liv4fud

its been a while but I remember having a big grinding mill (like a washer) in our home. and I remember my granny trying to get a particular texture n consistency. that was different for breads( rotis, parathas, puris) and different for savory cakes (oondhwa). and yes, I might be wrong about the gluten part of things. but don't know if the consistency is something you are looking for.

think I should know the difference between durum and semolina! Durum Flour devlin, above is one of the links that I got from a popular website. if that's what you are looking for, then I am correct, you will find a 20lb bag (multiple makes: Swad, Golden Temple, Meera, etc.) for about $7/- but you would have to go to a grocer. also known as chapati flour... hope this helps edit to add: becaboo, what is the problem that you get? is it the rise that is an issue? try kneading more, as it might be low in gluten.

any place selling indian groceries should have 20LB bags for about 7$

jokhm, what is not seen is the ability of your body to adapt on a long term basis. you would not see a person gain weight fast whose family has been toiling hard labor for generations. but that person who's enjoying their prosperity will start the change that you would eventually see in their children and forth coming generations. also large is a very relative term. in India / China - a 160 pound person can be considered large / overweight / obese. they don't have to be 300+. the economy was such that it wouldn't be possible to be that large. also if you were large (or had a beer belly) it was considered a sign of prosperity. but things are slowly and surely changing to americanized ways. highly fine-tuned bodies which show every single ounce of diet change even for a day. its coming and chances are its here to stay.

yellow truffle, the tab that you discussed above is per person??

I second that viaChgo used to enjoy her for those melting pot shows after which I really thought they were trying to push her personality and not food. glad they got back to food

something quick but not dirty for your knives: sharpeners from accusharp and norton abrasives are really neat for taking care of knives on a daily / weekly basis especially for home cooks they have blades at a preset angle so you don't have to worry about precise angle. and yes I had gotten the accusharp link either from this or cheftalk forum. in hunt for that found norton myself. usually about 12 dollars, they are good bang for the buck.

have tried all 3 - pepsi, coke, rc in cake mixes usually choclate cake popular recommendations of *home cooks (sandra lee types without the tv show)* to get an added layer of flavor to the dish personally I agree with sobaaddict70 that it did give an aftertaste which I found to be nasty

hey popcorn, you didn't break any rules unfortunately one thing that I have found about Indian cooking is that rules are like guidelines ('pirates of the carribbean...') and so are the times given. just like the power of microwaves would differ, ovens would heat unevenly - there is a lot of difference in texture, flavor and color of dish depending on the type of vessel used and the stove you use it on i.e. thickness, btu's... either its that or we have yet to get the pain staking research and development that have been going in the French cuisine for years. we are thankful now to have people like Monica Bhide whose work (from what I have known) is like a culinary anthropologist for indian food. now to also quote emeril here, ' its a food of love thing ' so yes, some of it might be lost in translation from the book to the cook, but what you did and if you enjoyed, becomes *your* recipe. that's one way recipes have been developing in home cooking atleast in the families that I have known. now regarding the spices, frying in oil and then with onions imparts the flavor to whole dish. many cooks even suggest that the flavor of your onions will be the flavor of your dish. only caution here would be that you shouldn't be tasting burnt spices. try a little lower flame (sweating kind). now a secret is to get the spices as near to the burnt state as possible without turning over. from what the dish sounds like, I don't think it called for caramelized onions. so it seems you were fine there for the paste, use the blender to blend fresh ginger by itself (use lemon / water mix here for some juice that is needed). these freezes well too in ice cubes for later use. now use this paste along with tomatoes paste or puree. you would have done this for the gravy. bhunao - will be process of caramelization / cooking of onions. depending on the dish you will either stop at translucency or take it all the way to the sweet dark state. you will have to reverse your process here ie. get the onions to where you want, remove, then add some more oil, sweat the spices and put the onions back. hope this helps

