sandgaw

It seems that I cut the cooking time by at least 50%. To make matters worse, the pork pieces were large as well I will give it another try after I get back from vacation. Thanks Grub for your help, I'll report back on what happens.

Thanks for the info, Grub. Glad the wok thing got cleared up...I spent a few minutes contemplating working with a 45 lb wok BTW, I have a similar mortar/pestle bought from a Thai store several years ago and it has served pretty well so far. After reading your post it became clear that I left out bits of information that I should have included. Sorry about that. Here's some more stuff that hopefully will make more sense. I bought 2 lbs of stewing pork (as opposed to 750 g. per recipe) from a local Safeway. Since this was the first time I bought raw pork I cannot comment much on the quality of the pork. The chunk sizes were somewhat big. I would hazard a guess that on an average they were about 3 bite sizes. Before marinating, I washed the pork pieces and dumped the marinade on top. Did not cut them into smaller pieces. Maybe that was one of the causes behind the pork toughness. The onions were fried for 30 minutes or so on low-medium heat. I have fried onions several times before so I sort of know what to expect and this time they reached a decent golden color. The initial bhuna process after adding the pork took about 45 minutes. I cranked up the heat the last 10-15 minutes because the reduction process was taking too much time. After 45 minutes had elapsed, added water and simmered for 30 minutes, cranked up the heat and semi-boiled for another 15 minutes. The whole process from the moment I put the onions in the hot oil took 2 hours. At the end, I had lot more sauce than your pictures indicate. Maybe because I didn't cook long enough? I added less than a cup of water. IMO, the taste of the sauce was not affected adversely however. It could have been more fiery; next time I'll add more red chillies. Does pork appear white inside (like chicken) when it has been cooked? Because that's how mine looked. If it changes color I could use this in the future to see what point I have reached. Also, how tender does the pork get in this dish if properly cooked? Yesterday evening, after heating up the leftover and taking a bite into a piece, I felt it was more tender than the day before. Could be that the water in the sauce rehydrated it. Grub, your Sultani Murghi looks very delicious...I am tempted to try it next.

First of all, kudos to Waaza for the recipe and hats off to Grub for carefully documenting the whole process; it really does help a lot. With non pork-eaters in the family out of the way, I decided to have a go at it. I followed the directions given by Waaza closely (almost) and would like to note a couple of observations (along with some questions) of the end result: - The sauce had a thick consistency to it and it was dark but not as dark as the one that Grub concocted. Is it important to have a dark colored sauce? - I had expected the sauce to have more tanginess and at the first bite, I thought "Hmm...should have added more vinegar". But as I got into it, the subtlety of the vinegar was more enjoyable. I should mention that the pork was marinated for 24 hours in the refrigerator. - And, now for the most important part, the pork - if you have ever eaten leather shoes cooked for an hour you'll have a pretty good idea of what it tasted like It was very tough, hard to bite into and chew, and extremely dry. After eating a couple of pieces, I avoided the meat part and simply concentrated on the gravy which, mind you, was not lacking in any respect. Waaza's post mentions that something like this would happen if the bhuna process and subsequent cooking were done at high heat. I did get impatient a couple of times - once at the initial stages after the pork had been cooking for half an hour and the reduction was going too slow and a second time, after adding water (that's after the remaining marinade has been added and reduced). I didn't really crank up the heat to high but the water in the pan was close to boiling then simmering (I could see it bubbling as opposed to the one or two bubbles that one is supposed to observer per Waaza). Am I right in assuming that this process is what caused the roughness in the pork? I was really hoping that this would turn into something really good and that next time we had friends over, Vindaloo would be the main attraction on the table. Pork is unfamiliar terrain to me and this was the first time I actually tried to cook some. So I am thinking of making some vindaloo with chicken next time. In retrospect it was a good idea to try this without an audience. Again thanks to Waaza and Grub for sharing their knowledge and experience. It was their posts that really inspired me to go through this process. P.S. Grub, is that wok in the pictures really 45 lb? Where did you get one? I checked Amazon and a few other websites and the heaviest I could see was around 13 lbs. I too am in California and want to prove to the governator I'm no girlie one Is it made of cast iron?

