Monica Bhide

my aching head wants to know

kew - welcome to the India forum. From your note I gather you are writing in from Malaysia.. welcome .. we look forward to more posts from you! Why dont you start a thread on your efforts with aloo gobhi.. we have a whole crew here who will be happy to guide you to perfect completion

I adore Dimple. We will be back there in two weeks! Yippe!

what a nice way to start the day! We are hosting an Indian street food dinner in DC at Passage to India.. you can read more about it in the DC forum.. gosh I am getting hungry

bummer

Nessa there is athread on masoor here... if you want my recipe let me know and I will PM it to you

Yes, you do. Caramelized are just a fraction of the volume/weight of raw onions. Depending on how much color I'm looking for, my caramelized onions can lose 5/6 or more of their water. If you do them in advance, note how many onions you use and then split up the final outcome accordingly. One thing about sauteing large batches of onions. The pan size/volume of onions makes a huge difference when caramelizing onions. Wide pans with very shallow volumes of onions require either copious amounts of ghee/oil or low temperatures to caramelize well, whereas narrower pans with deeper volumes of onions require much higher temps due to the lack of evaporation. If you do want to saute them in advance, I'd recommend no deeper than about 2" of onions in the pan. If necessary saute them in batches. Many friends of mine will make browned onion and then freeze it in usable chuncks .. saves a lot of time

Is there a way to use less ghee to make this Yasmin?

oooooooooooohhhhhh -- recipe please

I love channa masala.. its one of my most favorite dishes. I can feel your pain as you cried when it was over what do others make with a slow cooker??

I miss Bombay It is Mumbai my dear Get used to it. NO WAY !!! NO WAY IS RIGHT I love Bombay I loved Bombay and I will always love BOMBAY... Mumbai for those who want the politically and geographically correct name

You guys are really making me homesick

I don't know if this can be called a samosa recipe. I make them with store bought phyllo pastry sheets. A few layers of phyllo pastry sheets cut into squares, brushed with ghee, filled with a blend of sugar, crushed walnuts, almonds and bits of chocolate, fold and seal in the shape of samosas and bake till they are golden brown. Sprinkled with coco or powdered sugar when they are hot. Tastes great when they are warm. I think I will try to make this tomorrow We have made the burfees (Indian milk sweets) with chocolate.. but I have never been a fan of that mix. I did add a few pieces of it to the Rogan Josh (lamb) I made a few months ago to see if it altered the taste.. to be honest I could not tell

i add tamarind to mine and also green chilies instead of red. Do you toast your sesame seeds for this or not?

i like the puckering and banging part!

now lunch is a salad.. I know.. how boring!! I was asking folks to reminisce.. but today's lunch boxes are welcome too!!

sorry about the short timeframe guys.. do I need to extend the deadline?

looking forward to seeing you Bill and your beautiful wife

Hope that helps.. let me know asap so I can confirm your reservation

Okay here is the deal. I talked to the chef and he indicated to do a true streetfood.. he would like to have cooks outside in the main dining room cooking up a storm in fornt of folks. If he does this he will have to close the restaurant to regular patrons. I hope we can fill it up!!! I am SO SO SO looking forward to seeing everyone again Here is the proposed menu ( please note as with Indique the chef will add more things for the day as specials ) All this is included in $55 (not included tip and alcohol) for June 13th 2004: Ragda Pattice: Pan-fried spicy potato cutlets with tangy white pea curry and a medley of chutneys Pao Bhaji: Vegetables cooked in butter and special pau bhajji masala served with a warm "pau" (bread Samosa Chaat: Quintessential Indian samosa spilt and served with chutneys Chole Bhature: Spicy chickpea curry served with balloon bread Chaat Counter - Bhelpuri, Dahibhalla, Gol Gappas -- Get ready to eat with your hands! This is standard street fare! Bread Pakora: Bread fritters Onion Bhajia: Onion fritters Masala Wada: Lentil fritters Non vegetarian dishes will include: Shami Kabab: mince lamb kebabs Fish Amritsari: fried fish from the city of Amritsar Tawa Chicken Tandoori: shrimp, chicken and lamb Drinks will be served along with the various courses Lassi Ambi Panna: Green mango drink Masala Chai Jal Jeera: Spiced Indian mint ginger cooler Nimbu Pani: Indian style lemonade Roohafza/milk: Rose flavored cool milk Jalebis and more!!!

yup... going to post it now..

I am glad we were able to help you get started. Do not hesitate to post more questions and we will do our best to respond!!

Pat this is perfect.. you have explained this extremely well.

arree baba.... okay then tiffin boxes it is. Since you "got" what I was asking for.. I think its okay! Yes,, they are called tiffin boxes. Mongo is right. I like to call them lunch boxes.. Take your pick

DOnt let people scare you away.. please. this is not the hardest thing in the world. How to tell when your spices are cooked.. use your nose... when you being to roast cumin on a griddle.. it will begin to lend out a heady aroma as it begins to cook and will noticeably darken in color.. it will trust me.. at this point remove it from heat. If it smells burnt then it is.. toss it out and start again. Its a cheap spice and a good one to practice on. Any cuisine can take a lifetime to master.. however it is not that we are looking to become masters but just as good as we can get.. and trust me we all can get good at this.. its a matter of practice. Indian cooking is best learnt thru all the senses.. learn to hear the sound of the spice.. to see the color .. to smell the aroma.. In Indian cooking spices are generally never used raw.. they are cooked. Here is a primer (at the end of this lesson) on the Indian spice cupboard. Beginners guide to regional Indian cooking and Indian spice cupboard primer again ask more as you begin to experiment.