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BBhasin

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Everything posted by BBhasin

  1. Thank you.vengroff. I read the number 9 wine bar on a sietsema chat and it was in relation to one in the Delray area in Alexandria.
  2. i can figure out what a wine bar might be. But what would be a number 9 wine bar? and what are these wine flights??
  3. I read in the 'India Abroad', a few years ago, about National Curry Day being celebrated in the U.K. To mark the occasion an Indian restaurant prepared the world's largest vegetble curry. An Indian beer producer came up with a spiced up beer ( which was not very popular) they called it ' Madras in a glass'. Another company, not to be out done prepared a vindaloo using beer ( which sounds very interesting to me) and re-christned it Vindalager. Then on a recent visit to New Delhi ,I was confronted with huge banners and other advertising heralding ' National Samosa Week'. If you bought a pepsi from a participating eatery you would be treated to a free samosa. What is the forum's reaction to an International Curry Day ? The Day would be launched by the Indian PM in conjuction with an Indian celebrity Chef. It would be sponsered by Indian companies. There would be contests ranging from inovative origional reiepes with an Indian flavor to essay contests Why I Love Indian food. Prizes would range from complimentary airtickets to India, courtsy Air India to Gift certificates at local Indian restaurants. Suvir and Monica will conduct special gourmet tours to India, exploring regional cuisines. Indian restaurants worldwide will offer 'Buy one Get one Free' How was my dream??
  4. Here is another take on curry. This is on the back cover of our menu to enlighten our patrons in a slightly humerous manner. http://bombaycurrycompany.com/story.html
  5. to get to the balti page http://www.owlsprings.com/the_balti_page.html This Balti bussiness is a futile discussion. Everyone has a take on it, I tend to lean towards the purists. Imagine balti butter chicken, balti rogan josh. My friend tells me there are touristic guides to London's Balti Houses. But on the other hand we do not miss an oppportunity to capatalise on its popularity. we have a special next month ' London Balti Chicken' will let you know more about it after some of the kinks are worked out. I can see the scottish chefs ears and nose twitching.
  6. search for ' the balti page ' on the net it will explain a lot of things
  7. you are so right suzanne. Actually a lot of indian restaurants are adding it to their saag as it gives it body and nobody can tell when they puree it. But can you then truely call it saag is a subject for debate.
  8. Ok Suvir here's to your Brocolli question. Never heard of or came accross brocolli until I came to America in 1986. Loved the vegetable raw. Tried to cook it but was never very happy with the results as it does not cook like cauliflower which it resembles. By the time the stem/stalk is done the rest gets overcooked. The most successful was brocolli pakoras or tempuras, they taste really good. I was about to give up on brocolli when my sister-in-law visited from Africa and shared this wonderful reciepe. Everything is approximation and ' to taste' cut brocolli into small florets chop brocolli stems heat oil in a kadai add crushed red chillies a little washed ( without skin) urad dal a little channa dal a little mustard seeds Fry till the mustard seeds pop and lentils are brown add a pinch or two of hing add curry leaves saute a minute and add some chopped onion saute till blanched add chopped brocolli stems cook a minute add the brocolli florets toss well to let everthing get flavored with the infused oil DO NOT overcook. Best left a little crunchy. What did you think of the Gulabjamun reciepe??
  9. I had a Nepalese genleman dining with us and asked him if they had Kulfi in Nepalese cuisine. And they do! its called 'Khoya Baraf 'or frozen milk-solids.
  10. THanks all. You live and learn.
  11. The current hot trend in New Delhi. Roomali roti stuffed with Kakori Kabab and seasoned with spices, chutney and chopped onions that have been marinated in malt vinegar. Does anyone have a reciepe for kakori kabab?? I read a story about it somewhere but did not get the reciepe.
  12. Here are two interesting books to try. While they are not books tracing the history of Indan ciusine they both have some interesting essays alongwith recieipes. 1. The Varied Kitchens Of India by Copeland Marks and 2. The Calcutta Cook Book by Manakshi Das Gupta & others. I will let you know of others as soon as I can think of them.
