Milagai

I've grown FAT on that plan! I am hungry all the time. I used to have a hummingbird metabolism: eat a little, constantly, and burn it off. Came midlife, and I now eat a lot, constantly, and my mild exercise regime does not help. I feel SERIOUSLY hungry at regular intervals (~ every 3 hours) and if I don't eat I get jittery, then headachy, then go all out crazy, knocking things and mowing down children and old folks who may be between me and my food..... There are those enzymes: leptin, ghrelin, etc that regulate the "hungry" and "satiated" feelings, and depending on where yours is set, you eat more or less. I definitely feel my switch has been re-set. I used to fill up quickly, now I eat more before I feel full.... I wish I could re-set it back down..... Milagai

make a lot, and freeze extra or send it to me milagai

chips morphed from the aloo lachhas (shoestring type potatoes) often used as topping.... much easier, milagai

milagai

← Friends: a vegetarian diet NE eating only vegetables. Your meal lacked any protein component (beans, tofu, whatever) so no wonder you felt hungry. Don't blame the concept when the application was lacking.... Milagai ← Um... yeah. I didn't mean to blame the concept. I made a bad entree choice. It won't happen again. I chose what looked tasty... and it was extremely tasty.... it just wasn't very filling. Next time I'll just go for lunch. ← this just happened to me! lunch in the dept, arranged by the dean, whose very nice staff went out of their way to ask me my food prefs so i said "veg, thank you so much".... the lunch box had: wild rice with a few green sprinkles (tiny amount of chopped greens of some kind) PLUS pasta with 2-3 slivers of veggies and some generic creamy sauce! a handful of sugar-coated pecans thrown in there like an afterthought...... cookie etc. that's it! carb + carb + carb (too few pecans to count) !!! not much taste - all very bland..... (ultimate food sin to me....) i'm feeling bloated and hungry at the same time, and thinking about raiding the thai restaurant across the street ..... milagai

turmeric should not be in garam masala, which is one specific spice mix with specific uses (not throw into all dishes). Garam masala contains "heating" (not taste or temperature, but intrinsic quality) spices, thence the name..... Curry powder NE garam masala....... And I have never understood, so have never tried, the "different" varieties of curry powder (e.g. Madras curry powder). Madras is (or was) the name of a place, which has dozens of dishes in that region, so one powder has to do it all? I do keep specific mixes for specific dishes on hand as I am often too busy to mix them individually (garam masala; chana masala mix; dhansak mix; sambar powder; etc.) but each mix makes one specific dish...... and yes, i do have curry leaves in my freezer, and no relation to curry powder, and yes, i make kari with them also poriyal, sambar, rasam, sundal, chutney, almost anything south indian.... milagai

and while you're at it, what is "curry" anyway? kadhi? kari? though the work seems to have firmly entrenched itself into the indian food vocabulary.... milagai

Praising you with faint damns.... You should really do a EGCI on how to take GREAT food pictures.... Milagai

This is SOOOO good on so many levels! Great writing, vivid insights (pardon the pun) and as someone who has BTDT, I was riveted! Milagai

Yeah... Yeah! That's it! I love veg food, but I never feel quite satisfied if I eat a veg place. Ricky Li's... schezuan eggplant. I left feeling very satisfied. Full, even. The now defunct Zephyr Cafe... gazpacho start and tofu wraps with rice noodles (delicious, BTW, generous portions). I was starvin' like marvin when I left. ← Friends: a vegetarian diet NE eating only vegetables. Your meal lacked any protein component (beans, tofu, whatever) so no wonder you felt hungry. Don't blame the concept when the application was lacking.... Milagai

"Chai tea" (=tea tea) and I think there has already been an extensive discussion of this. If you want "masala chai" or "masala tea" or "spiced tea" then say so... But Chai tea? You mean extra strength? Or " XXX dish with chai spices..." do you mean you've spiced it by throwing a handful of tea leaves in there? Or do you want do say you've used the spices you would use to make spiced tea? Milagai

