delhigirl

"Depends on if you like them!" Ha! I don't dislike them. I quite like my immediate boss actually. But here's the thing... I haven't had an opportunity to interact with them on such a personal level that I could gauge what their likes and dislikes are. Such a scenario just hasn't happened and I don't feel comfortable bringing up the subject in an unrelated way. Hence the post. Could you put a number on a range that would be appropriate for such a gift?

Hi All, It's a bit early but I've begun thinking in terms of presents for Christmas this year. I've just started a new job and have not one, but two bosses. What would be an appropriate gift for a boss? I'm posting here instead of Monster.com because I want it to be food-related. In the past I've given small gifts to coworkers, especially friends and team members. Nothing too expensive but something small and fun...maybe samplers of expensive chocolate or a small bag of exotic spices. I also don't want it to be too homey because previously I've felt that recipients thought I was being cheap by making my own gifts. So what would be a decent food-related gift for a boss? Any suggestions on budget would also be welcome. I don't want to overspend (waaaay too easy if I just pick up that expensive gourmet hamper) but I also don't want it to look as if I needn't have bothered. Can someone think of a gift with surprise elements? Something that would delight the other person?

I can't recognize traditional vs modern. I don't know enough about Chinese deserts to be able to discern the difference. Or maybe I can but I don't know that I can. Wouldn't the red bean paste be traditional? But is flour-based pastry traditional as well? It was round...no imprint. Uh...a layer cake. This is a lot harder than it looks. No wonder I can't find a recipe. hzrt8w do you mean that there isn't a definitive "Red bean cake" recipe and it could mean any number of things?

well, there was a thin layer of light cake with a layer of red bean paste. I can't tell if the cake was steamed. What ought a steamed cake to look like? Sorry if that's too basic a question, I just don't know if I've ever had steamed cake. I feel like it couldn't have been rice-based though. It didn't have a sticky or glutinous texture.

Hi all. I need some help locating a good recipe for red bean cake. One of my Chinese colleagues recently got a red bean cake from home that was absolutely amazing. I'm longing to give it a try but can't get a good recipe. I did ask said colleague but his wife didn't want to part with the recipe. I tried googling but the recipes that turned up weren't satisfactory. The cake I had was "cakey" with a light, airy texture but definitely still a cake, while the recipes I've found seem to be more jelly-like requiring red bean paste, gelatine, and sugar. Do you have any favorite recipe you could share? How do YOU make red bean cake at home?

Zoe b...no offence taken. It was just an expression@run into the ground that I didn't realize you had used already. I found ChardGirl's comment interesting.

In India, haggling is a way of life for everything including produce. So yes, I have haggled at a wholesellers market (sabzi mandi) for sacks of oranges, cartons of pricey mangoes, and the first crop of cherries, or quibbled at the high prices the daily hawkers quote for tomatoes in the summer. Many a times, you can get quoted three times the price if you don't watch out. That said, I don't recall ever running a vendor/farmer into the ground for a freebie. The cart sellers who come around each morning (deliver to my doorstep) are such a convenience, and have such fresh produce that I gladly paid that extra amount for the time it saves me. But in India the prices also vary by neighborhood literally. So if you live in an upscale area, the prices are going to match. There are also bazaars held on different days in different neighborhoods where you can get anything under the sun for your household. Where I lived, I recall we had a "thursday bazaar" where you could find in-season vegetables and fruits for much cheaper. A final note, most vendors throw in a customary bunch of fresh coriander, tiny green chillis, and even a bunch or two of mint with your purchase (usually only in the winters or cooler months when coriander grows rampantly...it's expensive in the summer).

My research indicates Inga Bean Edulis aka the Ice Cream Bean. Native of Central and South America. Bean pods can grow up to 1 metre long and contain sweet white pulp with a "cotton wool texture." That could be the flaky fibery stuff you're talking about. The taste profile doesn't match up tho'. THIS bean tastes like vanilla ice cream, a far cry from tobacco. Or is it?

i'm reading and reading this thread and it all sounds so delicious and familiar and it's days later i remember why! ive had murabba in India. it's actually pretty popular in the winters, at least in the north. You can get amla (gooseberries), red winter carrots in big glass jars...they're "pickled" in a thick syrup and retain their shape and color and are very crunchy. it's great for people like me who love sweet stuff, but i've seen others with less fortitude and a smaller sweet tooth wince on biting into one of these preserves. petha i think, is considered a sweet not a preserve in india. This is only my impression though, and I don't really remember why, so feel free to tell me this is not so!

hi all. thanks for the replies! i've encountered "hidden" ingredients while trying many cuisines, including my favorite Thai, where I've actually had to ask the server not to put in fish sauce. how authentic it makes what i end up eating, is a different issue! could you recommend basic ingredients i should start out with?

Hi all, My first attempt at posting on the Japan section though I've been enjoying the posts fo a while now. I confess to never having tried Japanese food (blasphemous I know!), for a number of reasons, until last year. For the longest time I don't think it was even available when I was growing up, at least to the masses; it was too expensive, too exotic, and most importantly, I assumed that Japanese cuisine didn't have anything for vegetarians. Well, I accompanied some friends to dinner one night to a tiny "sushi-house," and they ordered a sushi "boat", a giant wooden model studded with all kinds of sushi and accompanied with a mound of pink translucent ginger and wasabi paste. Anyhoo, I was bored because I'm a vegetarian and couldn't eat off the boat. The server asked if I would like some cucumber rolls and I agreed just to keep my friends company and also because seeing all the chowing down going on, was making me hungry. I fell in LOVE with the contrast of textures and flavor. The seaweed (nori?), the rice, the wasabi, the ginger! i loooooved the flavors and the punch. I don't know how authentic cucumber rolls are actually. But it did give me a small peek into a world of flavors I hadn't experienced before. So, coming to my actual question, could you suggest things I should try, dishes that are properly vegetarian and representative of Japanese food? I look forward to hearing your comments, experiences, and suggestions.

