BBhasin

I do not use any binders in the meat koftas. Making them tight and dropping them gently in simmering gravy are usually enough to hold them. For vegetable koftas the trick is to use as little binder as possible. Just enough to hold them and then simmer then delicately in the sauce to produce a nice velvety kofta. In restaurants sometimes due to rough handling, specially at the buffet table, they need to be a little tougher and more binder is added which as someone pointed out does not taste good as some cooks overdo the quantity. Even worse is when the kofta is not cooked through and you taste the raw besan or whatever binder was used. Another simple rule, forgotten by many, is not to add salt to koftas like cabbage or lotus root as doing so prevents the sauce from pnetrating and softening the koftas. Cabbage koftas. Grind cabbage and squeeze out the water. Add little ajwain ( bishops weed or carom seeds) little cayenne little amchoor ( mango powder) little crushed corriander seeds and just enough besan ( gram flour) to bind them Form into balls and deep fry med hot oil till golden brown If your kofta breaks or is toooo soft, go ahead add a bit more besan. Frying is done usually to form a good skinn and hold the kofta together. It is not cooked through yet, that will happen when you simmer it in the sauce. for the sauce saute finely chopped onion in oil until translucent. Add finely chopped ginger, garlic, and green chili. Saute a few minutes. Add salt, very little turmeric, little cayenne, and a decent amount of corriander powder. saute a few minutes to cook the spices then add diced tomatoes and beaten yogurt. Cook till the oil comes to the top. Add lots of water ( enough to produce a 'rasam like' consistancy). Simmer a few minutes and add the koftas. Simmer till they are done. Some cooks will break one or two koftas in the sauce to add more viscocity and texture to the dish. Add little garam masalla and methi leaves, check seasoning and add fresh chopped corriander. Edited to add ENJOY

Is this the same as "Kala Chana"? ← no bong, kala channa is kind of dark brownish, this is charcoal black! i will try and see if i can put up a couple of pics.

to get that authentic bazaari taste cook with ' naali ka paani' and temper with ' sara ( burnt due overuse) hua oil' just kidding! even when you are using the canned cooked chick peas boil them for some time with some cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom and bayleaf. You channa will be nice and soft and infused with a wonderful flavor. Talking of channa, I was at my local organic store and picked up this pack of ' Black Kabuli Channa' these dry uncooked chick peas are totally black in color. I have soaked to soften them before cooking and no color ran. Does anyone know about these? Will post later how they turned out.

The saag at the two places is very different. I like both for different reasons. Place one this is a neighborhood spot so we had decided to keep things simple as we belived patrons we looking for mainly nourishment. heat oil add chopped ginger and green chillies, saute but do not brown. add chopped onions saute till tranclucent add salt and some cayenne add thawed frozen chopped spinach. cook till done, do not overcook as the color will turn blackish when an order of saag paneer comes in take some of the above spinach (which is not pureed) add some restaurant style basic onion gravy add some cubes of paneer add some diced tomato add a tad of heavy cream add a pinch of dried methi leaves heat through I like this version for its lightness, fresh appearance and and simple taste of spinach and ginger with the fenugreek in the background. Pace two this is located in a pretty busy restaurant area, is a little pricey and we believe people are looking for a richer ( non homey) experience. This I think is the version Scott is looking for the chef puts the frozen chopped spinach to cook in a large pot. in another he prepares the tarka heat oil ( and he takes plenty of it) add sliced onions and when they begin to caramalize and turn light brown add ginger and garlic paste add salt, little turmuric, little cumin, garam masalla, and a hefty amount of corriander powder saute a few minutes add diced tomatoes and tomato puree. cook till it leaves the oil add this 'tarka' to the cooked spinach. Puree the whole thing and add dried methi leaves butter and yes, sour cream cook some more and you are done. this version is very tasty, though a little rich and heavy. but if you just want some saag with tandoori roti, this is it. I will again ask the chef about this version and if there is anything I forgot I will modify the post. I personally like to add a handful of chopped fresh dhania to my spinach but there is none in the above two versions.

