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Monica's article on India's white revolution makes me think about another little commented on aspect of it: much of the milk that goes into it comes from water buffalos as well as cows (I don't know the proportions, but I could try finding out). I think that has a definite impact on many Indian dairy products, but I don't know enough about the subject to comment on exactly how - can anyone explain? The even less noted aspect though is that a lot of water buffalos (I'm going to drop the 'water' from now on) must mean a lot of buffalo meat. But you will never find buffalo meat being sold as such. Indian cooks, perhaps correctly, feel that people won't want to eat buffalo meat, so most of what goes as 'beef' in India is really buffalo meat. Just like 'lamb' or 'mutton' is often goat. Vir Sanghvi, the editor of the daily The Hindustan Times, who writes a most excellent food column under the pen name Grand Fromage, noted that in Nepal you can find buffalo billed honestly, if a rather peculiarly, as 'buff steak' but you will never find anything like this in India. What is really strange about this culinary deception is that there are considerable and real penalties attached to it - not for the deception, but for consuming beef. Barring a few states like Kerala, West Bengal and some of the Northeastern ones, the Hindu religious lobby has ensured that killing a cow is a crime in most of the country. (For those unfamiliar with Hinduism the cow is considered very sacred for various reasons I don't want to get into because the chances of my saying something contentious are quite high [And I'm a Hindu myself]. All I'll say is that if you want an interesting take on it, read the anthropologist Marvin Harris' famous essay on the subject). The growth in power of Hindu fundamentalists means that cow killing has become an increasingly emotive issue. There is a very strong move now to make killing cows illegal across the whole country. (Apart from trampling on the rights of beef eaters, this will mean millions of starving decrepit cows, but that for some reason if OK, as long as they aren't killed). There have been several horrific cases recently of people being killed on suspicion of killing cows. And yet a lot of meat is sold and eaten, whether its from buffalos or cows. In my own city of Bombay not far from where I'm typing this I can go and find a number of places serving excellent - and another irony - very cheap beef. 'Mutton' is expensive, presumably because its legal, but beef is cheap which is another reason why its popular. Mmmmm, maybe this might be my dinner solution. Beef kebabs at Baghdadi in Colaba maybe, or beef khichada, a wonderful creamy stew of meat cooked with wheat and pulses, in the lanes of Minara Masjid. You have to know what to ask though - people are wary on the beef issue now. Only in the hearts of Muslim or Christian neighbourhoods will you find beef being openly sold. In the roadside places serving beef you might be asked "bade ka ya chote ka?" ("the big one or the small one?" where big is obviously beef and small is mutton). In butcher's shops you ask for 'undercut' or specify beef sotto voce. And if you ask an expensive restaurant where they got their steaks from they'll say it came from outside the state, since its illegal to kill cows in the state, but not (yet) to eat them. This isn't quite true, of course. Some really expensive restaurants do import genuine beef from abroad and some people are presumably shipping dead cows into the city (But from Kerala or W.Bengal, neither of which are near?). The bulk of course comes from illegal abbatoirs in the city and you can just imagine the workpractices there, since its all illegal anyway. And yet, despite all these problems, restaurateurs and butchers still shy away from saying that they are serving - quite legal - buffalo! I suppose it the unprepossesing muddy black look of the animal, though I rather like their cud chewing placidity as they stand in the middle of roads defying all attempts to move them - 'India's natural speedbreakers' as exasperated drivers call them. Cows can be skittish and will move with a honk, but buffalos will stand there till kingdom, or the kid in nominal charge of them, comes. Anyway, this mail did have a query, before I got carried away, which is this: when it comes to cooking the animals, how much does buffalo meat differ from beef? I find the meat I get at the butchers pretty tough and I usually have to pressure cook it which is fine for curries, but I guess means no steaks. I'm told restaurants tenderize like crazy. But is buffalo meat really tougher than beef, or is it more a reflection on the way both cows and buffalos are raised in India? Can it be used in almost exactly the same way as beef or should adjustments be made? And finally, are there other cultures less snobbish about water buffalo meat that have recipes specifically for it? I think I've read in Davidson about it being popular in parts of Southeast (but is it labelled as such, or is 'beef' again used?) What about Italy? What happens to all those mozzarella producers once they're past their producing days? And can anyone give me Italian buffalo recipes? It'll make a nice change the next time I get some 'undercut' from my butcher. Vikram

