Jenni

I think the real question is, what on earth is curry? It has become an acceptable term for describing saucy Indian dishes, but is not a term traditionally used in India at all.

I would definitely be up for the blind taste soda test! I think I could easily tell the difference. It's a well known fact (*ahem*, kinda) that the best coke comes from one of those old-fashioned looking little glass bottles.

I find all kinds of canned fizzy drinks have a weird taste not present in bottled versions.

Mustard seeds can be used in a number of different ways. In Indian cuisine they are: *Popped in hot oil, as a tadka. This gives them a wonderful nutty flavour with no bitterness or pungency. This is probably the most common way of using them. *Toasted and ground for spice powders. During the toasting the seeds usually pop so they still have that nutty flavour. *Ground raw to a powder or paste. This is particularly popular in Bengali dishes and pickled. The seeds react with liquid to have a pungent flavour. For your dish, I would recommend roasting the cauliflower in the oven, and then doing a tadka at the end with mustard seed. A tadka you may enjoy includes 1 tsp each mustard and cumin, 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek, a pinch of asasfetida and a few curry leaves (optional). The mustard goes in first, followed swiftly by cumin and then fenugreek, followed by asafetida. When the mustard seeds pop, add the curry leaves and stir once or twice. Before pouring over the cauliflower. You will be pleased to know that olive works perfectly well for a tadka and many people do use olive oil in this way, though it does have a taste that is rather foreign to Indian food. ETA: Oh, and mustard seeds are also skinned and split and this mustard "dal" is used in pickles and a few other dishes.

That's understandable... I'm usually not cooking for children so it's not really an issue for me. I do have a friend who's allergic to peanuts, but only to the protein... the oil is ok. Proven by how many times she's eaten things fried in peanut oil at my apt. Yes, I was of the understanding that peanut oil is ok because the allergy is only triggered by the presence of the proteins. Of course, it may be better not to take the risk anyway.

a) One liter of water weighs one kilogram, so one ml of water weighs one gram. b) If you must use measuring spoons and cups, consider switching to Pourfect. c) Better yet, toss the spoons and cups and get yourself a scale As you can see from my writing 15ml should way 15g, that is what I meant! I have corrected this now, thanks for spotting my typo!

1 ml of water weighs 5g, so fill the spoon with water and weigh it. a tablespoon is 15ml so should weigh 15g

Isn't one teaspoon 5ml, not 15ml?

I guess running the risk of spoiled dal versus spending more on smaller quantities is the lesser of two weevils... I cannot help but grin a little! To be honest, I have only found weevils on one occassion, and I get through a lot of dal. Perhaps I get through it quick enough, or perhaps it's just a rare thing.

Rice. Don't buy a piddling 2kg or 5kg bag, go for the big guns! All kinds of legumes too, if you use them enough (check for weevils in the dal if you are a slow user!)

Hmm, I perhaps wouldn't necessarily have classified myself as conservative, but I think there are some dishes which I just like to be done "right". I get annoyed when people add crazy things to dishes, like when my brother rings me up to tell me he made I dish I suggested to him, and then he starts talking about it and I realise that he substituted basically all the ingredients and also added mushrooms "Because, you know, I always have mushrooms in the fridge". He always adds mushrooms to stuff, dammit!

Hmm..do not like dried curry leaves at all. Most of the flavour seems to go. Far better to freeze if you have to - I get through them too quickly to bother.

Technically this was lunch, but oh well! Matar paneer bhurji ("scrambled" paneer and peas) with my trusty so-easy-it-can't-go-wrong bread. The bread is very simple to make - half semolina, half white flour, plus a handful of sesame seeds and a little anise (today I used kalonji instead, because I am all out of anise). Oh, and salt. Mix yeast (preferably fresh) with sugar and warm water as usual. When it's frothy, add it to the dry ingredients with a slug of olive oil and enough warm water to make a dough. Knead well till it is silky and bounces back when you touch it. Then shape into a round loaf and leave for an hour in a warm spot on the (greased and with a sprinkle of semolina on the surface) baking tray you will cook it on. Bake for 20-30 minutes. I like it warm straight from the oven, but it is lighter if left until cool before cutting. The paneer bhurji is also very easy. Technically it is made with chhena, which is paneer that is not pressed for so long. Actually there is some confusion over the name of this dish as some people use grated paneer, e.g. paneer that is fully pressed. Other uses chhena like I do and actually call it chhena bhurji. I just call it paneer bhurji Freshness is a must, so make the paneer, cook it and eat it in quick succession. I just made it whilst the bread rose. Little tip for making paneer: If you use milk to curdle instead of lemon juice it tastes better and you get a bigger yield. Anyway, after making, just press the cheese enough to squeeze out excess water and make a crumbly cheese. Then you cook it with usual bhurji ingredients plus peas (i favour a simple version with cumin seeds, ginger, chillies, onion, tomato, tumeric, chilli powder, peas, fresh garam masala, fresh coriander and lemon juice). Eat immediately. Yum.

