Episure
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Eggplant/Aubergine/Brinjal scored, deep fried, topped with Cumin, Red Chilli and Mango Powders; fresh Coriander/Cilantro and onion. This was made from the thick long globe variety, I love to eat it with the skin.
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Turning over a new Leaf in Boston
"Most Indian restaurants include only tandoori chicken or tandoori shrimp on their menus. Curry Leaf offers more variety," said Roberta Hershon, the restaurant's publicist. For example, the vegetarian barbecue menu includes tandoori subz shaslik -- a medley of grilled cauliflower, potatoes, green peppers and onions enhanced with fengugreek leaves and cumin seeds ($12). It also offers tandoori bharwan mirch -- grilled green peppers stuffed with homemade cheese and topped with hand-blended spices ($12).San Francisco - San Carlos' Saffron Indian Bistro
Butter chicken stands out at the buffets (which cost $9.95 at lunch Mondays through Thursdays, and $12.95 for an expanded selection at lunch Fridays through Sundays and at dinner). Those who shy from spiciness will embrace its rich tomato sauce, which lets the pieces of shredded chicken hold up nicely in the steam table.The expanded buffets include a couple of "Chinese Indian" dishes, which rotate among various items. The two I tried on my Sunday visit, chow mein and chili chicken, were good, with tomato sauce and onions giving a nice texture to the spicy flavor of the chili chicken.
The palak gosht, boneless lamb in creamy spinach, also has good flavor, but pieces of lamb were scarce. Among the vegetarian dishes, the spinach has a particularly nice spiciness, and the bhindi masala is a good, milder okra dish
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Practically anything will overpower green tea in the ice cream unless it is used tiny quantities. You could try candied ginger bits or raisins stewed with star anise which is then removed. That's what I use in my green tea kulfi.
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Cauliflower (my fav! )...
Sounds good, I've been reading some of the (extensive!) thread on roasted cauliflower, but the original recipe link is now dead.
Anyone tried this on a charcoal grill? I think I'll try cutting a whole cauliflower head into big slabs, with as much stem intact as possible, so that they'll look good and lie nicely on the grid without falling through.
Does one precook the cauliflower in any way, or do you close the lid of the OutdoorCharcoalGrill (i.e. barbecue
) and allow that to do the roasting?adt,
I cut the Cauliflower into 4 - 6 vertical segments and parboil before marinading and grilling. I'd post a pic of my charcoal grill but it's got some Non vegetarian stuff on it.
In addition to meats, this is what I make for my vegetarian guests. Some of them are so finicky that I have to cook their stuff before I 'contaminate' the grill with animal stuff.Paneer, Onion, Green Pepper chunks in tandoori marinade.
Other options are Potatoes, Aubergines, Okra, Cauliflower (my fav! )...
Couldnt take the picture after grilling as the stuff didnt have time to pose.
Would you mind sharing your tandoori maranade recipe. That looks very good. Thanks
Chantal,
Tandoori Marinade:
Quantity is sufficient for a whole chicken or a big head of cauliflower or 6 skewers as in picture.
1 cup hung/drained/thick yoghurt
1 tbsp ginger + garlic paste
1 tsp each of following powders:
red chilli
cumin
coriander
raw mango
turmeric
black pepper
cinnamon
cardamom
salt to taste
Use Oil, Butter or Ghee for basting.
You can vary these ingredients as per your personal preference and convenience.
Sometimes I just use yoghurt/cream, cinnamon, red chilli powder and saffron.
Here's another pic:
Edited for a silly spelling mistake, I hope nobody realises it.
Need to go back to school.
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In addition to meats, this is what I make for my vegetarian guests. Some of them are so finicky that I have to cook their stuff before I 'contanimate' the grill with animal stuff.
Paneer, Onion, Green Pepper chunks in tandoori marinade.
Other options are Potatoes, Aubergines, Okra, Cauliflower (my fav! )...
Couldnt take the picture after grilling as the stuff didnt have time to pose.
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Festival of India promises variety of foods
Regional Indian foods will be featured at the Festival of India 2005 when it is held Friday, Saturday, and Aug. 7 at the Hindu Temple of Toledo, 4336 King Rd. in Sylvania, OHIO. Attendance of 800 is expected. -
I had a Bombay friend staying with me in Bangalore and he couldnt go back home for 3 days. It was bad for many who were stranded in offices and schools. Restaurants and food stalls were inundated, food supplies are yet to be restored.
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SuzySushi,
Boil till soft 250 grams peas, drain and saute for a few minutes with
2 tbsp oil/butter,
2 tbsp finely chopped onion,
1 tbsp cumin powder,
1 tbsp coriander powder,
1 tbsp finely chopped green chillies,
1 tsp red chilli powder,
1 tsp amchur powder
and salt to taste.
