Suvir Saran

Thanks to each of you that have posted here and to all our membership for always being so very supportive of the ultimate goal of eGullet, one to share across the globe, with food lovers, a place to thrive in and enjoy things related to food and its lore. I have been lucky to have found a niche here, once identified as the "Indian ghetto" by a man as wise as they get, John Whiting. In this ghetto, I found fellow members and Indian food lovers that cared little about how we were termed, or how our food was viewed by those not savvy about its intricacies and many nuances. We only came here to share with each other and those that wanted to know more, all we knew and all we could share. I have been enriched daily by the myriad of posts that have enriched this forum. In a short time, a ghetto like our Indian forum, one that was way down in the scrolling order of eGullet, found itself having over 490 threads and 6680 posts. Not shabby for a ghetto at all. We all, each of you who have posted tirelessly in this forum, and those that supported this forum in other ways, deserve every bit as much of my own appreciation. I would have been nothing more than just a title without each of you. Alone, I was no more than just a hollow title. It would have been easier to share much more with you all in this time, if I did not have to worry about circumspection that comes with belonging to a group that is officially affiliated. eGullet has a great number of driven affiliates. They will certainly do all they can to keep eGullet and certainly our ghetto as well, alive and kicking. A new moderator will come... if they choose to bring one...Certainly we have no lack of contenders. Even amongst our membership, there are many a name that are worthy, deserving and very capable. One would hardly have to look outside. But as a member, I can only post and leave the official stuff to the affiliates. I am going nowhere, in fact, a time has come in my life when I find a new meaning in all I do. My time at home, my time at the restaurant, and my time with family and friends, has all been given a new "tadka" if you will. I find myself still wanting to enjoy all those things that occupied my life before now, and yet the time I have for these has become limited. eGullet has played a very big role in my daily life. You could quickly learn that from the number of posts I have racked up. Scary! I ought to get a life! eGullet will continue to be relevant in my life. eGullet will only grow more and more into something it will logically move onto being. A place on the internet, where one can find intelligent discourse on topics food related. Whilst it is young today, it has already moved from its toddler stage into its early youth, with each of our contributions, it can only get richer, there is no other logical next phase in its life. For that end, I hope all of us can keep our generosity of posts and information pouring and eGullet will never have to worry about who moderates a forum. Those are times of the past. Amma may have come as a gift to me and to eGullet. It is not uncommon for founders of organizations, charities and affiliations to find it difficult to let go of leadership. It is a founders syndrome. The greed to control and dictate and consume with ones own singular vision is strong and but ultimately futile. I am glad that Amma posed new challenges into my life, and I have been posed this new departure. It is a welcome change and shall only help me enjoy eGullet and all its forums (including this beloved Indian forum of ours) in far greater measure. Again, thanks for your kind words. Thanks for taking time to post here. I could thank each of you personally, but I would find myself repeating myself. I am no Steven Shaw, Steve Klc or the other articulate affiliates/members for whom words flow easily. Words fail me in sharing the beauty of most things that compel me to write...I never forget that my mortal written expressions of the beauty of things I try and share, is never ever as rich and poignant as the reality of what I am hoping to write about. I am both a carrier of its beauty, and also the element that gives it my own bias and failing attributes. Thus, in my own life, and those of others, I hope and try, harder every day, to skim through words and understand the reality of making judgment only after my practical experience with that topic. I am no great wordsmith, but I am a big fan of life and all things it brings into my world. The only reason I boldly keep posting is that I do not fear failing. And hence, I do not fear writing about things I have enjoyed and experienced (limited and biased as they are). I will continue to share and post on eGullet. Bring to you a report on the things I do, the essence of what captivates me, from India and from my travels and experiences elsewhere. And I hope each of you will do the same. Every member of eGullet whose posts I have read, has left me thinking. That in itself is a great gift eGullet brings to us. eGullet is nothing if it does not have each of us and our generosity enriching it daily. I have enjoyed the moderation of this forum, the growth of eGullet and I hope to enjoy being untitled and yet a most important ingredient of eGullets future, its cherished and most important spice, the individual member. Thanks!

