ravum

Sundal is a south indian bean salad.Usal is a maharashtrian cooked dish made with sprouted beans.I can post recipes if you are interested. Milagai,I would love the recipe for the methi sprout chutney.

I absolutely love Sprouts.They are convenient to have around,cook in a jiffy and can be tossed into just about anything. My favourites are:Moong,Matki(Thats what it's called in Marathi,anyone know its aliases?),Garbanzos ,White peas and methi. Top uses are: Lightly steamed,turned into a chaat Steamed to make a sundal Cooked as an usal Cooked as a Dal Ground and made into a dosa With rice as a pulao Ground and steamed into dhoklas or idlis A wonderful methi sprout pickle from Usha Prabhakrans pickle book. Which beans do you sprout and what do you make with them?

These are fillings I like: Roasted mushrooms with peas,chilli powder,amchur. Cauliflower and peas and of course the usual potatoes I have baked them at 350F.They are good ,but not as flaky as fried ones.Ghee would be tastier in a baked version. They can be baked ,cooled and refrigerated,wrapped well in plastic wrap.Reheat at 400F.I use the same technique as regular samosa dough.Flat triangles are easier to bake as you can turn them halfway thru baking.I'm not sure about this but the cold filling shouldnt make a big difference to the baking time.You can always microwave the filling a bit if you have any doubt. I tried a chocolate and banana filling for a baked version and it was quite nice.

Anne,the pistachio is ground and makes about a cup of pistachio flour.If that is included,the recipe does remain at 1tsp of baking powder for a cup of flour. Does the ground pistachio count?

I had the same problem and figured it was because I was using active dry yeast instead of instant yeast. I still use active dry yeast and follow the same procedure mktyke has outlined above. The flavor is outstanding.Mine doesnt rise as much as breads usually do but it does have a lot of big holes in the interior.

I made DDL without the soda. Result- Caramelly sweetened condensed milk.It wasnt grainy at all but positively not the color GG Mora has posted here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...%20saveur&st=30 The color was the same as SCM.Definitely no chocolate notes or smokiness.Chewy and caramelly.Not overly sweet as SCM. I will try the soda version and post the results.

This is a link to the recipe http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=15254&typeID=120 I didnt know about baking soda helping browning.That seems to be the reason for its use in DDL. I plan to make it with and without the soda to figure out how much of a difference the soda makes.If it affects browning,it might be quite a bit.

I have checked the oven temperature.All other cakes turn out fine,its only this one I have a problem with. I thought the 20 mins was'nt enough too,but a tester came out clean.It wasnt browned on top,just a little on the sides.Do I have to bake it longer? I used parchment on the bottom exactly as Wendy has outlined and didnt grease or flour the sides (learnt from karen's posts). The cardamom didnt seem too much,maybe because I didnt use a packed tsp but very loosely measured a tsp.

I plan to make dulce de leche from a saveur recipe posted earlier on egullet. Was wondering what the baking soda actually does? Does it improve texture/flavor/shelf life?

I tried making a pistachio cake that got great reviews on egullet.This is the recipe. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/105003 I have made it twice and followed the recipe to the letter.Each time it rises well in the oven.After removing it,it shrinks a little and collapses.The final texture is dense and a little gooey. It still tastes good though.....so if made properly should be wonderful.

Thank you all for your ideas.I will try adding a little sooji and cornmeal.Will do a separate one with potatoes if I can find guinea pigs to eat bhaturas regularly!. I tried making them with yeast instead of baking powder/soda and liked the result.Is it still a bhatura with yeast?

I bake them.Place 16 oz ricotta under weight overnite.Mash+cilantro+garam masala+salt.Roll into balls and bake at 350 for 20 mins(turning once).They flatten out and are delicate.Then added to a warm gravy.It would break up on boiling. I also make them with boiled,mashed potatoes,grated lauki(strained)+ginger+green chillies+garlic and roasted besan to bind. Bake as above.These are a little more firm and can be added to a boiling hot gravy.I have not tried boiling them in the gravy (as the besan is cooked in the oven anyway),so dont know if it will withstand it. Gravy is similar to Bhasin's,only I puree and strain. Have never made a cabbage kofta before,will definitely try it.

I did try frying it longer...it didnt help. Apart from presentation, I'm not sure its true,but I have a notion that collapsing ones are greasier.

I made bhaturas yesterday and although they puffed up well in the oil,they deflate on being removed from the oil.They taste wonderful but it would be better if they would remain balloony. I remembered that the bhaturas at "Cream Centre" remain inflated even while cold. My recipe is very similar to the one Suvir posted on this site,except I use a little atta also and skip the eggs.I roll out the dough using flour. Any tricks/ideas for a beautiful, non collapsing bhatura?

Gongura leaves are available in my regular grocery store under the label "sorrel leaves" .They are very sour and hence an automatic match with anything hot and spicy.They cook down quite a bit but the taste is quite sharp.

Narayani Nayak's book has about 250 pages,mostly vegetarian ,but it has a section on fish.It is very useful because it lists a basic preparation and then lists the variations.

Chocolate chai...Was'nt sure about this but quite good. I have added a little bit of cocoa to gravies where i would have used kasoori methi instead and it provides a slightly bitter flavour in the background.. This is one bongs are going to kill me for....mini chocolate chips stuffed in a rasgulla.....served slightly warm so the chocolate oozes out.

This was a good excuse to count the number of books I have...51 Indian and about 40 other cookbooks.. My Favorites are Samaithu Paar,Bangla Ranna (Minakshie Dasgupta) and 500 easy recipes(Narayani Nayak).The last one is an old Konkani cookbook.It is out of print and my entire copy is xeroxed.All three are books that are good to cook from.After reading the raves here,I plan to add Camellia Punjabis book to my shelves.

Vikram,I really enjoyed reading your description of a mangosteen.I dont think I have ever seen one.I will look for them the next time I am in chennai.Is there a season for them?Any idea what they are called locally? I love banganapallis too....when really ripe and juicy,they are almost better than an apoos.

I make a variation of the south indian Neer More.Blend yogurt/buttermilk with a peeled cucumber or two,ginger and 1/2 green chillies till slightly thick.Season with mustard,hing and curry leaves.Salt to taste.I add a bit of kala namak.Serve very cold. I also like it it a very ripe avocado instead of the cucumber.

I discovered egullet quite recently and am having a great time reading the discussions and knowing there are many more people as crazy about cooking as I am. It should be great fun to be a part of this gang!!

Please please send me a recipe for manchurian,chilli paneer and kothimbir vadi.I am close to giving up on making a decent manchurian-they are either heavy and soggy or dry and crunchy.