gingerly

saffron as in precious!such loving consideration as to where and how to best use it..lovely feathery,flavourful sprigs.no more of that store bought junk..for about a week

have my first tubful tryska-treating it like saffron

why, Monica-start with tulsi and everything will follow just fine..

more to chew on here-hitler's table talk

you're welcome-hope we'll get a report on your return.and what your friend should look out for is meat in unlikely places.i had to retrieve and heroically down a mooncake with a sweetened shrimp filling that the fish resistant husband was trying to make disappear -not down the gullet.

adding to all the things mentioned already-skipped through ranjit rais book and apart from stating a preference for a round sectioned skewer for mince,he says he can't emphasise enough the importance of oiling and then wiping down the skewer before using it. edit:the sixth slicked seekhs sixth seekh's slipped... sheesh..

here's a useful site-wish i'd been more prepared on a trip some years ago-gobsnacked by the variety but steamed buns and various soups were my main targets.also kind of food related-lose yourself in the national museum and then revive with moon cakes and tea in their tea room..sigh. sure better informed folk will come along presently!

the dental adhesive i can vouch for-the fried bit i tasted adhered very tenaciously to my molars!love the paperchase too-just gives me resin to go googling away.. bellvue,here i come

and if it isn't your own particular lifestyle, it immediately gets the adjective "alternate" attached to it?? guess that's where what,how (and if )you practise comes in no?

um..seems like lifestyle choices are the new religion..kind of.

chips (and sauce) had them yet?

grew up omnivorous( pan indian/panned indian and a dark, colonial shadow cast itself across the table)eating whatever was put in front of us,and that varied from the sublime to the ridiculous.-no real issues other than some selective lactose intolerance-couldn't abide milk but in any other form ,it went down just fine thank you.no fussing and certainly no 'yucky!'tolerated at table though if someone really had issues with something (like meat)arrangements were made.i think at some level,'think of the starving millions' still lurks in my subconcious enough that i won't really get my k's in a t beyond a certain point.(i may have to hand in my egullet papers now )most memorable first and last encounter with a food involved the self explanatory egg flip.5 seconds.brinjal also not a great favourite and deep gloom descended when suji halva appeared in the guise of dessert.not keen on dals as a kid but enjoy them now.still have a bad reaction to the smell of cold dal though... all time favourite -tough but i think plain rice with a bit of ghee and some dry fried keema would be a strong contender.and a good masala dosai. just a thought Milagai-very few people i knew growing up ate vegetables as a side to a main of meat so there wouldn't really have been much choice if you didn't like vegetables per se, these days i hone my masterplan to slip fish into the schedule as often as possible without raising an alarm. and i was a weird kid-only one i knew who loved karela from very early on.

i was thinking something in the dhungar style mongo.. just sunday silliness Suman-there are lots of really interesting recipes in my south canara cook book,including one for plantain skin palya.one of these days i might just get around to trying it.

always wanted to do something with banana peels...

okay caroline,you got me working-i found the gum and of course the name on the pack turned up nothing.did some reading and fiddling around and finally concluded it has to be gum karraya what i have is in largish,swirly lumps,white with a tinge of yellow.a lump soaked in water swelled up rather like psyllium husk does but held it's shape.fried,it turned into something that looked like a cross between popcorn and a rather brittle prawn cracker.no taste really other than the oil but a nice crunch to it.burning some produced carbon but no fragrance. more info-here and here i have sambrani in a dilute form.it burns with the most wonderful fragrance.also some camphor( that i hope is edible quality.)i use it for a sweet that called for the addition of a little but i rub it on the container instead, for effect.i figure the fat and sugar will get to me before the camphor anyway!

caroline,it occurred to me sometime after posting, that there are several kinds of edible gum and that the one you have may be edible but not necessarily suitable for the recipes indicated.anyway-here's a somewhat kooky looking site but quite informative.meanwhile i think it might be worth another trip to that store to verify if indeed this is the kind you need.let us in on any exciting results!

i'll save it for all occurences of soy sauce and yogurt.

"that review was fantastic!Episure,now i can save money!" gingerly of no fixed address now where can i download a free rotfl thingy..

you're welcome-presently i will dig out the fossilised pack from the 'to be tried' kitchen cupboard and give it a go myself.here's one more- gum paak 250 gm gum 500gm sugar 100 ml water 250 gm ghee break up the gum into small pieces and fry a few at a time in heated ghee till puffed up.make a three thread syrup with the sugar and water and add the fried gum to this.mix,spread on a greased plate and cut into shapes when cool.

like this? edit:recipes

my two bit theory revolves around destuction by fire and then having to salvage the remains of crops from the ashes.i think i read somewhere that discarded shells were used as fertilizer-guess that would be in areas near the sea.

looks like the same one http://www.cottageindia.com/indiafood.html

potpourri psst..naughty pictures.

hi Lakshmi.you might find something useful here though i don't know how much of it is vegetarian.there's also something with a similar title that you can download but (it's not free)i don't know anything about it.

thanks,Edward.will try another round sometime soon.