Milagai

I'm so glad there is more coming; this was one of the best things I've read recently. So funny. A star is born! (bawk buk buk buk!) Milagai

Here's a Sri Lankan suggestion: http://www.elook.org/recipes/vegetable/48316.html Milagai

I've been able to find frozen spinach, at least up to a day or so ago. has that been pulled too? RE substitutes, what about kale or collard greens? Milagai

Thanks Chardgirl and Mr Chardgirl for that article! I admit to being a fan of the prebagged greens, though I always have washed them b4 use. But I'll see them in a new light from now.... Milagai

The time.com site has an article with a little more detail: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,...1535476,00.html 1. Washing alone will not get rid of the bacteria lurking in cut and torn surfaces, stalks, etc. 2. Cooking at 160 deg F (though they don't say for how long) will kill the bacteria. Milagai

In addition to what has been said above, desi moms (I guess all moms) introduce the foods in very small quantities, gradually increasing. You want to start with a 1/4 or 1/2 tsp and observe whether there are any allergic reactions or any other difficulties. Adjust accordingly. A little later, (i.e. maybe around the 12 month stage onward) when more dal type foods: e.g. khichdi as mentioned, or another south indian favorite: toor dal cooked and pureed, with maybe 1 small piece of carrot or green bean or similar vegetable, then a lot of desi moms add a few drops of ajwain water or saunf water to the dal. This helps prevent / relieve gas that these new solid foods can create in the beginning. My mom had a "baby masala" that she learnt from a Punjabi friend and taught all of us: roast and powder: jeera, saunf and ajwain together. Add a tiny pinch to baby's food, or boil a little in water and make add some drops of the water to the food. Milagai

I agree wholeheartedly with almost all that you said above. Once (as you said) you accept that it's OK to kill another animal for food, then go all the way - eat all edible parts of everything. I've been a little baffled by previous posts/threads on how people will savor animal A, B, and C, but get all squeamish about D, E, F (pigs yes, bunnies no! cows of course, horses never!, etc.). Almost all of that is cultural preference - even adventurous eaters in western countries might feel some qualms about bats or grubs..... Some of it of course is personal taste - not liking the flavour of something..... The only point I might add is when you say: "what aside from cultural preference dictates that we might kill this animal but not that one" is that in the current day and age we have to consider endangered species, and methods of killing and collecting that indiscriminately scoop up and destroy all in their path, leading to the extinction of the very creatures we seek.... This is very different from cultural preferences or personal tastes.....(IMO) Of course, now it might be my turn to get blasted..... Milagai

Well, llamas, camels, horses etc are all herbivores, so don't meet your carni / omnivore hypothesis.... Camel's milk is used in those communities who have lots of camels. Same for mare's milk in Mongolia, Yak milk in the high Himalayas, most if not all of these are used as milk and other milk products (fermented, cultured, drink-like or cheese-like, etc. etc.) Wasn't Cleopatra supposed to bathe in donkey's milk? Tiger's milk anyone? The problem would be to get it..... Milagai

That whole Chatham sq area of Cary has a great "little India" feeling with several good eateries, grocery stores and other shops. Cool Breeze chaat, wonderful biryanis in the shop across the street, great Bangla sweet shop, etc. Milagai

Peanutgirl: your pictures look identical to the ajwain in my spice cupboard. Do yours have that distinctive aroma when crushed? Waaza: yr information on names pretty much lines up with what I have ... re cinnamon vs cassia - I don't think I've ever handled real cinnamon sticks in my life.... Milagai

ketchup, either plain regular ketchup, or any of those maggi variations (chili-garlic, etc.) Milagai

Thanks for the tip on not using caraway, Anzu because I had often seen caraway described as a substitute.... and I do agree that oregano smells similar to ajwain so it's likely a good substitute.... What about mail order for the OP's friend? Milagai

Or expanding / adjustable waistbands and lots of bright colours. Which is why Indian clothes work best with Indian food. (Almost infinite room to expand / contract in saris, salwar-kameezes, dhotis, pajamas, etc.; and drip away, you can't tell whether the turmeric and saffron coloured blobs on the outfit came from the cook or the dyer ! ) Milagai

As a professor, I'd say the answer depends on what parameters the instructor has set up front - has s/he said it's OK to consult others, to what extent you can consult, (e.g. ask for ideas but develop recipes on yr own, etc.); how to separate ideas from others (citation and attribution) vs. your own innovations (you'd want others to give you credit for your own ideas if they use them, for e.g.). Assuming it's OK with your instructor to seek help from here, here's an idea: chhole-pizza, now a routine Indian snack from street vendors and from desi branches of Pizza hut.... re ingredients and procedures - there are dozens of recipes for chhole and also for pizza all over the place. anyone who knows anything about cooking would be able to amalgamate them and generate ingredient lists, cooking procedures, etc. Milagai

Maybe any of the desi chefs lurking here can chime in, but my memories of Delhi street food suggest that seekh kababs are usually made over the horizontal charcoal grills, not in the (slanting) tandoors..... I've seen the boti type (chunk type) kababs, whole chickens etc. made in the tandoors. How is tandoori fish made to stick without falling off, I wonder... Milagai

Hi: interesting project - I'm not any kind of tandoor experienced cook, but a couple of ideas: 1. food falling off: the angle of your tandoor may be steeper than those in restaurants? the solution may be to find skewers with hooks or squiggles at one end to keep the ingredients on. the other end is ordinary for sliding on and off ... 2. naan - what flour are you using now? i've seen a lot of variation in recipes - ranging from all purpose flour to white flour, but i imagine something closer to white flour (maida) would work better? milagai

