Milagai
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Posts posted by Milagai
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hi monica:
your lazy kulfi sounds great.
i read about another yummy sounding version;
very similar to yours, but they boiled the cans of
condensed milk in a water bath for ~ 20 mins.
supposed to caramelize the milk (i guess it becomes khoa like).
have you tried that? any thoughts on that process?
also: any ideas on how to concoct a kulfi cheesecake?
related query: i had a failed attempt at making ricotta
rasmalai. it tastes great, but is basically mush.
i have frozen it, any idea how to turn THAT into cheesecake?
milagai
(off to buy new pants for fatter self)
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i use (usually mdh brand) chhole masala (i cannot dream of
mixing all those spices individually myself);
also pao bhaji masala;
jal jeera masala;
garam masala;
tandoori masala;
and funnily enough, MTR rasam powder.
someone recently recommended "kitchen king masala"
as a grilled paneer + veg marinade and i am waiting to try that.
i make my own sambar podi, BBH mix, puliyogare mix etc.
milagai
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I think the energy costs using a slow cooker are really low.
do you know for sure how the energy costs of a slow cooker
stack up against those of a pressure cooker?
i keep thinking that ~ 10 minutes (usual time) on a pc
(that's about 3 minutes on high heat and the rest on low heat
to maintain pressure; and then heat off to cook in residual pressure)
would use less energy compared to ~ 8 hours on a slow cooker,
but what are the facts?
milagai
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I'm interested in finding out how many people cook with either a slow cooker or a pressure cooker. Also looking for best cookbooks for either of these appliances.
i use a pressure cooker.
i do have a slow cooker; used it once and not again.
most of my cooking works well with a pressure cooker
and i can't be bothered remembering to turn the slow cooker
on and then off again hours later;
plus i can't justify hours and hours of energy use,
when one quick whoosh from the pc does it all
:)
milagai
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this question has been in my mind since reading a thread a while
ago on another (non-desi) part of egullet.
people were describing their most beloved / hated foods as
children, and most of the latter seemed to be veggies that
were cooked and served at home.
hmmm. my personal memories are very different, i still ADORE
veggies like okra, green beans, beetroot, etc. that my mom made.
and veggies i didn't like as a kid (eggplant, spinach) are now among
my favorites, perhaps due to nostalgia...
and most of the kids around me seemed the same way.
how come?
so, here are my hypotheses:
1. indian cuisines handle veggies very well in home cooking so
kids are not put off by tasteless glop seemingly served in many other cuisines.
so kids raised with indian cooking are more likely to like veggies
than kids raised in those other (which?) traditions...
2. my mother was an excellent cook and my family is anomalous
in the kids' love for veggies; even for those raised in india.
so many kids' raised with indian food don't like many veggies
and i'm rare in my love for veggies....
3. other explanation? (we'll rule out the idea "milagai is wierd"
a priori as being patently false and absurd)
so, will you share:
1. what were your favorite / most hated foods as a child?
2. what food tradition (indian - which area / non indian - which
specific one? ) were you raised with?
i3. f you have partner / kids, what are their likes / dislikes?
my answers:
1. i loved okra, green beans, onions, potatoes,
most veggies really. loved most dals. adored "fancy" cooking
like chhole ro rajmah or paneer or anything nonveg (EXCEPT liver or fish or
other strong-animal-smelling stuff). these were rare items.
2. i hated: eggplant (looked icky the way
mom made it), spinach (boring and sort of bitter),
lauki type things (unless in a kofta) also boring
and the aforementioned smelly animal stuff.
3. i was raised with a 75% south indian vegetarian diet,
with the other 25% any other indian stuff. back in those
prehistoric times non-indian food was read about in enid
blyton books, but we didn't know how to get our hands on things
like sausages. ham, etc or what to do with it if we did.....
i was well into my late teens when i finally saw these exotica
"in the flesh"....
indian chinese food was about as "outlandish" as we got.....
now: my family is veg, so we're still going strong with
familiar items,
my 7 yo dd's vegetable
tastes are very similar to mine (adores broccoli / asparagus
paruppu usilli, green beans poriyal, anything with potatoes, etc).