Activating... The pics and descriptions are very very tempting! Care to discuss the price?? Converted Sushi Lover - my Japanese friend made me try Sashimi and haven't looked back since. Problem is the prohibitive cost involved. Also do you think Sushi is ok for an 18 month old? i.e. going with my spouse and kid...? <edit to add> sorry didn't check out the website - so have an idea of the price. but just curious on how much an average tab runs out to be? </edit to add>

was in virginia beach a couple of months back and also in ohio a month back. both places, they had all the right tourist kind of things but when pressed a little, the receptionist at both places (coincidence?) had compiled a list of local restaurants and what they were famous for. the list had a ton of errors with some restaurants already shut down and 2 miles was more like 5 (in the directions). however, the food was nice and good at atleast half the places I checked out locals and all. so I think one would need to take the advice of a concierge / receptionist with a pinch of salt (and a dash of hot pepper)

check out naan recipes in northern india breads in the egullet culinary institute forum they have a simpler home made variety naan - which is usually cooked in tandoor. I also have a stove top one, which I will try to post once I get my hands on it. pappadum was a good one. can't believe it slipped past all of us. oil v/s ghee logic - something similar to using oil v/s evoo (sorry had to quote rachel ray here ;-) ) ghee is more fragrant and rich. there are times when the dish is done in oil and then the *tadka* done with ghee. traditionally - the wealthier you are, the more ghee you would use. also a quick suggestions - amchur powder and chaat masala go very nicely into making a home-made vinagerate for your salads. amchur powder will provide the tartness with trace flavors of mango and chat masala is mainly salt and pepper with other ingredients added in different proportions. also a certain number of hispanic markets carry a lot of *similar* varieties of Indian spices. and you can always substitute any whole black pepper corn with tellicherry and vice versa similarly with tartness and amchur powder, I know the trace flavors are important and can help set the dish aside BUT like Alton Brown would suggest - you can achieve tartness with other ingredients as well i.e. citrus (lemon/lime) or even vinegar. the only problem here would be that experience will need to be your guide to get proper amounts for substitution regarding yogurt - also believed (and some chemist can correct me here) to have something that dissolves capsecium i.e. the heat of the chillies. like a reset button for your tongue so that you can have round after round of flavors hitting your mouth and every time you feel like its the first time....

wow anzu, great minds thing alike ;-) nobody mentioned at the same time - though we can put that caveat. jaggery with ghee on a roti - beats PBJ any day also lot of lentils taste better *imho* sweetened with jaggery rather than sugar because of trace flavors.

black / brown mustard seeds, not much difference as they are used for tadka part of the dish (mostly) - for aesthetic purposes - stick with black shelf for the block of tamarind - is dry but not like dried mushrooms - though reconstittution is similar process. stick with paste if you are still playing your way around. usually gives a darker color and at times more potent turmeric - powder - fresh has different uses (salads - juliened, pickling - yummy). default cooking oil for most dishes - peanut oil - unless coconut oil called for (south indian dishes) canned beans are ok but they do impart a little bit of the battery-fluid taste. use dry beans, soak overnight (or atleast 4-6 hrs in warm water) and then use those instead. once you have your hand set, one or the other wouldn't matter indian pickles - shelf. they are usually kept around for the extra kick u serve a spoonful with the meal. its like using giardineria for sandwiches. think of it as being served on the side so you control the burn there are tons of lentils. green ones are green gram. believe suvir's website has a list of them. so does sanjeev kapoor's don't know if this was mentioned but we also keep jaggery - a type of unrefined sugar. also kari patta / nimda and kasoori methi - fenugreek leaves, dried hope this helps

interesting carricature for your avatar you got Jeff and appreciate the help from all to share their experiences and thoughts. though many of us have worked in a burget joint at one point in time during our careers, it is difficult to get a grasp of what the industry might hold for you. as of now - from my research (strictly in the Chicagoland area) I have found that Kendall, CHIC (LCB), Robert Morris and Art Inst. have a program. Other than CHIC, all have a certificate-type program for about $X. To get an associates degree, the cost could be about $2X. The program at CHIC is $3X straight up. Thus, questions arose in my mind, that with limited experience, career-changing with family responsibilities, is that extra $X or $2X justifiable. Not that I am doing something bass-ackwards, but discussions between famousfoodbabe and carrottop got me thinking quite a bit. Its like how a non-starter from a big-name school gets to go second-overall in professional sports whereas a long-time starter from a smaller school goes in lower rounds or goes undrafted. Not digressing from the point but I have seen (atleast i IT) that a big name school gives you a much higher platform from which to take off and a lot more targets/weapons. But then one has to be able to keep that level. And with about a year or so of experience, the playing field does even out. Agreed it will harder for the meek to survive this trip to the level field coming from a smaller school but I do believe that hardwork and breadth of experience can help cover it. So, as of right now, CHIC is out of my plans. Still have to check one of the schools out (of the other 3) but my financial situation as of yet might not allow me to go to CHIC yet. I was very impressed by the facilities and did talk with a couple of students who were very helpful in guiding me. I will request the moderator to keep the thread open so other people can also jump in with their thoughts. And I will keep posting what I find in my search.

