Milagai

eh? i didn't know olives came in a can. i've only seen them in bottles or in tubs of marinade... milagai

if you google for "masoor dal" (=red lentils) and recipes you'' get tons... here's one: http://www.indianfoodforever.com/daal/masoor-dal.html does that sound anything like what your friend made? you can vary the texture by how much water you add... milagai

I haven't been to either, so can't chime in, other than to say: why choose? do BOTH (two different weekends, e.g.) and compare.... Who says a birthday present has to happen in one sitting? Milagai

What kind of dal? Dal is just a generic word for split lentils/legumes... What did you have in mind? Milagai

Okay, I don't get this attitude at all. It's not your wedding. To not understand the exclusion of kids is one thing. Telling someone who they have to have as a guest at their wedding (or party, or into their home), is wrong. But this thread is about children in restaurants. . Yes, Maggie, I think you're right! I will say that a few of my experiences with little darlings whose parents are too tired (or whatever) to keep it together have nearly pushed me over the edge, though. ← I probably expressed myself badly. I am not telling anyone who they can have as guests and I would also never take a child to an event that has been specified to exclude children. I am only saying that I do not understand or appreciate the underlying negative attitude toward children (or any others deemed "unruly") at one of the most central events of family life. So, when I see such invitations excluding children, I do make a judgement about the people involved..... though I keep it to myself and would never share it ..... And you are right, the thread is about children in restaurants... Milagai

Botanically speaking, yes. I just meant to infer that wild rice is, in popular nomenclature, not a true rice. SB (not a botanist, and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night either ) ← Ok, please help me understand this: Botanically, all rices are grasses. So why does popular perception keep separating wild rice from "ordinary" rice and sees the latter as true rice? Milagai

Amen to that Carrot Top: In general, when people extol the virtues of well behaved children and adults in restaurants, it's easy to forget that 1) everyone used to be a kid, and 2) for most of us it took *repeated* exposure to learn to behave anywhere, restaurants included. Unless kids get taken out and taught to behave (with consequences and limits etc.) how do you expect magically well behaved people to result? I've said it before and will say it again, some cultures are definitely child-unfriendly .... I still find it strange when I see wedding invitations that say "no children"... Whether a specific couple has children or not, due to their choice or not, family life still needs to include everyone, young, old, different stages and abilities, etc.... I've seen weddings in other cultures where kids run around, relatives run after them, the couple gets married, elders nod off, etc....Much more humane, fun, grounded, and psychologically satisfying than the everything-is-co-ordinated-and-perfect "events"... Milagai

There's a non-food use that I know of: save the water and starch your cotton clothes in it. Dip clothes, hang to dry, and do some serious ironing (helps if you have help with this obviously) And voila! Crisp, starched, cottons. Look and feel cool in the hottest Hyderabad summer..... Wear your vitamin B rather than ingest it.... Milagai

My feeling when I read the article that this couple seemed to be moving from one extreme to another. Before change: all-consumption lifestyle carried to ridiculous extremes: never cooked/turned on stove/kid knows the takeout man almost like a family member etc. After change: as extreme, in the opposite direction.... What about all the people who live more moderately every day? Milagai

I understand that the matter of pouring away or rinsing off nutrients only applies to enriched rice, (the most common rice sold), but it wouldn't matter if you're cooking brown rice or other unprocessed rice. SB (or wild rice, which is really grass) ← Hmmm. I can see how it would definitely apply to enriched rice, but would it not also apply to any form of food where you boil, nutrients leach into the water, and if you throw out the water, then you're throwing most of the good stuff away? Even with vegetables etc? And all rice is grass, not just wild rice .... Miilagai

Re boil and drain, unless you are saving the water and cooking something else with it, you are pouring away most of the nutrients. It's not at all hard to make perfect and fluffy rice stovetop or rice cooker with the correct amount of water to start with so you don't have to waste.... Milagai

In my pre-vegetarian days, I would always wonder what people saw in : caviar, fishy fish, oysters, organ meats, etc. *Shudder* to all - I genuinely tasted them all and tried not to have any pre-conceived views. But gosh..... It's really easy for me to stay on the green bandwagon because I can't stand most of the stuff that "all" meaters apparently love.... What am I doing on a foodie group...... Milagai

I may have posted this in one of the related threads but Chai Tea is the same way. (Chai just means tea! If someone means Masala Chai aka Spice Tea, then just say so!) Milagai

MizDucky: I loved your tips and am going to save them to look at when my Lizard Brain starts issuing orders. I especially applaud what you say about delicious food can be healthy and weight friendly; and the related advice to party on vegetables. The only reason I am not a total balloon today is because I was raised with a food culture that had tasty AND healthy food and I love to snack on veggies as a result. Having been skinny all my pre-40's life, I never developed self control around food. The trouble is, post 40's, I've significantly expanded, and my prior healthy habit of several small meals turned into a habit of several big meals, that I'm trying to break myself of. Sigh.... At least I don't have to learn to love healthy and veggie rich food..... But boy, the rest of it is hard. Thanks for your inspirational words... Milagai

