled potatoes 'sweat'. ->Splurge and use Ghee/Butter to saute the dal, enclosed in the shell, a little of it goes a long way. ->If you dont have a concave pan, use a flat griddle/pan and support it with a tilt. You can now maneuver the browned tikkis to the side to develop a crust without blackening. -> not that it makes a difference but try and use a heart shape mould/cookie cutter, it will make my tribe happy. And remember 'dal dente'

It's rare to come across Papain in spice mixes but this is an Achar Gosth( pickle meat) so it would help in tenderizing the meat. If you want to make one from scratch, use the same ingredients and some meat tenderizer. I doubt that you have access to Raw papaya which is what I use.

Percy, Welcome to the India forums, it's nice to have a Parsi in our midst. I have always had Parsi friends and had 'tuddun' fun with them. Yes, please if you make lagan nu custard, post the recipe and if you can take pictures, nothing like it. Oh, for Mrs. Godiwalla's catering!

If you all think I am crazy, check this out - another egullet thread on Unusual Chocolates

Oh. I thought it may have been a little thick for a filling. But then aloo can be thick too. Thanks.

After a cool $2.8 million, Maurya opened its doors two and a half years ago giving Vancouver its first high end Indian restaurant.MAURYA

Love those dry dal ones. However, the ones with dry spiced Chana dal is much more "smoky" and flavourful than the dry spiced moong dal. But of course, that is my personal pref. Equally good are ones with dry spiced green whole moong beans. I am sure you would have tried that episure, Please do, if you have'nt. I've never tried spiced chana and split green mung, thanks, will add it to my list of things to eat afore I go.

Make Rabri, add roasted almonds, gur and freeze. Variations candied ginger, apple, sitaphal, litchi.......

I'm with you Edward, Godspeed!

Dry spiced yellow Moong dal.

I buy a restaurant size 1 kg chunk of Paneer and cut thick bread like slices from it and sear them on my grill pan to get cross hatch marks. Remove and give the same treatment to the rest of the veggies- broccolli, cabbage, carrots...... I keep everything ready and sizzle it before plating it, prefer it this way and I dont get large laundry bills. Any ordinary oil is used but when I make it for my gourmet circle of friends I use olive oil. The other stuff is a choice of garlic, tomato ketchup, black pepper,soya sauce, coke, balsamic vinegar, sesame oil, red wine, coffee, sachimi togarashi, wasabi.......depends on the mood and the conditioning of my diners.

Edward, the tawa in the pic is great for doing just that, you let it brown and then move it to the edge to develop the crust slowly. The tikkiwallahs in the North have 50 - 60 tikkis at a time on the tawas. Although mostly I advocate the use of deep frying, tikkis warrant this method.

Sizzlers were first introduced in Bombay at Breach Candy by ............ S***, I cant remember the name, this is what happens when you relocate! Any way the restaurant was started by my friend Eruch Irani's father/Grandfather. They are still popular and Yoko's has opened another branch at the Oshiwara prefecture in Bombay. I just love calling it that because Oshiwara sounds so Japanese. By a coincidence I made Sizzlers at home two days ago - Grilled Paneer 'steaks' and Grilled Chicken breasts. deliad, did the aroma waft across the seas all the way to you?

The main secret is to use old/aged potatoes with low moisture content. Variations are spiced chana dal stuffing, spiced corn kernels, spiced peas....... This is one tikki that has to be slowly shallow fried as in your pics, the potato shell has to develop a crust. Sometimes I eat only the crust. My current fav is red chilli flakes, chopped basil and corn kernels.

He may have directed the Big B in a film, but adman turned Aks-man Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has not given up on his other love: food

Thanks gingerly, I knew I could depend on you. Whenever you come out with an IPO, count me as a subscriber.

Gautam, I dont know much about the quality of Indian beans but this is not for lack of trying. The Indian companies and institutions are obsessed with secrecy and babudom with no great quality of raw stock to boot. So if I have to continue my efforts at assessing local beans, I will have to penetrate the farmgates. I do remember that some of the companies were contracting bean farming but with the present free flow trade scenario that may not prove worthwhile in the short and medium term. It's much more economical to import nowadays. The highly acclaimed criollo had recently( 2 years ago) made a short appearance in Mumbai and there was a lady who was offering chocolates made with a large % of the bean. I think the costs may have been high and unacceptable to the price points in existence. Personally I prefer the humble forestero for it's bitterness. The names, I suspect are more to do with the Amazon area than apna Bharat, but I would be more than happy to be wrong. gingerly? Now, 'masala' is more than a spice mix, bollywood formula film and the new IBM product, it is the new flavour of chocolate! Some thing I had attempted 6 years ago and got laughed at! My current fav is caramellised onion chocolate. Gautam, When are you likely to visit India?

Fresh from the Greenmarket. I usually cook them in water with onion, thyme, marjoram, some parsley and a smoked chili to give it some flavor. Drain, toss with mint, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt eat with bread. But, since they are so good from the market, I can't pass up buying a whole lot of them, so now I'm looking for different ways to cook them. You could use Edward's recipe which is exact and precise. However since you are new to Indian cuisine, this is what I suggest : Quantity of beans- about 300 g Cook them with a little water, tomato puree, garlic, smoked chili and salt. After they are cooked tender, take some butter and saute 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp garam masala and stir this in to the pot. That's it. What other spices do you have access to? Try this out first and then we will lure you into making some more complex recipes.

15th August is famous for this also

Are they canned, fresh or dried.?

Yes, it will work very well. There is an equivalent for cranberry beans in Indian cuisine, it is the light flecked rajma.

I like to add thin slices in my sandwiches. You can also make a dry 'sabzi' with diced radish and the greens.