Don't know about India but here in the DC metro area (US) Kingfisher- origionally from India, then bottled in the UK and now Sarratoga New York!! Taj Mahal which in India, I believe, is Kalyani Black Label. Golden Eagle Crait (sp) a new one which the distributor was trying to push recently Maharaja Flying Horse These was another one called Lal Toofan which I dont see any more Then recently at the Indian store I saw two other of higher alcohol content, the names of which elude me. another one called cobra also comes to mind. My fav is the golden eagle, especially the one brewed at Solan, with that wonderful mountain water. The Golden eagle we get here though is brewed in the south somewhere, perhaps to save shipping, it does not come close, specially after its long travel but you got to work with what you get. bhasin

we fry about 50 lbs of onions every week as we use them in our biryanis. here is what I have learnt.... 1. we use the white spanish jumbo onions. I would personally prefer to use the red onions as they have less water and fry quicker but they are expensive for our price range. 2. slice them thin and EVEN otherwise while you are trying to achieve your golden color, those sliced thinner will blacken and burn. 3. Try to use fresh oil. 4. Add the onions to oil which is not too hot, otherwise because of the high water content, the oil will foam over. Increase the heat after you have added the onions. 5. stir the onions during the frying process. 6 when the onions start to color, it is a good idea to reduce the temp. so that you remain in control of the final and most critical part of the caramalizaion process. 7.Remove the onions before the desired color is achieved, as even after you have pressed out the excess oil, they are still hot and the cororing process is contnuing. 8. spread them on a tray lined with paper or kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil. 9 you will get great results if you, while they are still hot on the tray, kind of 'fluff' them up with your fingers or a fork. 10. allow to cool and crisp. 11. strain out the its bitsy particles left behind in the oil before frying the next lot. 12. sore in an airtight cotainer. besides garnishing your rice, pulao etc., these onions are great for a 'quick curry'

Dominos ' mutton gonghura pizza' looked interesting on the ' Pizza in Indian life ' thread, so I googled for mutton gongura and come up with some recipes. They all call for gonghura leaves which I know nothing about. Can the pundits enlighten me please? What are these, what kind of a taste or texture do they add to a dish and where can one find them ? Thanks all

growing up, chicken curry was always a whole chicken cut up in parts. Now, some serve it boneless, others want only white meat and some( like me) prefer legs and thighs. I was reading this article which piqued my curosity. What do you prefer? article

My knowlege of Filter Coffee is limited to what has been explained to me by my South Indian friends. But I understood that as the holes through which the Liqour filters are soo tiny it takes a few hours for the coffe to filter through,most in South India would start the process at night by adding the boiling water to the tamped grinds and collect the liqour in the morning. The rest is as Amini described it, boil milk or milk and water in your preffered ratio and add the filtered liqour to your desired strength.

Even though the gulabjamuns are done, and most likely all consumed, you are right scott refrigeration should be fine for a few days.

Nooooooooo, Do not make the balls and freeze. rather, fry golden and freeze the fried balls. Thaw them and soak them in syrup sunday morning and they will be perfect by dinner. Here is the simplest possble recipe with excellent results One cup Bisquick One cup Milk powder ( carnation low fat or fat free is good) 1/8th cup veg oil 1/3rd cup water Knead well to form soft dough. divide into sixteen. form into balls and deep fry low/med hot oil. for best results use fresh oil ( in which you have not fried anything yet) Note: the quantity of water needs slight corrections where you are depending upon humidity, temperature etc. Also keep your dough/unfried balls covered with a moist cloth. for syrup use two cups sugar and three cups water. add some cardamom, saffron etc if you like.

go to tarladalal.com Touted as India's #1 cookry Author, she has a book titled CHAAT which has what you are looking for. The book is inexpensive but the shipping was heavy so it might be a good idea to bundle a few more in the same shipping. Lalitha, there is nothing shameless about indulging in chaat. When I visit Haldirams in Delhi with my friends they always wonder if I am starving in the US.

The fruit of the neem tree when ripe and yellow is also used in making potions to purify blood, take care of pimples etc.

This is already in the Media and News section. Do I win something?? Yes, now I shall be mad at you forever! send me your address and I shall mail you a Bombay Curry Company keytag.