May be a new buzzword in some circles but it's been grandma's wisdom forever where I come from. We're always urged to finish our meals with a cup of dahi because it "helps you digest your food" and "cools you down". Tummy a little upset? remedy: yogurt and rice. Prescribed antibiotics? up your yogurt intake, and drink lots coconut water (=nature's ORT drink) Traveling? make sure you have your daily dose of dahi to keep bugs at bay (after all, you know that milk has been boiled, and the good bacteria chase out the bad bacteria). Thirsty in the summer? a little lassi (sweet or salty) really hits the spot. etc. etc. Because of this upbringing, my family consumes industrial quantities of yogurt so I make it at home every 2-3 days (otherwise it becomes ridiculous, also unmanageable numbers of containers). So it's usually pretty fresh and potent... Milagai

heh heh, sounds like garam masala. Which would be my not-so-secret ingredient. Since reading some of Eden's descriptions of medieval European (especially Italian) cooking, I throw some garam masala into many pasta sauces and get rave reviews... Milagai

Mangoes from India, not Mexico. Mangoes from India are available in Canada but not the US. Mango season coming right up... Milagai

In your masterly summary of bunny icons, you didn't mention that ultimate act of murderous villainy: the psycho bunny-boiling heroine of Fatal Attraction.... Milagai

I don't know if I've posted this before, but this is one fantastic blog: http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/ Pictures are out of this world: the blog is worth visiting just to see how beautifully she presents peanuts and eggplants! Recipes are very regional, authentic, uncommon. (Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh State in Southern India). Milagai

Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast? ← Correct a mundo, well the film was correct and Ben was in it, brilliantly I might add, but Ray Winston said the line and I couldn`t think of a way of giving a clue without giving it away. ← I really like "psychopathic Ghandi." Terribly funny! It'd be a good name for a musical band. I suspect that I should add as many clues towards #141 that I dare. It had a very limited release even though the director is well known for both his direction *and* animation. ← Sorry to be so psycho myself folks, but if I see the name spelt as "Ghandi" one more time I'll go even more bananas than I already am (saying quite a lot). It's Gandhi, not, never, jamais, jamas, kabhi nahin "Ghandi". This is not a "tomayto" vs "tomato" thing, its the difference between right and wrong spelling. The placement of "h" in English rendering of Indian-language words is not arbitrary, and getting it wrong is not trivial. There really are no two ways about it. If you get someone who speaks Hindi to pronounce Gandhi correctly, you'll hear it. In this day and age..... Please, if you do only *one* thing this year, let it be learning how to spell Gandhi correctly. Milagai (and sorry to intrude on your game when I don't know any of the answers; but it's amazing - 38 pages and counting....)

None of the food would contain salt, or bread (if you break bread with someone or eat their salt you swear allegiance, and are not supposed to betray them? Not sure if that's a Roman tradition but definitely kicks in further East...) Milagai

I'm unlike Carlovski and Toliver and more like Miladyinsanity; I progressively get shakes, grumpy, headaches, crazy; etc. if I skip a meal. But help! I am trying to lose just a few kgs and just a few cms so that I don't have to buy all new clothes...Nothing major. I just began today, cutting calories. Without going into too many details, I've just made my portion sizes smaller, but not eliminated any of my usual foods. I AM STARVING CRAZY! I've been on the edge of hungry all day and now I am counting the minutes until I can decently have dinner. How DO people control hunger pangs when they're like this? Help! Milagai

Paapads! Even if one lives in a place with enough spells of insanely hot and dry weather, so that you can roll out myriad paste rounds and let them dry without spoiling, it is just too crazily laborious. To "roll out paapads" is proverbial in many Indian languages for hard, repetitive, monotonous, work..... Just buy any of the dozens of varieties at the Indian store and enjoy, while supporting some rural women's co-operative..... Milagai

Hi: glad something looks like it's working. Was baffled by the "rice (dosa) based". Rice-based papads are a whole different universe from dosas. Dosais are more similar to crepes or pancakes than to papads .... Milagai

Intriguing challenge. Thoughts off the top of my head: 1. Hold papad with tongs, dip edges in water first, then the center (will involve some fancy turning etc.). 2. You said steaming does not work? 3. Moisten with water, Microwave VERY briefly (experiment) until beginning to soften, then quickly roll around a wooden dowel or similar, and finish MW then fill and deep fry. OR moisten with water, wrap around dowel and MW. 4. Look in the Indian store, is someone selling papads already shaped (though it's hard to control what shape the turn into after frying). 5. What was the papad spring roll papad made of? There are several possibilities, e.g. dal-based, rice-based, potato-based etc etc. Maybe one ingredient is more suited to this application than others.... 6. re fillings: I am sure you could put in whatever you like because this sounds like a dish someone made up and there will be no mother in law standing over you criticizing you.... Do tell us when you find out? Milagai