Isn't variety the s p i c e of life? ← good one!! definitely for spice. haven't read the entire thread so can't comment on the on going discussion. but definitely for spice!

True expectations are tricky and reputations and credibility is what one can get at a big name school. but what about education / training - is that worth paying 3 times the cost?

based on ica intro, the showing of the ingredient and starting of the food fight is not that immediate. they are shown the ingredient and they go and discuss (or tell) their sous. and then the stipulated time begins. between icj and ica, there is a difference of 1 dish - with j having 1 more than a. and yes I have noticed the plate only one (set of ) dish as opposed to all 3 or 4. maybe that's another caveat to the original (or dumbing down for ica)

Nice to see your experimentation with the tandoori chicken. I am a converted non-veg eater so do take my advices with a few pinches of salt and other spcies of your liking. By the way the red color you see on tandoori chickens is usually some sort of food coloring. And as far as the yogurt is concerned, I believe it does act as an acid during marination. Times for marination can vary depending on the taste that you want, we usually do ours overnight to 24 hours in the refrigerator. If we remember, we toss it around a couple of times. If yogurt is thick, we put in enough to coat the chicken. By the way, we do use boneless - skinless chicken breasts or tenders and usually don't mix lemon/lime with yogurt. We bake ours at about 300 degrees checking often in an open sheet pan. That gives that nice and dry feel. If you want a more wetter feel then you can do it in a foil covered pan. Ginger, garlic, salt, pepper turmeric, paprika (color), cayene (heat), yogurt are regulars to the party. Try jalapenos or their paste for more fire. With tenders, I have also experimented sauteeing fajita-style (tenders) and it works good too. Hope this helps

As far as likes are concerned, grew up watching (on a PBS-equivalent channel) some foodshows by house-wives. But then something different happened and we had Martin Yan, and man! that was interesting and entertaining and learning experience. Also, the first Indian commercial cooking show, "Khana Khazana" by Sanjeev Kapoor and offcourse the midnight showings of Galloping gourmet. Dislikes - Sandra Lee, Flay's QB-type attitude, Rachel Ray's 'once-upon-a-time-at-band-camp' persona, Martha's ......... I guess there's something about almost everyone that I dislike, other than Sandra Lee.

so even though school can be what one makes of it, the name definitely matters i.e. name == quality?

nice site melissa, most of the ones I ran across over the web during my many searches seemed like they were paid sites i.e. paid by the schools to advertise them. this one seems nice and it does list 2 schools in the chicago land area. however, other than the ones it lists - you can't really choose the 4 major ones in Chicago - Art Institute, Robert Morris, Kendall and CHIC for a side-by-side comparision. and I don't know if my question makes sense - but I am trying to find reasons for investing 40K at Kendall / CHIC as opposed to about 15K at Robert Morris / AI.

something that doesn't sit well with me is the fact that the challengers dont get to pick the iron chef - i know it can be rigged - but so can the entire challenge and yes miss ricardo = please critique and not criticize the dishes 'the taste was not what i was expecting' - what the *&^^*&%^ you are at the forefront of a supposed culinary adventure. you are getting a chance to taste the food no tongue has tasted before argh - I suggest a favor to bring Mo Rocca back atleast he was thankful for the food

to quote my guru - alton brown - plastic has a great affinity for fat and its difficult to get rid of it from the bowl. possesses a great danger for deflating scouffles ... don't know about glass / pyrex ones and how they take to repeated hits due to whisking...

this question is to the members and readers of the eg forrums. I happened to be in search for a culinary institute to gain some skills and organization in the kitchen. now, I do understand the value of a big name behind your education ( have graduated with a 4 year degree in IT about 3 years back). but in something that is so practical like cooking, why is there a big difference between schools say with the 'le cordon bleu' title and a local institute? I mean in terms of money - its like 3 times more! I don't mean to question the degrees from reputed institutes that people have (j&w, cia, lcb,..) but what I would like to know is - what is the difference? I m a career changer and one thing that I have learnt in the past is to not put money based on just the name. So I guess the quest is to find the reasons that would justify the charge... (btw, I do have a part time staging gig with a caterrer and do learn a lot in the unpaid adventure.)