whippy
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Posts posted by whippy
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I'm stumbling in late with my admiration. This blog following last week's article? Things are rolling your way.
I love the cool, colorful poppers, must find some.
I've read that vodka gol gappas (what does gappa mean? gossip?) are riding a trend in Delhi. Looking forward to your rendition.
Yay Monica!
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Yes.
Chickens with bare nipples. He kept 300 hens in the coop and lined his nest with pearls.
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Shanta, thanks for the tip. I did look a little in a couple online booksellers based in India, but I didn't find one with Rasachandrika in stock. (But now that I have it, I have a better notion of what dinner was the other night.)
Gingerly, one of these days a mystery or two might just unravel. Sort of. Maybe? Okay, I like a good mystery.
Anyway, went back to the Saveur article and found another reference to musk. Also rather humbled by the use of (presumably ground) rubies as a coloring agent. Every now and then I get to use some fancy ingredients, but I remain confident that I shall pass to the end of my days on this earth without enjoying such a pleasure.
Also learned that the court's chickens were fed saffron, pomegranates, jasmine, pineapples and perfumes in order to scent their flesh. Lucky chickens, no?
--whippy
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PhyllisBFP
welcome to eGullet!
i looked online for the longest time, too. very frustrating since it's not commercially available. then i remembered that there was a time before the Rise Of The Internet, and pursued old fashioned methods. otherwise known as the public library.
my "copy" is an interlibrary loan from duke university. i found 'rasachandrika' the same way via cornell.
hopefully your municipality offers the same great service!
--whippy
(i think it may have been jschyun who pointed out there's only one copy of sameen rushdie's book in the whole u.s. library system, meaning it's not up for grabs to the likes of me. anybody want to lend me one? i'm an honest chap.)
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Sandalwood chips in rum is a good idea, you might also want to try making a flavoured syrup/sherbet with jasmine flowers added. Great for a nonalcoholic summer drink.
I've tried making a sandalwood sherbet but couldn't get it right--long simmer, short boil, steeping, soaking, what have you. Never enough flavor, and I'm pretty sure it was me because I was using fragrant wood chips. However, throw a few measly lumps in some tasty barbados rum: in less than an hour you're good to go! adding jasmine may be gilding the lily, but i'm pretty sure i'm a lily-gilder through and through. yum!
you prompted me to venture down the lane, pandanus portland style:
Last freezer compartment on the left, 99 cents a bag. Haven't had a chance to goof around with it yet, but initial inspection yielded almost no fragrance. Shouldn't this be highly odoratissimus??
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got back just awhile ago...
the class was great of course. it was cool to say hello to such a prolific, inspiring and thoughtful poster. suvir would probably hate to be on tv, but he'd be good at it. (in simon cowell voice: "he's got star quality, that's all there is to it.")
we had yummy puff pastry samosas, eggplant raita, lemon rice, minced chicken saute and coconut-spiced green beans.
if he's coming to a shop near you, it's a fun and tasty demo.
thanks again for the info, tanabutler!
many more thanks to you, suvir.
i'm not worthy. . .(edit to add: no chai ice cream.)
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tanabutler,
Thanks so much for posting this info. I had no idea that Suvir was going to be in Portland this Saturday. I'm signed up for his demo, very grateful to you.
whippy
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Thanks for helping me sort these things out, both of you! Slow learner and all. . .
Most off the shelf Kewra products are made from the synthesised primary hydrosol, ergo, I prefer using the real thing which has many other compounds.I KNEW it! Maybe I can source some fresh stuff at one of my SE Asian markets.... until then I'm using Viola brand. Viola brand kewra essence does not roll into a nice ketupat. Consider yourself lucky!
Your kind words are appreciated
, but I'm just a little dabbler with a stack of cookbooks. Sometime soon I'd like to return to India *skinny* and fly home *fat*. My condolences for your sandalwood tree. That sucks.
I've been known to steep some sandalwood chips in a little dark rum, but I swear I was nowhere near Bangalore on the evening of the 24th. -
I guess the water comes from Kewra water(if fresh kewra is not used).
IMHO, the above procedure is self defeating as any excess heat will only vaporise the aromas and flavor components. This is an argument I keep having with Chefs, CookBook authors and Culinary experts.
