Milagai

eaten with fingers or spoon/fork? see how much more delicious indian food is when eaten 'as nature intended'? milagai

Episure: you've got the best food pix! and to me, yogurt and rice is same thing as curd rice; whether "the full monty" with the tarka et al or just rice + 2 scoops of dannon plain all mushed up together and eaten on the fly... Milagai

typical suggestion: yogurt and rice! favorite food of most south indians..... if you want a fuller meal, then make a simple kari or thoran or dal to go with it.... another use: dip for adais or dosais (along with the sambars etc.) it won't stand alone as the only dip here... hth milagai

You can do the coconut chickpea curry with NO onions or garlic. Just use tomato puree instead. The coconut should make it plenty rich.... There's plenty of onion and garlic free Indian food for the very strict vegetarians...... If you want a more specific recipe I can dig one up for you. (Try Yamuna Devi's book). Milagai

It was pretty ubiquitous in my day, as well, and so far - not many sporks available in day-to-day adult life. Plenty on airplanes, though. ← eh. too bad! it's a useful little doohickey and if it came in other-than-plastic, i might get some for all of us milagai

Since the "spork" is so ubiquitous in US kindergartens, will they develop a grown up version as these tots grow ? Milagai

I think all cultures have their cold remedies that seem to be a version of hot and spicy soup. Mine is lemon rasam (rasam, + tomatoes + lemon juice instead of tamarind + ginger and green chillies and cumin along with mustard etc in the tarka). This is a light soup but still has enough dal in it to nourish without overwhelming. The spice combination will cure head and stomach symptoms.... Milagai

Wow! never knew chrysanthemums were edible!! Look almost too pretty to eat. I agree with whoever upthread said pakoras! Pakora anything! Pakoras + masala chai - best rainy day snack. Milagai

Heroine? Milagai

Ayodhya or Rama (common to both cultures) if you can steer clear of the VHP -valas Milagai

If you still looking to experiment with a technique, you can't get much easier than stir fry... Plus all the sizzling and arm waving should be pretty operatic? Can't get easier if you start with a bag of frozen stir fry veggies and go from there.... Milagai

I always keep a couple of canned bean soups handy (e.g. black bean or split pea also tomato soup- anything vegetarian). If I'm in a huge hurry; I tarka a few appropriate spices and voila! Instant dal! Tomato soup can be turned into pretty decent ersatz rasam.... Milagai

The Khan Market area in New Delhi. There are more fancy restaurants in the main shopping area, but in the little back alleys are the small, relatively unknown, absolutely glorious kabab houses and small greasy hole in the wall restaurants. Just a short stroll from the fancy neighboring housing areas...... If only I had the stomach of my younger self, and the wallet of my current self...... sigh..... Milagai

Chefzadi: is Id tonight or tomorrow night? (should be tonight as last night was the new moon)? Anyway: Id Mubarak! What are you planning to feast on? Belated happy Diwali to all, and some yummy feast descriptions are over on the India thread..... Milagai

My Diwali "feast": I hadn't shopped properly last weekend so was very limited in what I could make, focusing on a Tamilian vegetarian feast... I had to choose between Venpongal (the white, savory pongal) vs. other dishes because I had only a tiny sliver of ginger left, so I chose to do plain rice instead. Plain rice Puli Koottu (usually made with chickpeas, but I used black eyed peas = lobhia instead) lobhia + finely diced eggplant Mor kuzhambu (buttermilk with veggies - the ginger went here) Beans karamadhu (dry beans kari) Yogurt What??!! No sweets??!! Well, someone gave me a box of kaju katli so we had that instead. I will make sweets on the weekend as I ran out of time, and what really riles me is that my kids don't really have big appetites and eat maybe 1 tiny sliver of sweet, and we adults should not be eating that many, so I have no incentive to make them.... We first fired off the crackers hoarded from 4th July and then ate. Big kid and husband enjoyed the food, little kid did his usual drama; I hope he outgrows this soon.... Milagai

Caarrot Top: yuo definitely *were* there, eating cake along with MA and other aristocrats! Hilarious!! After the revolution, did you find refuge in a fork manufactory or a pea farm? Me: i avoid the issue altogether by being a good Indian eater-with-fingers (note folks NOT with hands, with fingers). No need to switch anything, however, lefties MUST use their right hand, as the left hand is reserved for (ahem) cleaning oneself..... When I eat 'vilayati khana' (=foreign food) I eat one-handed and use my right hand only. On the very very rare occasions when I have had to do both fork and knife, then it's Euro style with fork in left and knife in right.... Milagai

You mentioned upthread that you like Indian recipes? Here is one for keema kofta (minced meat meatballs), you can sub any of your game for the mutton... http://www.surfindia.com/recipes/kheema-kofta.html Milagai ps: here are some desi game recipes (kadhai kangaroo anyone?) http://www.recipezaar.com/r/310/122 and some recipes from the coorg region of southern india; pork = wild pig... http://www.ourkarnataka.com/recipes/coorgpoorkcurry.htm milagai

Anzu: thanks so much for the burfi tip. Yr raita sounds very Kerala - mango + yogurt + mustard seeds + karipatta Milagai

I heartily second Pontormo's suggestion, as it will clarify to you as no amount of internet postings can why the term "chivalrous" is outdated, and is rooted in a specific history of gender and class bias... which is why it makes people's teeth grind nowadays. Just plain common courtesy however is always appreciated..... and is only tangentially related to chivalry..... Milagai

Indian Chinese has been around for generations in India (there are long standing Chinese immigrant communities in India, and many of them have specialized in: restaurants, beauty parlors, custom shoemaking and tailoring). Indian Chinese is fantastically good food.... Milagai

Here's from the Rubayyat of Omar Khayyam: A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness-- Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow! OTOH, for me, its: "never the time, the place, and the loved one, all together...." The amount of planning I'm having to do for this and the logistical hassle involved is rapidly depleting the romance.... Milagai

Tarka, aka baghar, aka chhaunk etc is a very critical step in Indian cooking, one definition here: http://www.corianderleaf.com/glossary.html#baghar This URL says you add the baghar (=tarka) at the end, but most cooking I do starts with this step and the other ingredients are then added to the pan... ps: using hing in an Indian dish will not make the dish taste of Hing. It's a very subtle addition, and the main taste of the dish will depend on the other, more dominant, spices and ingredients. Milagai

wow! thanks for that fascinating info.. Milagai

wow! can I come to your place? I won't be making a huge deal for Diwali because: 1. my kids are still a little on the young side and despite my best efforts don't fully appreciate the full food spread 2. Middle of the week is hard to do the full monty.... but I must make something and I will try a coconut burfi recipe given by Anzu and see how it goes. Usually I'm no good at making sweets (burfis and GJ fall apart, etc.) Milagai

Scottie, thanks for the suggestion re Acme; I'll look into it. Re the prix fixe Fearrington, we may have to see if they have other options, not because of price, but because of vegetarian options...... Thanks for the suggestions.... re food challenged Greensboro: I work there, and the Thai restaurants in Greensboro are MUCH better than any in the Triangle!!! Wonder why? Milagai