I have used both the Kitchen aid food processor (KFP) and mixer to make the dough for rotis. The FP can handle only 2 cups of flour at a time, but it does take less than a minute as Edward said. I feel that it wasn't meant to handle 2 cups though, and I suspect that my throwing 2 cups at it day after day is what has rendered it useless. The mixer takes a long time compared to the FP (1-2 mins) to knead the same amount, but it seems to handle 2 cups really well. I usually put the flour and most of the water together, and then pour in the remaining water (~50 ml) as the dough starts forming into a ball. Recently when I needed to knead 4 cups, I felt that it did an even better job. I am happy with the mixer so far, but I wouldn't know because it is less than an year old. I have read on the web that KA mixers also die in a few years if you try to make whole wheat dough in them :(

I am posting my question in the hope that some of the gurus on this forum have already faced and solved this problem. Does anyone know of a really good food processor that can make whole wheat dough ? Rotis are preferred at almost every meal at our home. In the last 4 years, I have had two food processors die on me. I almost exclusively used them for kneading the dough to make rotis. The first one was a Softel Food Processor from India. I used it for 1 year ( had to use it with the ugly, bulky transformer ), after which it breathed its last. After reading rave reviews about KitchenAid in almost every American cookbook, I bought the KFP 650. I thought that my quest for the ultimate dough maker had come to an end. Alas ! a month ago, the flour simply 'goes for a spin' in the processor -- never transforms into the ball of dough :( Yesterday, I got it back from the repair store, but it's still as useless as it was when I left it there. Both the machines had plastic blades for kneading the dough. I don't believe in metal blades -- my very first purchase in the US was a Cuisinart which I returned promptly after seeing how badly it fared at making the dough with a metal blade. I can't eat store-bought rotis, somehow, they always have a strange smell ... and for health reasons, I'd rather not eat rotis made of all purpose flour (which KitchenAid seems to be a champion at kneading). I've heard that European food processors really excel at doing this heavy duty stuff. Does anyone have any suggestions for my predicament ? Kneading the dough with bare hands takes a LOT of effort . Thanks !

My take on the SF Bay Area (well, more South Bay) restaurants: Sarovar (Milpitas), Mayuri(Santa Clara), Shalimaar(San Jose), and many sundry restaurants not mentioned below - mostly known for their buffets priced between $ 8-10. Conspiracy theorists say that the same chef works for all of them :) Amber Mountain View - Excellent North Indian fare served here. Rich food, nice ambience. Amber (Santana Row, San Jose) - This one opened a year or so ago in the highly upscale Santana Row mall. If friends are visiting and you want to take them to an Indian place, this is the place to go to. Their buffet is excellent, and a la carte menu is different from run of the mill restaurants. Recently had their Nizami Nalli Gosht. It was so rich that I had trouble driving back, seemed like I was DUI :). On the expensive side. Jewel of India (San Jose) - Hole-in-the-wall restaurant that makes the best mithais in the bay area, specially. Their tandoori chicken, too, is very good. Turmeric (Sunnyvale) - Never, ever, would I go there again. Pricy with extremely passable food. New Delhi (San Francisco) - See Turmeric. Hopelessly overrated - the only highlight being that Bill Clinton ate there once (I think). Udupi Palace (Sunnyvale) - Decent South Indian fare. Especially like their thalis with unlimited Sambar. Udupi Palace (Fremont) - They have a South Indian buffet that is pretty good. Vik's (Berkeley) - Again highly overrated warehouse that passes as a restaurant. See Milan below. Milan (Milpitas) - Excellent chaat house and next best mithai shop after Jewel of India. They have a large variety of chaats. Why drive 40 miles to Viks when Milan is around the corner serving better food :) Best of the best (IMHO) Empress of India (Santa Clara) - Run by an idiosyncratic couple who I believe, are in the business out of love (the cynical in me sometimes says I might be wrong). You have to call in before you go as sometimes they don't open at all. Their buffet selection is not as wide as the other Indian restaurants but they unquestionably make up for it in quality. Buffet usually consists of rice, daal, 2 sabzis, rotis, and chicken. The rotis are made on demand, so is the chicken. Advanced reservations are required for weekend dining and if you are a large group they will even entertain your specific requests. Once had the meanest Bater (quail) at this place. There are some I've never been to - Gaylord's (SF) for one. Outside of Bay Area, 3 restaurants really stand out - Vatan (NY), Supper Club (Reston, VA), and one on State street in Santa Barbara (forget the name now).

