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Do you have dishes that simmer all day to perfection? Slow cooked curries..... yum with all this talk about moving fast and being there yesterday.. there is still so much pleasure in simple things that take some time.. hopefully not too much sweat.. and a lot of love do share

One immediate concrete benefit for the urban residents of elections are the celebratory sweets that are distributed by victors. Anyone had any? Any difference between Cong and BJP / NDA celebratory sweets (other than, presumably, that there less of the latter than the former)?

I just tried this confection for the first time today, and i am in love. Does any one have a relible recipe that they can share?

I had dinner with some friends last night and the conversation turned to Pad Thai.. a favorite with the group. So someone turns to me and says -- do you make it at home. I do in the traditional Thai way with a recipe I picked up from a chicago newspaper a long time ago. What would an indianized version of Pad Thai be was the next question-- so tell me what do you think it would be?

Do you enjoy cooked fruit? Are there special Indian dishes you make with cooked fruit? What do you like about it? One of my favorites is -- Khubani Ka Meetha -- Boiled dried apricots cooked in sugar and then pureed and served with dollops of fresh cream What are some of your favorite dishes? Inquiring minds want to know

We spent the afternoon today making "Karanjees". Soft dough is prepared with all purpose flour and milk. Then it is rolled out into small discs. We stuffed some with spiced peas and some with a coconut jaggery mixture. Sealed it in half moon shapes and deep fried it... delicious. See here for pics tomorrow do you make these? what is your secret to making perfect karanjees?

Good morning all For lunch today I am making a very simple dish. Cumin scented potatoes. Oil is seasoned with cumin, ginger and garlic. Potatoes and red bell peppers are sauteed. then freshly ground coriander, turmeric, red chili and salt. Cover and cook until potatoes are done -- and its ready to eat What could be easier? What is your simple and charming potato recipe? Do share?

quick question? since chapatis and puris come from essentially the same dough - could I prep some doguh, roll it out, layer with wax paper, freeze and then as i wanted/needed - fry or put on a griddle as I wish?

On another isle of Taj Imports, I found myself very perplexed. So many different types of legumes, so little time. So theres something labled channa on one side of the isle, and it looked like chickpeas/garbanzo beans. Then on the other side was something called channa but it was yellow and looked to be split. Chana/channa is a major source of confusion for me. When I read a recipe asking for chana/channa, do I use the yellow split looking number, or do I use chickpeas? Oily or dry? I've been using chickpeas. I bought some of the yellow ones this time, however because its time to branch out. There were other yellow legumes, some had dal in the name, some looked split, others whole, there were red, green, black etc. There was even a Horse Dal. I figured it was called that due to its varigation looking like that of some pinto horses or appaloosas. Most of them I recognized as some kind of lentil. Does dal mean lentil, and channa mean bean? I have used a whole yellow... thing... it was sort of rice shaped, as opposed to lentil shaped. I forget its name. It could have had channa in the name somewhere? I used it with some of the red dal (masoor i *think*) and some chickpeas to make parippu vada. Yum. The person who gave me the recipe was verbally telling me the recipe, it wasnt written, and said channa. So I used what I thought was channa. It was really fabulous but I still want to make sure I'm using the right legume for the right dish, until I get experienced enough to mix and match with abandon. I've searched around on google but I'm still as in the dark as I was before. Can someone shed some light on Indian pulses for me? Where can I go, what can I read to demystify these protein packed powerhouses?

I went to my Taj Imports this weekend and among other things, was perusing the vast rice selection. I nearly walked off with a 10 pound bag of "Aged Basmati" because it sounded quite delightful. But I didn't really know what it was, or if it was more flavorful, firmer, or whatever, than the plain-old-bulk-from-Central-Market-basmati that I have currently in my pantry. I just have a few cupfuls left. There is something decidely thrilling for me, about buying a big ol' bag of rice. It feels somehow... comforting and safe and I can't figure that one out. I ended up talking myself out of the purchase, but now regret it. I'm tired of feeling guilty for eating rice. Screw low carb. Nothing wrong with a half cuppa rice with my meal. So, anyway.... What IS the difference between regular basmati and aged basmati? What about jasmine rice? I love the pop-corny smell of jasmine rice. They had that by the bagful too. There were bags upon bags of rices. How do you choose? What do you use? What do you like? Newbie Nessa Needs to Know. Tee hee.