my almost 3 yo ds - too soon to tell. he loves junk food
(shares that with me)
spouse is not indian, but adores almost all indian veg cooking,
convenient since i do 99% of the cooking....
though we also experiment with all sorts of other dishes very often.
assuming hypothesis 1above is supported) in
what other cuisines do kids love veggies and also enjoy
them as adults (i would guess chinese, italian, thai, korean, ....?)
sorry for long and very rambling post, but am curious....
milagai
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also i'm surprised pressure cookers haven't been mentioned.
very true.
for the whole daal scene, including the sabut ones,
there is nothing else that does the job.
why do the crock pot thing for hours and hours
when 10 minutes and 1 whish later, it's all done?
my other favorites:
kadhai, idli steamers, chimtas of various kinds, graters,
idli grinders, but best of all:
someone else to cook for you.
i envy those who live in more south asian dense areas of the
US who can advertise and hire an entity known as a "gujju lady"
who'll come, cook, and fill the fridge with yummy home-made dishes.
milagai
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very enjoyable piece.
wish the accompanying picture had really been of tulsi
rather than (what kind of) basil...
milagai
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hey: no-one else has "samaithu paar"?
(eng translation: cook and see)
as my dad says, why only cook and see?
why not cook and eat?
i have a wimpy 7-8 cookbooks total, but
lots of handwritten recipes from my mom.
do those count?
:)
milagai
(ps: how do you attach pictures?)
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i also loved fruit and nut, and nutties, better than 5*
though i would happily settle for the latter if needed :)
right now kit-kats seem to be flooding the market and i like
those too.
i am hooked on britannia biscuits (elaichi, and pineapple+coconut stuffing
especially).
monica, i did remember your fondness for nilgiri chocolates
while in nilgiri's. but rs 70 a tiny box i couldn't...
even translated to $ :)
i britannia'd instead, much more reasonable prices.
milagai
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sounds like a wise desicion Milagai-http://www.innoconcepts.com/prideplus.htm
.We do not sell the coconut scraper attachment. We believe the coconut scraper is not a safe product to use in this country. We do not recommend or approve the use of coconut scrapers with ULTRA grinders. Customer assumes the responsibility for any unapproved use of coconut scraperworth trying one of those hand cranked ones though-they really work!
i'll be damned!
wonder what number of injuries (and maybe
threatened lawsuits?) it took for the manufacturer to come out
with that statement?
or maybe i am wronging them deeply and they are genuinely
looking out for customer.
i'll keep an eye out for the hand cranked grater next time i am
in a store and will give it a try...
milagai
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I have a friend up in Bakersfield, from Punjab.
She has a deep. heavy wooden bowl, about 15 inches in diameter, with a very thick bottom into which is pounded what looks like a railroad spike, with the head that is exended on one side (to hold the rail in place).
The extension has been cut with a file so that it has teeth or serrations. She cracks the coconuts in half, holds the bowl between her knees and rubs the meat against the "teeth" and the nut meat comes off in shreds very rapidly. She can clean out a coconut shell in about the time it has takne me to type this note.
She said her grandfather made it for her when she was just a girl and learning to cook.
The odd thing about this is that our cook, when I was a child, had a similar thing for grating coconut.
the traditional "aravaamanai" chopper / slicer in tamilian kitchens
(fixed blade; you sit on the seat part and move the veggies to slice / dice / shred)
(similar to bonthi in bangla i think) had that spiked circular
thingy at the top for coconut grating.
the fancy new electric tabletop dosaimaavu grinders also have a
detachable piece that's a WICKED looking spiked circular grater
so you fix it onto the central shaft instead of the grinder and
hold the half-coconut (still in shell) on it, and it whirs super quick and
grates for you.
i'm still too scared to try it and have visions of self in ER with
mangled hands. so i stick the method described by whippy:
dig out chunks from shell, food processor, freeze.
milagai
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Another day to day recipe, similar to Monica's option #1:
1. wash, dry WELL okra.
2. trip off top and make slit in middle (not all the way through).
3. stuff with mixture of: besan + rice flour, turmeric,
red chilli, amchoor, salt, dhaniya powder.
4. sprinkle more of this mixture around the okras, mix well, and let it sit
like this for ~ 15 to 30 mins.
