Milagai

you can adapt the green plantain recipes for the riper ones; they will just be a little squishier and taste a little sweeter. they're great when spiced up, as the tastes complement each other very well. milagai

Peppertrail could you please share your recipe for Aviyal wih me? By private message or publicly if you think others might like it. ←

hola monica! i'm just a little south of you and thus get your used weather. we're just starting to snow, but been having a cold snap last 2 days. i made some KICK A** bisi-bele-bhaath (no MTR mix, mom's recipe) and EVERYONE loved it: husband fell off his diet wagon with a thud, and 7 yo dd and 3 yo ds kept saying "yummy in my tummy" while devouring multiple servings. served with yogurt and papads. really sticks to your ribs (and alas, likely to yr hips) milagai

in general i have too many to list, but: chai (whether masala or regular) + samosas it's a MAJOR peeve with me that so many coffee shops will serve (masala) chai to jump onto a trend bandwagon, and refuse to consider samosas. would they dream of serving bagels w/o cream cheese? milagai ( tried persuading my local joe's and they just laughed in my face)

what a great idea! does achaya or other historians have any ancient indian discussions or dish-cussions on foods considered aphrodisiac? or vatsyanana? or some insights from ayurveda? here's some links i found via google: http://www.shaadi.com/wedding/kitchen/chef...-spice-up-2.php http://www.tastingplaces.com/html/HandsOn.asp (about halfway down this page there is a description of a class by UK chef monisha bhardwaj, of a valentine's day menu. do tell us what you come up with, and whether the shiv sena has anything to say about it sudha

milagai, what ratio do you use for idlis? 2 sona masoori rice : 1 urad dal? shanta ← Shanta: that sounds about right. I'll have to check my cheat sheet however, as somehow this is not stored in my permanent memory :) Do you add a handful of "aval" (flattened rice) and some methi seeds to promote various good results? or is that voodoo? Milagai

Sona Masoori is not aromatic long grain like Basmati. When baasmati is too expensive, people use sona masoori. I use it in idli batter, or in any recipe when I want a shorter grain stickier rice (I wouldn't waste Baasmati on pongal e.g.) milagai

haai! tauba! monica what a lovely set of pictures... i really feel sad to think what my kids are missing out living in the us.... but am thrilled to hear about the hygienic ganne-ka-ras, as when we drank sugarcane juice as kids it was definitely from the "ugly" version of the machine. we all escaped without any ill effects, but used to get scolded by our parents for taking these risks. now i'm glad my kids can taste this ambrosia without me worrying about various diseases. does the cleaned up version taste as good as the one with flies, street dust, and operator sweat in the formula? milagai ps: its perfectly easy to travel with kids in india if you take a few elementary precautions re immunizations, bottled water, mosquito repellant, etc. nothing more complicated than camping in yosemite..... no lack of good pediatricians either.

add my voice on the fantasticness of hampi. this misal sounds terrific! any recipes? milagai

my kids love: asparagus, beets, broccoli, bok choy, carrots, cabbage and cauliflower, most fruit, green beans and green peas, okra, tofu (which my 3 YO calls sofa), spinach, and most kinds of dal. also felafel, most chinese food, i don't get why kids "aren't supposed" to like these foods: someone please explain? maybe parents are bad cooks? when i was a kid i didn't like eggplant (the appearance) but its now one of my favorites... milagai

maybe south indian food looks best on the traditional banana leaf plates? easy to dispose of too. no washing or storage needed... compost or feed to cow in backyard here is a picture randomly taken off the internet: http://homepage.mac.com/cintos/Lori/PhotoAlbum23.html milagai

does it have to be homemade? can you purchase ? e.g. if you are in the US, local whole foods or other higher-end grocery store should have some. if not in the US, your local equivalent? milagai

mostly in india, gravy is what y'awl call "sauce" in western countries. i.e. dum aloo = potatoes steamed in tomato cream gravy, what you call "ketchup" we call "sauce right now i have a bottle of my favorite maggi chili garlic tomato sauce (chili garlic ketchup to you) on my table and am dunking my samosas in it.... milagai

yeh sab chhodo yaar; i want a nice in-residence bawarchi or maharaj to do all my cooking while i loaf around. i'd even settle for a once-a-week blitz visit from a friendly gujju lady or madisaaru maami..... sigh milagai

what about the fixed blade knife? the kind you sit on the wooden part and move the veggies back and forth to slice? called bonthi in bangla and aruvaamanai in tamil? also various coconut graters, though that may not fit yr definition of cutlery? milagai

how about a kulfi style ice cream with pistachio & cardamom? milagai

you can use cardamom to make chai with. ← another use for cardamom: great kheer (indian rice pudding) or gajar halwa (carrot halwa). lots of indian sweets use cardamom milagai

>I think we kids lived on rice with yogurt for a long time (I grew up in the middle >east.) I have no idea what american babies eat. heh heh! being indian: our babies had a similar diet. still do, for that. and so do the adults: dal and rice, yogurt and rice, etc. we were raised the same way, and my generation only bought baby food for travel or emergencies etc. >In the meantime I think I will just invite the adults over for dinner, to take a little >of the work off their hands. ←

i've been reading the "best food" and "worst food" threads on the main part of eg, and wondered how experiences in this group were? i've honestly can't recall a single uneatably bad meal in india or elsewhere... either i have a cast iron stomach or i'm very lucky :) but one of the memorable standouts (neither best nor worst, just way outside my experience at that time) was: breakfast in ajmer, early 1980's. our host family, very much locals, friends with my father's family from around the independence era: mirchi pakoras, and jalebis "pehle jeebh jale bhi; phir jalebi". both items excellent, and one can't really decide which taste to end with washed down with great chaai. really threw one into high gear for the day :) until that time i had been brought up on meek and mild upma, idlis, toast, etc. my mind blew along with my mouth. any stories to share? milagai

My family's favorite dip for artichokes is actually something that's a cross between cucumber raita and mint chutney: 1. make a simple cucumber raita (1 grated cuke, 1 cup yogurt or buttermilk, salt, black pepper, toasted cumin seed, powdered). 2. blend: 1/2 cup cilantro, 1/8 cup mint leaves (optional), 1/2 green chili, splash lemon juice, pinch sugar, salt to taste. mix #2 with #1.

yes, chammandi podi aka chutney podi is the brown powder. many yummy recipes. pachadi is raita? yogurt + veg of some kind or another + spices? thoren: veg sauteed in simple spices; can be cabbage, green beans, etc. milagai

methi sprout / tamarind chutney (this was originally printed in the Hindu supplement mag few years ago) 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 chutney is ready for use. It lasts about six months, refrigerated.

[ never done methi sprouts, can you tell me abit more about it? ←

all of the above! now i'm hungry and going off to sprout something. i use: moong sprout moth sprout methi sprout any others you recommend? milagai