Mrbigjas, I bet that yours is a product with the original technology, which came out in 1986. I was told that they changed their product after the first round.. and do so regularly to keep improving. They have modified the molecular structure of the surface in 2000 to make the pans easier to clean and, more importantly, nonstick to the point that they no longer have to instruct customers with endless cleaning and maintenance tips. What I was most impressed by was their lifetime warranty of all their products for the home customer. Maybe you ought to send your cookware from them back to them with a note telling them of your problems, I am sure a company that advertises lifetime warranty, would surprise you with quick exchange and an upgrade to their new range of products. It will selfishly, give us on eGullet a way of seeing if they really do keep their word about this lifetime warranty. The new range is called SCANPAN Classic NEW TEK. It seems quite cool. I am waiting for some pots and pans to arrive. Can only make an intelligent experienced post after they have been used. I have been working with a Michelle for my own order, she seems very helpful. I am happy giving you their contact information. Or, you can find it also at their website, www.scanpan.com. Scanpan USA Inc. 10 Industrial Avenue Mahwah, NJ 07430 Email: scanpan@scanpan.com Phone: 201-818-2280 FAX: 201-818-2295

Money spent on appliances, or money spent on buying cookwar or servingware or utensils, hardly ever would equal the passion some have to cook and share. We read recently in the NY Times about the lady who cooked using her fireplace. One that wants to create magic in culinary terms, and one that wants to share it with family and friends, hardly needs money to be spent to do so. Where there is a will, there is a way... is that now what they say? I know many a famous chef that have very small and limited kitchen spaces and no appliances worth mentioning at all. But within these constraints, in their home environs as well, they prepare some of the best meals served in their cities those nights. Going back to topic though, a trained kitchen designer has the talent of balancing aesthetics very carefully with the more important task at hand in the kitchen, that of functionality and ease of food preparation. Whilst some of us may think we know it all, a trained professional can come and give us little examples of brilliance that we would hardly have guessed alone. Blondie, do you know how many kitchen designers graduate in NYC? A rough estimate even? I am sure there are not many hundreds graduating from the certified schools to fill all those kitchen and home design centers in malls. What do you think and know?

All of the kitchen designers I know would be considered high-end designers and all of them have more work than they can handle, nearly all of it referrals from satisfied clients. Most of them will do what would be considered mid-range jobs on occasion, mostly as a favor to a friend or maybe the daughter of a previous client who has just purchased a starter home. Typically there’s not enough profit in these jobs to bother pursuing them. My guess is that most “designers” working on mid-range kitchens are attached to showrooms/home centers and are really just sales people, not trained designers. I’ve found that people interviewing designers are very reluctant to follow up on references or ask to be taken to completed jobs. If a designer has nothing to hide this should not be a problem. Why would someone neglect this step considering what a kitchen renovation typically costs? Blondie, you raise very good points. I agree that most people do almost no reference check before hiring designers (or what comes camoflages in that name). If they hired trained experts, they would not have to worry. I remember the CEO of a very large conglomerate, hiring me for a very important party as a caterer, interviewed me personally, he had made his staff check my references, he had eaten my food at another party... when he asked me for my rate... and what I would deliver for that amount, I had a shy grin and said I am sorry if I am expensive... and even before he said anything else, he said to me "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys". That has stayed in my memory for the longest of time. Now when I hire another professional, I do my research, and if this person is one I want to use, I do not debate price after a certain point. And since it is their talent and expertise I am after, I hire them with no cares. There are not as many trained professional kitchen designers out there as we think. Many interior designers simply agree and take on Kitchen Design without any proven track record. The people hiring them do not care to check on their expertise in this specialized field. Those that are trained, can be of great help to even the most active of us home cooks. The difference between a sales person taking on the role of a designer/interior designer also working on a kitchen and a professional kitchen designer is night and day. Blondie, I wish my landlady had hired a trained professional for our new kitchen. It is amazing, a chefs dream and all that, but having cooked daily in it for the last couple of months, I am sure a trained eye would have brought me many more comforts. I would have even paid half of the expense of hiring a trained person and not just the person sent by a home center.