  13. I would like to share a Kulfi reciepe( which I have not tried yet) and a kulfi story with you. The Kulfi reciepe. This was given to me by Persis Khambatta, a miss India of yesteryears, an Indian actress who moved to Hollywood and I believe was the first woman to shave her head for a startreck film. She has unfortunately passed away. Her reciepe Take a few slices of white bread, remove the browned sides, soak the white in water, tightly squeeze out the excess water. To this add a can of condensed milk, blanched chopped pistachios, some saffron soaked in a little warm water or milk, some powdered cardamon and a drop of rose essence. Mix well and freeze. Now the kulfi story. There was Halwai Shop (restaurant) in new delhi very famous for their Kulfi. They were charged by the Prevention of Food Adultration department ( kind of like our health department here) with adding Blotting Paper to their kulfi mixture. Blotting paper, for those unfamiliar, is a kind of thick porous paper, which looked like handmade paper, was used to sop up excess ink from a sheet of paper after you were done writing with old fashioned pens that released more ink than the mordern ones do. The matter went to court and guess who won??? The restaurant of course. Because their lawyers argued that blotting paper was in essence plant fibre, hence edible. Now you can add one more ingredient to your pantry!
  14. Here is another take on Gunpowder From my friend's mother in Dehradoon, Deep fry seperately Whole dry red chillies till they darken Sliced garlic till it becomes golden n crisp sliced onions till they are golden and caramalised. set them on a paper towel to drain excess oil crush to a rough powder add a little salt and store in a dry airtight jar great on anything!
  15. The Parsis I understand were persians who fled to gujrat when they were invaded by the Turks. The story goes that they sent an emissary to the ruler of Gujrat or that general area but he said that he could not help them as he had no room for them. Upon this the Persians sent the messenger back with a glass of water to represent Gujrat and a pinch of salt ( or sugar, I forget which) to represent the Persians. he added the salt to the water and explained to the ruler that they did not need any room and would assimilale among the gujratis. The ruler was so pleased with this that he accepted them and with time they became known as parsis. Jordaloo is good example of the blend of the cuisines of these two cultures. With typically persian flavours of cardamon, cinnamon, apricots and vinegar married with the sweetness of gujrati cuisine.
  16. Suvir, here is a simple Gulab Jamun reciepe that will make you stop pining for Bengali Sweets on Barakhamba Rd in New Delhi. Mix together one cup Bisquick one cup Carnation non fat milk powder add 1/8 cup vegetable oil and 1/3 cup water knead to a nice soft dough. The water part varies slightly in summer and winter as you need a little less or more but try and get a soft dough. divide into 16 portins and make them into balls ensuring there are no cracks. deep fry golden brown in fresh med-low temp. Used oil sometimes gets tricky. Imerse in a hot syrup made with 3 cup sugar and two cup water. Now if you want get a little fancy... after making the dough reserve about a table spoon before making the 16 portions. to the reserved dough add pinch of saffron 1/4 tsp of ground cardamon drop of rose essence teaspoon of chopped blanched pistachios mix well, this is your stuffing divide into 16 portions now take a portion of dough, make a ball , flatten slightly, make an indent in the middle, place a portion of the stuffing into this indent, close the dough over it and form a ball with the stuffing at the core. Fry and soak as before. Now, your gulab jamun resembes the 'Jamun' fruit as it will have a green core just like the jamun seed and when you soak it ,the flavour and aroma permeates throughout and it truely becomes Gulab (rose) Jamun ( purplish large berrylike fruit with a green core) Let me know how they turn out The best Gulabjamuns I had were at a place called Pandeypur, a crossroad market between Varanasi (Benaras) and Sarnath. You ate standing, were served in a baked clay dish which you trashed when you were done your 'spoon' was a flat bamboo sliver. Man these gulab jamun were somthing!! so soft and wonderful. They were actually so delicate that they would not tolerate the 15 Kilometer bumpy ride back to Varanasi. Anyway enjoy!
