Suvir Saran

I served it with Tokay Rutherglen Calliope NV I love the spicy, caramel laden berry flaovors of this wine. It is a perfect companion to my Curry Steak.

It is a bit more complicated to prepare than your usual steak. And if I were as free of baggage as the great chefs many revere and mention on this site, I would be bold enough to serve my Curry Steak with the tomato chutney. In fact I could serve it with anything and be revered nonetheless. Why do you ask about Tomato Chutney? What kind do you make? What do you use it with?

No big deal. My name is spelled Suvir. It is hindi for a brave warrior. Some have also interpreted it as beautiful brave warrior. My mother laughs at the name. My brother, who has always been the most macho man most people know, a big sportsman and a bundle of oozing masculinity is named Samir, which means gentle breeze. My parents think the names should have been reversed. Suvir is pronounced Sue Veer.

I just served some friends a Curry Steak. They said it was the best steak they have ever had. Moist, juicy, succulent, nice big piece and so delicious. Now I realize I have to really open my own Steak House soon. What great things one can do with curry.

And Steve you seem no less rigid in your own beliefs. Since you do not read carefully and see how I am not even trying to share what I think.. I am sharing what close to 3 billion people associate curry with.. and wondering if chefs can show their brilliance and be a tad more sensitive to what words could mean to others.. and show their creative genius in just one other level. They can show us how in creating new wonderful desserts which are cutting edge and fantastic and all that, they have freed themselves from traditions of the past and created new classics. But why are they still married to words of the past then? Can they not find freedom in entirety? Or is that really too much to ask? I am not one to ask for stagnancy. I love the idea of chefs and people borrowing from each other and cultures. In fact we need more of that. I could not agree with you more. As I said before, I have followed your career, if only on paper, and have always found reason to recognize your greatness as a chef and as a clever man. It stems mostly from how you have found ways to elevate pastry into a new level. So, again, I am trying to share with you my respect for creativity, but also a cry to see if it is too much to ask for a creative person to not stop short in being creative when it comes to naming their dessert. It is my hope that someday chefs can free themselves just a tad more and find new ways of expressing themselves. You seem to be a strong advocate for that. Since you say that in the quote above. When most of us can do that, I am sure we would not have to worry about old baggage, for we would have found appropriate names for our new dishes. Names that showcase that freedom you say is necessary to remove oneself from previously held perceptions. But do we want to really be free? I think even the most creative amongst us is a slave to certain traditions.. And it is that which makes some of this seem hokey to many. But like you, I await eagerly to be in the midst of many others that are able to cook with freedom and eat with freedom. It takes both sides to be free for real appreciation in its true sense. But I see too many of us care little about details, it is easier to always look at the side that makes sense and can gratify us most immediately. Coco-choco-curry may sound great to you, but comes across as cute and silly to me (you may want through your posts and their narrow and rigid opinion about my understanding of curry, but I do have a baggage about curry, and yes there are those of us, several billion that carry similar baggage, some would care, some would not, but I take it from your response that it should not matter, jeez... thanks!). It would be far more appealing to me if it could have had some other name associated with that dessert...It takes a little more effort and some originality, but it can happen. And that is what I am saying. I am not asking for any chef to be bound by age old customs and traditions.. I am only saying lets go even further. And yes all of this is very subjective. There are great pastry and savory chefs I have met who not only agree with me but are even more acutely sensitive to such issues and then there are those I greatly respect that think otherwise, but also understand the importance of not denying me my associations and the weight they add to my thinking. But it seems from your posts that it is too much to ask. And in even raising that question, I am showing my rigidity. So, I shall be humbled by your greatness and my rigidity and lie silent on this contentious subject. Or else the American and Pastry inquisition would take over my sensibilities.

Trassi is a paste made out of rotten shrimp. It is used for its meaty flavor and pungency.

