Jenni

Well, I must say I'm surprised that you can usually only detect a few tomato skins as the only vegetable. Sambar may have one type of vegetable or several but always some. Sometimes you may go out and get an unlucky scoop with just a few fragments but in that case I would finish my bowl quick and get a refill! I'm not saying it should be chock full to the brim with veg, but there should be some chunks. Perhaps I am misunderstanding you about how much is actually there. I love the vegetables in sambar and would be very disapointed not to get any (and perplexed...and annoyed!), but I suppose as long as you personally are enjoying it then it's working out ok. Anyway, ignore all this, show us more delicious local food! Did you know that extra calories consumed during the making of an eGullet blog are burned off immediately?!

If I were you I would ring them, tell them the situation and ask if you can ring back in the morning to confirm you are coming. I don't know if this is possible, but it might be worth a shot. This gives time for your girlfriend to see how she feels in the morning. Personally I would say don't go if your girlfriend it still ill. Reschedule to a time when you can both enjoy the meal.

Nikki, sambar is made from toor dal (split pigeon peas - a hugely popular dal) with tamarind and a spice masala that includes dals as well as spices all roasted and ground. A tadka including mustard seeds and curry leaves is done at the end. Vegetables are an important part of sambar and it sounds like you are just getting a bad serving if you are not getting any veg. Restaurant sambar is usually mixed veg but home sambar can sometimes be single veg which some people say has a more refined taste. I love sambar with drumsticks (it's a vegetable, not chicken!) and okra as part of the veg. Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk

^^ This is technically true, but I do not do leftovers or frozen food! Idli batter is ok for a few days (though I'm such a "fresh" freak that I prefer it made to order, and then use any leftover batter the next day to make utthappam), so I can manage that. Sambar for one portion is hard but I have done it before and it is just about workable though not as good or easy as big batch sambar. It's just not the same as making a big batch of idli-sambar-chutney for the whole family....having proper Southie filter coffee afterwards (another thing that is crap locally - and sadly I left my South Indian filter in the UK so cannot make it myself! Will have to pick one up next month) ETA: Also I must say that I think microwave idli makers are vile. The idlis are not cooked completely by steam, they are cooked by the microwaves themselves. Don't have a microwave anyway, and have always avoided their use, probably for no good reason, but what can I say - I like flames for cooking my food! In this case it doesn't matter as idli steamers are widely available here. You see North India does know of the idli, of course it does. But in many places it is shown no care and the texture and taste are not right...perhaps often it is made from those horrible instant mixes, who knows. And god knows the sambar is not often up to scratch. Mind you, humourusly I don't like all Southie sambar either - what is up with Bangalore sambar?! I suspect this may be because, if I may say so myself, I make a killer sambar. And homemade (in many people's homes, not just your own) trumps restaurant sambar easily.

Oh I hate you right now! Being in North India, the local restaurants version of idli-sambar is not up to my standard and it's hard to prepare at home for just one person so I have not had a decent version for months now! Going to rectify that next month though as I am going to Chennai. Oh but I want some now! ETA: Diet coke?! Where is your South Indian filter coffee young lady?!

Oh I'm so jealous of your lifestyle! How is it that you can so easily move all over the world? Are you with a particular compnay that has hotels or restaurants in many places or do you just look for an entirely new job each time? Sorry for being nosey, ignore it if it's too personal! I am very excited about this blog!

This is such an interesting thread. I am not sure why so many people think it is inappropriate to send back an incorrectly prepared dish if someone is treating you. I think it would be very rude to talk about how bad a restaurant is in front of the person treating you, but what is wrong with politely asking a mistake to be fixed? Are you actually going to sit there and eat something different from what you ordered, or crunch through still-frozen-veg, undercooked chicken or gone off fish just to be "polite"? Because honestly, if I was the one treating you I would be rather annoyed by that. Don't be rude, don't be snotty or entitled but don't also sit there being a martyr thinking that it makes you a better person! The person treating you would have to have a serious ego problem to think that you having a small problem with the dish you were served by a restaurant was in some way offensive specifically to them. They needn't even necessarily feel embarassed by their choice of restaurant - mistakes do happen and it doesn't mean it's the worst restaurant in the world.