Went to the Sunnyvale, CA Hot breads location not long after it opened. Most of the stuff we ate was forgettable. Sorry for the short post but I don't even remember now what we ate there. Come to think of it, it probably was a chocolate cake. But again nothing great.

I was going to post the exact same thing! Grandmother used to make this bhaji minus the turmeric, garlic, and water. I guess it was the purest onion dish one could make with only oil and chili powder added to it. It was nicely caramelized but the onions somehow maintained the crispyness, have no idea how. BTW this recipe went very well with hot Jowar (anyone know the English name for this?) rotis, called bhakri in Maharashtra.

Thanks deliad, for the welcome as well as the store info.

I wish I could tell you more. The eggplant (which btw looked like chinese eggplant) was cut into cubes and coated with a sauce. The sauce itself had the consistency of a murabba (thick and syrupy) and brownish in color. The eggplant tasted sweet but not overly so and very delicious. I googled to see of any eggplant + gur recipes and all I could find were Eggplant Gojju, Eggplant Pachadi, and Maharashtrian Eggplant with Potatoes. I am sure it was none of these. Next time I go to Supper Club I'll definitely try to get more details.

SupperClub was awesome. We had a very different eggplant preparation mixed with gur. The naans were served hot and fluffy and the chicken was great. Lamb curry was very well made but lamb itself tasted very much like, well, lamb :) Thanks much. We are entertaining some friends (well 10-12 people) on the July 4th weekend and mutton curry was sort of a unanimous demand. So the curry and kheer are my contributions to the get-to-gether party. Though I am slightly hindered by lack of kitchen appliances like blender etc (this being a temp corporate housing and all). All I have to do now is find a simple to make recipe. I do have a leeway in screwing up, however, as most of us would be sufficiently inebriated to gloss over minor mistakes I am certain I saw several recipes on the forum so a simple search should help.

I'll blame it on my lack of geographical sense and the fact that I just moved four days ago. West Virginia has kinda been on the ignore list of my consciousness (no offense to W. VA. denizens). Its quite confusing for a SF Bay Areaite who hasn't stayed elsewhere in the US. Not to mention the fact that Indian spices and groceries (daals, pickles, etc.) cost atleast twice as much as the same stuff one would get in any average bay area store. Elden St is probably a mile or so from my place so this place is gonna work great for me! Next stop is at Madina Market. I've also heard that there is a decent Indian spice store in Falls Church which I plan to visit in a day or two. As an aside, I dined at the SupperClub in Worldgate Mall the day I arrived here (after reading Monica Bhide's review somewhere on the net). The non-veg thali is highly recommended. Appreciate your offer. May I take the liberty of PMing you in case I have similar questions? Sandeep

Hi Edward, I really meant goat meat. I am guessing that I have been eating mature lamb for the past few years at most of the Indian restaurants I've been to.

Hi folks, I have been dying to eat nice home made mutton curry but haven't found a good shop so far. Recently located to Northern Virginia (Reston area) and was wondering if anyone knows of a good butcher shop. Halaal, non halaal doesn't matter. Though I do suspect that I'll have to go to a Halaal shop. I am sure that this topic has come up before and I scoured the forums but was unable to find any relevant post. BTW, this is an amazing forum and, after having lurked around for a few days, I am already in awe of almost all the members here. S edit: Got mixed up with my Virginias :)

My first post to egullet ! There are two ways I make dal, first is the regular way, boil dal first, then give tadka to the cooked dal. The other (lazy) way is to sautee onions, tomatoes and add spices (just like you would do when making a subzi), then add dal and water and let it pressure cook. The advantage for me in the latter case is that the second method is faster, and utilizes only one utensil (I do everything in the pressure cooker).