5. deep fry.
okra cooking goes in stages: first will get slimy and then will dry up.
be patient. they taste best when a bit blackened :)
more good recipes:
vendakaya mor kozhambu (madrasi style okra and buttermilk kadhi kind of thing)
vendakaya gojju (i had already posted the recipe for kathirikai gojju,
just omit the chick peas, and sub the eggplant with okra cut into
1 inch long pieces).
vendakaya pachadi (raita)
etc.
i ADORE this veggie, and when i further learnt how nutritious it is,
(high calcium source) things got betterer and betterer.
i am waiting for the price to come down. still rather expensive
here in southern part of USA. but will soon flood market!
milagai
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A friend has been told by her pediatrician that she should not give her two year old daughter the yold of the egg.
Rushina
i believe this is in reference to salmonella poisoning and applies to soft-boiled eggs. (which were a staple of my toddlerhood if i recall correctly)
did the pediatrician say avoid the yolk altogether?
i remember being advised by mom when beginning kids
on eggs (~ 12 months) to start very slowly, with the white,
very small quantity. if no allergic reactions, slowly increase the
quantity.
then go on to yolk in the same way, and over 2-3 months you
can increase to the full egg.
i was told this was due to the potential for allergic reactions......
we did soft scramble eggs for the babies until they were older
and now whole family prefers hard boiled....
milagai
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heh heh, lots of us "wierd ones".
3/4 of my family (self, dh and dd) adore green beans
in any way shape or form:
thoran, paruppu usilli, north indian sabzis, ingredient in veg korma, etc.
also a very interesting pasta dish: pasta genovese,
named for genoa, chris columbus' home town.
sorry, it's not indian....
therefore the dish is characterized by adding potatoes:
1 pkg rotini pasta, prepared, drained.
3/4 lb green beans, broken into pieces (big pieces, not small) and steamed.
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled, diced, steamed or boiled,
1 bottle prepared pesto (~ 1 to 1.5 cups)
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts or walnuts or even chilgoza.
1 cup GOOD quality fresh parmesan or gruyere cheese, grated.
mix all the above into a bowl, and you're ready! :)
the 4th person in my family (2 yo ds) does not like
chewing any vegetables, we're trying to get him over this phase.
he eats all other parts of the dish except the green beans.....
btw: like we had discussed indian-chinese food, can we chat
about indian-italian food?
i went to an italian restaurant in bangalore and they used lots
of indian touches in the food.
the spicy versions of pesto and tomato sauces were fabulous.
how do they get it that way?
plus paneer everywhere, and really good bhains-ka-mozzarella
(buff mozz).
milagai
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my last-minute standby is sundal;
made with canned chickpeas or black eyed peas;
or frozen peas.
this literally takes ~ 10 minutes to make.
2 cans chickpeas drained.
1 small onion coarsely chopped (optional)
2 tbsp grated coconut
if you have 1/2 cup chopped unripe mango, or even a ripe
one (ripe is not very traditional but tastes great); that's wonderful.
but this is optional.
salt, splash of lemon juice.
chopped cilantro
for tarka:
1 tbsp veg oil
pinch hing
1 tsp mustard seeds
3-4 dry red chillies, broken,
1 sprig curry leaves
heat oil, add hing, then mustard seeds, when they pop
add the red chillies and curry leaves.
then add the onion, stir fry swiftly. the onion should still
be semi crunchy.
add the chick peas, mix well, then turn off the heat.
add the salt, lemon juice, mango if using,
coconut. mix well.
garnish with cilantro.
this is best at room temp.
can eat it plain, or with curd-rice, or rotis.
kids love it.
milagai
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tamarind is cooling, and so is curd rice, and in general in a deccan
summer you wan to be as cool as possible :)
also, most of us "madraasis" can't imagine ending a meal
without some form of yogurt and rice, either the pre-mixed
seasoned kind that you describe here; or the kind that
you mix yourself on your banana leaf (as often buttermilk-rice
as curd-rice).
other trendy mix-ins: pomegranate seeds or green grapes (latter sliced
in half).
very popular in pot lucks; or dasara / diwali get togethers;
or picnics or journeys. it travels very well without spoiling in
hot weather. this used to be a standard item packed for us
on train journeys. first meal: parathas. second meal: idlis.