I emailed a friend last night in Sri Lanka asking if they use curry in desserts in Sri Lanka. Also I had asked her about the ingredient list for basic curry powder. I had sent her a link to this thread... Hoping she would be inspired to become a member. I will have to continue to work on her about that. She sent two sets of powder styles and their ingredients. I am posting part of her note below. She has addressed me as an American. Interesting! "Anything goes in the US. If we make a Hamburger to suit our tastes, they will call us crazy, heathens, bad cooks or people with little if any knowledge and taste. But when they murder our customs and traditions without understanding their finer nuances, we are scoffed at for trying to explain simple facts to them. Strange are the ways of their arrogant minds. But I am saddened to report to you that in Sri Lanka we are becoming more hegemonic like them and less tolerant. Instead of learning good things from you Americans, we are picking up your worst traits. Now back to what you wrote me for. Curry is to us Sri Lankans a sauce that is made to accompany those dishes that are served as what you people would call entrees. These are spicy, salty, and pungent sauces that accompany fish and meat and of course vegetables. There is no use of curry in desserts. We have spices that we use to make our desserts aromatic. Curry and curry powder are used for those dishes where one wants a savoury and spicy flavor, not sweet and delicate." Sri Lankan Curry Coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, chiles, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cayenne and ginger Colombo Curry Garlic, turmeric, ginger, coriander, mustard, chiles, and cumin

Basic Indian Curry Powder Following is a very basic list of ingredients that would be used in an Indian version of Curry Powder. Most brands in the market use the below ingredients in some unique proportion to change theirs slightly. Turmeric, cumin seeds, red chiles, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, and ground ginger This basic curry powder can be made more aromatic with the addition of cinnamon and cloves. It is made more savory by adding asafetida into the mix.

Thai Curry Pastes When I was learning how to make Curry Thai style, following were the list of ingredients I was asked to use as a most basic red curry.. and then some were changed when preparing a green one.... Red Curry - Garlic, shallots. lemon grass, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorn, red chiles, root of coriander, ground galangal, lime peel and trassi. Green Curry - Fresh green peppers are used instead of dry red chiles and chopped fresh coriander leaves (cilantro) are added to the basic red recipe above. Nothing too dessert friendly in those two curry sauces or pastes either. But again, some elements of these pastes or sauces could be successfully married in the preparation of dessert. I use a few of the ingredients above when making desserts... They are great.

Main Entry: 3curry Function: transitive verb Inflected Form(s): cur·ried; cur·ry·ing Date: 1839 : to flavor or cook with curry powder or a curry sauce More on Curry at Merriam-Webster

One entry found for curry powder. Main Entry: curry powder Function: noun Date: 1810 : a condiment consisting of several pungent ground spices (as cayenne pepper, fenugreek, and turmeric Curry Powder as explained in Merriam-Webster

Main Entry: 2cur·ry Variant(s): also cur·rie /'k&r-E, 'k&-rE/ Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural curries Etymology: Tamil kari Date: 1681 1 : a food, dish, or sauce in Indian cuisine seasoned with a mixture of pungent spices; also : a food or dish seasoned with curry powder The defintion of Curry above is from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

There you have it Roger. You flatter me shamelessly. From the greater fountain of knowledge, you got your answer... Anil, you are most impressive in your knowledge of things big and small, Indian and non-Indian. PS: Anchovys are also used alongside tamarind in Goa as also other parts of coastal Southern India. And also Burma and India were once all one country... Is my history failing me? And in Bengal one finds most amazing ways in which sea food is used in the preparation of savory dishes. And yes they are famous for adding tamarind into some of their sauces. Luychees are nice with any sauce.

And, if you grew up in Thailand, as I did, it takes on yet another meaning. But, as one who makes one's own curry paste, I do appreciate what spices and herbs in a mixture of one's own, as opposed to a pre-packaged blend, can do. I, too, am hungry.

