Milagai

Orange suggestion: Mafe (African peanut stew - yummy delicious) there's a cook off going on on the other board (Cooking?) right now... Milagai

India is marvellously full of festivals, isn't it, Milagai. I am always astonished and impressed! ← Carrot top: there are all the world religions there, and lots of local ones, and everyone celebrates everyone else's festivals or at least downs tools and eats.... Don't try to get anything critical scheduled during the festival seasons.... Milagai

Hi Marlene: What does "meatless" mean? I'm very familiar with the term vegetarian (=no dead animals in the food and yes fish is an animal so those who eat fish are not vegetarians and I wonder why they want to call themselves vegetarian? no animal stocks etc. Eggs and dairy sometimes OK or not depending on religion, allergies, health, whatever). and vegan (=nothing of animal origin, including honey, and also nothing animal in other areas of life e.g. no wool, silk, leather, etc clothes). but not familiar with "meatless"..... is it the same as vegetarian? In any case, the best strategy as someone pointed out is to ask her what cookbooks she may like - there are ways of asking indirectly... And there's myriad excellent veg. cookbooks out there that appeal to many different tastes / requirements, as the discussion upthread showed, so why would none of those work for your friend? Have you considered any of those? Milagai

Yup, Pongal harvest festival of South India coming up next month, as if non-stop feasting from Navaratri (end-October) through New Year was not enough Plenty of Pongal recipes here: http://www.pongalfestival.org/pongal-recipes.html It's funny from our more modern over-fed perspective how rice+dal+millk with lots of cashews signified plenty and abundance..... Now I have these items every day and have to run behind my kids begging them to eat..... Milagai

Hey: we make this very frequently. Recipe from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes. It's called West African Peanut Stew there, and it's very like the links you posted; only sans meat. I've tweaked it as usual to up the spices to suit our family - Moosewood recipes on their own are dreadfully bland. More or less, what we make is: 1. Saute onions, grated ginger, and cayenne in hot oil; a touch of cinnamon won't go amiss..... 2. Add diced sweetish veggies (e.g. carrots, sweet potatoes, etc.) and water, and simmer till veggies are totally cooked. 3. Add tomato puree and simmer. 4. Puree unless you're OK with veggie cubes. 5. Add some green peas if liked, and salt to taste. 7. Add hunks of creamy peanut butter and mix thoroughly and simmer. 8. Sprinkle a fair amount of fresh chives, chopped. Done. We love this stuff, kids, adults and all... Milagai

Lori: it's great that you are making the effort to help out this family. Food is really so fundamental to psychological comfort and family bonding over and above the obvious nutrition aspect.... What I found out ***OBVIOUSLY MUST BE VERIFIED WITH SETH'S HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ETC.*** According to some sources e.g.: http://www.goodcooking.com/herspice.htm cumin and coriander are part of the carrot family. So if Seth can eat carrots these spices should be OK - per verification. The cinnamon family includes bark from related trees (e.g. cassia etc.). So those would be excluded for him. If the cumin/coriander thing is true, then many recipes become possible, like pulaos, besan cheelas, etc. If they can get the green light on cumin and coriander (seeds for both, and the leaves = cilantro for the latter) then I could get more specific with recipes.... They are very easy and popular.... Milagai