In addition to the things others said, why is there a perception that Tofu is "meat substitute", not an ingredient in its own right.....? My additional question in this thread: why do so many people in the US seem to have a strong prejudice against beans? Seen as inferior, why? (I've lost count of the times people said to me "I don't eat / don't want to eat beans / BEANS????" etc in an incredulous voice...... ; but then I have the pleasure of converting them with a simply perfect, simply easy dish of rajmah....) Milagai

You are right. The rule for French words is: if it ends in "oise" then you say the s sound. If it ends in "ois" then the s is silent (as per my college French classes; confirmed by my French speaking relatives). Milagai

1. How often do you sharpen your knives? I used to use the "iron" sporadically. My knives were decent to begin with but got into progressively bad shape. Now I found a neighborhood kitchen shop that sharpens them professionally very inexpensive and will use them frequently in future, and thus have gotten very lazy about the iron.... 2. What method do you use to do so? see above

1. freeze for future use? 2. take 2 cups of the chopped onion, add to ~ 1 Tbsp minced ginger and 1 tbsp minced garlic: "bhoono" until all soft and golden and thoroughly done, add spices (e.g. cumin-coriander powder; garam masala; turmeric; red chilli) and saute, then add 2-3 cans drained kidney beans or other beans or chopped greens and paneer; or whatever chopped veges you like; or browned chicken pieces, or .... Voila! Indian entree! 3. make stock or soup base, and freeze? Milagai

Yes iced coffee for me 365 days a year! first thing in the morning. I drink it with both milk and sugar, when I do drink hot coffee I only add milk. ← loving this blog and the lovely food and kid pictures. thank you so much for sharing. another iced coffee (or in indian-speak - cold coffee) fan here! with milk and sugar, and best of all thai style, with cinnamon (and what else? ) in it.... milagai

Good response Chefzadi! Gracious and effective Here are some Indian Ramzaan recipes: http://www.webindia123.com/cookery/festival/ramzan/intro.htm Milagai

there are also the more desi-customized brands and flavors of ketchup: e.g. maggi chili and garlic ketchup (tomato ketchup spiked with...) that are really good too. milagai

possibilities: 1. grinding onions in the blender does a lot of cell damage compared to even the finest hand-chopping. so the whatever-they-are compounds in the onion need much longer cooking time to get rid of the harsh raw taste. longer cooking on lower heat. 2. i've had better luck slicing onions in a mandoline. they come out paper-thin, so cook quickly. but they are not ground up so the harshness is much less. 3. variety of onion? yellow onions are worse in this respect.... milagai

tomatoes.... it is a fruit, and an old name was "love apple" and can't imagine life without warm-from-the-garden tomatoes... milagai

mini portobellos or even button mushrooms, caps stuffed with mixture made of: thoroughly sauteed onions+ginger+garlic+chopped almonds or cashews spiced with cumin-coriander powder+garam masala + turmeric + red chili + salt. brush liberally with butter or ghee and broil till done. very nice appetizer. milagai

If you like Indian food, cabbage poriyal. Recipe at: http://www.syvum.com/cgi/online/serve.cgi/...s/srcpv34.tdf?0 It's really great, and will change people's ideas of cabbage as low status food to be avoided! Milagai

I don't know about in the US, but in India, fancy restaurants almost always give you a finger bowl (warm water, a slice of lemon to get the grease off your fingers, a napkin to wipe). Remember we mostly eat with our fingers (though prob less so in fancy restaurants) so it's really useful... Milagai

i agree the triangle has progressed wonderfully in terms of available eateries.... that's my whole point. based on descriptions upthread, the editor in question seems to have an attitude personally stuck in the 1987 you describe; i.e. almost 20 years ago. i recall when we moved here mid 90's people used to tell us that not too long before that howard johnson's was considered THE big thing in eating out.... milagai

Thank you all for the feedback! Well, Greek or not, it was rather good; so will continue to enjoy but will search for a new name Milagai