Suvir Saran

Do you know what the preserve tastes like? Where is it from? Thanks for sharing this.

Old home-made Indian lemon pickle... cure for many ailments!

I was able to find some at Takashimaya at Orchard Rd. Hee Hee! And of course at the Tekka Market! (Wet Market)

That is what I understood John as having conveyed in his piece. It is that what can never be conveyed in ant lines or by dictate, but only learned by having lived and discovered a world completely and yet not. You hit the nail in the head with that sentence. I feel I am American in so many ways. My friends and family in India treat me as a foreigner now. While I may never be All American to most that were born here, to my own peer that I grew up with, to my elders and my family, I am changed and different. While I certainly understand and can speak and cook very similarly to an American, there are many aspects of the language and food that will never be mine. Or at least not just in 10 years. There have been members on this site that have made fun or pointed out the difference they see in my style of writing. Some have done so on the forums publicly, others through e-mails and PM's. I share this not to ask for sympathy, but to add facts to your point. Those that have mocked me for my difference have every right to do so, they find me foreign and strange and very different. Not everyone can accept difference with ease. We all have our own way of dealing with it. But with every such incident, I have understood how it would take a very long time for me to get accepted into this culture. And even more time to become one that people who come from this culture can look up to as being someone who can even remotely represent them in any way. While I call the US my home, this countries politics affect me most, my hard work is lived here, my tax monies help the larger pool of people just as others mine, I eat, drink, find shelter and share in this land. But, still, even though I have called this home for the last years, I am not sure what I will have to learn or do differently before I am accepted as one of the majority that were born here. So, when an American or an Indian or for that matter the national of any country tries to understand the culture and foods of another land or people, how can they forget to apply the same situation to themselves? How could they expect another standard for themselves? But yes we each have hope that we can belong where we live and love and share and give and get. But while we can come close to reaching a point where we feel comfortable, it certainly does not mean that we are able to cross that barrier that exists between the natives and us. In fact that is the irony of the lives of many first generation migrants living in their new homes. New countries are their homes, but their souls and much of their minds and thoughts are lost somewhere between where they came from and where they have made a home. They often have to live several lives many times a day. It is not always a bad thing. It is not always good. It just is what it is. I too would like to travel and live and immerse myself in the lap of those cultures that fascinate me every living moment. But like Sandra and you, it is a hope I have, and I would love to do it, but I still am not sure if I would have mastered completely or even come close enough to make anything more than a mere scratch with just a couple of years even in these places. I have the experience of living in a foreign land 10 years, and even though I have been a resident and one belonging to this new land, I know how I am most often made to feel I am a foreigner. Not just for I look different, or speak different or dress different, but for I understand and react to the very basic nuances of this land differently from those that were born and raised here. The looking, dressing and speaking part of this equation is the easy part. I have broken those barriers many times. I have no issue with any of those. But when I am put in my place with one from this land for reasons of my lack of command on some of the very basic nuances of this peoples life and existence, I understand very quickly how foreign I still am in my own home. I live as a stranger in this land even 10 years after I first came here. And I know strangers who have lived here over 30 years. They are still strangers 3 decades after they migrated here. Their children are the first to find more settled lives here. While the children could face discrimination for looking a certain way, they cannot as easily be made to feel foreign for lack of understanding the common parlance and nuances. They have no other experience. But for the first generation, life is the same wherever they are. That is our burden. But we can learn and find some peace with ourselves and our lot in accepting our situation as being no different from that of many others. And if we are humble and wanting, we can get as far as one can with this little handicap. It can be a fulfilling journey even with that small handicap.

The house can smell for many other reasons.. and yes Indian food alone is not the only cuisine making a home smell. There are many others. And what is to say that perhaps what smells to one is not pleasing to another and vice-versa. BUt I do think that Helena was implying that to be the case with only Indian food. I also think it depends on how you cook and what you cook. I cook Indian food several times a week and most people even on my floor cannot smell it. And the apartment certainly does not have any smell. There are many factors to take into account for why any cuisine can make a home smell.

What makes it do so? Any ideas? That is very interesting to know. Maybe you can share more details on the food as medicine thread. Or are you saying this because of the fabled smell?

And now Helena, I must go to dinner. When I am back, I will spend some time scanning my recipes and dig out some for stuffed veggies for you. Will share more in the weeks to follow.

Before I am too late for dinner, let me share one quick idea. A friend of mine from Syria was preparing Algerian style stuffed zucchinis the other day. He hollowed them out keeping one side sealed. He kept the flesh aside for use later. In a mixing bowl, he mixed minced lamb, paprika, dried mint leaves, very finely chopped onions, scant amount of raisins, Aleppo pepper, basmati rice, lemon juice, salt, a generous pinch of sugar, olive oil, toasted pine nuts, finely chopped tomato and ground black pepper corn. He mixed these very well. Stuffs the zucchinis with this. Left a half-inch of the zucchini unfilled for the rice will expand. Set aside. He took some tomato puree to which he added salt, Aleppo pepper and some mint and freshly ground black peppercorn. Mix it well and set aside. He then beat some lamb into very fine sheets. Poured some olive oil in the base of a heavy bottomed pan, covered the base with the beaten lamb. Placed the stuffed zucchinis over this in a single layer. Pour the tomato puree over the zucchini. It should cover almost 3/4 of the zucchini. Add barely1/4 cup or less of water. Bring the puree to a boil and cover the pan tightly and simmer on very low for close to 40 minutes. Maybe a little less depending on how thick the zucchini is. You may want to check after 20 minutes to see how the sauce if faring. If you need to add a tablespoon or so of water, do so now. When finished, serve the zucchinis on a platter sitting atop the sauce. You can cut the lamb into small pieces and serve on the side.