Lori: That's not a bad list at all. It's pretty generous actually. What about peppers (green, red, chili etc.)? How old is Seth? Infant, toddler, ? What does the family like to eat and how strict is the rest of the family in terms of being picky about likes and dislikes? In general, Indian "strict vegetarian" cuisine (i.e. dairy allowed but no eggs, no onions or garlic = alliums) seems to meet most of his criteria. A menu that's usually popular: 1. basmati rice pulao flavored with salt, cloves, peppercorns, and cumin and cinnamon if allowed. Add peas if allowed. OR lemon rice (cook rice with turmeric and salt; tarka of hing if allowed, cumin instead of mustard, almonds or other allowed nuts instead of cashews, curry leaves and dry red chilies. Add to rice; finish with large splash of lemon juice). 2. Raita made with soy (if allowed) yogurt and cucumbers (if allowed) or grated carrots, flavored with salt, mint+cilantro finely chopped, toasted ground cumin if allowed. I've not tried goat milk yogurt, but maybe that can sub for soy yogurt. 3. A simple dal (cook red lentils until soft in water or veg broth, with tomatoes salt to taste) flavored with tarka of: cumin if allowed, powdered coriander if allowed, cayenne pepper if allowed. When done, add a squeeze of lemon juice and garnish with chopped cilantro. 4. Oven roasted fingerling potatoes (rub with olive oil, salt, cayenne pepper) Other menus can get more interesting: * dal-based koftas instead of dal (think like meatballs) * stir fried veggies maybe with tofu (toddlers usually love tofu; it's narrow minded adults who get all squiggly at the concept rather than the reality). * idlis (with coconut chutney if allowed coconuts, otherwise tomato chutney, * not traditional but tasty or with sambar if the sambar ingredients are allowed). * besan ke cheele (chick pea pancakes/crepes) with tomato chutney.... I've fed all kinds of friends, neighbors, kids' classmates etc. of all ethnicities with menus such as the above and they have been very very popular; even with kids whose parents swear they won't eat X, Y or Z and whose eyes bulge with astonishment when the said kids scarf down my cooking....... These are just off the top of my head.... good luck, Milagai

Vinegar based treatments really work. Did you try those? Milagai

I've found this too with glass and plastic jars, and yes, I do wash the lids. I have soaked for a while with a mixture of vinegar + baking soda (this foams up) and then add warm water to bring up to the top of the jar if it's large. Then re-wash and that seems to work. Milagai

in general, you would be doing her and her family a huge favor if you introduced her to getting plenty of flavor from herbs and spices rather than from extra cheese and butter. C and B great ingredients, a basic amount essential to many recipes, but more may not always be better, certainly not for lifelong health..... milagai

Hope you feel better soon. How about this recipe for your Red Nightfall Beans? http://abbacat.vox.com/library/posts/tags/rice/ Milagai

There's a thread earlier about a couple who wanted to keep their food budget in control, and that had some great ideas too.... I'll also urge you to consider: canned beans. May not be snooty gourmet, but they are: 1) tasty (made right - not at all difficult) 2) cheap (food does not get much cheaper than this) 3) quick (especially compared to pre-soaking and cooking dry beans) 4) easy 5) nutritious as heck Indian recipes for rajmah or black eyed peas; soup or stew recipes; vegetarian chili (or make the chili with mostly beans and just a trace amount of meat); etc. Most of the recipes can be augmented by throwing in some extra vegetables (e.g. chopped spinach/other greens, or carrots, or diced peppers, etc.) for extra nutrition and taste.... Equip the kitchen with some basic spices and spice blends and maybe an inexpensive crockpot, and it's amazing the good food you get..... Milagai

Oh yes, thanks! There is one there that looks interesting. Also this link: http://importfood.com/brass_wok.html the smaller wok is what I am thinking about.... but am leery of cooking on brass...... Milagai

Thanks for all the replies. 1 quart carbon steel wok - I so wish I could find something like this. I haven't seen it in stores here, though I have not done an online search..... re geometry: I'll double check on specific depth back in the store ..... re spending $ 45, I also am not sure The only reason I was considering it was due to the All Clad "name" and the fact that the aluminium sandwich goes all the way up the sides...... Not sure what good either of these features do for me Re cast iron: I saw a teeny tiny very cute little deep skillet (like a miniature , flat-bottomed wok) with a pour lip (Lodge Logic). If I didn't already have an ordinary small cast iron skillet, and I was searching for a piece ONLY for tarka, I would have pounced on that item. Alas, it was way too small for deep frying..... So, looks like the consensus is: *go for the cheaper one (good) * if I deep fry, it's going to get black no matter what.... OK, thanks! Milagai

