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SwatiC

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  1. .. oy, this seems oddly familiar ... ← Just thought I'd add that this is not to be generalized for all Hindu weddings. In my Bengali Hindu heritage, a wedding dinner is inconceivable without numerous fish courses.
  2. Spaghetttti, is this because the Padang restaurant model is especially successful on a pan-Indonesian scale? I guess what I want to know is, do people generally prefer the Padang style of serving food to say the nasi sets that are commonly served in Javanese food?
  3. Aren't you describing a Rumah Makan Padang? Which is a type of restaurant that serves Padang food which is from Western Sumatra. The dishes are laid out at the table and you only take what you want and pay for what you eat. As far as I know, what distinguishes Sundanese food from other kinds of Indonesian cuisines is the presence of lots of fresh, raw vegetables. This is exemplified by karedok, which is sort of the Sundanese version of gado-gado, with the vegetables raw (not blanched).
  4. SwatiC

    Fish and Seafood

    Adam, the name in greek is "soupies me spanaki". ← Athinaeos, I wonder if you've ever had a variation of this dish, which I believe is called "soupies me xorta". I had this dish at a tsipouradiko in Volos, and it was possibly the most sublime Greek dish I've ever had. I can make it with spinach like you did, and your dish looks fantastic, but I do wish I knew what xorta they used, so I could take a stab at recreating it.
  5. Sam, thank you so much! The link is absolutely great. I believe the Pish-pash, Country Captain and Jhal Frezee are definitely Anglo-Indian dishes, created by Indian chefs working for English households. A lot of the terminology is Bengali, the use of the word "danta" for stems of greens for instance, "dharrus" for lady's finger (okra) and "bagda chingree" for large prawns. However, some others are in Hindi like "khuttah curree" and "bhajee" and the entire spice list in the beginning of the curry section. I was very puzzled by some of the recipes calling for "tyre" as an ingredient, till I realized that this might be a transliteration of the Tamil "Thayir" meaning yogurt. This might be wild speculation, but the mish-mash of ingredient names and the use of lemongrass (originated in India, but virtually unknown in Indian cooking) makes me wonder if the recipes do not come from a Mog (Mag) cook. During British India, it was very common for the English in Calcutta to employ Mog cooks in their households. Besides the fact that they proved to be excellent cooks, they also had the advantage, being Buddhist, of having no compunction about cooking beef or pork, something that Hindu and Muslim cooks might have objected to. There is some conflict over the ethnic roots of Mogs, but geographically speaking they came from the Chittagong hills on the border of undivided Bengal (now Bangladesh) and Burma. Here's a Hobson-Jobson discussion on the origins of the Mogs: http://bibliomania.com/2/3/260/1280/20117/1/frameset.html And this quote is particularly interesting: 1866.—“That vegetable curry was excellent. Of course your cook is a Mug ?”— The Dawk Bungalow, 389.
  6. I'd agree with everything that's been said here regarding the lack of a specific Indian take on sushi. However, if you absolutely insist on sushi in India, one of the best places to eat it in Delhi would be The Nikko Metropolitan hotel. The hotel is run by a Japanese company, and a lot of their clientele are Japanese businessmen. Their restaurant Sakura is known as arguably the best sushi restaurant in town. Here's a review: http://www.uppercrustindia.com/6crust/six/restaurant1.htm
  7. Hello from one Bong girl to another . I've found cod a pretty good substitute for making Bengali fish dishes, as well as fresh catfish of course. I don't much care for the flavour of tilapia, so I don't cook with it. Also, there is a fish that is sold as "white fish" at many Iranian markets. Don't know what it is, but they would usually sell the entire fish to you, cut into pieces with the bone intact, which makes it ideal for putting in jhaal, jhol, shorshey etc. Korean markets usually sell cod pieces with the bone as well, so try and locate Iranian and Korean groceries with fish counters. Many Chinese grocery stores sell shad, which is the closest approximation to ilish that you can get here, apart from frozen ilish from Indian and Bangladesh. So try the Chinese stores for shad and also fresh pompfret, which is quite excellent with shorshey or jhaal or rosha. Hope this helps
  8. I was only referring to the name. Minced meat on skewers is not unique to South Asia at all. There is however a difference between Chicken Reshmi Kebabs and Chicken Seekh Kebabs. The Seekh kebabs are only made with minced meat. Chicken Reshmi Kebabs can be made with either mince or chunks of meat. And as Anzu pointed out, Sikh and Seekh are not to be confused! So "Sikh" is not an acceptable transliteration at all since commonly it would be pronounced with the short "i" sound, and not the long "i" which is the correct transliteration from Hindi/Urdu/Farsi.
  9. As far as I know, "Seekh Kebabs" are exclusive to South Asia, mostly India and Pakistan. In Hindi/Urdu "seekh" refers to the skewer on which the kebab is grilled. I think the word is Persian in origin and means the same in that language as well. The word for mince (of any kind) is "qeema". Traditionally, Seekh Kebab in India and Pakistan refers to kebabs made with goat meat or beef mince (a lamb version may exist, but I haven't come across it). A particularly fine variation of the Seekh Kebab is known as the Kakori Kebab, where the kebab is almost melt-in-the-mouth tender. The Chicken Seekh Kebab is a of fairly recent provenance, and is pretty unconventional. Shish is distinct from Seekh and in most Iranian and Lebanese restaurants I've been to refers to skewered chunks of meat, usually interspersed with bell peppers and onions. Similar to Shish Kebab in India and Pakistan is the Tikka or Boti Kebab.
  10. Ecr, thanks for the info. Are the minced meat sate unique to Bali, or are they fairly common on other islands as well? Also is it true that the cubed meat sate are considered more typical of the cuisines of Java and Sumatra, rather than Balinese cuisine? Swati (minus the C is fine )
  11. That's exactly what I would guess. It's called ghee korola in Bengali.
  12. I think what you are referring to is sate lilit, but as far as I know the standard version is made with a mixed mince of fish and prawns, wrapped around a lemongrass skewer and then barbecued on a coconut husk fire. Is there also a pork mince version?
  13. Sorry for jumping in so late in the thread, but that is not how Gyro is pronounced. In Greek, Gyro is written with a Gamma, not a Chi. So the sound is more like something between a "g" and a "y", something like an aspirated "y". Conformed by my native speaker boyfriend :)!
  14. Thank you so much for clarifying Bong. Boiling rice noodles for 30 minutes sounded so strange! I think a lot of places do make falooda with corn starch, but mung beans are used just as often. I think the corn starch noodles as falooda substitute sound great.
  15. Toureg, I'm simply an admirer and know very little about the vast and wonderful world of Persian cuisine. I'm sure there are many on the board who are much more knowledgeable than I am and I hope to be able to pick their brains through the forum!
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