red apples and cheese caramelized bananas + coconut caramelized dry coconut caramelized fresh coconut caramelized orange peel + fresh coconut bananas, fresh coconut, melted chocolate, slightly smoky honey bananas, oranges, fresh coconut, melted chocolate salty butter, large sugar crystals that go CRUNCH, lemon fennel + basmati rice fennel + black tea green chillis + garlic + coriander + lime ripe mangoes + red chillis +coriander seeds + curry leaves green guavas + rock salt

puris and bhature are different kinds of bread albeit fried. Puris are unleavened while bhatura dough is allowed to ferment a bit.

ha ha...yes....i know that old one-two some lazy cooks do using ketchup as the base. my sister makes this tangy stir fry paneer dish that tastes suprisingly good. i could never figure out the ingredients and i badgered her into revealing the secret finally --- it was ketchup with all kinds of spices, heated up, and then she'd add paneer. i have no clue how she'd make the ketchupy taste go away though.

my mother, who never made the exact same recipe twice. in fact, she never had a set recipe for anything. always different, always innovating, on a tight budget with four children, her food is the stuff of dreams. rich, spicy, crisp, tender, creamy, light, fluffy...I could go on and on. I miss the symphony of textures and flavours she manages to create in everything she set out to cook. money was tight sure, but we always ate so well. i never realised what a miracle she pulled off every day until i grew up. it takes so much discipline and love to do this for your family. she is number one on my list. my paternal grandmother, an acerbic, bad tempered woman with a lot of energy and a surprisingly wicked sense of humour. she loved to rabble rouse among the family. but what a strong, earthy cook. she made everything from scratch using only the most basic, fresh ingredients. and used only wood fires to cook....all her food tasted smoky and pungent. fresh bread toasted with spicy spinach stews cooked long over a fire, spicy, cooked chutneys, pure chili pastes, smoky lentil soups. her personality really shone through her cooking. MFK Fisher. when i was but a young girl i came across one of her books on France and the years she spent there. i was mesmerized by her words, her experiences, her description of food, life and love and how they intertwine. it fired my imagination as nothing ever has. for hours i would pore over the description of provence and alsace, brittany and the wine regions of france. it was the most magical literary experience i ever had. even today she is one of my favourite authors and i go looking for her books. i hope to read them all one day. i dont hear people talking about her very much now though...

i have two roommates ....before we took up our apartment together I asked them if they liked Indian food, minded it being cooked etc...and both of them vehemently claimed to LOOOVE it! well, we started living together...and I started cooking (from scratch usually) and sure enough the honeymoon came to an end. They can't STAND the smell of spices, hate onions and garlic and limit their love of Indian food to what comes out of a box. This despite the fact that I always make sure to leave the windows up for the smells to dissipate, always clean up after myself, and never leave dirty dishes. hell....i clean the kitchen every single day while their dishes pile up in the sink!

fresh plums are also called alu bukharas and not just the dried ones.

:) thanks all! attempting to put some of this good advice into action. you shouldn't be surprised w@w because there is a difference between having things done for you and doing them for yourself. i know there is loads of indian stuff available here in the US ...it is just a case or being organised enough to manage everything on a daily basis. I'm not too big on buying frozen breads for some obscure reason i can't put in words. And I discovered what I was doing wrong with the rotis - microwaving them for 4 minutes. heh heh. getting better at this. gingerpeach...your point about the canned vs. soak-your-own beans is good. I'll probably soak some this weekend. PS: Made soup this weekend out of a whole pumpkin (enough to feed a family). It's pretty good even if i say so myself!:)

when you say - 'freeze them...' do you mean raw or cooked?

:) milagai you are right. you did see your old self in me. I am in the US. Would I be whinging if I were in India right now? Probably not. I would be at the friendly neighbourhood chaatwala pigging out on tikkis and golgappas. :( i don't even want to think about that. Black eyed beans here i come!

this post goes out to all the knowledgeable people on this forum. I am back at university, far from home and crave home food terribly. I thought I was a fairly decent cook - both quality and quantity but cooking for one person on a regular basis (while keeping both eyes on the books) defeats me. It's not just about organizing all the ingredients every single week but using them effectively enough. For e.g. I had this romantic vision of eating rotis everyday. A complete washout - not enough time. So I made a stack of them and put them in the fridge. Well, they are edible alright but turn into sheets of rock the minute they are reheated (I don't know why). I did promise myself that I'll eat balanced meals if i go back to school and not put on 20 pounds in the first six months. I don't eat out much and there IS a limit to how much cheese and eggs a human can eat. So how does a vegetarian eat well on a limited budget of both time and money? All suggestions and tips, shortcuts, recipes are very very welcome.

We ate neem leaves (as young girls) to battle acne. Only the young freshlight green leaves were used. Washed and gulped down with water. I also spent a lot of time as a kid, eating nimbori - the ripe fruit of the neem tree. It turns a bright yellow, gets a little pulpy and is very swet laced with a hint of bitterness. Quite good really.

I've come across edible gum being used to make laddoos - gond ke laddoo they're called. They're quite delicious if a bit unusual in taste and keep for a long time if made with the right proportion of ingredients. Gond laddoos are winter sweets and for expecting mothers because they're pretty rich food.

Hi I usually grate radishes and then squeeze out the juice (if the radish is too pungent or bitter). Then add some finely chopped green chillis, lemon juice and salt and serve as a salad. Alternatively I also use the above as a topping for moong dal pakodis with lots of chutney....yummmmy!