You have it right... the seasonings you mention are most of what goes into curries.. and many of those you mention (albeit ginger, cinnamon and chiles) would make any dessert taste somewhat dubious. That is why it would not be appropriate to call something with Indian spices Curry So and So.... I am sure as creative people we can find other names that would do justice to our dishes. We could debate this endlessly but why? We have here people from a land that the word curry is most associated with, is it unreasonable to try and understand what that word may mean to the native? Are we only interested in making a jolt? I see no reason why a chef cannot fathom that subtle linguistic difference, in fact, a chef that can play with these spices from India and other parts of the East and can also understand the subtle nuances of language and culture from those regions will have my respect much more. Curry Leaves are the leaves of small tree. These leaves are called Meethee Neem (which would loosely translate in English as Sweet Neem). It is the only ingredient known to an Indian chef that is remotely close to being called Curry. In fact these leaves should be written as Kari... but they are commonly called Curry Leaves. They are used most often in Southern India. In vegetable stir fries, in chutneys, in Sambhaars and Rassams and also in rice preparations. When fried in oil, or even just crushed between your fingers, it will exude a great savory flavor that can make an addict out of a non-believer. PS: I did sleep well for I was comforted by knowing that Steven just used a word I associated with savory in referring to spices that are more fragrant. And when I saw his post and the spices he uses, I was hungry to taste his desserts. They are poles apart from any curry I have eaten in/from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia or Thailand.

Chai Flan I am giving the link above to my recipe for a chai flan. It is different from the Pots de Creme I mentioned. But will give you an idea of how I use spices myself.

CHAI FLAN Serves 6 to 8 I got the original version of this recipe from my neighbor in Delhi, whom we called Susan Aunty. (In India, all neighbors are addressed as uncles or aunts; Susan Aunty is a Christian from Kerala in southern India, and so she has a Christian name.) I've embellished her recipe with chai ingredients. I cook the caramel until it's quite dark – the slight bitterness of a darker caramel contrasts nicely with the sweet custard. 11/2 cups half and half 1 tablespoon loose Darjeeling or Earl Grey tea 1/2 teaspoon “ pearls” jasmine tea (also sold as “jasmine dragon phoenix pearls”), optional 1 inch cinnamon stick, broken in half 6 green cardamom pods, pods opened slightly 5 whole cloves 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks 4 black peppercorns 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk 4 large eggs 8 ounces cream cheese 1/4 teaspoon garam masala 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup water Grated zest of 2 oranges 1 inch cinnamon stick 1. For the custard, combine the cream, half and half, teas, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and peppercorns in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat, cover and let steep 15 minutes. Strain into a small bowl and cool to room temperature. 2. Preheat the oven to 350? and remove all but the bottom oven rack. Line an 8- by 8- inch or larger baking dish with a doubled kitchen towel. 3. Combine the sweetened condensed milk, chai infused half and half, eggs, cream cheese, and garam masala in the blender and blend until smooth. Set aside. 4. Combine the sugar, water, and cinnamon in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a simmer and remove from the heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear. Then return to the heat and boil, swirling the pan every now and then, until syrup caramelizes to a deep brown color, 4 to 5 more minutes. Add the orange zest. Immediately pour the caramel into a 2 1/2-quart metal charlotte mold and tip the mold to coat it with the caramel. Let the mold cool a few minutes and then pour the custard mixture into it. 5. Put the mold in the baking dish and then put the dish into the preheated oven. Use a measuring cup to add hot tap water to almost fill the baking dish. Bake until the custard is just set but still jiggles when shaken, and a skewer stuck in about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Carefully lift the charlotte mold out of the pan. Turn off the oven and let the water in the baking dish cool a little before moving it. Refrigerate the flan to chill completely. 6. To serve, set the charlotte mold over medium heat until the bottom gets hot, about 1 minute. (This is to melt the caramel so that the flan will unmold.) Run a knife around the edge to loosen the flan. Overturn a serving plate on top of the mold and then turn the mold upside down on top of the plate. Remove the mold. Cut the flan into wedges and serve.

Do you have favorite desserts that you prepare using Indian spices or ingredients? What are they? Recipes? Where did you get inspiration to make them?

I had a great Dal with my Basic Masala Dosa on Friday. I had cilantro chutney, my friend had the pumpkin chutney. Both were good. The dosa and filling were great as usual. The Dal with fall vegetables was amazing.