That does sound like what I plan to do: fry small quantities in a tiny amount of oil. Tarkas take ~1 - 2 tsps oil usually. The pans when I saw them in the store were more than 2.5 inches deep - more like 4 inches....I don't know if the links I posted gave dimensions, but I handled both sauciers in the store yesterday, and they looked like they could handle enough oil for papads and pooris..... Deep frying papads / small pooris - I want to fill the pan about 1/3 full of oil max. I can't find woks that are small enough (to replace my teeny tiny blackened wok), big woks waste too much oil, other bigger saucepans are also wasteful because the flat bottoms need too much oil for deep frying, etc... Would either of these pots be less likely to go black or is that an impossible dream? sigh..... Milagai

with lime juice, red chili and curry leaves, those peanuts go to a whole 'nother flavor heaven. so: Curry leaves!! Milagai

Hi: I am trying to choose between the following: Both are 1 quart sauciers, stainless steel (not nonstick). All Clad: http://www.amazon.com/All-Clad-Master-Chef...r/dp/B00005AL92 It's available at a great price near me: $ 45.00 Cuisinart: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00...en-20/ref=nosim This is also on sale: $ 20.00 Thoughts: The Cuisinart is about half the price of the All Clad. The Cuisinart also has a pour lip - nice feature. The Cuisinart has a nice deeper shape. However The All Clad has the full heating core surrounding the whole pot rather than only a disk in the base. BUT the All Clad has NO pouring lip, which is nice to have. Specific additional concern: I am planning to use this saucier mainly as a mini-karhai (=wok-like pan) to fry papads, pooris, etc. Also occasional tarkas where I may add additional ingredients and my little cast-iron skillet is too small.... My current tiny wok is irretrievably blackened. Will either the Cuisinart or the All Clad be less likely to get a permanent black layer of goo on it after deep-frying sessions? Any other thoughts on these products, or on Cuisinart vs All Clad in general? Thanks in advance Milagai

Thanks Torakris: I love daikon too, and don't know too many ways to make it, and have been getting interesting ideas from this thread... Great nutrition info... thanks Milagai

baby turnips with carrots and cauliflower for a great pickle. so, cauliflower..... milagai

Hi: if you'll forgive my butting into your thread, send me your extra daikons, or make mooli paratha (parathas=stuffed flatbread; mooli=daikon radish in many south asian languages). here's one recipe: http://www.angelfire.com/country/fauziaspa...oliparatha.html Milagai

Anyhow, I made it, mostly per Wolfert's recipe. The lemon juice and cumin definitely added good things to the overall flavor - it would have been very bland without them..... Nicolai and Swisskaese - garlic yes or no? Thanks for the input Milagai

Thank you - tis made and very good. Holiday wishes to you too. Milagai

I'm getting ready to make this for TG tomorrow. The peppers are roasted. Other ingredients being assembled. Garlic - yes or no? I've seen recipes with and without. My other ingredients will be similar to what Paula Wolfert posted in recipegullet - breadcrumbs, red chili, walnuts, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, cumin, olive oil.... Thanks in advance Milagai

If like me you prefer the savory preparations of sweet potatoes, here's a really good and quick stovetop recipe. They can be made with sweet potatoes or "yams" (i.e. what they call yams in US grocery stores, not real yams). heat 2 tsp butter or veg oil in skillet. saute: 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger, 1/2 tsp (more or less per taste) cayenne pepper, and 1/4 tsp or thereabouts cinnamon. Add 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into sticks Saute and stir until done - if you play with the heat you could even maybe get them a little blackened / caramelized on the outside. Add a few raisins at the final stages and a little honey to coat the sweet potatoes.... Add salt to taste. Serve hot of course. Milagai

That division of food plate is very compatible with being a vegetarian: e.g. in an Indian vegetarian thaali: lower 1/3rd - rice / roti (=starch) upper 2/3 - more or less evenly divided between vegetables and proten (=dals etc.) with space for yogurt (more protein), relishes, etc. That is, as a vegetarian you don't have to alter the composition of the food plate, only the contents...... Milagai