sabiha

Shelby, The main one that comes to mind is Khawse, which has its roots in Burma and is quite popular. It's very similar to South East Asian noodle soups with lots of garnishes and condiments. As luck would have it I made some yesterday! Its perfect comfort food for the winter. I have some crappy camera phone pics: These are the fixings with the broth, noodles, crispy strips of fried dough, fried onions, a garlic chilli oil and chopped herbs Relatives in India also request that we bring with us different types of Pasta when visiting and many people do enjoy eating Lasagnes and the like too.

I forgot to mention Chikki! Did you make a stop anywhere near Lonavala and sample some? The variety the shops have is amazing.

I'm looking forward to this, because I've been missing India a lot lately! I got married there early last year and for our honeymoon we had a road trip from Gujarat down to Mahabaleshwar, stopping along the way in Mumbai, Pune and the hill stations. India is such an amazing place, we made our way stopping to eat at random restaurants every now and then, all of which had food much better than any place here in England and gorging ourselves on the amazing Figs, Strawberries and Mulberries that old ladies were selling on the side of the highway. Needless to say we are saving up so we can head back next year hopefully!

It's a shame, many families will probably be affected. My parents are going to India next week, their original plan was to go during mango season so they can gorge on fresh mangoes for 3 weeks. I don't know what they'll be doing now, guess they'll have to actually buy them!

From family back in India who own a lot of mango farms, this season has been especially terrible. In many places there are literally no mangoes on the trees! They said it's down to the fact they didn't have much cool weather during the winter this year which apparently isn't good for mangoes. The crop in Gujarat where my family is from is 80% down on normal years which sounds pretty terrible for them. I'm not sure about the whole country, but I guess that's why prices are so high this year. They're still £10 for a dozen where I live, don't know how far down the prices will get, usually they end up £6 a box.

I got them from a shop in Aston, near Villa Park. I've seen them around other shops in the area too, don't know how long they'll still be around.

The best Alphonso are usually at the beginning of the season, around early May. Whereabouts are you in Brum? I got a box of relatively decent Kesar today, although I remember last year's were far sweeter and jucier that the stuff we've had this year. If you visit the areas populated with more Asians like Aston etc, you shouldn't have a problem finding mangoes in the shops still, although there isn't long left to go as monsoon season is nearly here.

Goodness, I thought they were mud-covered rocks. I'm still not sure I've matched the caption to the correct photo. Do you by any chance have a picture of these cut open? (This is a great tour, BTW, thanks!) Edit: oh, it's the stuff in back. (I was looking at the stuff in front of him!) ← I believe that you were right the first time! I never did get to try this delicacy nor did I see the inside. ← It has lovely pinky/ yellowy flesh and tastes similar to potatoes. The way my grandma usually prepared it was as a dry curry, like potatoes sometimes are.

Guess I'm a bit late now, but I was in India early this year and Indo-Chinese food seemed to be all the rage. I never went to a specifically Chinese restaurant but most places we ate at had a Indo Chinese menu section, although the labelling of items as Chinese seemed quite arbitrary. The food I did try, the 'Manchurian' soups and various chicken dishes were basically indian style dishes with maybe more of a touch of sweet and sour and soy sauce added to them with crunchy vegetables. It's probably not too hard to adapt chinese food to suit indian palates as they contain the same kind of spices etc but I think they ended as a bastardisation of chinese food much like Chicken Tikka masala is of Indian food.

Look like elderflower fritters to me! I made a batch of David Lebovitz' Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream last night for dessert, it was divine

Moth are a type of lentil which can be used in curries. You can either boil them as they are quite bitter or turn them into sprouts which is also nice.

Yes, the simplest recipe I've heard for Rasmalai sounds very similar to this one. To a cup of Milk powder you add an egg and half a teaspoon or so of baking powder. Once the dough is mixed and smooth the little formed patties are dropped into the boiled down milk, which is kept bubbling on the stove to cook the patties through. I think it's always safe to try just one first to make sure they don't split or something, if they do then add some more milk powder to the dough and try again. If the balance is right, the rasmalai usually do come out nice and tender but you have to be careful.

The only thing I can think of is the Chicory and Coffee essence called 'Camp'. I have seen it in many supermarkets, usually in the coffee section. I did some searching and found a link... http://www.britishdelights.com/hot_drinks.htm

'The most expensive sandwich' also got publicity recently.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4894952.stm Somehow, the thought of all those ingredients altogether doesn't sound so appealing

Wow, great trip. I'm hoping to travel through India some day too. When I went a few years ago I spent three weeks in Gujarat which was a great experience