I rest my case. Lesley and Steven, We are all on the same page. Steven the spices you mention do not merit the name Curry Powder and are only a very insignificant part of what one gets when buying a curry powder. Thus, what you mix and blend is exactly what any Indian chef or any fine chef wanting to fuse spices into desserts would think of when thinking of Indian spices and ingredients. Bravo! I am glad that you were not making desserts with that savory Curry Powder that is mostly turmeric, fenugreek and cumin and then other savory and smelly spices. I was frightened that I would have to have you demo for me how you could sell and have followers if you were actually using curry powder. Now I will certainly get some sleep tonight, if I had not read the above, I would have tossed and turned all night wondering how a chef I respect as much as I respect Steve could ever think of using Curry Powder in desserts.

Lesley, I think Steven is with us. It is my assumption that he calls spices from India curry. I think, and I could very well be wrong, that he does not mean curry powder when he glorifies curry as a fine ingredient to be used with chocolate. I think and I hope he means as you have also suggested and I have always agreed upon myself, the clever use of individual or even multiple spices used in dessert. They can be great dessert ingredients and certainly find their way into many desserts I make. I am sure Steve mixes his own blend of spices and calls them a curry powder. If he uses a commercial curry powder for desserts, I must see him demonstrate that dessert to me and then do a taste test with me for a large group of people. I would be shocked to know that any dessert made with a commercial curry powder could sell more than 2-3 servings anywhere in the world. Or even if it sold, I would love to meet those people that would finish it. But if Steven calls what he uses in his Turkish Coffee or Chai Creme Brulee a curry powder, I would have to say I would be Stevens most frequent customer.