Mash lightly with a fork and then use this to stuff the parathas. First roll the dough into 5mm thick x 100mm diameter. Drape this in your upturned hand to form a cup and stuff it with the mashed peas. Form into a round ball, seal the edges by crimping them with your fingers and proceed to roll it flat to 5mm thickness. Then cook it on a flat griddle with a little oil/butter/ghee.
Amchoor is dried Mango powder and adds a tang to the paratha, you can substitute it with lemon juice.
You should be able to make 4 parathas from the above quantity.
I'm a very bad recipe writer so feel free to ask for clarifications.
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Like this.
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Episure: my sympathies! Is it true that they can carry rabies in India? My in-laws, when we're in Delhi, are always telling me to keep all the doors to the outside closed, as otherwise monkeys will come in looking for food (even though we're in a highly urban built-up neighbourhood). They actually did go into our neighbour's place and plunder the fridge! (the neighbours were home at the time, closed all doors to that room, and waited till the monkeys left of their own accord). Even without rabies, I feel they could get pretty nasty.
Of course, one could always try eating them instead... that should solve the problem of marauding neighbourhood monkeys.
Maybe I should just send the address and a key of our Delhi apartment to Daniel, and let him at them.
Anzu,
Urbanisation has made monkeys dangerous and they have lost their fear of man, unlike those in the wild.
Last week, a similar incident hapened in my brother's house who lives on the sixth storey! His daughter in law was alone and had to lock herself in her bedroom while these guys ran amuck in the living room and the kitchen. They polished off a dozen top grade Alphonso mangoes from the fridge, two packets of Oreos and did a take away on a lot of other stuff. Funny thing is all the mango skins were deposited in a tidy pile on a newspaper. Neat eaters. Apparently they were viciously snarling and advancing at anyone who tried to shoo them away.
Yes, there have been cases of Rabies from monkeys.
I used to know a guy who had a chunk of his butt taken off by these critters.
I'm getting weird thoughts about making a Simian masala.
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I can certify that such a thing doesn't exist in India and will put it down to 'Turban' legend.
"Ah! Dessert... .Chilled Monkey-Brains!"
Chilled monkey brains? Try whipped cream and food coloring and Jell-O - that's what Kate Capshaw was really served in the dinner sequence.I once trapped a monkey just because everybody said it couldnt be done, I can tell you that was a chilling experience. I let him go before the rest of his troop arrived. Brrrr...never again. Right now I am content to let them pass peacefully through my backyard
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Sandra, that was a very loooong sip of PX sherry.
A street side Rabri maker:
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You might want to contact this blogger:
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A few months later, Howe received a phone call from a student who was given her menu. The student was living with two other culinary students who happened to be from India and was absolutely enthralled that a catering company in Maine was offering Indian cuisine.
One of those students was Rajesh Mandekar, who was working on earning his second culinary degree after cooking at two Indian restaurants in Manhattan, at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston, and on a cruise ship for three years traveling the Caribbean.
Mandekar makes everything from scratch, including his own curry and spice blends. The food does not contain any additives or preservatives. It stays fresh through the vacuum packaging and can be heated up in the microwave or a pot of boiling water. The result is restaurant-style Indian food at home for half the price ($6-12). -
This is murukku from a store and the ingredients listed are rice, urad dal, black sesame seeds, sesame oil, asafoetida and chilli powder. There are hundreds of variants and the one you tasted probably had butter, an ingredient that never fails.
I would still wait for rajsuman's MIL's recipe.
which brand is that Episure?
Looks like the kind i always buy, except the package calls it chakli.
murukku is one of my favorite foods too. and this brand isn't bad. can't for the life of me remember the brand tho - white, red and blue package.
Tryska,
I think Chakli is Kannada and Murukku is Tamil for these extruded snacks which may be flat also. I used to think that chakli refers to the round shape but I've been told otherwise, perhaps the others here can confirm.
There are hundreds of small shops that make these on a continuous basis and then there are big brands like MTR and Haldiram. I have a SAWA cookie press to fool around with when I deviate from the norms( Rosemary, Mango ginger, Fennel...
) but for the straight cookie cutter( ) varieties I buy from here:
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A little late in replying to this post but I would give it the yoghurt treatment to speed up the process. High humidity and a median temperature of 20 deg will do the job. In short an oven with a pilot lamp is ideal and if your climate is dry, keep a small cup of water also.
I agree with Jaymes about slightly raw mangoes being ideal for salsa. Apply salt to the chopped mangoes to leach out some juices for the salsa 'dressing'.
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Good job Grub, I know it's bhuna hard days night for you.
I would have browned the onions to a darker shade.
My Goan friend uses leftover wine which has turned to vinegar.