Post your questions here -->> Q&A A Sampling of South Indian Breads Authors: Monica Bhide and Chef K.N. Vinod Introduction Kerala, situated in the southern part of India, is one of the most blessed places in the world. It is a gorgeous state boasting luscious green landscapes, magnificent waterscapes, and a cuisine to match. It also boasts a unique and healthy cuisine that has benefited greatly from the influx of settlers and traders throughout the history of India. Kerala hosts Hindus, Christians and Muslims and reflects Portuguese, Chinese, Dutch, French, Arabic and of course the British influence in its cuisine and culture. Chef Vinod, his charming mother, Pushpavathy, and I would like to present to you some of the unique breads from Kerala. We have borrowed a few from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu as well ( the Dosas and the Idlies) to give you a birds-eye-view of the breads of South India. Most Westerners are more familiar with the standard North Indian breads that are available here in most restaurants, the Naan, the Tandoori Roti etc. We would like to introduce you to an entirely different concept of bread. Perfectly steamed breads made with rice flour and coconut. Some sweetened with jaggery (cane sugar), some drunk with pickles, others alive with peppers. Come join us on this wonderful journey into a world that will entice you. This is a mere sampling to whet your palate. You will notice that some of the preparations require special utensils. We have tried to show you the authentic way in which these dishes are prepared (at the Chef’s home in DC). Where possible we have indicated alternate utensils for the home cook. Many of the utensils, ingredients etc. can be purchased from www.namaste.com (Unfortunately, they do not ship outside of the United States). Banana leaves are readily available at most Korean or other ethnic food stores. A tip: Be sure to read the recipe completely before you begin. Please note that these are the Chef’s rendition of these recipes. There are always regional quirks and variations. Chef Vinod and his mother Pushpavathy. Cracking the Coconut We wanted to start with the basics! This will show you how to crack a coconut. Step 1: You can see that the Chef is holding the coconut and breaking it with large sickle-like knife. I would suggest you take it outside and bang it once or twice on hard cement!! Step 2: Here you can see the cracked coconut. (If you like, drink the water, which is unbelievably sweet. It's even better if you have green, young, tender coconuts). The water of this mature coconut may not be that sweet. Step 3: Here are two very traditional methods of grating the coconut. In the first method, Pushpavathy is sitting on the floor with a floor-based grater and in the second one, we have the grater fixed to the side of a table. Step 4: Being ever practical (remember – “What would your mom say”) I suggest you can also buy a bag of grated coconut, now so easily available! Puttu: Rice flour moistened and mixed with grated coconut and steamed. Ingredients • 1 cup rice flour • ½ cup grated coconut • 1 teaspoon cumin • ½ cup water • Salt to taste Method Mix all the ingredients and set aside. This recipe uses a pressure cooker and a very special cylinder called a Puttu Kutti (some people use bamboo). We will show two different ways to prepare this dish – one using the cylinder (hollow at one end, small hole at the other), one using a coconut shell. You can also create your own contraption to prepare this dish (see method 3 below). Method 1 Add about 8 cups of water to your pressure cooker. Cover and allow the pressure to build. In the meantime, using a spoon, fill the cylinder with mixture. Be sure to pack it tight Place the cylinder on the steam nozzle of the pressure cooker. Cover. Steam for about 3 -4 minutes. Remove the cylinder from the heat. Use a spatula to push out the steamed rice flour cake onto a plate. Repeat process until all the dry mixture has been used up. Serve hot. Method 2 Here we used a coconut shell to prepare the Puttu. Drill a small hole in the bottom of one of the coconut shell halves. Fill the half shell (with the hole), with the mixture. Place the shell on the steam nozzle of the pressure cooker. Cover with the other coconut shell. Steam for about 3 -4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Use