SA, Did you ever make the paneer? How did it turn out for you?

SA, Did you ever make the paneer?

And who does this for you? Or are you patient enough to do this for yourself? I make a grape raita for which I do what you suggest.. but only when really in a very patient mood... most of the time I simply chop them in half.. but peeled grapes are just amazing. I remember being served these as a young boy and man in India... Those were the days.. when people loved me enough to go through all that effort just for me. No more!

Will have to eat a toasted sesame bagel with melted butter... sounds very nice.

Toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese. I love my bagels with cream cheese from Russ and Daughters. And while everyone else enjoys all the other great stuff they sell, I enjoy my bagel and cream cheese and roll my eyes like a little 5 year old licking some candy.

I must confess, I am still to buy one of his books.. I have heard so much about this man from Nathalie Dupree, I must go buy his books... She had fascinating stories about him and his cooking. They are really mesmerizing in their details and the fantasy they create in the mind of one that has not been present when those details happened. Thanks for sharing your favorite.. now I must go buy his books. What are your favorite recipes from that book?

No that is my dream!

Sliced peached atop of some nice bread, topped with mascarpone and honey and finished with freshly ground black pepper and then toasted till the bread is crunchy. This is served at Ino's on Bedford street. It is amazing.

What a great offering.. Thanks! I will make it someday very soon.

How do you make your paneer? What recipe do you use?

Thanks for the links!

Just as many millions around the world find the Barbeque smell we so love in the US and have also bottled as an essence a horrible smell. I happen to be one of those people. That fake smell is far more horrible to me than Durian. Even though I am not sated with my Durian adventure. I can live t he rest of my life without ever having to taste it again. And then there are those that find curry repulsive... And the list would go on... I think so much of all of this has got to do with taste, what we grow up knowing.. While we hear only bad things about Durian, I have a film Chuck made of some of the "Most" hip Singaporeans, tastemakers and trendsetters of that agreed very small nation, extol the virtues and delights of Durian. It is funny every time I see it; it makes me understand how this world is so strange so beautiful for it. Everything someone holds as precious could just as easily be reduced to horrible. It is a great way of humbling each of us in reality. For nothing we have or do can ever be placed to highly really, for each of those things has the real risk of being reduced to nothing by one that it means nothing to. You are far better than the teeming millions around the world that have many such notions and are not able to even talk about them. Good for you!

My all time favorite has been "The Way to Cook" by Julia Child.

Algeria often gets overshadowed by the cuisines of the two more known countries that border it. In the west it has Morocco and in the East Tunisia. So the Moroccon influence has given it taste for sweet and Tunisia a love for honey and tomatoes and thick sauces. One can find some of the best stuffed vegetables redolent of the Turkish times. Mechoui (roast lamb) from Algeria is famous. The Algerian Shorbas (soups) are amazing in the many recipes one can find. Meats, vegetables and cereal are used in their preparation. Algerians are famous for using one of two kinds of couscous. In the west one would find a coarser grain and in the north you can find a very fine grain. My friend always tells me of women coming to their home and making couscous fresh daily. In fact I was once served a sweet couscous pudding that was an Algerian specialty. Cooked in milk with dried fruits and nuts. Not much of a fan of couscous, this dish was addictive. Areas around the mediterranean are famous for their couscous preparations using fish. Any fish that can stay firm after being cooked is used. My favorite part of Algerian foods is the relatively more spicy nature of their dishes. Tomato and harissa based sauces are commonly used to finish dishes. Couscous cooked with several vegetables is one of the most famous couscous recipes from Algeria. Algerian cuisine has many recipes that use fish. It has an abundance of fish due to the mediterranean. It is common to find all kinds of fish rubbed in spices and grilled whole. And least of all what moves me about Algeria is the setting in which one would experience great food amidst the echoes of just as amazing music filling the air. Oran is the birthplace of Rai music. The music of Algeria in most any form, is evocative of the layers of richness that the culture has and also of the pain suffered by its masses. Are there any favorite recipes you have from Algeria? Where do you go to eat Algerian food?

Kristopher, How did you buy your lamb? Did you get the butcher to prepare it? How difficult was it to explain to them what you wanted? What part of the lamb did you use?

Triple or more. Really some people use a lot of oil and drain it at the end. I find that totally unappealing to me and my sensibilities and they find my alternative unworthy of their time. I think 4 tablespoons is plenty of oil. Add the tomatoes... you will love it.

Thanks for posting that photograph. You are so right, the hype about finding Durians repulsive was so great that I really thought I was going to kiss death. It was no way close to that hyped smell or taste. I too found it almost too sweet and custardy and as I said, those that like sweet and that flavor, would love it. It was expensive as fruits can get. I do not remember how much it cost, but it was far more expensive than any fruit we would get there. We ate lots of fruit in Asia. And they are always so full of flavor.