Milagai

lots of beans etc. but one thing worth getting in a can is coconut milk. having it handy makes cooking south indian, thai, etc food so much easier and so many dishes would never get attempted if one had to make coconut milk from scratch every time... milagai

The Hindu equivalent: Annapoorna (the goddess of abundant food) and actual food is quasi worshipped in some ceremonies at times (e.g. pongal at the Pongal harvest festival). What about the food-religion concepts of prasad, and of communion wafers/wine, etc. Milagai

Not I, I'm afraid. There are some good Indian lotus root dishes, though (I forget from what region). Have you made anything with lotus root? ← i've not made anything myself, because i can only get canned or frozen where i live..... but lots of indian regions have LR recipes: kashmir, punjab, bengal, etc. everything from pickle to relish to wet or dry sabzis to LR being one ingredient in an elaborate dish.... Milagai

The larger milder ones make great pakoras: remove insides (if desired) dip in a chickpea flour+water+salt+turmeric+cuminpowder batter deep fry. dip in green chutney (mint/cilantro) great stuff for breakfast (seriously) washed down with masala chai. The smaller hotter ones make great pickle: sliced thin, marinated with ginger slices, and mustard seed+fenugreek seed+turmeric+salt+asafetida+turmeric Milagai

I'm lucky enough to be visiting my mom right now, and this thread started a discussion with her. She's a marvelous cook, came to it late, only learnt after marriage. But I couldn't narrow down one single dish, everything she makes is magical. All South Indian veg, North Indian too, all kinds, from plain home cooking to more fancy restaurant styles. And her home cooking is definitely worth going home for. Not being able to narrow it down, I asked her what she made best, and she turned up her nose immediately and said "everything". True. We talked about Paatti (her mother) and she too had been a great cook. Mostly South Indian stuff though for her. Milagai

lotus root - yum! sweet potatoes with ginger and scallion double yum! any chance Pan or a reader would have recipes for these to share? milagai

I am vegetarian, and I definitely prefer "real" ingredients to fake ones. I have never been able to bring myself to serve fake "meat" to guests: it's too fake for the meaters and too real for the herbies. What's the point. It's easier to serve eggplant or mushrooms than to have to explain to everyone what those little cubes of "material" are, even if they were once a soybean. That said, when we were kids my mom fed us soy chunks often, as they were being marketed in India as a cheap and healthy food for vegetarians (and boy, they were even way cheaper than dal) so we got a lot of it. Amma is a splendiferous cook so eating the dishes was never a problem, and the soy chunks occupy their own place in my mind, as neither meat nor fake, i.e. they are their own entity (am I making any sense) so I give them to my kids, who like them lots too. Also my kids like fake "chicken" nuggets. Who knows what the "real" ones are made of anyway? It's just a cheap and easy junk food for all.... Milagai

perhaps i'm the only one who thinks this way, but to me Moroccan food has a strong resemblance to some North Indian cooking styles, but a little tweaked. Whenever I read a recipe for a "tagine" style dish I am struck by the resemblance of the spice list to North Indian masala-fied preparations. There are some key differences of course, but just to my ignorant eyes, nose, and mouth, there seem to be marked similarities. But much less fire. So, don't know if Chefzadi or others would agree but would you say "sort of like Indian but ... milder or more subtle or.." milagai

very interesting! wonder if it's popular, and whether the tastes differ by colour. milagai

those pungent fumes, called "ghaat" in indian kitchens, is a sign that things are going correctly just a second or two after that the spices will start to burn. like waaza said, you need the best hood available do deal with those. milagai

I would keep staying out of this carrot pickle. I don't think it is enough salt and mastard to prevent bacteria growing. Unless carrots itself produce some preservative like cabbidge when you shred it and put salt in it ← do other members of your MIL's household eat and thrive on the carrot pickle? If yes, then you should be fine. Slicing veggies and marinating in water or oil and salt and spices in the sun is the most common Indian pickle making technique. Milagai

what about "mutton dressed as lamb"? i think its ancient britspeak for an older lady trying to dress way too young and unsuitable and unfortunately being very obvious about it... milagai

Anzu: here you go: Methi sprouts pickled in tamarind sauce (sprouted fenugreek) 300g - fenugreek sprouts (obtained from 100g seeds) 1 tsp - mustard seeds: for seasoning 150g - cleaned tamarind (size of a medium orange), obtain thick extract using water 3 tsp - jaggery, grated 5 tbsp - chilli powder 1/4 tsp - asafoetida, roast in oil and powder 7 tbsp - salt 150ml - oil (1 cup approx.) gingelly or sunflower. To sprout fenugreek: Soak the fenugreek seeds in sufficient water overnight. Drain away the water the next day and tie the soaked seeds in a clean cloth. Hang the bundle in a warm place for a day or two, keeping it moist. Ensure that the sprouts are medium in size. Longer sprouting tends to make the pickle bitter. Stir-fry the fenugreek sprouts over low heat for exactly two minutes and set it aside. Longer frying makes the sprouts bitter. In the same pan heat some more oil, add the mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Stir in the tamarind extract, jaggery, salt and bring it to a boil. Allow it to thicken over a high flame. Lower the heat, stir in the chilli, turmeric, asafoetida powders, the remaining oil and continue cooking for about 45 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Add the fried sprouts and cook for 15 more minutes or until the mixture becomes jam-like and the oil separates. The pickle is ready for use. It lasts from six months to a year.

