Milagai

What's the comfort level of the other attendees with Indian food? It'll be a pain if you make something great but they all turn up their noses at it .... Milagai

A pretty funny offbeat movie was Parents (wannabe vegetarian kid with parents who insist on serving hunks of meat, and the undertone is they are cannibals etc.) They keep eating what mom calls "leftovers", which seem to go on and on, and kid wonders what they were before being leftovers.... Milagai

or treat like a cucumber and make salad. or google "kalan" for a kerala style recipe milagai

You could always make Baingan Bharta. one version of the Recipe: http://vegetarian.allrecipes.com/az/BingnBhrtggplntCrry.asp Milagai

Try a Bangla recipe: chicken rezala. Recipe at: http://www.bangalinet.com/chicken_mutton.htm look about halfway down the page. If you google you'll get more links. The recipe calls for "keora water". Keora is not the same as rose, Keora is defined here: http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Pand_odo.html But the description halfway down *that* page says that "Kewra flowers have a sweet, perfumed odour with a pleasant quality similar to rose flowers, but kewra is more fruity. The aqueous distillate (kewra water, pandanus flower water) is quite diluted; it can be used by the teaspoon, often even by the tablespoon. " So, in the rezala recipe, where it calls for keora water, use rose water instead, and experiment with the quantity.... Milagai

Also: carrot halwa (plenty of recipes via google) and carrot kosumalli (a salady thing grated carrots, lots of them, seasoned with oil tempered with hing, mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves and minced green chillies, salt and either a splash or lemon juice OR finely diced excellent quality tomatoes, sprinkled with cilantro. The carrots basically stay raw). Milagai

Could you use rosemary instead of thyme? Milagai

eh? You're not supposed to eat them, set them aside, or get hubby to pick them out before dishing up..... I suppose I'm finally seeing the point of the warnings in many cookbooks about not eating the whole spices...... Milagai

Is it ever any different? Milagai

Edible mushrooms are indigenous to the hilly areas (e.g. Himalayas or Nilgiri areas) and thus the people of those regions eat them. They are not familiar to the plains folk who think of fungus as the bad stuff on food gone bad So very very orthodox vegetarians from the plains most likely would not eat them, though the new yuppies in the cities break all food taboos customary to their grandparents, and will eat anything if it's in fashion. Mushrooms are now widely marketed in all the cities and are becoming very familiar to all, especially through Chinese, Thai etc food. They're most often the plain white button mushrooms though more varieties are slowly becoming available. Milagai

1/2 a gallon of milk will not yield much paneer. Start with a full gallon of milk and you'll get a usable amount. Re soft paneer: after you make and compress the paneer it will be somewhat hard. Before using in a sabzi, people usually soak it in warm water or hot milk etc. Not sure how to treat it before making sweets. Milagai

Oh, no need to stop there I had already read some stuff on chili peppers in Indian food etc. Also tomatoes and potatoes in Indian food (e.g. the excellent book by Achaya). There were (atl least until a couple of generations ago) some very traditional people who would not eat tomatoes, potatoes, and a couple of other "foreign" vegetables, because they didnt have a place in the indigenous classifications... Not any more. But still, some very orthodox people won't eat mushrooms.... So I was curious about Italian food .... Milagai

Hi: My question was inspired by a brief thread on one of the main boards, on tradition and fusion etc. I thought tomatoes were a new world plant and thus introduced to Italy and Europe in general only post-Columbus. For outsiders, it seems tomatoes now play a major role in the cuisine and has practically acquired traditional or iconic status and one has a hard time imagining Italian cuisine without tomatoes? So how are tomatoes viewed within Italian cuisine? Newcomer? Intrinsically necessary? And what about potatoes? Please forgive me if this is an ignorant question or has been covered elsewhere..... Thanks in advance Milagai

That's my fault. I loved it too, therefore it's discontinued. ← I thought I was the only person in the world that happened to! Favorite kinds of apparel, food, whatever vanish as soon as I decide it's on my "want always" list. I am also banished from the room when some important matches are on TV because when I watch the team I favour will surely lose. Back on topic: it seems like international flights still serve food, sometimes good sometimes awful. Domestic flights don't do food any more, so I always pack because of I get grumpy AND nauseated when hungry. Most of my packed food choices are geared to preventing or soothing motion sickness (yes, I know drugs exist, and take them for long flights) I usually pack lemon rice or yogurt rice (you can take the girl out of the Tamilian village but can't take the village out of her) with a BIG hunk of lemon and mango-ginger pickle to ward off motion sickness. Second choice, idlis or poha. Disposable containers. If I'm forced to buy overpriced airport food I hope there's a burrito type place because I can reduce it to its components (beans, rice, chapatis, vegs to my South Asian mind, all decently spicy) and enjoy. Yogurt's always good. I also try to get a lemon slice in my water. Milagai