a spatula to push out the steamed rice flour cake onto a plate. Repeat process until all the dry mixture has been used up. Serve hot. Method 3 Heat water to a rolling boil in a deep dutch oven or a deep pan. Place a hollowed cylinder in the center (hollowed at both ends). Place the coconut shell (with mixture as described in method 2) on the cylinder and follow directions in method 2. This dish is best served hot. It is traditionally served with bananas, Indian wafer (papadams) and black chickpeas. (We ate it with North Indian style with chick peas). Pushpavathy indicated that in some places in South India, it is also eaten with plain sugar. Puttu Served with plantain and channas Ada: Steamed and stuffed rice flour bread Ingredients • 4 cardamom seeds • 2 small lumps of jaggery • 7 tablespoons grated coconut • ¾ cup hot water • 2 cups of rice flour • A pinch of salt Method Roughly pound the cardamom seeds. If you use a mortar and pestle to pound the seeds, remove the skins after pounding. Alternatively you can use a spice mill, in which case you would leave the skins on. Using a grater, grate the jaggery. Add the powdered cardamom to the jaggery and set aside. In a bowl, mix the water, rice flour and salt. Knead into a loose dough. Divide the dough into seven equal parts. Heat a skillet or griddle or a hot plate on high heat. While the skillet is heating, prepare the bread. Place a banana leaf on the counter top. With moistened hands, place one dough ball on the leaf. Gently begin to press the dough out. Keep pressing and stretching until the dough is about 8 inches in diameter. Now we will add the stuffing. Stuffing 1: Using a spoon, spread about 1 tablespoon of coconut on flattened dough. Stuffing 2: In a small bowl, mix a tablespoon of coconut with a tablespoon of the jaggery mixture. Spread on the flattened dough. Fold the banana leaf into half, press down gently. (If the leaf is too large, trim the edges.) Repeat for all the dough balls. Place the folded banana leaf on a skillet. Brown for 3 minutes on each side (it might be a bit longer depending on how high your heat is). Cover and steam for about 7 – 8 minutes. Serve hot. The perfectly melted and caramelized jaggery oozes sinfulness from the bread. Another version of this dish is called the Kozhi Katta – here the dough is tighter and is stuffed with jaggery and steamed. Pathiri A divine and delicate bread made by the Muslim community (also known as the Moplahs of Kerala). This is the Chef’s own rendition of this South Indian classic. Prepare the dough as you would for Ada. (Some people use coconut milk instead of water to prepare this dough.) A touch of cumin seeds may be added for taste. It is prepared in a similar method as the Ada. The difference is that the dough is flattened out much thinner to obtain the “flat bread” appearance. Serve hot. Dosa One of the most famous South Indian breads. A perfect crisp crepe-like bread prepared with rice and dal (lentil). These days, you can buy packaged mixes from your local Indian grocer. They save the soaking and fermenting time. (you can also purchase these online at www.namaste.com.) Ingredients • 4 cups long grain rice • 1 cup white urad dal ( also called Dhuli Urad) • ¾ cups water (approximately) • Salt to taste • 2 -3 tablespoons vegetable oil Method Soak the dal in water for at least 3 -4 hours. Drain and set aside. Soak the rice in water for at least 4 – 6 hours. Drain and set aside. Put the the dal and a few tablespoons of water into a blender. Blend to a smooth consistency. The trick here is to try to do with it as little water as possible. Remove from blender and place in a bowl. Now add the rice and salt to the blender, again with ½ cup of water. Blend to a paste – this will not be as smooth as the dal paste. Add more water if needed. Add the rice batter to the dal batter and mix well. Your batter should have the consistency of thick pancake batter. Leave the batter to ferment overnight. This needs a warm environment. I generally warm the oven. Turn it off and then place the batter in it to ferment. An oven with a pilot light works well as well. Now we are ready to make the dosas. Heat a non-stick skillet. Using a paper napkin, dipped in a bit of oil, wipe the skillet. Using a small glass bowl or a metal bowl (anything with a flat base), pour a ¼ cup of batter onto