JMHO: Of all the possible evils, I'd rather have the mock whatevers than be presented with fish, chicken, things made with beef stock, or be told "you can just pick the turkey out, right?"..... (all actually happened to me)..... baby steps...... OTOH: I've been afflicted more times than I can count by people (both meater and veggie) who dislike and pick out and throw away all kinds of lovely vegetables - from asparagus to tomatoes, who are deeply suspicious of beans, and who won't eat analogs either, what DO they eat? Milagai

Just for the record: the "complete protein" myth was long ago exploded by nutritionists - your body does all the combining needed all by itself, from various plant based foods eaten over the day. You DONT have to actually create combinations in every dish you cook. Most vegetarian cuisines however do have strong traditions of food combinations - e.g. dal and chapatis, beans and rice, etc. that just go together, and that effortlessly do this work for you..... You'd never eat dal or beans just by themselves (for a meal I mean, not one of those raiding-the-fridge-at-midnight snacks)..... Milagai

Echoing Pontormo's question to the OP: 1. Can you tell us titles of books you *have* tried? 2. Do they represent typical vegetarian cookbooks available in the UK? 3. Are some of the vegetarian cookbooks previously suggested (that don't have the fake and soy issues) not accessible in the UK? Pontormo: thanks for the feedback on the Moosewood bks, and I got a good laugh out of that name Passionmelondragon etc. What's the story behind that person's name?

If you're not a vegetarian, maybe you're not in much position to judge ? I totally agree that it's misguided to approach vegetarian cuisine from a deficiency perspective and try to fill in the non-meat gaps, rather than taking it in its own right. But if someone wants to be vegetarian, and wasn't raised that way, and misses meat, and finds analogues tasty, then why the &*(^ not? Also - there seem to be many of the Buddhist type restaurants (at least in the US) that are based on the fake meats, that this trend seems alive and well and not back in the old days......? Milagai

From the "stating the obvious" department: Most Indian cookbooks are free of the soy sauce dilemma and the meat analogue approach. Ethiopian cuisine also has great vegetarian food. Gosh: there have to be lots of Mediterranean menus that would fit these requirements...... I've found Madhur Jaffrey's cookbooks: World Vegetarian and World of the East Vegetarian Cooking really helpful to incorporate Indian and non-Indian slants to vegetarian cooking. I've also heard excellent things about Deborah Madison's books. Question: What do you all think of the Moosewood cookbooks? I've gleaned a good recipe or three from them over the years, but I've found they need a LOT of tweaking because they are very bland as written (e.g. I routinely triple the spices). It's from them I got the great idea to add bulgur to vegetarian chili for bulk and chewiness.... It works excellently...... Also, I've always been bugged about the fact that in their international recipe collections, cuisines of Italy, China, etc etc are written by people with actual experience and connection to the cultures, but the section on India seems to have been written by someone with no India connection whatsoever, who learned all their dishes second or third hand from a cookbook while playing Ravi Shankar sitar music for the "total" experience..... Especially for recent editions, couldn't they have updated with contributions from more connected sources? Milagai

Read the NYT article about jackalopes? http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/29/health/2...html?ref=health Milagai

I totall agree with this idea; it's great and I didn't know that this was called labne. In India, you take this strained yogurt, add a little cream, powdered sugar, saffron, and cardamom (variations include mango), and voila! Shrikhand! The world's easiest and very spectacular dessert.... Milagai

Finally a word to describe what we do all the time! And I love chickpeas too! I dash home from work and have to feed cranky self and family within a short time with minimum effort, and yet it has to be "cooked" (i.e. not totally from a box). It has to be a complete menu! This is what I often make: 1. Set rice on to boil (the whole process takes ~ 15 mins for 2 cups basmati rice). 2. Make sundal: 2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed. Tarka: oil, hing, mustard seeds, 2-3 dry red chillies broken into the oil, 1 sprig curry leaves from freezer. If I have it - 1/2 onion finely diced. When the tarka pops, add the onion, toss, add the chickpeas, toss, add salt, splash of lemon juice, and (if it's the right season) add 1/2 cup diced unripe (sour) mango. Garnish with grated coconut (from my freezer) and chopped cilantro. Can be served hot or cold. Can "cheat" and gussy this up with more spices (minced ginger and green chillies and some diced tomatoes). This whole thing takes about the same 15 minutes as the rice. I have a few other dal recipes that can be made in a similar time frame - not canned - here's where a pressure cooker is a godsend! 2. Make a "sabzi" (veg) - this is the most time consuming, as I have to chop something - broccoli? cauliflower? some such thing. Quick to cook - ~ 15 minutes of sauteeing - the chopping takes time.... 3. I always have yogurt in the fridge (I make ours as we go through a huge amount each week). Voila! complete meal. Takes about 30 minutes. Sometimes I can do pasta and a very simple sauce in a similar time, but only in the summer when the tomatoes are at their best..... No known sauce - I just wing it..... Needless to say, any food (whether quick or slow) has to taste good or none of us are going to be happy! Milagai

all rice is grass, even "regular" rice is a type of grass..... the "regular" rice is oryza, and what people call "wild rice" is related, zizania. but both are grass. actually i have heard that botanically, most grain crops of the world, ranging from rice to barley to wheat to maize, are all grasses. non-grain food grass crops include sugarcane. non-grain, non-food grass crops include bamboo... Milagai