third meal: curd-rice. thereafter you're on your own, at the
tender mercy of indian railway commissariat, or the platform hawkers.
what about a new thread: favorite train food, either brought from
home or from platform hawkers: regional specialties?
milagai
milagai
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it's called "koLLu" in tamil; supposed to be very high fibre and nutritious
etc. but considered peasant food, as much horse fodder as human food,
hence the name (or so i'm told).
i learnt this one over the holidays:
1. 2 cups kollu, pressure cooked long and hard until soft, with salt and haldi.
takes a while.
2. season with:
onions, green chillies, tomatoes: ground up together,
and fried in oil with jeera and curry leaves tarka.
use generous quantities of these seasonings.
3. garnish with a dollop of ghee, not too much.
eat with rice, rotis, whatever.
supposed to be a tirunelveli rural specialty.
best if seasoned tarkad in a manchatti or kalchatti
(clay cooking pot or stone cooking pot).
milagai
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There’s a lot more variety on the menu now, from classic burgers to juicy wraps.
In the ‘Meal Steals’ section, one can choose from Kentucky Burger, Veggie Delite and Chicken or Veg thali. The Chicken thali here includes a portion of rice, spicy curry, a small portion of salad and a piece of the crispy chicken.
in our last trip to bangalore (last month),
we were all very curious and walked down
to the new KFC on 100 Ft Rd to try it out.
Got takeout; 2 kinds: Veg thali
and some kind of Veg roll (will explain).
The Veg Thali had a veg cutlet (rather pedestrian);
some rice (unremarkable veg pulao) and a little
container of "spicy curry" which was a cup of gravy
that tasted like nothing on earth. Very baffling.
The Veg roll was a rather good paneer tikka roll
wrapped in a chapati style thing, with a good dipping
chutney, salad, etc. This was rather tasty, but every second
dhaba does this equally well, if not better.
Other than the curiosity of going to a KFC overseas,
and seeing what they make of veggie food, there's nothing
at all to make one go out of one's way to eat at KFC India....
Milagai
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other than the usual suspects, the one i am craving right now
and am unable to get, is the "green peppercorn" pickle, specialty
of kerala.
the regular black peppercorns that you get, when they are growing
on the vine, are green and come in bunches, and make an AWESOME
pickle. i had it while in kerala, and saw one bottle, manufactured
by laxmi pickles, in a friend's house in the us.
have not been able to track it down since then, in india or us.
any kind egulleter who can supply me some .....?
milagai
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Tell us more about the buttermilk.. please
1. make a thin masala buttermilk.
2. soak the newly fried vadas in them, and leave for a while.
3. after the vadas have soaked and become soft,
then top the whole thing up with thick masala dahi.
amma says this eliminates less oil vs the hot water method ....
milagai
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to make them soft, either soak in warm water and
then squeeze (also eliminates excess oil)
or do the same in buttermilk.
milagai
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me too! we had several of these sets when we were kids:
silver, brightly colored anodized aluminium, etc.
now i bought for my dd: stone, mud, and plastic :)
i had to explain the grinding stone to her.
i've been searching for a good urli, but am scared that
they may not be well made and the food will taste
bad, or we'll all get some kind of poisoning.
any advice? i'm also considering getting a kalchatti
to make rasam, and a mann-chatti (mud vessel) to
generally cook in.
sure, i'm old enough to remember the kalaiwala, and also
the dhunaiwala who refluffed and remade razais
(we used to call him the toin toin wala because of the sound
his instrument made)....
milagai
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me three please.
same to same story as worm@work :)
chilly paneer, and mushroom manchurian recipes requested.
milagai
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Hissssssssssssss....no wait what am i doing..
pardon my tamil-
maampazhama maampazham..
malagoava maampazham? -that the one?!
now -with improved spelling -i think!
hey! that's exactly the one!
glad that someone else knows it!
you have kids ?
milagai
Kulfi ala Monica
in India: Cooking & Baking
Posted
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I have also heard that this (i.e. boiling a can of condensed milk in water bath) is a dangerous thing to do, and you should only do it if you know what you are doing.
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