Yup, I should have written kewra jal, not just "keora." I haven't tried this myself, but I find the idea interesting as I often try to "layer" flavors when I cook, and this seems like a cool--if sort of extravagant--way of seasoning as I go along. It makes a lot of sense to me that the aromas would be burned off over high heat as you say. Some of the Awadhi recipes are dum cooked with very low heat for a very long time--wonder if, in these sorts, there is a lingering impact from the tempered ghee? --?--
Kewra/Khus/Vetiver/Screwpine is also Pandanus and I am lucky enough to grow it for my kitchen.Is the picture of vetiveria zizanoides or pandanus odaratissimus? I thought these were different birds? I've only cooked with essence and water, how do you use the fresh stuff? Leaf, flower or both? Now that you've told us you've got kewra and avacadoes growing in your garden, I wonder what else you've got squirreled away!
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keora and khus/vetiver seem to be referred to interchangeably as mitha itr so it's possibly khus.
Imtiaz Qureshi uses some khus essence toward the end of his gosht korma* in the Avadh section of Jiggs Kalra's Prashad cookbook. I've made it a couple times, it's really nice. I was sort of wondering if that was a possibility, too. I also just noticed that in the preface to D-e-A there is this: "Most commonly (the perfumes) are made from musk deer, hunting of which is now banned worldwide". So perhaps at one time, a dish finished with essence of musk deer??
Unfortunately, there's very little indication as to the other mystery ingredients' role--roast dry ingredients, grind and finish with the keora and ittr.
Another interesting technique mentioned in the book (ghee durust karna) is the tempering of ghee to be used as a cooking medium ("except for baghar, dhungar and deep frying.") Ghee is heated, then keora and cardamom are stirred into the hot fat, the water evaporates and the tempered ghee is used as a starter for many of the recipes. Luxury!
*"--which is a thin gravy--" he points out.
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Since you asked nicely:
lazzat-e-taam: that which enhances the taste of the food
mitha ittr: sweet perfume
keora: screwpine flower (a search for keora/kewra will turn up some more)
dastarkhwan-e-awadh: the dining spread of awadh (region around Lucknow)
jarakush and baobeer: no clue. see original query.
d-e-a has been a hard-to-find cookbook. saveur mag did a nice spread on it last year.
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So, I finally got my paws on a copy of Dastarkhwan-e-Awadh.
There's a nice recipe for this extravagant masala "available in. . . a few selected shops in old Lucknow" in the glossary. It calls for both jarakush and baobeer. Anybody know anything about these critters?
Also, many of the recipes finish with a combo of keora and mitha ittr. Can anybody tell me anything about mitha ittr? (Other than it's a sweet perfume?
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please list the ingredients, and not something unknown that I'll have to google the rest of the afternoon
Gingerly's on this thread...I bheja won't have to google a thing. (You people!
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hey! that was on my christmas wish list!
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Could this be a version of akuri?
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(off topic mention of Cheesy Poofs)
If you're into the occasional downscale, Hood's Jalapeno Korn Kurls (made by our friends at Tim's) offers a spicy, finger-soiling alternative to their potato chips.
I like 'em. (
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does achaya or other historians have any ancient indian
discussions or dish-cussions on foods considered aphrodisiac?
or vatsyanana?
i've been slowly reading my way through achaya's dictionary.
aphrodisiacs in "C" include:
Coconut flowers and Crocodile omelettes.
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really, really, REALLY lovely! Thanks so much for this thread, makes me just *happy*.
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what would be those green leaves
were the leaves stacked individually or gathered in bunches?
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and getting better now
keep getting better! we missed you while you were away! welcome back, and best wishes with your surgery.
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hey! thanks for the heads up!
i never knew new seasons carried these. i am SO off to buy some. -
some goat's brains would be really terrific!
seems like i've got a dozen recipes on my shelves just itching to be cooked.or some missing cookbooks: sameen rushdie's, rasachandrika, dastarkhwan e awadh.......
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forget what this is called:
Portland area Indian Grocer?
in Pacific Northwest & Alaska: Cooking & Baking
Posted
All the Indian groceries I've been to in Portland carry curry leaves, ghee and spices. If that's what you're looking for, don't worry and just use the phone book. If you want something specific, Apna Bazaar seems to have the most diverse selection. Are you looking for something specific?