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Vir Sanghvi has written a really interesting article in the Hindustan Times on Gujarati food which underlines why I think he's probably the best regular food writer in India. I really like this one because I'm half Gujarati myself and have shared Sanghvi's mixed feelings about Gujarati food. I have eating the most amazing Gujarati food, both in homes and in some of the excellent thali places in Mumbai. It can be so good, and Gujaratis really obssess about their food so much (as opposed to, say, Maharashtrians who never seem to particular like eating all that much) and they have the money to really spend on their eating and there at least they do not stint. And yet... Well, Sanghvi spells out the problems with Gujarati food and also does full justice to its outstanding qualities - its relatively light use of oil and masalas (this applies to home-cooking, restaurants go overboard on the oil. I simply cannot eat oondhiyoo in restaurants, while I adore it when made in homes), its wonderful way with vegetables and, a really excellent point, that makes SO much sense, its appreciation of the importance of contrasting textures in food. I was going to post the link to the article, but that HT link is uncertain and slow so, with apologies to the moderators, here's the whole article, followed by my comments:

Does anyone have any thoughts about what might be the first Indian restaurant in North America? (In the UK, of course, it is Deen Mohammed's Hindustanee Coffee House, which opened in 1809.)

Re: Haldi Does anybody has recipes that use fresh haldi/turmeric?

INDIAN FOOD NEWS: Check here frequently for hot links to food articles, essays, columns and reviews published in food media across the world. Content may cover non-indian food too but related to India or Indians. Some of these links may require free registration to log in. Virendra Sehwag's wedding menu plans £8m settlement ends row that divided curry dynasty Scotland's curry king Charan Gill named Asian entrepreneur of the year Kolkata restaurant happenings See what Chef Praveen Anand is up to at the Dakshin There is not much difference between Pakistani and Indian cooking, explains chef Qureshi Masala Bistro showcases rich, elegant Indian and Bengali food in Detroit Opening shortly, on April 29, in London's Curry Street is Michael Caine's light 'n' tangy Indian restaurant 'Deya', glorified by The Guardian for serving gravy delights without ghee and hot masalas . Cyrus Todiwala gets a new spelling and the UK's Guardian answers Jason's post on freaky pigments Haldi study is another step in determining if curry can protect against Alzheimer's Curcumin, which provides the yellow color in curry, may activate a key enzyme Washington, DC -- A new study has found that curry, a common and popular cooking additive, could be an effective enhancer of an enzyme that protects the brain against oxidative conditions. This research is an important first step in determining whether curry could be preventive agent against acute neurodegenerative conditions, or reducing the progression of chronic and age associated neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease. Free Radicals and Neurodegenerative Disease One of the most prominent current theories of aging is the "free radical theory." According to this theory, free radical molecules generated through mitochondrial metabolism can act as causative factor of abnormal function and cell death. Various toxins in the environment can injure mitochondrial enzymes, leading to increased generation of free radicals and oxidative stress, that over the life-span would eventually play a major role in aging. Free radical's oxidative damage to key intracellular targets such as DNA or proteins has been shown to be a major cause of the degenerative diseases related to aging such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease. At the same time, a number of studies have supported the beneficial effects of some commonly used natural products in preventing various pathologic conditions. Spices and herbs often contain phenolic substances with potent antioxidative and chemopreventive properties. Among them is curcumin, a natural phenolic agent, extracted from the rhizome of Curcuma Longa, and the yellow pigment in curry, strongly induced HO-1 expression and activity in rat astrocytes. Conclusions This study identifies a novel compound that could be used for therapeutic purposes as potent inducers of HO-1 for protecting brain cells against oxidative conditions. The researchers believe that additional in vitro and in vivo studies are necessary to determine whether curcumin can be used as preventive agent against acute neurodegenerative conditions that affect an increasingly aged population. The American Physiological Society (APS) is America's oldest biomedical sciences research society. The not-for-profit society, with some 11,000 members, is the publisher of 14 scientific journals, including the American Journal of Physiology, which has been published since 1898.