the skillet. Using the bowl, make concentric circles to spread out the dosa. Sprinkle a few drops of oil to prevent the dosa from sticking. You will begin to see small bubbles forming and the dosa will begin to crisp. Using your spatula, carefully roll the dosa off the skillet. Serve hot. There are many ways to stuff the dosas. You can also eat them plain with your choice of chutneys. See the Indian Forum for some lively discussions on Dosa and some noteworthy chutney recipes. Uttapam: A savory pancake topped with chopped bell peppers, onions and cilantro. Serve with your choice of chutney. Ingredients • Leftover Dosa batter • 1/4 cup, each, chopped bell peppers, onions and cilantro leaves Heat a non-stick skillet on medium heat. Pour a ¼ cup of batter onto the skillet. (If you have a large skillet you can make more than one at a time). Add a generous helping of the mixed peppers. Cook for about 2 minutes. Flip over and cook for another 4 -5 minutes. Serve hot. Appam Madhur Jaffrey once described Appam as a marriage between a French crepe and an English muffin. This classically Keralite dish consists of rice batter mixed with coconut and fried like a pancake in a wok called cheena chatti (This wok gets its name from the fact that it was historically a Chinese utensil. This shows the influence of the Chinese on this cuisine). Ingredients • 1 cup rice • ½ cup water • ½ cup coconut milk • Salt to taste • 2 tsp.sugar • Pinch of baking soda Soak the rice overnight. Drain. In a blender, blend the rice with 1/2 cup of water and half cup of coconut milk. Place the batter in a bowl. Take about 3 tablespoons of the batter and place it in a small non-stick pan. Bring it to a boil. Remove from heat and add it back to the main batter. Mix well. Leave to ferment overnight (see directions under Dosa for fermentation environments). Add salt, sugar and baking soda to the batter. Mix well. Adjust the consistency if necessary with water (Pancake batter consistency). Heat a small (about an 8 inch) skillet. Add about a ¼ cup of the batter. Swirl the pan so that batter sticks to the sides. It will remain a bit thick at the center (think – French crepe on the sides, English muffin at the center). Cover and steam for about 2 -3 minutes. Once the appam is cooked, the sides appear lacey and the center is spongy. Remove gently from the skillet. Serve hot. Appams are traditionally served with mutton or chicken stew. Idlies These are another famous South Indian treat. These steamed rice cakes have found a happy home in almost every South Indian restaurant abroad. They are served with chutneys and the tantalizing Indian lentil based Sambhar. Many people swear the best way to eat them is warm, drizzled with hot clarified butter (Ghee). Ingredients • 2 cups rice • ¾ cups white Urad Dal • Salt – to taste • For stuffing – Your favorite Indian Pickle *(optional) • cooking spray Method Please note that this dish needs the Idli steamers. You can purchase these at your local Indian grocer or at www.namaste.com. Alternatively you can steam these in small bowls placed in steam baths. These can also be microwaved (a few tablespoons in a glass bowl, and about 4 minutes in the microwave) – although this does alter the taste. They are best steamed. Soak the rice and dal together for 4 – 5 hours. Drain. In a blender, blend the dal and rice separately with a few tablespoons of water to a pancake-like consistency. The Dal should be ground very smooth to make the idli light and fluffy. Mix the ground dal and rice together and let it sit to ferment overnight. Add salt to taste and mix well. Using a cooking spray such as Pam, grease the Idli steamers. Now heat water in a deep pan (the pan needs to be deep enough to hold the steamers and it needs a lid). Place a few tablespoons of batter in each holder If you are going to prepare stuffed Idlies, pour in about a tablespoon of the batter and add half teaspoon of the pickle and then top it off with more Idli batter. (You can use any thick chutney like Mint, Coriander, Tomato or anything of your choice.) Place the steamer inside the deep pan. Cover and steam for about 7 – 8 minutes. Idlies are done (like cakes) when they pass the toothpick test. Uncover. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the idlies. Remove with a sharp knife. Serve hot. Post your questions here -->> Q&A

