Episure

Edward, you are in luck, I just received this press release: I envy you for being in the right place at the right time.

Badaam pasanda at Karims Good going Edward!

Sizz’l-n-Spice, downtown Detroit’s’s new Indian restaurant

Suman, Bangalore is full of these cute looking pumpkins, you have to ripen these small babies till they are sweeter. Slice off the top 1/3rd and scoop out the flesh. Puree the flesh with tomatoes, dried red chillis, garlic, tamarind and just a wee bit of asafoetida. Cook it and add a tadka of cuminseed and what have you, refill the shell and serve. You may want to keep this ready and hot in an oven. Now that I am writing this recipe, it strikes me that it is possible to make a nice pumpkin rasam and serve it the same way. Hot pumpkin soup = Soorma Bhopali

Whippy, This sounds nice especially if it's juice from a ripe sweet pumpkin. I'm not much into bourbon but I'll try it with vodka. My leanings in whisky are completely anchored to the stuff that comes from a small island off the scottish west coast. Whilst we are at it will someone educate me about the connection between Halloween and Pumpkins.

I just remembered, a friend had brought over 8 tiny pumpkins from her farm. They were about the size of small melons. I scooped out the flesh and made a shorba(spiced soup) served in the shells. It looked very impressive but there is scope for improvement in the recipe. Shall try again if I get these midgets.

It can be made into a halwa/sheera. Chopped into cubes and stir fried with kalonji (nigella) seeds and red chilli powder, it makes a nice sabji to be had with puris.

An excellent dissertation, unarugulably good.

Now these are Chips, freshly made every hour! I prefer to buy the plain ones( potato flavored as somebody called them )and have them with my home made thick yogurt dip. Depending on my mood and what's on hand, I zing the dip with curry powder, paprika, avocado, asparagus, parsley, curry leaf, lime, black pepper, radish, peanuts, shrimp, lemon grass...

That menu is hilarious, it sounds like Sean Connery and Santa Singh talking at the same time.

Thandai for two: 20 almonds blanched and peeled 2 Cardamoms peeled Sugar to taste (about 4 tablespoons) 1 1/2 glass chilled milk about 10 strands of saffron steeped for a few hours in 3 tablespoons of hot milk Grind everything to a fine paste gradually adding the chilled milk. Serve with ice cubes in a tall glass. The real version calls for some black pepper and rose petals but you may want to skip that.

Perhaps you all have forgotten Hindi movies and the mandatory badam dhood(Almond milk) on suhaag raat(wedding night).

Saffron, Cardamom and Almonds ground with milk and sugar = Thandai. It's a great Indian Milk shake, for want of a better description.

Chocolate Soan Papdi!

Barfi? You said it Yajna Patni.

Ssshhhh!

My personal favourite is the Kala Khatta but it needs an acquired taste. I suggest you try that the last, the others are nice and pleasant.

Ghee is numero uno for it's aroma and flavor, second choice would be any neutral oil like Sunflower. I use two syrup concentrations( I have to be different! ) a thin one for initial softening and a thick one for the second steep. Sometimes I stick a candied rose petal in the centre.

That will just render it to a mush, a pudding. That's why you must never have a take away chat. Keith Floyd was probably waiting to have a quick one(drink) at that time.

Oh brave Suman, you add a pinch into the marinade or the chicken+gravy after it is ready, not in the rice. You must add only so much to give it that mystery flavour and elicit responses like " Ummmm... there is something different in this." If you add more than the maximal extremum amount you will get responses like " Yuuck ! This has chocolate, Suman what's wrong with you" You can also use coffee but you must never ever ask your dining guests to check egullet.

Where? Which one?

Suman, Apart from Sweets and Mithais, Chocolate has little role in Indian cuisine. Kathy, if you are somewhat adept at cooking, you might want to try adding a miniscule quantity of chocolate into a Biryani's meat. I do this often and they will probably burn me at the stake but then I live dangerously.

Rajeev Patgaonkar is one of the Kellogg Center's premier chefs Secret of Indian cookery. It's the spice box - and a coffee grinder .

Ah yes, we do that sometimes, but they dont add anything to the taste, in fact it's like foil on the tongue.

Carswell, I dont have a pic but I located one here: Perhaps our fellow member and plant physiologist - v. gautam can shine some light(onion bulb! ) on the subject. If he doesnt know then nobody knows. You must try Kalonji sauted in a little Ghee and drizzled on steamed asparagus...