Yoghurt is at room temperature.

I hate cheap crappy "vanilla flavouring". And even when it comes to extracts, there are big differences between different kinds. I recommend much what andisenji suggests - do a taste test with a little cream. If you don't have cream on hand, make vanilla flavoured warm milk. Having said all this, I far prefer to buy good vanilla pods and use them instead of extract. I was lucky enough to see vanilla pods being grown and processed in Kerala and it has sharpened my desire for pods over any kind of liquid essence. In addition, my Gran semi-recently visited Madagascar and brought back some enormously fat and fragrant vanilla pods. They were absolutely gorgeous and not something that any extract could match.

Have you got the paler Chinese kind or the darker green Indian kind? The Indian kind seems to be more bitter. In addition, they are bumpier and usually smaller too. In India, bittergourd (or bitter melon, called karela in Hindi) is often stuffed. There are also many South Indian dishes where bittergourd is cooked in a dish containing tamarind, jaggery and coconut. This helps make the bittergourd more palatable for those who are not big fans of its flavour. Also, to my mind one of the best vatrals (dried vegetables) is made from bittergourd. The bittergourd is dried out (sometimes after being soaked in salted yogurt for several days) and then when it is served it is deep fried. It is an absolutely delicious munchy to put on the table, and so pretty too (the bittergourd is cut into circles). It is not really bitter at all in this state. However, please remember that the bitterness is considered to be very beneficial. A friend of mine who lives in Dubai but is originally from Kerala eats bittergourd as one of the dishes with his lunch everyday because he has diabetes. Here is a really simple way to eat bittergourd which is popular in my family as a side dish: Take two medium (Indian variety) bittergourds. Cut into fairly thin circles, and push the seeds out the middle of each circle. Put some oil in a pan and add the bittergourd. Stir and fry till the bittergourd becomes crispy and is cooked. You do not necessarily need a lot of oil to do this, just a good pan and some patience. Add chilli powder and salt to taste about 3/4 of the way through this process. In the mean time, take a cup or two of good plain yoghurt (full fat please!) and season it with a little salt. When the bittergourd is done, take it off the heat. Make a tadka with 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, a pinch of asafetida and a few curry leaves. Add the bittergourd and tadka to the yoghurt and serve immediately so that the bittergourd is still crispy when you eat it. Because the bittergourd is fried well and seasoned with chilli, salt and so on, and because the yogurt is bland and creamy, this dish does not taste too bitter, even though the yoghurt is not boiled or soaked as in the normal methods to get rid of the bitterness.

Hmm, just had a thought. If a little mild cumin flavour can be tolerated then you could try this soup recipe of mine.

^^ No!

^^ Why not ask those people what they would reccomend you to try? I think the key thing is to find some good tea that you genuinely like. Then you'll start caring!

One cauliflower dish that Lebanese restaurants around here (Bristol, UK) seem to have is cauliflower fried in olive oil with garlic, and then near the end lemon juice and parsley is sprinkled in. The cauliflower is very delicious because it is tender and golden from cooking in the oil (add no water, think of it like a long cooked stir fry) and the lemon-garlic-parsley flavour is delicious. A few sesame seeds chucked in are also good. It's a shame, as I have tonnes of delicious South Asian cauliflower dishes, and many of them are not chilli-hot at all, but if she doesn't even like cumin then I am not sure what other spices she may object to.

When I was much younger (and, needless to say, not a vegetarian), my Dad used to make me a spicy sardine toasted sandwhich whenever I was off school ill. He would toast the bread, spread with a little butter, then apply hot sauce (it was homemade - we called it "Daddy's West Indian Chilli Sauce"), sliced spring onions and a tin of sardines in tomato sauce. Delicious. Of course, it was made all the more appetising by being off school and having my Dad all to myself.

You could try blending it to make some kind of chutney maybe.

Pam, those kind of aubergines (eggplants) are often available in Asian stores. They are perfect for stuffing.

Fresh idiyappam and (kerala) vegetable stew - delicious!

Interesting Jaymes - I prefer that mixture on green mangoes, no lime necessary as they are already tart.