Great stuff percyn, keep it coming!

Can I ask, are you trying to learn general cooking skills and techniques such as knife skills and so on? Or do you want to do classes on different cuisines? I'd say that if it's the former, then a class may be worth it as you'll get hands on training plus the instructor can check you are doing things right - and this kind of feedback is harder to get from a book. On the other hand, if it's the latter I would say don't bother. There are loads of "Learn Mexican/ Thai/ Indian/ Morrocan/ etc." classes all over the place these days, and although some may be fun and you may learn a little, you are not actually going to learn a whole country's cuisine in a day or two. You may learn a few tasty dishes but teaching quality can vary and you may end up going home with more misinformation about a country's food than when you started. Far better to invest in some books, researching online and saving up for a holiday to the country itself!

Ha ha, I love all the sleuthing! No idea who it is but I am looking forward to the blog anyway as Singapore will be interesting to explore.

I would like to completely disagree with this point. It is simply not true that everyone except Americans cooks by weight. Even in the UK where recipes are given by weight, I know many people who make estimates when they follow recipes as they don't have a scale, or they can't be bothered to use the one tucked in the back of their cupboard. And in daily non-recipe-from-a-book cooking, people all over the world often have tea cup, a mug, a small bowl or whatver that they grab to make rough measures. The exceptions are avid bakers and people on a diet who are counting calories in a painfully accurate way. Of course, you can usually get away with volume with non-baking recipes. I mean, if the potatoes in your veg stew are a little bit larger or a little bit smaller, it's not going to scupper the whole dish. But with baking, it does tend to mess things up as baking seems to me to be more of a science than an art and a little more or less of an ingredient here and there can completely ruin a dish. So yes, I do agree with you here that baking and other recipes where absolutely correct proportions are extremely important should be done by weight. However, doesn't stop many many people from cooking from, sharing and writing volume based recipes. So I guess the question for the OP is are you aiming at casual cooks who like to make cookies regularly but aren't too serious about it in terms of equipment and such? Or are you aiming at serious bakers who are looking for completely accurate results. My suggestion is that you base all of the calculations on weight and recommend that people follow this. That way the cookies should come out perfectly if the user follows the instructions fully. Then you could put in a volume converter for the (large) number of people without a scale, but warn people that results are not as reliable.

Why not look at blogging? It does not have to be a public blog, you can have a private one that only you and certain people you pick can view. Advantages: *Puts a date stamp on your meals and/or cooking explorations. *You can make side menus so that posts are also "tagged" and can be found by clicking catergories such as "Breakfast dishes", "Eating Out - London", etc. *They are searchable so you can find things you have posted about easily by any word in the post. *If you make it public, you can connect with other food lovers and share tips, make friends, etc. Currently I have a public blog which I haven't updated in ages, but I also have a private blog that only my family can see. This is useful as I am in India living away from my family and a blog lets me share photos and stories very easily.

By the way I have a pet guinea pig but I am not squeamish about these things and it was interesting to see how the cuy was prepared. I always tease my little piggy (yes, I talk to him!) that someone will eat him!

Percy, your paneer bhurji looks interesting. It seems to be more like chunks of paneer whereas the bhurji I have always made or eaten out has been crumbled paneer so that it resembles scrambled eggs. Did you make it or eat it out somewhere? By the way I thought of you whilst having a glass of sugarcane juice today. In Allahabad the most common add in is mint, but there are a couple of guys who have a number of greens including coriander and spinach that they will add to the sugarcane and juice for you!