Steven, I am afraid you and I understand curry powder to be two very different animals. For other than that, we are agreeing on more than we disagree. What a shame that one word has divided us while our creations are rather similar. "Naga Named after a tribe in Northeast India, we’ve combined natural coconut extract, milk chocolate, and a pinch of fragrant curry powder. Dipped in milk chocolate and finished with a sprinkling of Northern Indian curry, this truffle creates a beautiful balance in spiciness, sweetness and color. A must try for the adventurous sort! " - This is the description from Vosges website for Naga truffles. Vosges website Curry powder is not what any sane person would eat with dessert of any kind. Maybe you call cardamom and cinnamon and anise curry powder or curry, but I do not. Those are perfect and amazing partners for dessert. Or maybe to you a powder that induces the aromas of savory spices, onions and garlic is a fine partner to desserts, again, I would beg to differ. But if you are calling caradmom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, black peppercorn, nutmeg, mace, anise, fennel or some other sweet spices curry, I would just have to say that we both like the same ingredients but our cultural differences have made us understand a word very differently and we have different associations with that word. That is easy to accept and will bring us closer than divide us away from one another. For in reality, we are each using the same spices with dessert and happy about that. Curry powder as used by Vosges, or at least as described on their site is not what I would every fathom as a decent partner to any dessert. It is a savory powder created to mimic the flavors found in Indian savory foods. Curry powder has spices that induce the flavor or garlic and onions into dishes it is added to. But I know many chefs now would love those flavors in desserts.. But certainly I am not one of those. But reading your post, I am certain we think of the word curry very differently. Sadly to some curry means using Indian ingredients or spices. And to Indians curry would mean a sauce, curry leaf, curry powder, and all of these are savory foods. "On the menu at Zaytinya I have a chocolate dessert called "Turkish Coffee"--dark chocolate with espresso, anise and cardamom--that is our best selling dessert so far--last night 48 of the 150 desserts sold were the Turkish coffee --and this is in Washington, DC--a very conservative food town, supposedly." And as for the success of your dessert, I am sure in NYC you would have sold even more so. And if it is half as good as I think it should be, since it is made by you, I would be ordering several orders of it daily. But even in an inebriate state of mind, I would not ever call your Turkish coffee a curry coffee. Those are not ingredients I think of when I think curry powder. So we are actually on the same page Steven, even though you may not want to believe. "I haven't had the Vosges Naga "truffle," pre-made shell suspicions aside, but the fact remains curry is up for grabs--up for culinary interpretation and inspiration--and it doesn't really matter whether a chef or consumer is familiar with the subtleties and riches of Indian cooking and culture. It doesn't have to have any baggage attached to it. The final product does or doesn't work on the palate. It's like a chai blend--a novice could pull an Indian grandmother's recipe off the web, blend it with chocolate and make a creme brulee with it--and never have had real Indian chai--the beverage--ever before. I know, this is how Colleen and I created our first version of "Milk chocolate chai creme brulee," with a little crust of caramelized jaggery, years ago. It remains killer after all these years." Steven, you are barking up the wrong tree, fortunately for me, the playful person in me is not always a purist I tend to be and love indulging in. Just recently I have given a recipe I first played with as a young boy to a restaurant in NYC. It is being made in to a Pots de Creme. It is made with Chai and certainly is not the traditional spices that go into a Chai and yet it is called a Chai Pots de Creme. It is very similar to what Colleen and you have done with your creme brulee. In fact mine uses jaggery as well. So, again, you and I are thinking and creating along similar lines. But to call my Chai Pots de Creme a Curry Pots de Creme would be a shame. At least to the finer Indian sensibilities I have as one from India. I have grown knowing the many meanings of curry and what you have understood of that word is very different from what I have been taught and also have understood in my long years of studying spices and Indian ingredients. But the fact remains that Colleen, you and I are still enjoying similar triumphs using spices from India. We are only lost in semantics and verbiage. Thank heavens! "Inspiration can take many forms and sometimes, despite what the Saveur/IACP/authenticity/purist-types would have you believe, it does not have to be based on extensive reading and research and immersion in a culture. Sometimes it just happens. Of course, you are much more likely to succeed if you do your homework, and that includes embracing what knowledgeable authorities have to teach you." I agree completely with you. Am not sure what made you think otherwise. In fact I never had militant fusion players like you in my world growing up in India, and yet I was inspired to play and fuse and create anew using what I had grown up with and found easily in India. I did what you have done in reverse. You borrowed from traditions outside of your Franco-American traditions and I borrowed from what is familiar to you. And yes it was helpful to finally see and read and speak with knowledgeable authorities, but for the decade or more that I did not have them, my own mind, my own need to find newer horizons and my need to create new stuff led me to practice and perfect. I had friends and family to share with, and luckily they were patient through my many failures and found memory only for those times when I met success. Again, we are thinking alike.

Loomis came to India from Iraq. And we paid and arm and a leg for them. Expensive in India, scarce in the US, if you go searching for good quality. I learned something new today (that they also come from Omman), good news, maybe Omman can supply more. I know ever since the Gulf War, my Iraqi friends have had a hard time getting them here.. and with time the quality has gone down. I rely on Iraqi friends to order them and get them for me....I am told there is a company in California that they use.

And I am joining you as I make them. Upon Lesley's reccomendation, I went and bought a brownie pan (9 inch square tin). And now, finally I will make brownies in it today.

I was looking at the chocolates closely and see that many pictures that could have looked just as great without the chocolates having any garnishes all have garnishes placed so that at least my questioning mind wonders what they are hiding. I agree about the vioet drop comouflaging the hole. As also the cherry in the 'Chef Pascal", the silver or gold leaf in the "Mint Julep" and in the picture for Ambrosia, there is a spot that could look like it is where the hole is. It has a drop of sweat... But who knows... And when I came to "Naga", I wanted to throw up.. seriously.. who wants to eat chocolate with curry? Ewww.... maybe Americans that know little about the subtleties of Indian cuisine will buy nonsense like that... You could have an Indian inspired chocolate without having to make such trash. There are so many spices Native to India and so many of them lend themselves perfectly to Indian cooking. Makes me wonder how serious this outfit is to their trade. But again, I am ready to be proven wrong.. But for that I need to hear from the owner and be shown credible proof. Till then, there are those chocolatiers that may not have delicious websites, but certainly have products that speak highly of their legend.