Episure

Oh Boy!

Very impressed, truly I am. I've always felt confined in Indian food/wine pairing, you have now made me think out of the box...case? A Viognier has just been introduced here in Bombay and I liked it the first time, methinks I'll get some more. It reminded me of a Gruner Veltiner, though I've never had an australian GV. Compliments to you and your sommellier.

TVP works very well too. Same treatment as a regular Keema. If you can, add stock or some cubes. The TVP we get here in India has a....well a TVP smell, which is neutralized by the addition of lime juice at the end of cooking.

Any more pre release info on the book? What did you do about Photography?

Ah yes how could I forget the Kashmiri style too. Palak Nadru, Nadru kababs..... To make the Bhain kheema boil sliced( coins) Lotus roots till tender in a rich stock(optional) and then mince finely with a knife. Do not use a food processor or you might have a bad hair day . Then proceed to cook it in your favourite Kheema style. You may have not come across this and neither have I. This is one of my crazy improvisations, one that worked! Sindhis have a particular affinity towards this weird looking pipe that has holes in it and often add it to Chole. Another cuisine that uses this often overlooked ingredient is Japanese( Renkon) and I sometimes make it as tempura.

I was trying to remember a Kheema version amd I couldnt remember, now I do. I had made one using minced Bhee/Kamal kakdi ( Lotus Root). It wasnt easy to distinguish from the meat version, especially if you add some Meat stock. If it doesnt offend your diners, that is.

Hi Bbhasin, I hope Isabel was kind to you. Scotch and beer is indeed the mainstay for Indians, but now with the advent of wines in India a fair number of diners are willing to try wines. Long way to go. I make litchi cocktails that go well with Indian food. The problem with wines is that there are too many differing opinions, some advocate complimentary and some contrasting flavors! So I am always learning from People like Tonyfinch whose posts here and elsewhere are extraordinary. I am eagerly waiting for Prasad/Raju's opinion on another topic here.

Thanks, wish you could join me, I've so much to learn about wines. Started too late, I guess.

Dear Tonyfinch, I am putting together the your recommendations as well as a few to see what doesnt work. Can you opine on some fairly decent Zins also, as a pairing with the above menu. If it's a definite no-no, I won't open them.

Apart from other influencing factors, silage/feed plays an important role in the flavor of the Meat. I will be grateful if you could share your experiences in this aspect.

And in addition to all the other's recommendations, you might also want to try the 6th floor Food Center at MBK. A mind boggling array of food in one location. Personally I would eat the street food or at the small thai restaurants where the locals eat. It does take me 2 days to get used to the level of Chilli heat.

Thanks for the suggestions, Tonyfinch. Purely on a personal note, I hate champagne, any thing else?

My tasting menu would definitely include wines which would play a role in the progression. Your post has spurred me to develop one but it may be months of weekend cooking before I come up with one that satisfies me. I would imagine it would be something like this: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A delicate sea food shorba made with almond milk and cilantro, Saffron and aniseed chicken tikkas, Sauted cumin seed and asparagus, Prawns tossed in butter, curry leaves,whole red chillies and garlic, Mutton/Lamb pasandas in a thickish coconut gravy mildly flavoured with southern spices; with brown rice or Nan, Green tea kulfi ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Perhaps other eGulleteers will theorize the wines for this.

After the summer spell in India which spans March to May, the skies open up and showers cool down the earth. The first rains conjure up a evanescent aroma which has also been bottled as a perfume aptly named Mitti ( Mud). It is time to let go of dietary controls and binge on Onion Bhajiyas/Pakoras and coal grilled Corn on the cob with lime, salt and red chilli powder There is a Sindhi version of Pakoras which is relatively unknown: Sanha Pakoras Mix little water+Besan ( Chana dal powder) with chopped onions, green chillies, garlic, ginger, anardana( dried pomegranate), roasted whole coriander seeds, cilantro and mint leaves, hing(asafoetida), red chilli powder and salt to taste. Deep fry on low heat in large chunks about the volume of an egg. Remove before browning, let cool and break into smaller chunks about a table spoon each. Deep fry again on high heat till brown and serve with green chatni. Hinging in the rain!

Groan

It's the basic recipe and the shape is moulded twin, part of the 2nd image. If you are enthusiastic order the starter which egullet is offering as a special and with a good oven you will be able to make it. I know a little about baking after spending some time in Germany, so I am confident enough to tell you that this will be the closest thing to Pao without even tasting it. What a coincidence, just yesterday we were discussing Pao as we know it and today eGCI is teaching you all to make the same thing. Manna from Heaven!

I found Pao in your own backyard, it's located here moulded twin From what I can read in the post it seems to fit the bill.

This is a very interesting post. Delicately flavoured dishes should definitely precede the big guns. Some of my Restaurateur friends aver that the diner remembers the first and last course the most. I am not so sure about this. More on this later as I have to rush somewhere.