Five years ago, Floyd Cardoz and Danny Meyer quietly unleashed Tabla on the New York restaurant scene. I don't think anybody – even those who, like me, loved the place from the start – predicted that it would become one of the world's most important restaurants. I'm not sure, even today, that Tabla's significance is widely appreciated. To be sure, it was always a good restaurant. And, in the stubborn manner of all Danny Meyer restaurants, it underwent consistent improvement – steady but, sometimes, frustratingly slow. But it always felt like a whimsical, almost accidental place, especially to those familiar with the backstory: Tabla was something of an unintended consequence of historic preservation. The wall dividing the ground-floor space in the landmark Art Deco Metropolitan Life building on Madison Park left a niche just large enough, after the mega-project of Eleven Madison Park (which was supposed to be the splashier of the two restaurants) was conceived, for a boutique restaurant sporting a seemingly whimsical concept: Indian fusion. Today what was once called Indian fusion has acquired what I think is a more appropriate moniker: New Indian cooking. What was once iconoclastic is now one of the most significant movements in modern cuisine. And Tabla is at its nexus. Asian fusion reached its apex in the 1990s, but India has long held the pole position when it comes to mastery of spices – even the Southeast Asian cuisines such as Thai, Malaysian, and Vietnamese, which utilize spices to such great effect, ultimately look to India as the progenitor of curries and other complex spice blends. And spices represent, to me, the most neglected frontier of Western cuisine. New Indian cooking, though not as sizeable a movement as Asian fusion, is not only about Indian cuisine, and not only about the effect of Western technique and ingredients on that cuisine, but also about what India has to teach Western chefs about an entire category of flavors. Although he was the student and Gray Kunz was the mentor, back in the days when Floyd Cardoz was at Lespinasse he taught Kunz a thing or two about spices. And if you have something to teach Gray Kunz about spices, you have something to teach everyone. I think in the final analysis, the West will learn as much or more from India as from Asia. As Tabla was making its presence felt and slowly working through its early dysfunction over its self-perception (are we an Indian restaurant or what?), its perception in the Indian community (it's not Indian enough), and its perception in the Western culinary community (it's too Indian), there were other restaurants throughout North America working independently towards common evangelical goals. In Vancouver, Vikram Vij was operating the renowned Vij's, which I've been calling the best Indian restaurant in North America since my August 2001 “Vancouver dining comes of age” feature in the National Post. Although, it was my wife Ellen who had alerted me to its existence and insisted on its excellence after a trip she had taken to Vancouver without me for a piece she was doing for Arthur Frommer. In Boston, Thomas John was developing the message at Mantra. More recently, in New York, the team of Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur have been introducing a new level of rigor to Indian cuisine here, first at Diwan, then at Amma, and soon at Devi. And of course Madhur Jaffrey, the polymath actress, chef, and super-genius, has been laying the foundations of New Indian cooking since the rest of these guys were in diapers. Which brings us to a special dinner last night commemorating Tabla's fifth birthday, when all the aforementioned chefs came together to demonstrate where New Indian cooking is today. Such events need to be viewed on multiple levels. There are the dishes themselves, which are rarely as precise and well executed as they would be on a chef's home turf: the banquet production requirements, the unfamiliar kitchens, and a host of other factors are always limiting. There is the overall meal, which in the best instances is far more than the sum of its parts. And then there is what the event means in a larger context, which can range from nothing to quite a lot. There were some delicious dishes served last night. Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur were given the task of awakening guests' palates with a series of hors d'oeuvres that included a bracing shrimp rasam with buttermilk and little florets of Mancurian cauliflower (we all need this recipe). They were also responsible for continuing the momentum through the first course: “sprouted beans chat, crispy spinach millefeuille.” It was a remarkable dish, the crisped leaves of spinach serving as the layers in a savory postmodern Indian take on the traditional French pastry. This gave way to Madhur Jaffrey's jumbo shrimp in a sauce featuring fennel seeds, mustard seeds, and curry leaves. I don't think there's a word for the color of this sauce, which fell somewhere between peach melba and coral, but in honor of it I'd like to paint my whole house, my car, and my dog. I asked her if I could have a gallon and she laughed, thinking I wasn't serious. Thomas John, for his part, offered caramelized red snapper with spiced yucca, accompanied by the most vibrant salad of fava beans and watermelon. Jaffrey is a tough act to follow, but John's little bits of watermelon managed to penetrate the fog that her haunting sauce had left over the audience. Floyd Cardoz countered with crispy spice-crusted soft shell crabs over a medley of pickled ramps, long squash, bacon, and crab curry. Luckily I was seated next to a non-soft-shell eater so I got to eat two portions. Finally, like an invading army, Vikram Vij's ghee-braised short ribs (pause to consider that: short ribs braised in clarified butter!) with cinnamon and red wine curry flattened the terrain, and then Helen Turley's 2002 Zinfandel “Duarte” came along to beat the crap out of anybody left standing. I felt violated. And happy. I can't imagine being a pastry chef in this situation, playing to an exhausted house that has had its palates collectively pounded on by the entire flavor range of the Penzey's spice catalog, but Jehangir Mehta, the pastry chef at Aix, served up one of the best desserts I've had in ages: a salty caramel tapioca tart with pomegranate paan reduction, marinated mango, and citrus ice cream. The saltiness of this dessert was a stroke of genius, activating resources of flavor perception I thought I'd lost hours before. Sitting with my back to Tabla's central architectural feature, the oculus, I felt upon my first bite as though I might suddenly tumble backwards through the hole and onto the stone floor below. There were certainly flaws in most of the dishes, along the lines of what I mentioned above – I'd love to try each of them with the home team cooking. But I feel it is necessary to allow some latitude in order to perceive the overall meal experience, which was terrifically enjoyable and wildly synergistic. But what was far more significant, to me, than the meal itself was what it represented. Being at Tabla last night felt like being in a moment, one of those moments you know you'll return to time and again as history unfolds and gives us more perspective. There was a sense of being there, while something important was happening. It could be seen on the chef's faces: what had been a fragmented community of kindred spirits, and had slowly developed into a movement, last night gelled into something more along the lines of a school of thought. And it was inspiring to see the audience, almost evenly divided between Indians and non-Indians, breaking bread together as a new gourmet community. It was quite a night, one I'll never forget.