Post questions for A Sampling of South Indian Breads here.

In the midst of the muggy New York summers, I always enjoy a refreshing beverage, whether it's alcoholic or not. What unique drinks would you serve as an afternoon refreshment, at a party, before dinner, after dinner? Recipes, new ideas? Are there beverages that are distinct to certain regions of India?

I have too much sitting in my veggie drawer from my CSA deliveries. Any tasty Indian-inspired recipes I can use the squash in?

i have my pick, but for crying out loud, i can't remember the exact street. anyway the place is thackers club, (NOT the thackersee on churchgate/marine drive) and you get to it by going north on the first road parallel to marine lines and taking your second right (something wadi). ALMOST home cooked quality, beats purohit by a mile and then some. it really is a find, this place, and a bit of a secret .. almsot none of my eating out pals know about it.

This Michelin starred restaurant on the main street of a non-descript town (Arriondas) which acts as a gateway to the Picos de Europa was a total contrast to every other restaurant we ate at in the Asturias. It was only here that you could see the influence of French nouvelle cuisine and presumably that also of Ferran Adria-a 50 Euro tasting menu of ten highly wrought miniscule portions all trying to convey the essence of the ingredients via a tiny mouthful. Its a very pleasant restaurant, quite a formal atmosphere with a burnished wooden floor, one wall a beautifully deep turquoise with modern art, and a garden area for outside eating. A young Venuzuelan chap spoke a little English and French and along with my menuspeak Spanish we were able to communicate adequately enough for the purpose. However, the English menu again bore no relation to the Spanish one. Even the prices were completely different Luckily we realised in time to discard it as useless. However after a while I began to wonder about the mind of the chef-one J.A. Campoviejo. I mean I don't want huge portions in a tasting menu but here it would have been impossible to put less food on the plate if you tried.For example "Marinated Sardine with a Tomato and Orange Soup and Apple ice Cream" presented with HALF a Sardine I mean what sort of person serves up half a sardine? Similarly "Tuna in a Cider Cream Sauce with Crispy Pork" had six tiny breadcrumb size lardons counted out on each plate. I mean you couldn't make lardons smaller. And then to count out exactly six? The whole meal was like this. Tiny little jewels on a plate. It looked exquisite, but it looked like doll's food. There were lots of ice creams and gelees-oyster ice cream, onoin ice cream, Asturian cheese ice cream, apple ice cream, gellees of lettuce, tomato, pimiento, all in teaspoon sized amounts. There wasn't much chewing going on. You could have eaten this meal with no teeth. Some of the tastes were amazingly intense. The onion ice cream sang of roasted onion. The chorizo oil in the Pote Asturiano (the only vaguely regional dish but totally deconstructed) was all the chorizo flavour you could want. The green vegatable gellee was incredible-an aspic distillation of fresh green vegetable. The chocolate mousse with-yes you guessed it-orange ice cream, was a peerless version. This chef has got to be ploughing a lonely furrow. The restaurant was three quarters empty on a Saturday night. In a scrubby provincial town in the middle of this rural mountainous region where most restaurants serve up hearty portions of hearty food, who wants to eat this stuff? I wouldn't have minded a chat with the chef but s/he never emerged. An interesting restaurant, but definitely a fish out of water and into ice cream.

I have 4 beautiful fresh perfect pomfrets... would love your suggestion on recipes

Ok so there I was looking for Indian Restaurants in Vermont - a common hobby with my pallette sensibilities- and to my utter amazement I couldn't find any. Vermont answer my call. Where are you Indian Restaurants. Are they good. This issue must be addressed.

My brother in law narrates this one. He, as a kid, with his father was at this rich Jain wedding feast. Need less to mention that it was all vegetarian. He put some rice on his plate and then scooped up stuff from a dish, which went plonk on his plate. Upon this his father told him to “put the stones back”. Behold he had served himself some stones. Apparently it’s a delicacy with the Jain Nawabs ( or whatever these noblemen were called). Bottoms of the ponds would be scoured for small stones on which moss or vegetation had grown. These greenish stones were used to prepare the curry that my b’inlaw helped himself to , above. The moss or the vegetation on the stones would come off and assimilate with the liquid and other seasonings used to form the stew, which would be eaten and the plain stones left at the bottom. ( Though why would they transfer the stones to the serving dish??) Anyway thats the story. Does anybody out there know of this dish? Or maybe you have some other unusual preperation that you can share.