You are welcome fifi! I found the below on a scanpan related site. "Scanpan Ergonomic SCANPAN ERGONOMIC NEW TEK Cookware represents the next generation in ceramic-titanium nonstick technology. A truly ergonomic handle design assists in effortless handling and control. * Scientifically researched optimum pan base thickness to heat up quickly, distribute heat evenly * Superior heat retention * No hot spots * Permanent nonstick surface - perfect food release every time! * No blistering or peeling * No warping * Safe to use with metal utensils * No pre-oiling or seasoning necessary * Lightweight Glass Covers with Metal Rim * Oven safe to 500º F * Now dishwasher Safe * Full Lifetime Warranty " Click Here to learn more.

Scanpan is more than just form. I have not had much experience with them, or else I would chime in more vociferously. It is made by melting titanium and porcelain at a very high temperature... think perhaps 3000 degrees or more... and that is then used to cover a metal base. Thus the resulting non-stick surface is not something that will come off because of the use of metal spoons and spatulas and can also resist higher oven temperatures without eny fear of food contamination.. I believe it can stand upto 500 F. If I am using non-stick, I would rather be able to have a pan that I can use any spatulas or spoons on.. and one that I have no fear about eating scrapings from. Some chefs have told me they use their stainless and it is superb. It is not marketed directly for professional use, but has seen growing popularity. I have wondered what someone who has used them long thinks.... JulieB, your feedback is great... for I have heard similar reactions from those that have this range of cookware... It is not reasonable for sure... but I believe their non-stick range lasts a LONG time.

How does this stuff rate? Has anyone used it? How does it compare with Calphalon Non Stick? Where would you buy this stuff? Anything I should know before exprimenting with it? Thanks for any and all feedback. Click Here to check out their site

Ruchi, thanks for sharing more about you and the family. I envy your situation... Have you every made a trip to the Chino Farm? I love their produce. Especially the strawberries when you can find them. The kalonji version of the tomato chutney is more eastern and not what one would find in Southern India as commonly. I am sure certain exceptions do apply. I never enjoyed the weaker, less complex tomato chutneys.. not sure why... and this one, as I said in the recipe, is from a neighbor in Delhi. They were originally from Hyderabad. It is really delicious and has fans around the globe. There are Indian friends and family members that ask for it and take it back to India. I am glad the Kaddu recipe worked for you. My grandma was a big fan of panditjis kaddu. I did not like it as a young boy.. I enjoy it now, as an adult. Just as I now crave bitter melon. I could eat dozens of these and still crave for more. If you ever need recipes, email me, and I am happy to send you some to play with. Also, this forum has wonderful members, and I know most of us are happy sharing whatever we know. Glad having you with us.... and I am sure in time, you shall realize it may have been a wonderful but loaded discovery... eGullet can consume a lot of ones time. It has a large community of members that give it much to be proud about.

Thanks! All you need is to call me... you can email me at chef@suvir.com, and I can ensure that we can serve you a tasting of some of the dinner menu dishes. Let me know. Reservations are not necessary for lunch.. you can come anytime between 12 and 3 PM.

Many thanks Betty! I hope I can cook for you and your husband. I have always enjoyed your passion for Indian cookery.

Great story Monica. Maybe you can lead the Indian forum.... just a thought. You have much to look forward to... Thanks for sharing your tale with us members of this site. Your legs and feet look great with mehndi. It is a blessing in the part of India wher I come from. A dark and rich color of mehndi. Means your mother-in-law loves you. I am sure that is the case. Wishing you years of happiness, culinary adventures and hope you will continue to share your tales.

Ruchi, my welcome to you as a fellow eGullet member. Thanks for sharing your feedback of this recipe. I am glad it worked for you and your parents. My co-writer, Stephani Lyness should get as much credit as I get for the recipe. She spent as much time as I did in ensuring the recipe was indeed tested and timed correctly. What was different about the recipe your mother made and which has now been replaced? Can you share that detail please? Where in the US do you live? I want to try and understand how the tomatoes you may have differ from what I can get in NYC. I love cheelas and my family calls these chickpea pancakes exactly as yours. I have never heard of them being called Pudlas... but we live and learn... Madhur has a far richer lifespan of experiences. I must defer to her wealth of knowledge on this one. It is the beauty of India, how things can change slightly or find new names as one travels from region to region, or even from one community to another within one region. In my restaurant and home kitchen, there can never be enough tomato chutney either. Again, welcome to eGullet Ruchi.