Lifting out my eulogy to mangosteens from the mango thread. As this topic's subhead says, they entirely deserve a thread of their own (also I want to do some nitpicking). Are there other mangosteen maniacs out there apart from me? Any other mangosteen memories? I don't know whether to ask for mangosteen recipes though, because part of me feels that fruit so perfect shouldn't be messed around with.

I hosted a large dinner last weekend. One of the items of the menu seemed to be a favorite with the guests.... the cold soups The first is an adaptation of a traditional Indian curry - I served it as a soup. Kokum fruit (related to mangosteen tree (editorial note-- correction made here) ) is seeped in warm water. The fruit self is then discarded. The water is mixed with coconut milk, crushed garlic, green chiles and a bit of toasted cumin seeds. I think the traditional preparation calls for cooking it.. I prepare it without. So this is my version of the dish. The final soup is a perfect pink -- guests can add more minced green chiles for garnish if they wish 2 Is a Mango papaya soup spiked with fresh lime juice, a bit of brown sugar, fresh orange juice and some black salt... a touch. Its garnished with mint leaves. I have adapted this from a recipe in Cooking Light a few moons ago The second soup also makes a great base for serving icecream - as the kids at the party attested to! So tell me what cold soups, with an Indian touch, do you make??

Ok, so I've got the powdered asafoetida, in a canister thing. I put it in a plastic baggie when I started noticing the odor. It came back, so I put it in a double plastic baggie. Its back. What gives? How do you store asafoetida so that it's..... fragrance..... is contained?

