Milagai

When you use a mortar and pestle the grind would be coarse, and in certain dishes that have smooth texture, the appearance may not be perfect, but the taste, I guess, shouldn't make a big difference. Sometimes texture affects taste. I learnt this the hard way when I wound up with a coarsely ground nut paste and tried to make korma. Just didn't work. sure our ancestresses did it with granite grinding stones, mortar and pestle etc. but HOW laborious!! i don't think a regular mortar and pestle work in many cases you really need that granite thingummy.... As bague 25, wrote, I also use coffee grinders for powdering toasted spices. For small quantities it works great. I second that. I've not found a regular food processor (even that cuisinart thing where the blades go both ways) that does the job. either get one of those sumeet machines that work anywhere, or a coffee mill. milagai

i've usually lurked and read and thoroughly enjoyed food blogs so far (including ronnie's). i have a question that i was undecided about, whether to post here, or to pm ronnie. i ended up posting here, not sure if it was the best choice...... is the food you posted about your typical / usual fare? all the yummy pictures and fun descriptions etc made me wonder: 1. is such a (to me) high level of eating out common or am i am outlier? (i live in the US). i consider mine a reasonably middle class type household and we (family of 4) couldn't afford to do this :) or do i live in an unusually expensive area (north carolina)? 2. are the dishes you posted your usual fare? or unusual? what struck me was how "meaty" it all was: large serving of meat as the centerpiece of the plate, and anything else was in tiny quantities off to the side; even at breakfast. where's the fruit and vegs? (please note: i am NOT debating any health or diet issues: just curious about what people consider a common or usual eating pattern for them). milagai

ah so. thank you milagai

ps: there's some north-west-frontier type dish that is made with chicken and alu bukharas in a mild gravy milagai

dried sour plums? i always thought that alu bokhara was the urdu word for dried apricots!! confused milagai

i've been planning to try akki rotis; i've had them at friends' houses and they're great. i was planning to try: 2 cups cooked rice (very soft and squishy, not the loose, separate kind that is usually prized). 1 cup rice flour chopped green chillies, cilantro, spring onions, salt to taste. water as appropriate. make a soft dough with above. roll out, and toast as regular chapatis. i think the dough will be more sticky than wheat chapati dough so rolling will be a challenge. toasting times will differ; so the first 2-3 rotis will be experimental :) milagai

I like MDH masala to make chhole. more secrets taught by my mother's sikh friend: 1. while cooking the chana, add a pinch of soda bicarb. gives that "bazaar" taste. 2. at the end stages, dunk a teabag in. also add a dollop of tamarind paste. both these give a good dark color and add a nice tang. remove and discard teabag. but geetha, like "hotel sambar" vs. "home sambar", it's rare to get that great street food taste at home. maybe you need to replicate the general unhygenic conditions at home :) milagai

any kind of tomato rasam: grandma's traditional; modern based on opening various cans; garlic or no garlic; any kind. no crackers. just slurp out of a mug. must be steaming hot. milagai

Hi MollyBGoodwin: where in the Southeast are you? Milagai

thank you everybody for your detailed replies. i'll try them this weekend. i only have the red onions at home so will work with those and report. milagai

so tell me a bit about almonds in your kitchen - halwa? phirni? others.... my question too: cooking classes morphing into cooking school? do tell? re almonds: garnish in various kheers. grind up and use in korma gravy. badaam milk to fatten up skinny kids. (alas kids stay rail thin, amma is growing positively stout.) milagai

they taste sweetish to me when done. nothing added. i guess that may be an idiosyncracy of my taste buds....? is oil better for this purpose or ghee? and shallow fry or deep fry? milagai

another one for your collection monica: pizza uthappam! read about it here: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/06/1...61900500400.htm another completely WIERD combination: haggis pakoras! don't know if the scottish fellow traveler who told my husband about this was kidding, but he insists it exists..... milagai

hi all: i want to make those crispy sweetish dark colored fried onion paper thin slices that garnish pulaos etc. please tell me how? also any variety of onion better for this purpose and any variety to avoid? (in US markets)? tia milagai

another super simple one: sundal 2 cans chick peas or BEP, drained 1 onion, coarsely chopped (optional) 1/2 cup grated coconut. salt optional: 1/2 cup unripe mango, diced. if not available, use ripe (though ripe not traditional). chopped hara dhaniya for garnish. a splash of lemon juide. tarka: oil, hing, EITHER dried red chillies OR green chillies + ginger grated; mustard seeds; haldi (optional); curry leaves keep all ingredients ready (important) heat oil; add hing, mustard seeds, when they pop add chillies, curry leaves, haldi. stir quickly, add onion if using, and stir fry until just stop being raw: still crunchy. dump in chickpeas / BEP. stir to mix. turn off heat. add the coconut, mango if using, salt, lemon juice, hara dhaniya. stir to mix. eat at room temp, or any old temp. if you have the cans in your pantry, and curry leaves and grated coconut in the freezer, this dish literally takes 5 mintues to throw together. it's perfect when you're hungry and in a hurry..... staples in the pantry: canned chana, BEP, tomatoes, in the freezer: curry leaves, grated coconut. milagai

Delhigirl: chapatis store cooked. Cook a large batch, wrap in foil, then freeze. To use: genctly pry apart, sprinkle with little water and toaster oven or MW for minimum time needed. milagai