  17. forgot to tell you about my seccond favorite thai place THAIPHOON They have two locations, pentagon row Arlington is closer to me but I prefer to go to the one in the Dupont Circle area, the food is definetly better there.
  18. i operate a slmall indian restaurant, do a little cooking for the sunday brunch buffet, other restaurant chores dont leave me much time
  19. Author Private Message [ Delete PM ] hollywood Group: Member Posts: 2557 Joined: 13-June 02 QUOTE A Tandoor is a clay pot oven with a bed of charcoal burning at the bottom,it has a large mouth with a lid at the top and a smaller appurture at the bottom.the temperature is regulated by opening or closing the the top and bottom openings allowing for passage of a stream of air making the charcoal at the bottom burn intensely or slowly. meats and sometimes vegetables are skewered on long steel rods called seekhs (plural) and charcoal broiled in this oven. The flat breads like naan ( from the persian word noon meaning bread) roti and paratha etc are smacked onto the interior hot clay wall, where they stick and get cooked. when done these are pried off with utensils made especially for the purpose. Foods prepared this way generally get termed ' Tandoori' like tandoori chicken or tandoori roti. Even though Indian restaurants would have you believe that tandoors are very Indian they have existed for years in persia, the middle east, afganistan, pakistan etc. Tandoors embeded in the ground have been found in central Asia and were used by the mongols, who were nomadic warriors, they conqured northern India and brought these over.Theories abound. If you can get your hands on TANDOOR the Great Indian Barbeque By Ranjit Rai its a whole big book devoted to the tandoor and various reciepes. A tandoori chicken is a whole or halved chicken, incisions are given so the marinade can work better. In a basic restaurant style reciepe A marinade is prepared with yogurt, salt, garam masalla, cayenne powder, lemon juice, fresh ground ginger and garlic pastes. The chicken is allowed to marinate at least a few hours and then skered and charcoal broiled in a moderately hot tandoor basting occasionally with oil or ghee, until it is done. Some chefs prefer to rub the chicken with the dry spices and ginger garlic pastes and let it sit a while before adding the yugurt and the rest of the stuff. Some will cook the chicken half, hang it for a while and let the heat cook it through, then finish it off. There is no wrong way, whaever works for you. Prior to farm raised birds a tenderiser like raw papaya paste would be used to soften up the free range chickens which were tough. Patting the bird dry prior to marination will ensure the marinade sticks well and hanging the yourt in a muslin cloth will produce a thicker tastier marinade. In a restaurant 3 to 3 1/2 lb chickens ( split into two) are used and an order takes about 18 -20 minutes to execute. On a grill use the indirect method and a few hickory chips will add more flavour. Why is the tandoori chicken so red??? Contrary to what some people have been led to believe it is simply Food Color! Use of red food dyes was banned in the New delhi Hotel where I worked because it was a petrochemical derivative and considered a carcenogen and there were severe penalties if the health deptt. caught you. We started without any food color but our customers did not accept a timid tandoori chicken things settled down , though, once we reached for that bottle of food color. Lets do the tikka masalla another time!! BBhasin This is good stuff. You should put it on a general post, but I appreciate the PM. thanks.
  20. Ajwain to me tastes like oregeno. But can you sustitute the two ? I do not know. In english it is called carom seeds and also sometimes goes by the name Bishops weed. Awailable at all indian stores and sometimes at natural food stores.
  21. come to my neighborhood girl. Po-Siam on Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria,is perhaps the most authentic thai in the area. Get to know the owners Nicky and his wife Ratna ( who prepares most of the sauces ) it will enhance your future ding experiences here. They were among the 'top 40 value for money' restaurants in the metro area by members of consumers checkbook. While on mount vernon ave, also checkout the following Rt's Bombay Curry Company Fireflies Evening Star Cafe Taqueria Poblano Los Amigos
  22. You are right Monica. We used to go there all the way from Alexandria but things are not good any more when the coconut chutney to accompany your dosa is now made from dried grated coconut not the fresh stuff, tastes horrible.
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