I am interested in learning about food photographers who have done Indian food. Do you know someone who is exceptional? What makes them so? Do tell

Hi, This is how I made (read: tried to make) pulao today: Soaked 2 cups basmati rice for 20 mins, drained it well. Fried onions etc. , added the rice, added 3.5 cups of hot water. Brought the water back to the boil, then put the covered vessel on top a hot tava (placed on very low heat). Left it there for 35 minutes. Came back expecting great pulao (I had seen someone produce great results with this method recently), instead found overcooked rice at the bottom and raw rice at the top. I had to throw the whole lot out. Made the same thing (again!) by my normal method - took 15 minutes and was verrrryy nice, but I still would like to know the tawa method. Any advice, suggestions? Should I have cooked the rice longer on the hob and then transferred it to the tawa? Thanks, Suman

As a slight diversion from these smelly issues, even if Indian food can leave overpowering smells, perhaps it could be forgiven because the country has also produced another overpowering aroma that no one could object to. I went to Crawford Market in my lunch break and the sheds on the side were full of guys unpacking the crates of Alphonso mangoes that had come fresh from the Konkan. The smell inside, at noon on a hot Bombay summer's day was almost intoxicating - a huge hot sweet aroma of mangoes and the hay they were packed in. I was trying to resist buying alphonsoes on grounds of general poverty, but one whiff and I'd bought six! Vikram

I need information on Indian restaurants in Egypt. Can anyone help? Rushina

One of the things that I think dissuades us from cooking Indian food at least on a semi-regular basis is that the odors produced from all the spices combined with stuff like Ghee and other fats can result in some pretty pungent, semi-permament odors. What do you guys do to keep it out of your kitchens -- and the rest of your house?

Okie I know that this topic shoud go in the general topics but I have put it here for the reason that I need Indians who are exposed to western cuisine but understand Indian food habits to advise me. I need to put together a vegetarian multi cuisine menu for a group of passengers travelling to South Africa. It needs to have some amount of Indian food in it but other food will also work like Mexican and Italian. Any suggestions, advice on what to watch out for? Rushina

My cousin is a diabetic with a gentically weak heart and occaissional blood preassure. Also he is of the old guard that wants tasty food. I need to formulate a workable diet for him. It has to be easy to do with ingrediants that are locally available. We are already baking most thinks instead of frying. Oil has been cut down to a bare minimum, salt is out and sugar is out. What I would like help with is anything in terms of advice as to what could work. Do you know a diabetic? Do you know of any foods that are helpful to diabetics? Any websites that deal with diabetic food for Indians? Rushina

Does anyone know any Indian chefs or cooks in the U.S. or Canada that are looking for an opporotunity? Or where one can find them? Thanks...Vishal (vishalkhosla45@hotmail.com)

My friend had someone come over to her place & do dhokla over the weekend. The lady made it from coarse sooji & added 'eno'. Is it traditionally prepared that way? I long for the soft, yellow-colored dhokla with mirchi & coriander leaves. I believe it is made with besan. I heard it is also made with channa dal. Can anyone share their recipe for Dhokla please?

I've decided to assemble a list of Indian restaurants that are somewhere near my area (Rutherford), so that I can start sampling their offerings when time & circumstance allow. I've just spent a very frustrating half hour-plus with the search engine. I can't seem to get it to search for two words within the same post, in spite of following the Advanced Search instructions. E.g., I want to find posts containing the words "Indian" and "Montclair." Instructions say search for +Indian +Montclair. Doesn't work, gives me a HUGE list of posts containing EITHER Indian OR Montclair. Tried various permutations on placement of the + sign, no better. Any advice on the search engine would be appreciated too. Then searched on "Indian," which, as one might expect, gives another huge list. Somewhat helpful but a lot to wade through. What I've found so far is listed below. However, I seem to remember that someone had mentioned a place in Fairlawn, & another place in Montclair in addition to Taj Palace, that I haven't scared up so far. (I should have taken notes on the spot, that'll teach me!) If anyone knows either place, please advise! Also, I'm aware of the Iselin area from the Turnpike thread. To me that's an excursion, as opposed to the closer-to-home places I'm looking for. I.e., Montclair is 8 miles away while it's 30 to Iselin, so I'd much rather drive to Montclair. Here's what I've found so far: Namaskaar Mall at IV / Rt 4 West Paramus Taj Palace Montclair Kinara River Road Edgewater Thanks for any & all suggestions! Edited to add: Bloody hell! Just tried the +Indian +Montclair search again and it seems to have worked! Mystifying. Anyway this has enabled me to add Natraj to the list. I think that's the one I'd noticed but not noted some months back. Or perhaps it was Satish Palace. Ah well, the list grows.

A few days ago a fellow punj who is more atuned to seasons than I, started talking about craving forthe baisakhi mela festivities of back home. Yesterday I heard from an old pal who is going to Kerela for Onam. So what are the special dishes and feasts for these occasions - I used to know this when I was young but now my hard-disk seems to be going going gone

I love making yogurt at home. My method is very simple. Boil the milk - let it cool to the "pinky test" (if your pinky can stay in it for a full 20 seconds without your yelling bloody murder, then its ready). Add prepared yogurt ( about a spoon or so depending on the quantity of milk). Mix well. Pour milk into a bowl you can cover. Set overnight in a warm place (oven with pilot light on, or wrap the container in a towel). DOnt touch it for the rest of the night. in the morning you will have --> BTW_ this one is made with the low carb milk. It is the thickest best yogurt I have ever made. So what is your yogurt making secret???