I just had to beat Episure, Mongo and Vikram to this one. Hooters India

Of all the books in that amazon list, I would recomend No 18. Great curries of India By Camellia Punjabi. The recipes are well written and not too complicated, well explained and the results are good. There are also wonderful photos to compare your end product with that produced by the author. Great cookbook. Another person whose first book I really liked for its simplicity and pretty good results was Sanjeev Kapoor's Khazana Of Indian Recipes. While not the greatest cookbook I think it is exellent for someone just starting. Julie Sahni, in her Indian Veg Grains & cereals cookbook has done a wonderful job of describing Indian techniques. Its a good read, just borrow from your local library. The major problem a newbie has is understanding terms that most of us Indians take for granted simply because of our heritage. A handbook is comming out soon that describes ethnic restaurant and culinary terms to help people demystify menus and cuisine. Its amazingly put together by a patron at my restaurant whose bussiness is home inspections. I helped him with some of the Indian terms and think it will be out early next year.

Monica!! I am probably going to get a very angry email from you but I am going to say this anyway. It is very bugging to read your post that you are emailing/PMing a reciepe to someone and not posting on the thread/discussion. Please do not leave us out, we love you too! bhasin

Here is a wonderful piece on Prasad's seccond venture Thali II. Thali Congratulations Prasad. I am salivating simply reading about the selections on your buffet. If Monica would organize an egullet outing to this place I would be the first one to sign up. Has anyone been here yet? I better go the cut and paste route http://query.nytimes.com/search/article-pr...75BC0A9629C8B63

I like it roasted and while still warm with a lttle chat masalla and lemon/lime juice. Some also use it to make gulabjamuns but I have not tried that.

What kind of fat would you recommend adding to the lean mince? Fat around the kidneys is good but I have made do with adding a bit of plain old soy bean oil, which just gave me an idea to try adding oil infused with spices & herbs and see what happens. There are no secrets, you are welcome to come to Alexandria and try your hand at making seekh kababs in our tandoor. Saturdays are good as lunchtime is dead. Call or PM.

On two of my recent visits to India I enjoyed Anjir Ice Cream ( Not Kulfi). Once at the India International Center and another time at a wedding, I found the flavor wonderful and the product very satisfying. I googled for recipes but did not come up with anything satisfying and would be grateful for any good recipes for the ice cream or the kulfi. Slightly off the topic, once while visiting Pune my friend treated me to this Sharifa (custard apple) Ice cream at a wayside vendor which I found delectable. Anyone tried this one?

Episure, I can only agree to point number four which is wet your hands. to make a good seekh kabab you do NOT need any binders. No besan egg etc. Just good quality ground meat. If the meat is too lean you might actually want to add some fat otherwise your kababs will end up dry and lack a ittle flavor. If you do not wet your hand, then after you have formed the seekh kabab on the skewer and you want to release it the meat kind of sticks to your hand and pulls away from the skewer. Wetting your hand prevents this from happening. Also dont be afraid to press hard to form the seekh kabab. Sometimes if you have added chopped onions to your groind meat and let it sit for a day or two the onions tend to release moisture making the seekh kabab mixture kind of loose in which case it is difficult to apply and tends to fall off. Also use chopped ginger and garlic when its called for NOT ground ginger and garlic as to facillitate grinding water is added and that has the same effect as the old onions . A restaurand I worked at in Delhi would add fresh ground Chicken to their seekh Kabab mixture they were having a problem with and it would help. The skewers play a role too, in the tandoor they use different types of swewers for different meats, fish, vegetables, seekh kababs etc. the ones for sekh kabab being thicker and sometimes square. Then if you are grilling on a 'sigri' you might perhaps use flat skewers which ere actually great for seekh kabab. Chilling is good but not really a pre requisite But you already know all this. I was also thinking about Edwards sugestion of dispensing with the skewers altogether. My wife does this on the grill. It tastes good but can you really call it seekh kabab. Episure is going to love this, because to me it tastes the same. Even though the true tandoori seekh kabab gets cooked two ways,from the radiant heat at the outside and from the inside by the hot metal skewer. I would love to hear from the pundits and purists on the forum

Please bring Feni for everyone. I know you are allowed only two bottles but I know this person who fills up a dozen mineral water bottles with the stuff and breezes through customs. We will have a grand welcome back party! bhasin

Happy to report that it turned out very good. Even my wife loved it! and she is picky. Was not aware of the use of dill in Indian cooking. Learn something new every day. Did not have time to get fresh dill so made do with the dried stuff. Fresh next time to see the difference. Thank you Edward.

The blackeyed peas are soaked for todays sunday buffet. It was going to be Punjabi style but thats out the window Edward its now got to be Gujrati style a la Edward.