Jenni

Actually there are several traditional "pastas" in India. My theory is that every culture has some noodle or pasta type dishes. Some examples from India are: *Sevai. This thin, vermicelli type noodle is used a lot in desserts. Also in South India it is made into upma. This is a sort of dry dish with spices and vegetables, one picture is here. Other savoury dishes include sevai in spiced yoghurt, with tamarind, etc. just like a number of rice dishes. These noodles are mostly made of wheat, but there is a rice sevai too. *Idiyappam. This is steamed fresh rice noodles, from South India. They are steamed in little nest shapes or flat discs, example here. Delicious when eaten with veg kurma, veg stew (not a western dish btw but veg in delicately spiced coconut milk) or sweetened coconut milk. *Kadhi sometimes contains noodle-like things. Strips of (non-fried) pappad, little noodles made of chickpea flour, etc. *Gujurat has a dish called dal dhokli which is bits of wheat "noodle" cooked in dal. These "noodles" are basically made from uncooked chapati dough, often cut into diamond shapes. Very delicious! *Khandvi (pictured previously in the blog) are somewhat pasta like, though very different in style of consumption and so on. Other vaguely noodle-y snacks are deepfried, such as sev. I am sure there are loads more, these are just some examples. Also "Chinese" food is really popular here, with all sorts of noodle dishes being eaten. Imagine something similar to the Westernised Chinese food found in America and UK, but spicy! Italian is taking off more here too and you can buy all sorts of Italian pasta in shops.

Fantastic stuff percyn! Everything looks wonderful and I'm sure it taste delicious. Vadas look excellent again. What I really need to do is stop being so lazy and make some myself to satisfy the craving, but deep-frying is not my thing and anyway I cannot ever seem to get it quite like the street version! By the way it's interesting you saw paragliders. Pune is where I went paragliding (in the actually city - at the Hadapsar airfield) but I know there are a few places not too far from Pune that also offer it. If you ever get the chance, you must try it, such an amazing experience. And I do hope you will continue to blog. I know that a lot of us will read if you do!

I am so glad you say this...please look a little upthread! ETA: Your style broadly reflects mine. If roti and rice is served then I eat the roti with veggies first as the roti should be eaten hot and fresh. Then rice is eaten with stuff. Personally at home we usually do rice at lunch and roti at dinner and not both, but you are definitely in the right state (Maharashtria) for both to be served at a meal. At home we usually don't have sweets with a meal either, just fruit if anyone wants pudding. Sometimes there may be kheer/payasam (broadly speaking could be called rice pudding) but only on special occassions. Sweets are generally eaten as snacks.

I do hope that percyn will forgive me for jumping in here but I will offer a quick explanation. Thali refers to the plate the food is on. A thali meal is a general way of referring to a traditional meal of several components. The manner of serving a meal varies depending on what region of India you go to, what community people are from, etc. In some communities there is a specific order to the way food is served and eaten, and in others it a very loose affair. An example of the former is the traditional order of many areas in South India. First rice is eaten with sambar, then with rasam and then with yoghurt. Side dishes are eaten alongside these courses and dessert is traditionally served before the rice and yoghurt course. As a foreigner, you will probably not be expected to eat things absolutely in "the right way". Meals may be served up to you in sections anyway, to guide this. Often, a thali is served with all the dishes at once. Generally speaking, it is down to the diner's discretion how she or he eats. Each dish is mixed with some of the starch (bread or rice) and eaten. Remember that the starch is sort of the main point of the meal and the other dishes are things to make the starch taste good! The bread is torn into pieces (ideally with just the right hand but I've seen many North Indians use both) and used to scoop up dishes quite easily, but the rice can be harder for Westerners. You sort of mix and mash a small portion of a (very often wet) dish into the rice before taking a small portion of it to your mouth. You sort of push the rice off your fingers and into your mouth with your thumb rather than shove your whole hand in! By the way generally speaking in the North you should just use the tips of your fingers to eat but as you go further South, it's acceptable to get your whole hand a bit messier. There's a joke that for South Indian's the whole arm is utensil! Some people consider it rather "gross" to mix lots of things together and instead keep things separate. Others like to combine certain dishes together. A tip is to use the bread to scoop up drier dishes, and mix moister dishes with the rice. Pickles and chutneys are eaten in small portions with other foods. Not everyone uses their hands for everything - North Indians in particular may prefer to use a spoon for sloppier dishes. Sometimes other dishes are brought to you as you eat. To mention dessert, yes a sweet is often served on the thali with everything else. Often it has a spoon with it. Actually spoons often come with a thali anyway so people can choose how to serve and eat. Some people, including myself, like to eat a little of the sweet at the start of the meal. Some even continue to nibble a bit of it throughout the meal. However, if you are a foreigner and you do this than people will most likely just think you are confused and may have a little chuckle or offer you advice! Something to note: in several parts of India, the last mouthful is some rice mixed with yoghurt (and possibly pickles, relishes, etc.). This is considered settling for the stomach. I always do this, setting aside a little of my rice and yoghurt for this purpose and eating it after dessert. Try it, you might like it!