I was talking to a restaurant owner last night about Indian desserts and he was complaining about how most Indian desserts are milk based and for his patrons who have milk aversions/allergies etc its hard to prepare something that they would like... what are some of the non milk based desserts that you have tried and know of? I make a date halwa or pudding but even that uses heavy cream Gur Roti - Indian bread with jaggery.. Puran Poli - Indian bread with lentils and jaggery.... Chikki - peanut brittle... What else??

Its been raining NON STOP for the past few days in DC and quite frankly I had had enough this morning. SO I decided to spend some time in my favorite place.. my kitchen to cheer me up Normally I would have prepared cardamom tea and some onion fritters.. today.. i felt like doing something different.. The tea was replaced with a saffron brew that my father taught me to prepare. It has no tea really (originally it was prepared with tea leaves, but I like mine without) - this is saffron, cardamom, and cinnamon brewed and then served over slivered almonds and with a touch of honey.... For the food part -- I debated and then prepared a crunchy deep fried okra.. thinly sliced okra (lengthwise), seasoned, deepfried and then served with a sprinkling of Chaat Masala.. Yes.. there is hope even in this damn rain What do you cook to pull you out of a rainy day slump??

I think Paneer is one of the most versatile ingredients out there. How do you like to use Paneer? Traditional? Fusion? Raw? Do share with us your secrets of the perfect Paneer dish

Besides the obvious dietary differences (in the case of the Muslim faith in Pakistan as it relates to the Halal traditions versus Hindu and other Indian religions) how are the cuisines of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) different than India's? Are there any particular dishes that stand out? And I'm not just talking variations in proteins (Pakistani food I assume uses Beef in curries and such when Indians use Goat and other things -- a search of Sri Lankan recipes seem to include some beef dishes as well) . Do they have different spices?

A new whisky created in India that conforms exactly to Scotch whisky requirements! Scotsman article here. Cheers!

Yes -- if its cheaper than the local korean grocery store.. its a good deal. Our local Korean store still has good deals on fish prices This is funny.. and true! Signs at your local stores????

Asparagus with Indian spices Serves 2 as Appetizer. This is an entry for Monica's competition. I have not tested it myself, asparagus not yet being in season here. 1 lb Fresh Asparagus 2 T Olive or groundnut oil 2 T FIncely shreded coconut 1 tsp salt 1 tsp Light curry powder of your favourite spice mixture 1. Prepare the asparagus: break off the tough part of the base of the sticks, and if fancy peel from below the bud area 2. Toss with the oil 3. Roast in a hot oven for 10 minutes 4. In a hot pan put the salt and the ground spices, heat until the aroma is released. 5. Mix in the grated coconut 6. Plate the asparagus and either strew the coconut mix over, or leave on the side of the plate, or put a soft poached egg on the plate, and top with the spice mixture ( RG983 )

Asparagus with Indian spices Serves 2 as Appetizer. This is an entry for Monica's competition. I have not tested it myself, asparagus not yet being in season here. 1 lb Fresh Asparagus 2 T Olive or groundnut oil 2 T FIncely shreded coconut 1 tsp salt 1 tsp Light curry powder of your favourite spice mixture 1. Prepare the asparagus: break off the tough part of the base of the sticks, and if fancy peel from below the bud area 2. Toss with the oil 3. Roast in a hot oven for 10 minutes 4. In a hot pan put the salt and the ground spices, heat until the aroma is released. 5. Mix in the grated coconut 6. Plate the asparagus and either strew the coconut mix over, or leave on the side of the plate, or put a soft poached egg on the plate, and top with the spice mixture ( RG983 )

Best Asparagus recipe, Indian style. Inspired by all the discussion on asparagus in the India forum recently , I have decided to hold a fun contest. You will have three days to complete the contest. Only the recipes posted on the recipeGullet will be judged. Our very own eGulleter's Rajsuman and Tryska will be the judges. The winner will receive a copy of one of my favorite new books – The Potsticker Chronicles. The rules – 1. You will need to use asparagus as one of the main ingredients 2. Please post tested recipes. IF you can provide a picture even better 3. You will need to use spices listed here… using any of the Indian pantry items listed here -- Indian Pantry 4. Anyone in an “official” capacity at eGullet is eligible to enter but will not receive any prizes. Judgments 1. All judgments are final 2. Contest ends on April 15th 3. The winner will be announced on April 20th Please post your entries on this thread along with a link to recipeGullet. (Note – We may need an alternate judge if Rajsuman is unable to find asparagus!)