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Hi all,
I just build tandoor at home using 55 gal. drum, castable refractory, fire bricks & clay pot.
I am new to this forum so I do not know how to post the pictures. you can contact me at schokshi@ford.com or you can post your inquiries here.
I will be more than happy to share lessons learned during this project.
Welcome Sujit,
Click on Image Gullet on the top of this page and you should be able to follow the instructions to post pictures. Where are you based?
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This is murukku from a store and the ingredients listed are rice, urad dal, black sesame seeds, sesame oil, asafoetida and chilli powder. There are hundreds of variants and the one you tasted probably had butter, an ingredient that never fails.
I would still wait for rajsuman's MIL's recipe.
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My understanding is that the tomatoes are functioning as an additional souring agent (additional, in this case, to the vinegar).
There are versions with and without tomatoes (just as their versions with and without potatoes for that matter). All those without tomatoes, that I know of at least, have something else again to make the dish sourer. This may be tamarind in a lot of cases, at least one recipe calls for pickled onions, and there are also versions with a larger quantity of vinegar.
One of the reasons for sourness (apart from taste, of course) is that dishes such as these (the sorpotel mentioned upthread falls into this category as well) are traditionally cooked for festive occasions, might be cooked in advance and then re-heated once each day to prevent spoilage as there is/was no refrigeration. You therefore need a high proportion of ingredients which will retard spoilage and bacterial growth.
Here also a few facts about which souring agents are most popular and why:
The very name of tamarind (the name comes from tamr hindi, is Arabic in origin and means Indian date) already points to the fact that tamarind, while arguably not actually Indian in origin, has nevertheless been associated with Indian cuisine for a very long time.
Tomatoes are, obviously, a New World import which have been adopted with great rapidity across India, along with chillis, potatoes, and so forth. They do, however, have a far shorter history of use in Indian food, and there are still communities particularly in southern India who will avoid these 'foreign' foods on particular occasions (i.e. in the preparation of foods for certain Hindu festivals).
Vinegar is the souring agent, of these three, that has least penetrated Indian cuisine. Speaking very broadly here, it is most closely associated with Portuguese influence (although there ARE exceptions here, and historically vinegar has also been present elsewhere in India, and has been used by both Hindus and Muslims).
There is yet another alternative souring agent that can be used in vindaloo, and that is dried kokum (Garcinia indica). This is usually available in Indian grocery stores if you feel like hunting it down and experimenting.
Now, I'm getting a bit vague here, because I can't truly remember the details about which community prefers what, but: preferences for souring agents vary in Goa (and nearby regions) according to the religious background of the person cooking the dish. If I remember correctly, Christians tend to use a lot more vinegar in their dishes, Hindus will tend to use more kokum and tamarind.
In addition, vindaloo is made not only in Goa, but also, for example, in Kerala. This means that regional variations as well as religious variations start playing a role in what goes into a dish. Most dishes in India have not been standardized in the way that, for example, hollandaise has been. Most people still do not cook from cookbooks, and it is really only in the last few years that cookbooks documenting local and regional cuisines have begun to appear.
What this means is that there tends to be a lot more variation in a dish than you might expect if comparing to Western cuisine. If you want to use tomatoes, use them.
I'm sure others can talk about this also, and probably bring more knowledge to the subject than I.
Could'nt have summed it up better.
Many Parts of Goa have their own variation of Vindaloo. Most rural versions call for cubed potatoes that are parboiled, fried till slightly browned and then stirred in just before serving.
Another little known souring agent is Bimbli, a sort of a miniature gherkin, but that's used in Fish Curries.
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Some years ago my ex( she was mostly vegetarian) barged into the kitchen and saw me flattening some chicken breasts with a mallet. She exclaimed "It's already dead, why are you beating it up! "
A few months later she saw me injecting marinade and said "Oh, change of heart! thank god you've decided to cure them".
I said 'cure' is right but not in the way you think. For those interested, my marinade was light cream, turmeric, paprika, saffron infusion and then cooked with garlic butter in my grill pan.
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Percy,
What's the condenser like apparatus behind the VIP XO bottle?
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My advise for what its worth is to stay away from the stuff, its so damn tasty and addictive. You will end up more than restored, say 20 - 30 lbs!
Last time I was in Delhi and at Standard Sweets in Karol Bagh, had to restrain myslf and buy only 1/2 Kg. 20 minutes after I got home it was gone.
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In addition to the red pepper flakes.
, I recommend adding toasted sesame seeds and sun dried tomatoes. I also add toasted white mustard seeds but that idea may be too alien for you.
Indian Food
in India: Dining
Posted
MAYBE it's a climate thing, but we Scots have a serious love affair with spicy, aromatic food.