Vada can refer to a number of fried things. What is commonly called just vada in Maharashtra is more fully called something like batata vada or aloo bonda elsewhere. Batata vada is made from potatoes that are mashed and spiced, rolled into balls, dipped in a gram flour batter and deep fried. Outside of Maharasthra I would say that the thing most commonly called vada is made from a batter consisting of dal that has been soaked and then ground with spices and seasonings before being shaped and deep fried. The dal is most commonly urad dal. Dahi vada is a dish where vadas are soaked in seasoned yoghurt. There are different versions of this made all over India and they can be quite different. My neighbour makes a killer dahi vada and I love it when it is a festive time and she has made lots! Rasam vada is vada soaked in rasam. Rasam is a thin, spicy, sour "broth" made in various ways in all the states of South India. I have most often seen dal vada used to describe a vada made from a variety of different dals or at least a non-urad dal vada. One South India name for this is parippu vada and it means a vada made from chana dal. Look herefor some pictures of common vada. The doughnut shaped ones are made from urad dal. The flat-ish discs which look quite crunchy are most often made from chana dal.

I'm glad you say this because it was exactly what I asked when Panaderia Canadiense mentioned it in another thread! Luckily she very kindly gave the recipe here. I can confirm it is very tasty indeed!

We call it vaal bean...not sure if this the Hindi name or the Marithi name though. Or a name in a totally different language! Think it's English name may be hyacinth bean? Wait a min, thislooks right.

Break it up and chew on it. I have memories of a long car journey in Trinidad when I was 10...hot and stuffy day, horribly long journey, plus we kids were sat in the back feeling restless. Luckily a roadside vendor of sugarcane was available and our mouths were soon too busy chewing away to complain anymore! Apparantly sugarcane chewing is supposed to be good for your teeth? Or is that just something people say?

What was the julie mango like? I've only tried a couple of this variety once when some really good ones came into our local shop (an Indian shop in the UK). Shopkeeper said they (the ones I tried) were from Jamaica. They were delicious but I don't know if they are always good. Also...white pineapple..tell me more? On a vaguely related note you may chuckle at the fact that my Dad has successfully grown pineapple in the UK and we've had delicious fruits from the plants! He literally just took the tops off shop bought pineapples and planted them! Ok, there was probably some technical gardening-type stuff involved (I do not have green fingers at all so know nothing about it all) but that was basically it.

Shelby, I am no cattle expert but they look like a kind of zebu. At least they have the right hump on the back and hanging down bit on the neck. India has a variety of interesting cows and buffalos!

Peanut and sesame chikki are both awesome. It's so easy to make you won't need any real tips. The key thing is good ingredients. The tastier your jaggery is, so the tastier your chikki will be. By the way I am ashamed to say that all this talk of chikki has caused me to consume a large bar....well, I shared with a friend but still it was too much!

Hey, I wasn't meaning to get at you, I was just expressing an opinion. No need to apologise to me for anything!

^^ Yes, small crappy knives are common in many kitchens. People seem to manage with what they have. Paring knives are commonly used for many tasks. Non vegetarian kitchens may in addition have a cleaver, and these are also great for cracking coconuts in two as well, or for chopping pieces off large pumpkins and yams, etc. Bigger shops now have a wider range of fancy Western knives of many sizes but certainly where I am a lot of people still just buy cheap small knives from the market. Hopefully someone who grew up with some of the traditional kitchen tools will be able to add more, but I know that there are some special knives in India where the blade is fixed to a sort of block or even some kind of stool and the person using it moves whatever is being cut against the blade. In Bengal this is called boti/bonti, some very minimal information is here. I believe a very similar tool is used elsewhere in India too but somehow I cannot find in my notes (was discussing kitchen tools with someone the other day) what the Hindi name for it is. These kinds of utensils require some skill and practice to use but it's very cool to see someone with experience cut stuff up! I think they are dying out as more people move to ordinary knives.

He may not like eggs done that way, or maybe McDonalds is a pre-flight ritual? Or just something he hardly ever gets to have so it's a "treat" for him or something? Or he just happens to really like it (even many "foodies" still like certain fast foods). Anyway, I think it's rude to get all judgemental about people's food preferences. Eat what you like and let others do the same. If someone is particularly difficult or rude about their choices, and is very vocal about it, then I can understand why you might want to be rude in return. But on just the facts you put in your post it doesn't seem like this guest was like that. So why mock him?

This is going to be so good...