gingerly

i am baaaaaaaaackkkkkkkkkkkkkk yup!and burning up the boards!we want details! oh i know-wait for the official piece hmpf.

yup-i get that too-a mellow ,sweet,faintly chocolately whiff.same thing with boiling sweet corn too.just a hint.the most unlikely chocolate smell and taste alike i can recall is some 'beetroot fudge' i ate years ago-made by a friends grandmother.she couldn't convince me it didn't have bournvita(malted chocolate drink)in it!

the link in the first post explores that issue nessa. your second and third questions have probably been( deliciously)answered by now! scott123-just wondering if the colour that leaches out of carrots when cooked in oil be off limits too?

er-one for the opposition perhaps?

hello there-chiming in to agree with your grandma!i remember having a good laugh over homegrown recipes that begin'sieve the flour nicely and remove any weevils/worms'!hmm maybe your aunt too-toast is much easier on the stomach than fresh bread!

you're welcome.i think this needs some tweaking.green mango purchased as possible addition/alternative.

this 250 gms ripe mangoes 250gms gram flour 1/2 tsp roasted,ground cumin 1/2 tsp black pepper 30 gms ghee 2tsp sugar 500gms curd salt to taste remove the pulp from the mangoes and puree.add to the gram flour and mix to a thick batter with water if necessary.heat ghee and fry the badas in it. whisk the sugar into the curd,add the fried cooled badas .chill and sprinkle over the cumin,pepper and salt before serving.

does anyone know-are 'mango dahi badas' a standard thing somewhere?

MANGO ICECREAM heh!

many summers ago bague -the tamarind was ripe and fresh off the trees around the house and boiled up with tons of sugar into a beautifully fresh tasting and utterly refreshing drink.i guess we overdid things because after about a week of indulgence,it was evident that enamel was taking a beating!the wine was a plan at that point so i didn't get to taste it-i wonder if it ever got made!anyway if you're patient i'll track down the recipes and maybe in time for next summer!

bague that description of frying papads had me in splits-perfect and i can picture it so well-the paddling of hot oil up the surface of the papad while controlling the curl!oh for a simpler time when all this calorie and time conciousness were but a distant rumble in someone elses stomach and there was no need to defend or justify your lifes revolving around the pursuit and preparation of food! as a kid i had a mad liking for those white( sago?rice? )papads that looked like and tasted like styrofoam packing balls-like pop rocks on the tongue.on visits to an elderly relative,a plate of writhing'rose papads' in all their lurid, multicoloured glory,would appear just for me!the other great favorite in that series was those tubular yellow ones that you see hanging in plastic bags from a lot of corner shops in the south.we knew them as 'goldfingers' and of course they were duly slipped over ones fingers and and waggled around accompanied by attempts to do a shirley bassey! but enough of that-these days it's mostly the staid madras appalams and jeera papads and those lovely jackfruit ones when i can get my hands on them.i don't do anything clever with them unless the disappearing trick counts. edit.for vanished letter.

thanks!sounds like a good thing with curd rice on a hot summer day.

a friend used to make the most divine tamarind juice(also wine)with recipes from her grandmother.wonderful stuff but it takes your teeth with it. summer.roohafza lots of ice.a slice of lime.some shade to drink it in.

among the bullievers.

um-something has been on my mind for a while.a looong time ago,i read a sci-fi story about two children who as winners of a writing competition i think ,won a trip to a beautiful but strangely disturbing place where they could order and eat every wonderful food they could possibly imagine but always watched every step of the way by some of their mysterious' hosts'.they were asked to describe every nuance and sensation and their descriptions were met with laser keen scrutiny accompanied by barely surpressed sighs of satisfaction. turns out they were abducted albeit gently by aliens with no sense of smell or taste and who were living vicariously through the soon to be replaced( fatigued,unhinged and therefore dispensible)children. and another thing-what happened to rtrh grfyyjj.............

Suman,all the author writes is that these will puff up and become crisp and will keep in an airtight container for a week(how likely is that?!)a quick search shows some other recipes that include a small amount of besan in the dough-is that something you recall? also one posted says to serve them with chilli sauce.the second recipe reminds me of something i once ate at a small bakery in kerala-looked like a large,really oily cake and you could buy it by the slice.better than it sounds and it helps to be really hungry!

for what it's worth,the denser urad/moong mix masala papads when cooked in the microwave stay flat.the more delicate ones i usually brush with oil and pop in a preheated oven and they do get a bit blistered but stay reasonably flat.

pity the poor child that ventures to my door...

thanks bague-will venture to try these soon.i'm sure i've eaten them many times without realising what they were! Spiceroute,that chutney sounds good-is the dosakai uncooked here?and what about the seeds?

+vibing.where's the 'reiki' emoticon?

thanks Monica-i think!is it just me or are there some very suggestive thread titles around today?! so here from the south canara cookery book by kadambila saraswathi,are buns 6 cups of flour 3 bananas 4 tsp sugar a pinch of salt 1/2 cup ghee 1/2 tsp baking powder oil for deep frying mix all the ingredients and knead into a stiff dough.shape/make into thick,flat rounds of 1 1/2" to 2" dia.deep fry.the author says if the dough is made in the morning,it can be fried for a teatime snack.sure. mangalore buns 1/2 kg of flour(same author-different measures!) 3 bananas 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup curd 1/4 tsp salt 2tsp cumin seed 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 litre coconut or other oil for frying mix all the ingredients except the cumin and oil.knead to a stiff dough and set aside for 8 hours.mix in the cumin seed and form into small ,round puris and deep fry. next rainy day comfort food! now we need some feedback on how these are meant to look.i can't figure out if you're supposed to roll these out or just form them by hand like vadais.suncoupons,Suman? damned if the very next recipe isn't for halubai!i see trouble ahead..or should that be behind..?

suncoupons,i think i should post this on the indian sweets thread.maybe Monica(who has forsaken us for more glamorous places!)can confirm that?!

Let me guess, that these are NOT the celosia family of flowers we call cockscomb here in the states... Every time I think I have something that can be grown locally, I find that it only looks vaguely similar... Named that by the (insert your colonizing nation here) and is a totally different species...sigh.. possiblywrong againjw46?!unless someone thought to rename yet another new world find with an old world name! lab report(really scientific)a tsp of turmeric(grainy mcormick since i'd run out of my regular finely ground) mixed into a slurry with a little baking soda and water.(left for about an hour while real work was getting done)a slice of test potato was smeared in thick curd and a little ginger and garlic paste to simulate texture of tandoori marinade.fried( to speed things up)-brilliant orange red!no i didn't taste it.if i someone can figure out a better alternative to baking soda by halloween i think i'll have ghoulishly good aloo! less success with ground hibiscus petals-fried to a lovely crisp brown.

just an idle thought-turmeric turns red in an alkaline medium-i wonder if you could improvise with that?and would it stand up to cooking-hmm.work in progress.

this might be one line to look for.