Suvir Saran

I tasted Shrikhand for the first time after I married my hubby. It was not something made in our North Indian home, but is a staple in his house, he is from Mumbai. A funny thing, when we got married, a few weeks later I made rice pudding .. a north Indian staple.. my mother in law was horrified.. apparently it is only made on very sad occacions in their part of the world.. live and learn! Or it is made for a joyous occasion in those areas called Sharad Poornima. It is cooked all night... I am sure we have gone through that before on this forum. In fact it becomes a magical potion.. and can cure many ailnesses. You were not too far off... But Mother-in-laws have a knack of showing us their better understanding of culture. I must admit though, Shrikhand is too Bombay what Chaawal Kee Kheer (rice pudding) is to Delhi.

You know Suvir, when my dad first travelled to Calcutta and ate the food there, he said of the food (something that is usually reserved for the beauty of Kashmir) -- if there heaven on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here. He ate at a lot of the road stalls and flavorings of the garam masala with red chillies to the softness of the corn starch and the mildness of the noodles is just a flavor to die for What year may this have been? I am wondering what kind of stuff he ate. Interesting to see the usage of Garam Masala in the foods then. Makes me very curious.

Welcome to the Indian forum of eGullet Eileen. Would you have a link to the review? It would be a great to have it here. Now a few questions for you....Where did you grow up that you were surrounded by Indian food? What were some of your favorite dishes from growing up? What were some of the recipes you tried out from The Spice Is Right? What about their taste was authentic to those recipes? What was the most important thing you were left with after cooking with the book? And of course, Monica, please do tell us when the next book is coming out?

And I love the light in the dining room. It is very romantic and yet also has a handsome-ness to it which is neutral and yet imposing.

Sounds amazing.. All of it. And yes I too would make all the optionals compulsory. Is there anyway you can post pictures of this stuff? You have me sooooo very curious to see all that you are making.. I can smell the spices.. and taste the flavors...

Are you implying that my grasp of this language is that poor? What keeps you from making it Stone Man? I am spending my day like so: Do you contend that any defendant " And here you are on eGullet. Billable hours? After being here, one thing I DEFINITELY plan to ask the next attorney I interview before hiring is, "Foodie, per chance?" I plan to eliminate any possibility they get hooked here!!! Always ahead of the others.

Are you implying that my grasp of this language is that poor? What keeps you from making it Stone Man? I am spending my day like so: Do you contend that any defendant " My day I can promise you has not been too different from yours. And I tend to prefer the chutney I make at night. Go figure. No excuses.

I too would be more inclined to hear why not to go to a certain place. Makes me better informed in general. Would you mind sharing with us your reasons for going or not going... Both please. I always feel I learn so much more from a post when it deals with difficult situations... and a member who is trying to be fair even as they have to show where a restaurant may be failing. I also feel that is the only way for a restaurant to understand the pulse of their patrons. I also hope that our reviews (negative even more so than those that are very positive), have the power to inform chefs and owners in new ways. And hopefully, they will learn to thank those like Monica to have helped them a great deal with their honest criticism.

Monica and you need to do very little to entice me. If I can be promised a LONG tasting for your fine desserts, Sir, I am game to come down anytime you have time.

Can I still hire you for being my PR agent?

Each time I read some of the posts on egullet, I am humbled by the ability of the posters. I read and re read your post and a couple of things come to mind: -- This may spark of a lot of unease but I have noticed that the other customers at the same places sometime received better service than we did. That is what made me mad, if it is bad all around that is fine -- I think many folks who run these places are not foodies at heart and the chefs are not "professional chefs" and so it is a business and not a passion. They are not picking up on the trends as they should be, the public is craving and even asking for more and more authentic meals. Particularily in larger metros where people are well traveled and exposed to different cultures -- I have heard mixed reviews on Heritage India, better ones on Bombay Club -- I think we should plan and go out to Heritage India and do a tasting -- I WOULD LOVE SUVIR TO COME OVER.. ANy time Suvir, stay with us, you have a home here Some of the smaller places that I mentioned are run by real cooks -- the food is real, very authentic and tastes like back home.. to me that is good food. More and more I am starting to read food columists pick up and talk about the need for authentic indian food.. hopefully some of these owners are listening. I hope they are listening. Thanks Monica for your sweet invite. So why do you think you are not treated as well as the other patrons? What have you done about that? I would not take it lightly.. and am sad that in this day and age.. people would do things like that. Please explain if you do not find it too difficult and personal a question.

Priscilla, the chutney is great with not so great tomatoes. In fact for some reason, maybe the cold of the winter may have something to do with this, it tastes better in the winter. I make curried boiled eggs with the chutney. I have made chicken breasts marinated with it and then served with a tomato chutney and cream sauce. I have made home fried potatoes with tomato chutney. I have used it CathyL style with roasted cauliflower. So where is the recipe for the Simon M, Bengali fish soup? Can you post on that thread so more of us can enjoy that recipe...