As for cultural appropriation, what is wrong with it? That is a big part of what we do around here. As a melting pot culture we find things we like, perhaps adapt them a bit to suit local tastes, and run with it. So maybe some words get changed, some ingredients shift, and the methods of preparation aren't authentic, who cares? The authentic stuff lives on where it originally came from, and we can enjoy our adopted and adapted version. If you want to order authentic masala chai I am sure there are a number of Indian restaurants in the US and even more in India and other points around the world where you can do so. Copying and playing with a concept doesn't diminish the original in any way, it adds to it by exposing more people to it. Calling it chai instead of just 'spiced tea' or 'Indian spiced tea' is a nod of respect to the original dish. ← well, you can dress the pig up and put lipstick on it, but it's still what it is i highly doubt that most consumers of "chai" (i.e. masala chai) are paying any respect, nodding or otherwise, to the original concept. that may be what a few elevated egulleters do.... on the part of most people it's still the product of unawareness.... as most of the posts on this thread suggest re other words... and re cultural appropriation and language evolution, it would carry more weight if allowed to work both ways - i.e. if indian or caribbean english evolutions (e.g) were accorded the same respect as north american varieties..... milagai ps: i better stop now before i drift even more off food...

In India too, there is a specific set of variations on masala chai, not "anything goes". And when "most people" who have any respect for word usage, or Indian food, of Chinese or Japanese languages etc etc say "chai" they think of plain old "tea". That's what the word means, after all. So, saying masala chai or spiced tea (if masala chai has too many syllables as touregsand suggested) should evoke a specific preparation, not "just anything". Why on earth would a potential customer think "just anything"? And if you mean "North American customers" by "most people" it seems that people in North America (judging by the threads here) go out of their way to mangle perfectly straightforward words rather than get them right...... Milagai (sorry to keep harping on this point, I shold probably stop, but some of these arguments I just don't get. People seem to want to stick to a wrong or lazy usage instead of making a small adjustment; which evokes thoughts of "cultural appropriation", "downright disrespect" and other highly useless notions in my head that I need to stay away from)

Same with "latte," another one that annoys me and doubtless doesn't bug you at all. ←

what's so difficult about saying "tea" and "spiced tea". that's what chai and masala chai translate to.... if it is sooo hard to remember / pronounce / etc. milagai

Masala has too many syllables? Thanks. ←

your post is super fascinating! another snippet: i believe people in the west use fenugreek (not sure in what form, or how prepared) to promote milk flow in nursing moms..... do indian or persian moms use it this way too? anzu: what is the rajasthani dal recipe you mention called? "methi dal" or some more specific name? i'll definitely make it this weekend... i also have somewhere a recipe for sprouted methi jam which is totally yum, and if you like the chutney you described you'll love that..... i'll dig it out one of these days and post it. milagai

tons of indian recipes use fenugreek. if you go to the indian board right now there is a discussion of vindaloo, which uses fenugreek. fenugreek seeds and fresh leaves are not interchangeable. the latter are used like spinach, i.e. a green leafy veg. the former is a spice that is pleasantly aromatic when handled right, and nasty bitter when handled wrong. milagai

now there's an idea for a new thread: a competition for the town with the worst restaurants what is your town, do you mind sharing? and another thing, i am sure this has been posted before in many places, but probably bears repetition. what IS with the whole "chai tea" misunderstanding? chai merely means tea, in hindi and most indian languages, as also in chinese (cha), japanese, etc etc. so phrases like "XXX with chai spices" makes no sense at all: what, do they sprinkle tea leaves in it? people are mixing up the idea of "chai" which is merely regular tea, with "masala chai" which is the (now getting more popular) spiced tea as perfected in the roadside tea stalls of india: hot tea, with milk, sugar, and spices e.g. ginger, cardamom, black pepper, maybe cinnamon, etc. saying "chai tea" is like saying "tea tea". if you ask for "chai" in an indian restaurant, you'll get just regular tea, unless the waiter is aware of the confusion and may clarify: do you want "masala chai"; and if you say yes, then you will get the spiced tea.... why is that so hard for all the corporate types to remember when they are doing their manufacturing, packaging, etc.... grrrr milagai

uurk! just reading your description made me gag! the things we humans eat! milagai

not sure if these have been covered: the popularity of cumin in indian and mexican cuisine, wide use of cilantro i have a technical question which may add more to the list of similarities: is queso fresco similar to paneer? is panela similar to khoa? thanks milagai

when did the custom of calling french "frogs" and british "limeys" begin? was it not from the frog eating habits of french cuisine, and the british had discovered that foods with vitamin c (=lemons / limes) prevented scurvy? milagai

it is ON my beaten track, but classic south indian breakfast: uppuma with sugar OR sprinkle of lime juice OR sliced bananas, OR yogurt (depending on sub region) idlis + chutney poottu + kadale (steamed cylinder or cream of rice + chickpea stew) uthappam + chutney dosai + chutney etc. all served with a tumbler full of steaming hot, frothy, coffee by the yard (with milk and sugar please, none of your black stuff) milagai