Thanks Tommy for your kind encouraging words. well, I know this for a fact Unfortunately, the assertion that Diwan can stay good is false. It is quite shitty now, but Amma is better than Diwan ever was. You are very kind Orik. Unfortunately, the food that most people ate at Diwan, the tasting menu, was touched course by course by Hemant's genius. No one else even had any desire to serve that food. Certainly it makes sense that after his departure, things have changed. We are still getting better each day at Amma, and it is our hope that in the next couple of weeks maybe even three, we can get better placed in the constricted kitchen and also get more used to the space and give you all better food each time you visit. And yes you know for a fact that we do cook and serve food at Amma. You have been our champion even before we shared this new menu yesterday. Thanks for your patronage. And thanks for coming even as we practiced and tweeked recipes. It was nice to put a face to the words I associate to Orik.

Vikram, I was crying as I went back into memory lane reading this post. Beautiful, so true and so charming... What do you miss most? What would be the top 5 things you would want most to be available in India of today?

You are sweet! Maybe this will ensure that I finally get to meet Lady T.

Not sure myself... Sorry!

Thats an idea....

Thanks Monica! And see you in NYC during one of your visits.

Thanks for the wishes both here and in your email. Thanks for going through the menu in such depth and sharing your feedback. I have come to think of you as our resident food anthropologist.. your posts are always so well researched and well written. I was wondering when someone would pick up on the inclusion of the butter chicken and the saag. I could just as well have done without them, but also realize that many come looking for these. Hemant and I try and send small tastes of other dishes out to such people. To give them a chance to explore other flavors and textures associated with India. But certainly there are many that will order these alongside several other dishes... as they are addicted to these. Just last night, a single diner came in, and they ordered 3 main course dishes. One was the saag. It was fascinating to see this diner go through our menu as if they were researching it for something (maybe they were). We sent out some of the other newer dishes with both courses.. .and gave this diner a deeper foray into our menu. They seemed delighted and were calling friends sitting at the table and telling them about this new find. They ordered the saag as their way of rating our saag against what they have come about to find acceptable and tasty to them. It is easy to find new items to place on menus in NYC. I wish Hemant and I Could take credit for being really too out there in terms of that. Menus in regards to Indian restaurants are quite limited it seems. There is still so much to share in the US from the large culinary wealth of the Indian sub-continent. It would take decades before we run out of classics alone, and then there will always be those dishes we create and adapt and develop in our own kitchen. We were both hoping to create a menu that would be a departure from our own past and yet be connected to it as we always are to things we have experienced. It was this that made us consider dishes that we would find a connection with in our daily lives today. Even the dishes that seem new, and there are more than just a couple, are dishes that between Hemant and my world, are prepared often and enjoyed as modern classics. Some dishes become instant hits and favorites. The Amma Salad and the Spinach Chaat are two examples that come to mind right away. I am glad you found the balance between the familiar and the unfamiliar not to tedious. Glad to know we succeeded in sharing what we wanted to. We will continue to work on recipes that bring the same balance to the dishes. Our biggest challenge we always work on, is to prepare Indian food that will inspire the uninitiated to come back and become fans of Indian cuisine. In fact, just last week, a friend asked if she could come to lunch, I asked her to bring along another friend that HATES Indian, Italian, Mexican and Chinese "type" foods.. whatever that means.... and I simply said to her that she was invited only if she could bring this friend of our along. I said to her that I would be hanging my head in shame that if after his meal, he would still hold Indian food as something he hates. Hemant and I had begun racking our brains for what dishes we would serve a man that has such a large blanket hate for so many cuisines. You have used the best word "threat", in describing this dining experience. I agree with you totally. Far too many people feel threatened by the unfamiliar. And they are quick in cutting these things out of their radar. I am no advocate of cooking without tasting...... there is nothing extraordinary or special about it.. in fact, in my world, it is the "done" thing. I should hope that some day I too will get around to tasting as I cook.., for now, I am happy cooking without a need to taste. And with Hemant, it is great, he is more than willing to taste as we go along... and I have no fears at all. Our combined skills are only what they could be of any two mortals working together. Whilst we ought to hope we have many a good day, certainly we anticipate tough days, challenging ones, days where the execution is everything but flawless. We shall continue to strive to learn from each other and our mistakes. And we hope that in doing so, we can leave a majority of those that come to our small restaurant with a largely pleasant experience. But again, it is our hope. And we will try our best to deliver on it as fully as we can. Skchai, thanks for your email and this post. You are one of the group of members (from my limited and mostly focused interaction on eGullet, since there are many forums I am yet to actively participate in) that leaves me yearning for more time on eGullet.

