Milagai

ps: what *were* the other recipes, and how about some testers' notes? milagai

congratulations nessa! must try your recipe... milagai

woohoo! am sitting in bangalore right now, neck deep in different varieties of heavenly mangoes: mallika, apus, malgoa and raspuri. to say the least. am in hog heaven more ways than one: am in my parents' home, some one else doing the cooking, and me sitting with my feet up on the verandah swing and my food (or greed) wants are anticipated and fulfilled before i say anything. doubt i will fit into my clothes when i return to the salt mines. my kids are learning a cute tamil folk song about mangoes.... milagai (now where's the drooling hog emoticon?)

there may be as many sambar variations as there are mothers-in law, but all true versions share one thing: it is NOT sambhar but sambar. there are no aspirated consonants in the tamil language :) ps: my favorites from childhood had radish slices (daikon, not red); and/or drumsticks; and/or those small red onions (shallots?). the restaurant versions often had carrot and / or eggplant chunks. i think sambar is basically a dish made with leftover odds and ends of veggies. milagai

Thanks, that's a very informative link. Something mentioned in one of the articles caught my eye: then there are the (in)famous "palang-tod" (=bed-breaker) aphrodisiac paans. not sure what the "active ingredient" added to this variety is... milagai

And what my mother said when i described this thread to her is all the old Brahmin guys doddering into the Century club Bar and drinking their "marundhu sodas" out of silver tumblers (silver ritually purifies anything it touches); drinking it the SI Brahmin style "from up" (i.e. throw your head back and glug the liquid without the cup touching your lips) called "oopar se" in Hindi or "thooki kudikiradhu" in Tamil' not only that, but they would cover their mouths with their angavastrams (the upper cloth in the dhoti set)and drink through that. milagai

great topic. i've alslo heard of these drinks called "marundhu soda" (medicinal soda) for similar reasons. milagai

bread uppuma (good use for stale-ish white bread, torn into pieces) milagai

am i missing something or are there few entries for the second food contest? (the eggplant one)? i thought there would be floods of recipes; the "begun" is such a pan-indian favorite! i've entered a recipe: brinjal chickpea gojju. dunno how to link though, but i hope it has shown up on the recipe site. milagai

another good food movie (non indian) "babette's feast". really excellent. indian food play (not movie): mannu bhandari's "mahabhoj" (the great feast) it's a really powerful play with excellent language (and great acting when i saw it at NSD) ; the food metaphor is almost literally done to death in it though: e.g.s: corrupt politician stroking his well filled belly while in a police cell a low caste political dissenter is beaten to death by belly blows. beginning of play has politicians feasting while harijan settlement is burnt down and many of the inhabitants "roasted into kababs" that kind of thing. milagai

Brinjal and Chickpea Gojju (Kathirikkai-kadalakka gojju) Serves 4 as Side. 1 large eggplant, diced in 1 inch pieces 1 c cooked black chickpeas (preferred) or regular chickpeas cooked till soft 1 T vegetable oil 1 sprig fresh curry leaves sliced green chillies 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger grated 1 tsp mustard seeds (black kind) 1/4 T turmeric 1/4 tsp hing 1/4 c roasted peanut halves (optional but yummy) 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 T sambar powder 1 T tamarind concentrate 2 c hot water, divided 1 T jaggery or brown sugar or molasses salt to taste 1/4 c chopped cilantro for garnish this is my twist on a traditional tamilian sweet and sour type recipe. 1. mix the tamarind paste in 1 cup water and set aside. 2. heat the oil. for "tarka": add hing, when it starts getting golden add fenugreek, when that starts changing color add mustard seeds, when that pops, add quickly the turmeric, sliced green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, and peanuts. stir briefly to saute. 3. add eggplant pieces and saute until about half cooked. 4. add the remaining 1 cup water, sambar powder and chickpeas and simmer until the eggplant is well cooked. 5. add the salt, water + tamarind and simmer ~ 5 minutes. 6. add the jaggery / brown sugar / molasses and mix well. simmer ~ 3 minutes more. taste and adjust seasonings. you may need to balance between the salt, sour, and sweet. all three should be balanced in flavor, with a little "hot" coming through. garnish with the chopped cilantro and serve hot, with rice, or venn pongal, or puris, etc. other dishes as appropriate (including yogurt / raita). other popular veggies for gojju include: 1. okra cut in 1" pieces and well sauted so no slime. 2. sliced onion and diced tomato. 3. sweet potato chunks and chick peas (my invention) - this is wonderful in cold weather. 4. pineapple. etc. milagai Keywords: Side, Vegan, Intermediate, Indian ( RG1045 )