1. I like paneer but find it a bit bland. I know that's the way it's supposed to be, but what happens if you add salt and, say, minced herbs at the curds stage? There must be a name for that. Ever try it? 2. Also, I note that some recipes call for paneer to be rolled in flour before browning. What difference does that make? 3. Also, I'm trying to re-create a paneer dish I had in a resto a few years ago. Wish I was paying more attention, but I'm sure people here can help. It was paneer cubes sauteed in spices, nothing more. No tomatoes, no spinach, no peas, etc. It was almost like a snacky thing you might have with a beer. I've tried a few iterations and have had some tasty results, but I think I'd do better to start with the classics and work from there. So: What are some of the classic seared paneer dishes? Thanks for all your help, in advance. This paneer thingy is pretty cool. Edited for typo.

Hi Does anyone have any tried and tested recipes? Mine always turn out to be totally flat unless I make them from Gits.

Heated debate at lunch. At my dad's birthday, a discussion on tandoori developed. My sister said that he saw Juan Mari Arzak, father of the spanish new wave of cooking, respected by everyone in the profession and three starred chef, describing tandoori as mixture of spices. I stated that I've always heard the term tandoor referring to the oven itself where the food is cooked, not to the spices used. I don't exactly know why, but she preferred to believe the most respected person in the culinary scene of the country rather than me . Could someone bring some light to the issue, please?

Eight cups whole milk to a boil, stir in 1/4 c fresh lemon juice ... got the curd, stirred gently ... drained through a cloth, washed the curds a bit, squeezed out the whey. Put it under a weighted pan. Got a disk that's an inch thick and four inches wide. Tasty stuff. But is that the yield? If not, any ideas on where I might have gone wrong?

I'm looking for cookbooks containing Punjabi recipes, by Punjabi authors, preferably good ones :)

Jigg Karla's Daawat has a recipe for Mustard chutney marinated grilled bataer (quail). One of the ingredients is Kashundi (bengali bottle mustard). Can one our Bengali or otherwise knowledgable friends elaborate?? Thanks

Tell us how you use peanuts in your Indian kitchen.. chutneys? crushed on salads? In rice? where else do you use them? how do you store them? do you ever boil them? Inquiring minds want to know

Such an integral part of Indian cooking.. and such a delight... many are familiar with the use of ginger in curries, marinades and ofcourse in tea.. what special dishes do you make with it? desserts??

We are planning to be in HNL in the 2nd half of Aug. Need some recommendations for Indian food near Hilton village resort in Waikiki. The reason for asking nearby restaurant is that I am not planning to rent a car for the entire week but will do that for a couple of days. Would also appreciate your suggestions for 1 or 2 sight-seeing trips within the island for the days when I do rent the car. We have 2 kids 11 and 13. For the rest of time, we are simply planning to enjoy whatever activities Hilton and Waikiki have to offer. Thanks.

On one of these threads I recently described how raw jackfruit is cooked by some Muslim communities as a sort of mock meat dish and is called Tree Goat. I've been reading an interesting book, "Indian Mansions: A Social History of the Haveli" by Sarah Tillotson, where I came across this wonderful bit of information. She's talking about how cooking was done in the havelis, and how the vegatarian - non-vegetarian differences were maintained, usually with separate cooking areas: I love the idea of moving vegetables! And it occurs to me that this sort of deception is probably more common than the other one, of pretending vegetables were meat. Didn't Bengali Brahmins have a phrase for fish that translated as 'fruit of the sea'? Doesn't anyone know others? An example of this being done, though without a special name was in a restaurant in Gujarat where the (ostensibly) strict Jain guy I was eating with, asked the waiter to make sure the bill said vegetable curry rather than the chicken curry he'd just eaten. The waiter seemed quite used to requests like this. Another old example from Madras, with alcohol not meat, is an 'Iyengar soda'. Which was simply a whisky and soda served in a silver tumbler so that the Iyengar (very strict Brahmin) men could pretend they weren't drinking alcohol. Vikram

Could someone please explain the difference (if there is one) between a biriyani dish and a pulao dish? One Bengali friend of mine said they are defintely different but he's not sure how. Another friend told me he had always thought the two were interchangeable terms but he's not sure. I spent some time looking for the answer but no luck. Thanks, Richie