Are you implying that my grasp of this language is that poor? What keeps you from making it Stone Man?

And I would be a fool to not thank Jaymes for paging me to this thread. Thanks Jaymes. I needed this laugh. I love papadum with some chutney.. always a great snack.. and I would do it anywhere.... At least if I am not shackled in Guantanamo for looking like a ..... Priscilla, have you made more than one batch? Did you find it very difficult to make? What has been the reaction of your friends and family to the chutney?

I think Cathy has said all that needs to be said about tomatoes at least in the case of this chutney. All I do is to cut the tomatoes in half. And remove the part where the stem was. If you are pureeing the tomatoes, just blend them without any more worries. Frying the chilies in the oil with the mustard seeds till the chiles are a very dark brown.. just a second away from burning.. will give the chutney a great smoky flavor that Eric Asimov mentions in his review of Diwan. Are you making the chutney today Dstone?

Thanks again for a wonderful post. Tell me one thing.. what do you do with the comb? What can one do? What is their traditional use?

Wow! Tell us more Simon and Monica. My mouth is watering.. and my stomach gurgling.

Not a bad habit. And I am amazed at your collection.. and also jealous. What would your favorite 5 be out of that list of honeys you shared?

I just pulled out my copy of Larousse Gastronomique. It calls for shortcrust pastry. In fact a French friend that comes from the same town as the Tatin sisters, also makes a very short crust... and his TT is one of the best I have ever eaten. But I have seen many chefs do it with Puff pastry in the US. Especially at the "fancier" restaurants. The Gastronomique calls Tarte Tatin: "The name given to an apple tart that is cooked under a lid of pastry, but served with the pastry underneath and the fruit on top." Edit: corrected spelling of fruit.

You are a good sport!

Thanks Lesley! Do you know off hand what the classic crust would have been made with? What kind of pastry?

I hope Awbrig is not upset with me. Awbrig, your playing innocent, and pretending to make a mistake (or maybe you did make a genuine mistake. Glad to know I am not alone in being fallible), gave me the opportunity to share what I knew about Tarte Tatin. I hope I have not teased you too much. That was not meant to be the intent. Do you like Tarte Tatin? I do. Maybe I can make you one someday... They are great.

I absolutely loved its buttery caramely taste Suvir and the crunchy pecans were a delectable addition. As to what I would do different I mentioned making the pastry THICKER not thinner. I know it looks pretty thick in the pic but it is actually pretty thin especially in the center (Julia said to role the dough to a 1/8 inch thickness, I might do a 1/4 inch next time). The other thing I might try and do is to get more color on the apples maybebe cooking a tad longer or even caramelizing the apples with some sugar under the broiler (Julia mentions that as well). I served it with a some Breyers French Vanilla ice cream, creme fraiche would also be great but I had no homemade at the moment. As for the pastry I also used what Julia asks for in the recipe --"Pate Brisee Sucree" or Sweet Short Paste. Thanks for all the comments FM You are quite the tarte tatin man already! See, it is easy to become a convert. It is so simple and yet so addictive. I too love it for that very smooth texture and yet the very rich caramel flavor. If you follow Julias recipe, you must have certainly added some lemon, I love that hint of lemon in the apples... I actually add zest as well. And I happen to be a fan of very thin crust. It is just enough for me to have a slight hint of something cruncy, but not to have it too dense. But that is very individual. I can imagine that it could taste just as great to another with a thicker dough. I have made it as you do... using Pate Brisee Sucree and also with puff pastry. Both have their own place. I cook it as per Julias timing and get a darker caramel that I absolutely adore. I am sure when Mlpc and the other professionals see this, they will teach us both many other subtle nuances.

Not to lose the topic... FoodMan, thanks for the pics... Your tarte tatin looks delicious. Thanks for sharing the pic... You are very naughty though.. Now I am craving a bite. Maybe Mlpc, or one of the other pastry chefs we have here can share their own experiences with this dessert. Mine unfortunately are based on what you did. I learned how to make pastries from Julia Child (through her books). And I thank her every day.

Awbrig, Tarte Tatin is like an upside down cake. Remember those? They are an American confection. You should at least be familiar with those sweet man. A tarte tatin is prepared in a skillet or pan.. and then upturned onto a platter. In doing so, the crust that you see on the top (first pic) goes to the bottom in the serving platter. In doing that, the apples and in this case also the pecans, come to the top (second pic). It is not that difficult. But I guess it is simpler once you have made them. They are delicious. Have you never eaten a tarte tatin? Maybe CT can have their pastry chef make you one and also give you a demo. I am sure for all the work you do promoting him on eGullet, that is the least he can do:raz: The 2 pics have different containers for one is the container in which the tarte tatin was baked and the other is the platter in which it is being served.