Brinjal and Chickpea Gojju (Kathirikkai-kadalakka gojju) Serves 4 as Side. 1 large eggplant, diced in 1 inch pieces 1 c cooked black chickpeas (preferred) or regular chickpeas cooked till soft 1 T vegetable oil 1 sprig fresh curry leaves sliced green chillies 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger grated 1 tsp mustard seeds (black kind) 1/4 T turmeric 1/4 tsp hing 1/4 c roasted peanut halves (optional but yummy) 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 T sambar powder 1 T tamarind concentrate 2 c hot water, divided 1 T jaggery or brown sugar or molasses salt to taste 1/4 c chopped cilantro for garnish this is my twist on a traditional tamilian sweet and sour type recipe. 1. mix the tamarind paste in 1 cup water and set aside. 2. heat the oil. for "tarka": add hing, when it starts getting golden add fenugreek, when that starts changing color add mustard seeds, when that pops, add quickly the turmeric, sliced green chillies, ginger, curry leaves, and peanuts. stir briefly to saute. 3. add eggplant pieces and saute until about half cooked. 4. add the remaining 1 cup water, sambar powder and chickpeas and simmer until the eggplant is well cooked. 5. add the salt, water + tamarind and simmer ~ 5 minutes. 6. add the jaggery / brown sugar / molasses and mix well. simmer ~ 3 minutes more. taste and adjust seasonings. you may need to balance between the salt, sour, and sweet. all three should be balanced in flavor, with a little "hot" coming through. garnish with the chopped cilantro and serve hot, with rice, or venn pongal, or puris, etc. other dishes as appropriate (including yogurt / raita). other popular veggies for gojju include: 1. okra cut in 1" pieces and well sauted so no slime. 2. sliced onion and diced tomato. 3. sweet potato chunks and chick peas (my invention) - this is wonderful in cold weather. 4. pineapple. etc. milagai Keywords: Side, Vegan, Intermediate, Indian ( RG1045 )

yes, we can upload pictures, but not the aroma or the food itself.... milagai

what do *you* mean, "explain yourself and your location"? that's the whole point of cyberspace! you can be everywhere / everyperson / anytime. milagai (on the internet, no-one knows you're god)

in bangalore lately there's a very popular trend to mix fruit into thayir saadam *spiced yogurt rice). e.g. pomegranate daanas; makes a very festive red and white dish. tastes very good. also: grated or finely chopped cucmber, and halved green grapes. very cool combination popular with kids. milagai

monica: i know what i'm making for dinner tonight! i have aloos and red peppers waiting. has anyone tried making this exact same recipe with SWEET potatoes rather than regular aloo? it's REALLY good. i've been experimenting lately with substituting sweet potatoes into regular aloo recipes and most of them come out super yummy. milagai

south indian yummy stuff: 1. mango kalan (kerala style mango cooked in buttermilk, sweet and hot and tangy) 2. mango pachadi (tamil style ripe mango raita). 3. unripe mangos in lots of dishes. 4. bananas fried in ghee and suger (yummy) you can sub or add pineapple to any of the above. also pineapple godju is famous in bangalore.. i'm sure there's more if i think about it, those just occurred to me. milagai

ps: the main thing about soul food is that SOMEONE ELSE makes it for you. the comfort level drops if you have to slave over a stove yourself..... milagai

worst: somewhere in rural utah on the way to zion national park: grandma grunt's home cooking (it really WAS run by this doddering old retired couple whose cooking was pretty awful). cross-cultural issue: different versions of english: in british and indian english, the word "homely" means "homelike and / or cosy and / or home loving" - which is why indian matrimonial ads (similar to personal ads but placed by your family) often read: seeking homely and good looking mate ..... in american english the word means "ugly". so in trivandrum (kerala, southern india) there's a restaurant called "the homely vegetarian" it's my regret i didn't take a pic of the sign with my husband standing under it. and in bangalore a popular chain is "homely chicken" (this one prompts visiting americans to joke that the good looking chickens end up in KFC). milagai

mine: venn pongal (SI party version of khichdi type thing) with godju (sweet and sour) tomato rasam and thayir saadam (tomato soup and yogurt rice) with lemon and mango-ginger pickle - best sick food ever. sprouted moong salad, with lots of additional things chopped into it potato chips (though now i've discovered sweet potato chips i'm rapidly getting addicted to those) and raw banana chips. milagai (is there a nostalgia emoticon?)

Monica (or anyone): have you tried making anything with Stevia? What's your opinion? I'e never tried it but am clueless and curious. Milagai

The raw and the cooked.... In the late '80's Delhi we painstakingly assembled ingredients for an exotic Western style salad, all correct raw veggies, leaves etc. artistically sliced and diced, Concocted some nouveau-correct salad dressing. The khalasi sneered at us: "Sahab, ham to yeh sab dankar ko daalte hain." (Sir, we feed this @#$% to our cattle".) Milagai

anyone seen the recent hindi comedy movie "kal ho na ho"? where the heroine's father (comedian satish shah) was a gujju millionaire in new jersey, having made his pile with his "dial-a dhokla" company an idea whose time has come? milagai

my favorites change with the seasons. but year around i like "pulikaachal". the tamarind / peanut paste thingy, which is the basis of puliyogare. other than that, we use it as a sandwich spread (sparingly and with lots of butter) for cheese sandwiches. perennial tiffin favorite several generations now. i also like a sprouted methi chutney / jam published in the folio mag a few years ago. very very good. there's the usual green chutney, imli chutney, coconut chutney; then very easy and nice chopped tomato chutney with panch phoran, turmeric and LOTS of red chilli powder. can make with chopped mango, or very ripe peaches too. and thokkus galore... milagai

I also decant it. There is a little left in the pot / pan in which I made the ghee, but then I cook something in that same vessel (e.g. aloos) and it gives the dish a great flavour. milagai