Thanks Tommy for your kind encouraging words.

I think you ought to serve the dishes you want to serve at the prices that you consider a fair value and reasonable profit to you. I'm just hoping that when you do that, I'll be able to afford to patronize your restaurant more than once or twice. It looks to me like a dinner at your place would probably cost somewhere in the $40s-60s (well, maybe less if I were to have just a main dish, but that kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?), inclusive of tax and tip, which would probably make it a special dinner with a special friend perhaps once every year or so, except in the unlikely event that I get a lot of playing gigs in this economy or get a full-time teaching gig. Might a $20 lunch be possible? I could do that more frequently. I presume you'll be serving non-alcoholic beverages as well as wine. Any possibility of a masala lassi? I used to get a very pleasant one at Madras Cafe, but the chef/owner told me they stopped making it because too many people (about 40%, he said) returned it after finding it weird. For a while thereafter, they specially made it for me because I'm a regular, but it just got to be too much of a hassle. But maybe your clientele will be more adventurous and less fixated on having sugar with the meal? Pan, I do think you will find ways of enjoying Amma without feeling you have spent way too much. And yes lunch will be more affordable. There will be non-alcoholic drinks as well. Masala Lassi for you... let us know when you get there.. ask for it, and I shall make you some. I made some everyday I was in Denver this last winter and early Spring.

All days of the week. 40 seats.

Thanks Pan! We are still working on the lunch menu. And continuing to refine what we have created already. There will be food that is different from the dinner menu, there will be dishes that are of a different price level and there should be choice. Now we need to refine the concept and put it first into a paper for Hemant and I to look at and then translate into a menu that can be shared at lunch. What are you thinking? What do you think a restaurant ought to do? I would love your feedback.

Congratulations, Suvir on your (apparently top-secret) endeavor, and best of luck to you. I hope that you achieve great success in this new venture, and aren't too busy with the day-to-day realities of the restaurant to continue posting here. I didn't want to simply post a 'me too' message, and your reply has provided an opportunity to go beyond that. Cooking without tasting is the single biggest mistake that most home cooks make. It's difficult to cook well without tasting, and requires honest feedback. To cook without tasting mainly requires experience, but there's also a definite amount of skill involved. Smell and feel (tactile feel and 'feeling that it's right') are the main elements. Although I don't eat steak, I cook it for others, and it's been very well received. I know that it's possible to cook well without tasting the food, and am glad that you seem to have the ability to do it. Again, best of luck. If/when I visit NYC, I'll definitely pay a visit. And your cookbook is on my to-be-purchased list. Many thanks for your wishes. A day is rather long, and my body is very happy without much sleep, or happier with a couple or maybe three hours of sleep. Thus, it should not keep me away from doing what I do and enjoy. eGullet being one of the things I come back to with comfort. Members from around the globe, make it easy for me to find many voices to hear and find in all different ones things that bring joy. Smell and feel play a Very important element in cooking for me. And experience certainly helps. When I cook meats, poultry and fish in a new recipe, and for the first time, I take great joy in looking at the feedback (verbal and non) that I get from the guinnea pigs that are kind enough to taste my food even in its first non-tested form. So I agree, feedback is necessary and tasting too. In my case, sometimes, I rely on others I trust for that. My cookbook to come is lucky to be on your to-be-purchased list. You are a kind man, I hope time to come will make you still want it. It is now being produced, Clarkson Potter takes great pride in what they publish, and to maintain that pride, production is done at a very steady pace, maybe too steady for an impatient author. But in the end, the books are just as tasty to look at as the food they help you prepare. I certainly hope my humble offering into the world of cookbooks, is in synch with what Clarkson Potter has achieved in the past. Stephanie Lyness my co-writer spent a great deal of kitchen hours cooking, refining, testing and perfecting recipes for the untrained Indian chef. It would make us both happy to have a book that succeeds in sharing what we hoped to and in a reliable and attractive form. If and when you do come to NYC, please give us a chance, it would be an honor to cook for an eGulleteer from another city.

Thanks rks!