BBhasin

Suman, Checked out the link you had posted, it has this reciepe there listed as ' Chicken OH MY GOSH ' which sounds wonderful. I am going to try it this sunday. Does it have any tradional Konkani name?? thanks Bhasin

The Black Dal ( Maa ki Dal ) most restaurants serve gets its smokey flavor from the tandoor. Presoaked is left on the the tandoor for the duration of the night. In the morning the dal is cooked. The pot is transfered to a stove, seasonings etc addded and it is cooked till done. The smokey flavor in the bharta is also from char broiling the eggplant in the tandoor. Then again some dal tarka and other dishes appear smokey becauce at some stage the cook actually sets the pan affire for a minute, I don't think this is intentionally done though, while some consider the flavor thus obtained uniquely restaurant fare some pleople don't like it. The way you described the smoking of your dal, Rajsuman, I think it did not work as with the foil covering the dal no smoke came in contact with it. If you poke a few holes in the foil it might work. Or take a pot and place a katori in the at the bottom. Pour your dal into the pot making sure the level remains below the edge of the katori. Place a burning coal in the katori pour your ghee on top and a few spices like clove, cardamon, cinamon etc and place a lid on top of the pot. No peeking! as the smoke will escape, let the pot remain covered for a while. Remove katori with coal. See if that works.

Checked out the link my dear, I am not familiar with the book but Neelam Batra whose 1000 reciepe book they are pushing as a cmpanion book is a known author. However, my experience in life has been to go for quality over quantity. 1000 reciepes for under 10 bucks!

Aloo methi- more aloo less methi ( methi as anil says in 'chonk' quantity) Methi aloo- more methi ( like saag) with less aloo.

There are numerous reciepes and variations. Here is one In a kadai take some mustard oil and heat it to smoking then allow it to cool to ' warm to hot' add a few dried red chiilies and cook until they begin to turn black add some hing ( asphotedia) add a a liitle turmuric and saute to lose the raw turmuric taste add the potatoes, skin on boiled till about 3/4th done and cut into cubes( in punjab they prefer the baby, almost large marble sized ones). add the methi leaves ( remember you 'pick' the methi leaves and don't chop them like spinach). cook on a medium fire turning occasinally you do not want to mess around too much and mash the potatoes. I prefer the potatoes to get a little crisped and get nicely infused with the flavor of the methi.( a slightly bitter aquired taste which some love) As you have only two bunches of methi you are basically going to get potatoes speckled with and falvored with methi. If you had more methi then you might have wanted to achieve a more 'saag like effect' and perhaps added some chopped onions too and a lesser quantity of potatoes.

episure Thanks. It's a good promo, show one's talent and hopefully keep bringing them back. Do I make money on this ? No, not really. Hopefully one day I shall. Typical restaurantier rant, we NEVER make any money.

hey monica, lets hear your take on the biryani

Just kidding! but if you describle the biryani as simply fried rice the Nawabs are all going to turn in their graves. Let me make an attempt to describe this delicacy in a nutshell, You start with meat, usually mutton or goat with the bones, as though you were preparing rogan josh. You saute and color your onions, add your ginger, garlic, add your spices, saute some more add your meat and dry cook adding, just enough liquid so it does not stick to the bottom of the pot. When the meat is about half done take the pot off the fire. Now you start assembling the biryani by layering it. On top of the meat in the pot add a layer of chopped cilantro, on top of that add a layer of chopped fresh mint, on top add blanched almonds, pistachioes, walnuts, pine nuts, raisins, then pour a layer of beaten yogurt on it( some people will also add a pinch of asphotedia to the yougurt), then you add a layer of deep fried golden onions. While all this layering bussiness is goin on, in a seperate pot take a mixture of water and milk, add sweet spices like cardamon,clove,cinamon,bayleaf and bring to a boil, add a really good quality of basmati rice. I dont remember the exact ratio of water, milk and rice but it is critical as you are looking for the rice to cook only till its about half done and consistancy is ' dry porridge like'. Now pour this 'rice mush' on top of the fried onions in the first (Biryani) pot. With a long needle make a few deep holes in the rice and pour saffron dissolved in warm milk down the holes( it will stain the grains of rice it touches as it goes down) close the holes. Place a moist towel on top of the rice( this traps all the aromas). Place the lid on the pot, seal the pot and the lid with some dough, place the biyani pot on back on the fire and finish cooking. Some people will also place live charcoals on top of the lid for even heat from the top. During the cooking /finishing process, the juices from the yogurt and the 'rice gruel' permeate to the meat at the bottom and turn into steam and then go back up very delicately steaming and flavouring the rice. when done the meat should be fork tender and the rice perfectly done with each grain seperate. Everything is not mixed all toghether, just the portion that is being served, you go down all the way with your serving spoon, to the bottom of the pot and dish and mix only the amount of rice and meat you intent to serve. Biryanis are a delacacy because of the intricate and labour intensive process, there is tremendous expertise and experience reqired to make a good biryani as there are so many steps where you can easily mess up eg. incorrect liquid ratio in the rice or opening the pot too soon or too late. whoa, sorry , the short explaination became a bit long. the biryanis most restaurants serve are the quick fix stuff. PS I must mention that this is one version ans there are some regional differences

No Jason, NO

Very funny Prasad. Spelling was never my strength and I type with one finger. I am sure Vikram understands. Thanks, I will edit it. bhasin

It would come, sounds like an intersting learning experience.