Milagai, your suggestions are all very good but you are assuming that Delhigirl is in the US. I am not sure. dohhh! you're right! i just saw myself in her..... where are you indeed, delhigirl? milagai

arre delhigirl: i have SOOO been there done that! 1. stack of rotis: - freeze them; sprinkle with water before MWing, and zap for ONLY ~ 10 seconds. experiment for best time; but basically the less the better. - whole wheat tortillas make a decent substitute. not great, but chalega. 2. i assume you have a pressure cooker? - cook in bulk on weekends and freeze in small dabbas that you reheat during week. you can make a full variety and not get bored during week. cheap small freezer to MW dabbas available at your friendly local dolalr store. why not enrich a poor chinese family while you are at it ? 3. learn to love lobhia (black eyed peas) in cans, if you don't already! they are VERY cheap, and easy to make yummy sabzis (same recipe as for rajmah); i also add frozen chopped spinach; one-dish nutritious. i often find BEP in grocery stores for 2 cans 99c: lasts for days. can't beat that with a stick! 4. make friends with married couples, and get invited out to eat at their houses a lot at the very least, pile onto their costco or sam's club membership 5. other CHEAP ingredients: cabbage; sweet potatoes; frozen green beans; etc. these seem to be cheap year round, while prices of other ingredients fluctuate. 6. make your own yogurt, once a week in large glass bowl. the price does not even begin to compare with store bought, and it is VERY easy to make at home. there's lots more ideas; but not sure what you already are doing; and also am sure others who have BTDT will chip in! milagai

[thannks SO MUCH WW omam = ajwain in hindi. omam in tamil. ayamodakam in malayalam

hi episure: i hope worm@work 's grandmother's recipe will be forthcoming. my gps have long since departed, taking their recipes with them. i was planning to ask other real and classificatory family elders so hopefully w@w can get it faster... milagai

i'm going to have to learn to make "deepavali marundhu" i.e. deepavali medicine: home remedy for over-indulged stomachs milagai

same-to-same as worm@work same memories, food tastes, and buttermilk uses etc. only not appams, but other equally good stuff. question: what is the difference between US buttermilk that you get in cartons, and Indian buttermilk? Are there not two kinds of buttermilk in India: 1) leftover liquid after butter is churned and removed (=chaach) 2) sour and dilute yogurt (=lassi) Who's the famous chaat place in Bangalore on Commercial Street? He used to be a hole in the wall and is now a fancy fast food type place? Gangaram or Haldiram or some such. He is doing a ROARING business selling chaach and the liquid leftover after making paneer (his main business is sweets) as lassi, flavored with salt, green chillies, and cilantro. AWESOME! milagai

seems like everyone remembers their packed food with great nostalgia, but not the plates suppled by Indian Railways Though actually Southern Railway Veg thaalis are not at all bad..... We used to travel a LOT by train: 3 day journey between whatever North Indian posting my father had (several) and Madras or Bangalore (location of grandparents). My mother had the tiffin packing down to a science. First day: parathas. Second day: idlis Third day: thayir saadam This was the order of potential spoilage... Plus snacks like murukku etc. Anyone old enough to remember filling water in suraahis and jumping out frantically at stations in between to refill? Waaay before plastic bottle and Bisleri era..... Another vivid memory: how the calls of "chaai chaai chaai" from the platform would change to calls of "kaapi kaapi kaapi" by the third day; that meant we had crossed from North to South India; and reverse order on the way home.... And how the platform food changed from North to South and vice versa. I think each station had its specialties. Pethas in Agra; Pedas in Mathura; Aloo Poori in Bina Junction; Biryani in Andhra, etc. Raj Suman: leaf plates called donnai in the South and pattal in the North? How I wish I could recreate this fun with my kids, but this the era of either planes, or a/c sleepers where everything is sealed and you can't hang out of the windows getting soot in your eyes...... Milagai

congratulations..... interesting topic! how old is your baby? and what are you feeding him / her? i fed my 2 based on what my mother, the veteran of raising 3 kids and 5 (and counting) grandkids, said. i usually trust her more than the pediatrician.... mine: ~ age 6 months, slowly introduced boiled mashed rice; then 1 veg at a time (e.g. carrots or beans, or peas); then yogurt. then slowly began dals (the simplest ones first - toor, masoor, moong). at this time: the following spice mix to prevent / relieve bean associated gas: roast and grind: saunf, ajwain, and jeera. either mix a little with baby's solid feed, or boil in water and make a "tea" and give baby a few drops with feed. after all this, then fruits, then after 12 months, egg, starting with yellow and then moving on to white, then the full egg. by the time baby is ~ 15 to 18 months, they are doing fine with idlis, khichdi, thayir saadam, daal + rice + ghee, etc. by age 2 to 3; they're more or less onto simple table food (dal and rice type of stuff). i never bought commercial baby food or made separate baby food, because it was way too much hassle. just set aside some of what the rest of the family was eating, before spicing the rest. there seem to be so many differences between baby feeding practices in different parts of the world: i know i fed my babies honey from a very very young age (~ 2-3 months) because it relieves constipation. but we never told the US pediatricians who would have thrown a botulism fit..... milagai