Thought it looked like jowar...as I said, I am jealous! It is not wheat. I was always told it is a kind of millet, with the other kinds most popular in India being ragi and bajra. Gola looks good. Will admit that I nearly always have kala khatta, but it's good to try different things!

percyn, I am puzzled at what you are calling "green wheat". Is it jowar? If so you are a lucky lucky man as jowar ki roti is my favourite! But I hate making it myself so always like to go somewhere I can get someone else to make it! Btw, what flavour gola did you get?

Amazing pics! Looking forward to this.

Any chance that these are coca leaves...? If so, then Panaderia Canadiense is my guess too.

Gulab jamun is made from khoa (milk that is cooked down until it is solid) that has a little flour added and is then deep fried before being put in syrup. Nowadays an inferior version made with powdered milk is common, and if they want to make it at home many people choose this easier way. Not good if you ask me! Jalebi are made from a batter of flour and yoghurt that is fermented a little before the jalebi are fried. They are then put in syrup. "Cheat" versions with yeast or baking powder also exist nowadays. Take percyn's advice and enjoy with a glass of hot milk - delicious! Looks gorgeous. Just starting to see some new season jaggery here, and lots of chikki is also around. A friend and I demolished a bar over chai a few days ago...too good!

Happy Diwali percyn! Khandvi looks good, that is one of my fav things. And thanks for vada pav pics - I love those salted chillies you get with them.

This would be fantastic, I wish you luck. And yes, thanks to Sue I was able to steer my brother towards many new egg dishes...he hates okra though, the heathen! Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk

Oops, can no longer edit but I see you already mention that you were hoping to make dhansak! In that case, I request that you illustrate something else I learnt from the aforementioned friend: That a parsi can make anything "par eeda"! Bheeda par eeda would be tasty, but kera par eeda would be more fun! I don't eat eggs but I am still fascinated by it all. Btw, did a double take at those batasa. I was trying to work it out until I looked at the link and it said NOT to be confused with batasha!

Definitely not, you are far more of an expert. Especially for Parsi stuff which is way out of my knowledge. Talking of, I hope you will try and show off some dhansak (complete with brown rice and all) during this week. A friend from the Parsi community, who very sadly has now passed away, first introduced me to a veggie version of this (she cooked and served the meat separate) of this dish and I fell in love. Also interested if you have any special plans for Diwali, even though your family are Parsi. I plan on eating a lot (going to a friends place for dinner), oh and going to see Ra.One which is Shah Rukh Khan's huge Diwali release! Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk

Maybe, not entirely sure what 1% milk is so I can't comment. Do try the fresh ginger thing though

Somehow missed this new blogger and all the guessing! Wahoo for a Percyn blog!

Looking forward to this, a great week to be in India! Thing are pretty hectic in Allahabad so it must be insane in Mumbai! Btw, I would argue that it is a fallacy that most of India's population is vegetarian. The figures I have seen range from 30-50% as vegetarians. Of course, for many people meat consumption is limited by income. Oh, and whilst you are in Maharashtria, will you please eat a vada pav for me? Cannot get satisfcatory ones around here

Maybe your spices aren't very fresh? For masala chai in my family, we use a chunk of fresh ginger, whacked with a rolling pin or something so that it is completely crushed, some whole green cardamom, some whole cloves and a few stick of cassia. This goes into the water and boils for a short while (definitely not half an hour), then in goes loose tea, wait for a moment for colour to start coming then milk and sugar and boil for a while more. Ginger is the most important, IMO

The cardoons look interesting...sort of celery-ish in appearance. Would love to see what you do with them. BTW I was lusting over the purple potatoes in the farmers market pictures. I always wanted my Dad to grow some. I heard there are some varieties that keep their colour after cooking...I wanted purple mashed potato!