You don't do too badly yourself, my friend. Hope that makes your day

mongo, on your obsevation of charging a ton of money I am reminded of a story. I was attending a seminar and the guest speaker was the ex secretary or Director General of tourism GOI. I forget what the subject was but I remember what he narrated. In the US you charge what the cutomer will pay but in my days in India if you charged too much there would be lot of hue and cry. Anyway the the opposition minster chided the ruling party that they had no control over pricing, gross profiteering was rampart and the public was being ripped off. The Oberoi hotel in New Delhi was charging Rs 100 for a tandoori chicken the same you could have at Kake Da Hotel for Rs 20! The question got filtered down to this DG Tourism for a reply and , as he knew personally MS Oberoi the owner of the defaulting bussiness, he decided to visit him personaly to quiz him and get his views. 'We are not selling tandoori chicken' was the reply he got, 'we are selling an experience, ambience, service etc.,its a package of which tandoori chicken ( and other things on the menu) just happen to be a part of'. I guess the same could apply to Suvir's place too. We pay $ 2.25 for a Kingfisher beer at some dhaba style eateries and the exact same thing is $ 5 to 6 bucks at the fancier joints, so common give Suvir a break. And we dont have to go to India for restaurants charging a ton of money for American food. Take the simple hamburger. A buck at McDonalds when on sale, $ 3.50 to 4.50 at FiveGuys specialising in Burgers and listed as the best burgers in the DC metro area, $ 6.50 to 7.95 at neighborhood eateries, and $ 8.95 and above at the fancier places. Bhasin

interesting, never had the papad paratha. The most unusual one I had was stuffed with raw grated papaya, with the usual seasonings, tasted like a cross between a cauliflower and mooli ( radish) paratha. I have seen a couple of brands of frozen aloo parathas at the local Indian stores. One of the stores even carries fresh in their refrigerator, these are semi finished. You have to finish frying them.

Hey, you are supposed to have NO time!!!

I can never understand the pressure cooker lingo of so many whistles. but you are so right, you do get an idea of the different stages of doneness every time the pressure cooker releases some steam.

Something stange that I have noted in numerous Indian restaurant kitchens, the chef, specially when cooking in bulk, will ask an assistant or another person to taste. I can understand if he is asking for a seccond opinion but no, he is not tasting himself just basing everything on someone else's opinion. I wonder if any of you restaurant guys out there have noticed this too.

Dear Suvir, I have not been on these forums too long but long enough to be enriched by your knowlege, helpfulness and knidness. Thank you, good luck and God bless. New York is so near yet so far but whenever I visit I shall definitly pay homage at Amma. You take care now, Balraj Bhasin Bombay Curry Company

whats wrong with you tryska, you listen to your mother??

Syrian Lamb. That was among the top favorites at the recent egullet dinner at Indique in Washington DC. I loved it. It was a dark, punjabi style, bhunaa gosht with south Indian flavors, curry leaves etc and thick slightly toasted slices of coconut. It did appear to have been made a day ahead and reheated for us but that only deepened the flavors. I am going to ask for the reciepe and also what is the concept of Syrian Lamb on an Indian menu. Will keep you posted.

I usually taste at the end to check for salt. Unless its a fav dish like rogan josh when half the lamb/goat is gone in tasting during the bhuna/bhunoo stage. Episure reminded me of my catering college days in Delhi. This Kitchen Assistant in our Bulk cooking class would prepare a pot of rice to feed 100 people and would know when its done by placing his EAR near the side of the big pot and from the aroma permeating from beneath the lid. We were kids, just starting to learn and found it facinating. Suvir mentions not tasting in his family at al,l as the food was presented to the Gods first. In the Sikh religion there is a langar ( meal served to the devotees ) after a Kirtan ( prayer meeting) and the meal cooked is NEVER tasted prior to being presented to the Guru. It can be sometimes very nerve racking when one is cooking for 100 -200 people. The food however, almost invariably, turns out good and there is enough for all, which is another worry I have when doing this as there is no head count, just an approximate number, as one has no way of knowing how many people will feel pious that sunday morning and turn up for the Kirtan and the subsiquent langar.

two examples a basic curry( chicken or lamb) is prepared where everything is kept low key. to make a vindaloo the restaurant will add vinegar, garam masalla, cayenne and diced potatoes that have been boiled and deep fried but not colored. simmer to make a korma add pinch of garam masalla nutmeg/mace/caradamon powder coconut milk powder or shredded coconot some cream and cashewnut paste simmer till the sauce thickens sounds easy but it does take a bit of experience to get it right and be consistent

Vikram, Have stores like Kitchen Bazar, Sur La Table etc. dealing in cooking, utensils, tools, books, and other food paraphanilia, all under one roof, made it there??

Does your spouce know?

Monica, Always love your articles and thanks for sharing your wedding picture with the henna, now we know you are beautiful ' top to bottom'! This was a wonderous tale, beautifully woven with with fond memories of good times and great food, I loved the old lady and the soil from the 'motherland'. Thank you again for sharing the story. How about a story on your 'Wedding feast'. Do you remember all the things that were served there, was it kind of a fusion regional Indian meal , since you and your groom came from different regions and communities? Reminds me of a wedding we catered, the bride was Mexican and the Groom from Scotland. They were into yoga, meditation and Indian religion so we were asked to do vegetarian but when we arrived there we found that both the parties had brought food from their cultures to suppliment ours, so you had a choice between mango lassi, carona and some whisky from scotland just to give you an idea. BTW in your narration you mentioned that the fish was stuffed with raw mango and tamarind, which appeared a very intriguing combination. Your reciepe, however does not mention tamarind. Time you wrote that book, as someone suggested on this thread, on your experiences.