People in North India concoct something very similar in winter, made of "black carrots" (one variety of carrot). It's called "kanji" There are many cultural connections across the Islamic crescent: the Hindi word for turnip is also salgam, and I think the word for soap is the same (sabun) etc. Milagai ps: here is one link for a recipe: http://www.indiacurry.com/beverage/b005kanji.htm note that black mustard seeds are needed and hopefully the dark variety of carrot. Otherwise use regular carrots and 1 beet for good colour.

My first post ever on egullet won a prize on the Indian board for adapting asparagus to Indian cooking. The recipe for "asparagus and carrot paruppu usilli" is on recipe gullet.. http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r988.html Milagai

Mmm, that sounds delicious. What is the name of it? Can I find it in a jar somewhere or should I make it at home? I have only had the brined version, in salt water. Tell me Adam, how do they differ? Should I go out and get some? ← Hi Bleu: There is a recipe in a book by Mallika Badrinath, who is a noted South Indian cookbook author. Source: http://www.innoconcepts.com/mallika.htm Only: you may need to be a little familiar with Indian English and Indian English cooking terminology - but we can help with that Her recipe includes mango ginger and sounds even more sublime than the plain green peppercorn + lemon one. It shouldn't be hard to make: green peppercorns on stem +lemons + mango ginger (again in Indian stores) + saltwater + spices such as hing, red chili powder, and I think fenugreek. Like many Indian pickles it's rather salty and VERY tart, so best used sparingly. I think it will be great used to make other dishes, (e.g. anything au poivre, will get a huge flavor punch by using the pickled green peppers sparingly instead of regular ones; marinades similarly enhanced by using all the ingredients and the yummy 'juice' in the bottle, etc. If you wanted to add herbs I'd stick with cilantro and mint and basil, but obviously not the Euro herbs like thyme etc) You *can* find it in a bottle in an Indian store (Ashoka is one brand, Palat another), but it's not common at all. I got lucky last year and snagged my store's last two bottles. Milagai

There's an EXCELLENT south Indian pickle that has green peppercorns (on the stem) along with pieces of lemon.... Might go well as a relish with any other type of cuisine too. Milagai

Everything she said more pakora ideas: thin potato, eggplant, cauliflower, zucchini etc slices... Milagai

Marmite / vegemite.... (I did acquire the taste though) Milagai

There are some recipes on line: http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:mFpZ-i...us&ct=clnk&cd=1 (you need to know some Indian food terminology here, e.g. mouli = mooli = daikon radish) and here: http://asiarecipe.com/tibet.html or here: http://www.tanc.org/new_food/index.html (this one has pictures) Milagai

drizzled or mainlined doesn't matter I am baffled that when a name already exists for a dish (chutney, raita, etc.) it gets called "sauce"...... Milagai

Then there's the aromatherapy group: fragrant leftovers or takeaway (India, Thai, Chinese etc.) locked in mortal combat with the "If food is fragrant it's a sinful excess" aka "I'm going to complain all day about the smell" group..... Milagai

That was me, I'm afraid Recall my Indian background: the way I make coffee or tea is 75% milk, 20% water and the other 5 % either coffee or tea decoction. Plus all the chai masala if I'm having masala chai. Or the flavoring if I'm having hazelnut coffee or whatever! Basically the 'coffee' or 'tea' is not about coffee or tea, but is more an excuse for me to drink something hot, buzzed, and spiked with spices (see my other requirement, in addition to yogurt). Unless it's summer and then I slurp iced coffee (Thai spices) very happily. Fresh lime soda: imcomplete without salt, sugar, a pinch of black pepper, and mint sprig..... You get the idea. Any vehicle for spices. I sprinkle salt and cayenne on whatever fruit I can. What I'll add to my original post is that like someone else said, I need *food* every day, every few hours. I'm a grazer and unless I keep eating, I my blood sugar apparently dips and I go crazy. Small frequent meals. I can't fast. It would kill others around me, and then me. And like Rajsuman: I crave veggies..... Milagai

Still baffled by this "sauce" terminology. By "yogurt sauce" do you mean raita? Milagai