I won't, though I admit that it makes me a little nervous about getting it all right (but meals are cheaper than in the UK, correct? Though not as cheap as where I am now obviously ). As mentioned above, main limitations to a visit are cost...and fear of the airport security!

I find this statement a little bizarre. I have to say that I have never known anyone who would expect a visting tourist from another country to know all the customs in any country. If anything, being a foreigner is a free pass to make mistakes, though of course it's a good idea to try and learn from them! Seems like you are making a vast generalisation based on a few experiences with people who are rather rude about/to Americans. I can confirm that such people do exist, but most people are friendly and welcoming. And I promise I've never treated an American like a leper Actually I have just met a very nice American couple who are living here for a few years. They have some habits that I've found strange (coke for breakfast is among these, but obviously I know that not all Americans do this and it probably isn't limited to Americans anyway) and I have some habits that they find strange (most of the words that come out of my mouth are, apparently, hilarious and weird!). We're having a great time learning about each other and it's really funny to think how different some of our customs are. For instance, I am just learning about what they call "broiling" and about how what us Brits call barbecue is not what Americans call barbecue! Actually it has made me quite interested in visiting some places in the US. If only flights were cheaper, and shorter! Oh, and American airport security scares me - I have a funny last name and brown-ish skin so airport security is already "fun" for me.

Btw, I'm not saying that I would not tip servers in America "out of protest". I am saying thank god I cannot see myself being in America in the near future, so I will not be faced with a conundrum where I receive poor service but still feel obligated to tip. As pedroinspain points out, to many outside America, a tip is something given for good or great service, not something that is just expected because it's how "the system works". Doesn't mean however that they absolutely won't adjust themselves when in America.

Bread looks gorgeous.

I wish all places would do this. I hate ice in drinks but often it's not enough to just tip something out of a fridge into a glass - the should already be cold.

This will be my final take on the issue as I do not wish to continuing arguing the same points. Here is my take on the issue: *It is not simply a case of vegetarians vs meat eaters. Some meat eaters do not agree with foie gras and certain other animal products either. There are vegetarians and vegans who really don't give a crap what other people eat. There are also people who really don't know where they stand on the issue but probably don't care too much either way. *There are bigoted idiots amongst vegetarians and meat eaters. Both are very annoying and I do not agree with either. *As mentioned, some vegetarians, such as myself, may not personally agree with foie gras production but do not really feel comfortable with a ban. It's easy to see why foie gras is considered particularly cruel, but then so is the practice of keeping battery chickens, etc. Personally I would rather that there was a focus on improving the welfare of all animals reared for consumption and an increase in awareness of where food comes from rather than banning of a few products here and there. Also, I do not think the ban will necessarily be particularly effective. *A large number of people clearly felt strongly against foie gras and that is why the law has been passed. It's a shame that it leaves some people unhappy but that's how it works. Perhaps the law will be overturned at some point; it seems moderately likely to me. To summarise, there's no need to be all "them and us" about the issue. Democracy is a funny old thing and sometimes laws get passed that we don't all agree with.

Many bloggers occasionally write up recipes from cookbooks. They usually specify the book, copy the ingredients list and then write up the method in their own words. One thing I've seen a lot of bloggers do is make some small "tweak" to the recipe. Some of this I think is just the natural home-cooking style ("We had some spare potatoes lying around so I added them too") and some of it I think is fear that they will get in trouble for copying. Done in this way I see nothing wrong with it. It probably just makes blog readers want to buy whatever book the recipe is from, so I guess it is free advertising for the book. However, I do think there is some tricky moral ground if you're going to do a LOT of recipes from one book. The legal issues have been covered above, so I'm not talking about that. I just mean that if you occasionally blog a few recipes from a book then you are kind of just advertising how great you think it is and it gives people a taster which is an incentive for them to buy the book. Fair enough. But when you blog pretty much everything in the book then you are basically making the majority of the material available for free to anyone with internet access. You may not legally be able to pinned down for anything, but I'm not sure that I would be comfortable doing that. Of course, Modernist Cuisine is more than just a recipe book. It has a lot of knowledge in it and I really can't see you being able to get all of that up online in such a way that there will be nothing left for people to learn from the books themselves. As Shalmanese says, those with a passion for modernist cuisine will probably still buy the book anyway or may even already have it but just be interested in seeing you blog your way through it. So to summarise, regardless of legality, I think it's morally better to not try to "fully document" everything in a cookbook. But if we are talking MC, then you're pretty much not going to be able to do that anyway, so use your discretion and remember that the book's authors deserve all credit and praise.