Bhasinji, I was hoping you would respond and this promises to become a very interesting thread. We will not take this debate in any way save that this is how evolution continues. Let me clarify: Baggage Not being formally trained, I find it easier to question cooking processes and systems, which doesnt come easy. But this by no means is a slur on formally trained professionals. I must admit I could have used more elegant phraseology in my earlier post, I apologise. Six degrees of separation I agree that oil separation phenomenon is traditional and part of Northern cuisine. I easily manage to brown onions and add ginger/garlic pastes till fried and the oil doesnt separate. Maybe I use just the right quantity of oil, but I have been doing this for over 25 years now and nobody's complained. Maybe I have evolved like an isolated species in the Galapagos. More taste less Fat. I feel that we are using twice the quantity of oil than is functionally required. For those that prefer extra oil as a contributing taste enhancer, try using less oil and add a dollop of Ghee or Butter just before serving. The flavour and aroma is truly awesome. The total fat medium used will be less than only oil. It's not that we use oil that doubles as a flavour as in the case of olive oil. Nawab Lajawab No doubt they contributed a lot to cuisine for without them we would never have had Dum Pukht, Kakoris and Galoutis. I used them in my caricature as they were also prone to excesses. Dum Pukht The USP of this low heat cooking method is that all the flavours and aromas are released under the diner's nose and not the cook's. This is the opposite of frying masalas into oblivion. I carry out blind tests( as part of taste and sensory analysis) for some F & B companies and mostly for my own curiosity. One of these experiments has led me to use butter from coimbatore( Again, more taste less fat! ) exclusively for all my South Indian cooking. Like in wine, terroir has a role to play in Butter also. Food does not benefit by the addition of too much oil, it's not even a visual treat. North Indian food is the ambassador of Indian cuisine, It's about time we tweaked it and made it more acceptable to the world. The french had to do it. Now we need a NAYA ZAIKA (Copyright- Episure ) Maybe I am generalizing or as skchai said :Of course, I could have no idea about what I'm talking about.

Apart from having the distinction of serving a good Vada Pao, this village also has something to do with George Bernard Shaw. Have you all figured it out?

Absolutely right! As I wrote in my post 3 days is what it takes me to eat real Thai food. Let's give Wilbur Scoville the credit for being a pioneer and thank modern technology for inventing High Performance Liquid Chromatography.

I must say that I dont know of the vada pao stall outside the Colaba Bus station. But maybe this must be close to the place where you had frankies as mentioned by you in another thread. The Lettuce leaf is just placed on top of the Vada in the Pao, an attempt to keep up with the Big Macs. Interesting is all I can say. A good Kolhapuri Usal Pav is available for Rs. 8 at Bharat Cafe opp Churchgate station. The Best Vada Pav I have had is from a handcart/thela at a village called Ghoti after Igatpuri on the Bombay Nasik highway. He serves it with a third chatni which seems to consist of a green chilli/jeera tadka in a light sweet yoghurt emulsion.

You can say that again Suvir, With red chilli/garlic chatni on one side and green chilli chatni on the other. Probably the only application of two varietals of Chillies in one piece of bread. I dont know if you remember but there used to be a famous stall opp VT station. They now serve it with a lettuce leaf.

Forgive me if this addition is not of global relevance, but how can we forget the humble Pao. This unassuming cubical loaf 3" to 4" is the daily bread(literally!) of millions across the western coast of India. A simple bread of a strong flour, salt and yeast, it is an ideal accompaniment to curries and gravies. It's used to mop up gravies, curries and forms the top and bottom half of the Batata Vada-Pao( Mc Vada Pao!). And of course as the unsung partner of a Pao Bhaji. It is a bread that I revere highly and hold in the same esteem as any artisan bread in the world. Made without preservatives, it's shelf life is about 12 hours stretchable to 24 with some rejuvenation like heating or nuking. The Goans have a harder version of it - Gootli. There are some packaged Paos available now but they all taste enriched. I would not think of making Garlic toasts without it or it's other sandwich loaf form( Desi bread). It is probably the only bread where the Bhaji popularized it and truly took the Pao to all over India and the diaspora. Like Sarson da Sag and Makki Roti. Pao bhaji was discussed here earlier: Pao Bhaji I was just wondering what bread would suffice to do the job of Pao. I am sure there is a better alternative than the burger bun. You all would need a simpler unfortified bread. I would not attach too much importance to the shape. Perhaps your food standards/regulations would prohibit the making of such a low shelf life bread. Can you all think of any?

Thanks Mark, for your dissertation on Chillies. Has anyone ever thought about grading them by instant heat, slow heat and everything else in between. I find that fresh green chillies kick in and die out fast. Reds are usually in dried form and have a lasting burn. Something to do with the oleoresins being locked in, perhaps? And yes it is a matter of getting used to the heat by experience. Inspite of being used to my Indian cuisine, when I travel to Thailand, it takes me three days in to accustom myself to the real Thal food. Day one is usually in places that cater to tourists, after that...........