Can anyone give me a good recipe for Cauliflower Manchurian? Thanks!

i haven't perused all the threads here but it seems like a lot of readers and posters here are interested in (relatively) more complicated indian dishes, often in things that are cooked more in restaurants or the homes of the rich (where there is time, labor and means to cook these things). as someone who grew up decidedly middle-class, unable to afford to go to 5 star restaurants or to elite clubs (except as rare treats), indian food has largely been defined for me by home-cooking. which, as all indians know, is quite a different beast from what is found in restaurants. sometimes i think people who cook every day prefer dishes that are simply prepared, and those who cook as a hobby go for the more complicated recipes. unfortunately in cookbooks and restaurants and magazine/newspaper articles in the u.s indian food is being identified more with the complicated (and rich, in all senses of the term) than with the mainstays of the average indian kitchen. some of this has to do with narratives of exoticization (often internalized by indian writers themselves) and the place of india in the western imagination, but whatever the cause it paints a very narrow picture of the indian culinary scene. the basic potato recipe i posted earlier is an example of a simple but tasty bengali home-style dish. i'd love to read and try other such recipes from other people's and regions' repertoires.

okay, here's a classic bengali recipe for potatoes cooked to be eaten with lucchis (though if like me, and most normal people, you can't cook a lucchi to save your life they go well with chapatis and parathas too--not as well with rice): ingredients: panch phoron: 1 tspn (a bengali 5 seed mixture: fennel, cumin, mustard, kalonji and one more thing usually) 5 medium rose potatoes diced 1 small onion thinly sliced cross-wise 1/2 tspn haldi 1 medium tomato chopped salt 2-3 thin green and red chillies chopped dhania water heat some oil (medium-high heat) and drop in the panch phoron. as soon as the seeds stop making like shrapnel drop in the onions--saute till the onions begin to brown and drop in the diced potatoes. saute for some time and add the haldi and stir again for a while. add the tomatoes, chillies and salt and stir till the tomatoes break down and the legendary oil separation begins to happen. add water to cover the potatoes, cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat till the potatoes are done. garnish with dhania and serve

I start this as a new topic sparked off by the Kheema thread where Vikram writes: Stir until the oil starts separating (this is the standard instruction given by Indian cooks, and I have never quite understood what it means. Like Vikram, for years I've tried to figure this one out. A mystery that continues to elude me. The cynic that I am made me do it one day, I carried out tasting tests with dishes prepared, one version where it was cooked till the oil separates and another where it does not. Needless to say nobody could make out the difference, if at all the latter was more aromatic probably because the spice flavours and volatile oils had not been despatched to the angels. Since then I never cook food till the oil separates. Sacrilege? Hardly. Being a self taught culinarian, I am devoid of any academic baggage. And experimenting is what keeps my culinary quest alive. I would like to think of a scenario where in old Hindoostan, the maharaja/nawab comes back from shooting some game; famished, he visits his cavernous kitchen to see what fare has been conjured by his khansama. The cook hearing him approach instantly tosses the masalas into a tadkaish frenzy and continues to vaporize the room with this heady aroma driving the kingpin into a state of complete gustatory surrender. So starts this idea of cooking till the "oil separates". The point that I am trying to make here is that the has dish lost all it's "valuables" before it is served in the dining room. To some degree the diner will have some olfactory hangover from his visit to the kitchen so he may not feel the loss too much. Decide whether you want to tantalise the kitchen or the dining room. Dont believe me, try it yourself. Cooking should be functional like the Maillard reaction.

Numerous have been the occasions when our patrons have explained their absence during the summer months with ,' its too hot for Indian food'. What do you think ? I have some views on this but would like to hear from all you wonderful people out there. Thanks

How do other people keep all of their spices organized? I seem to have so many jars of spices and dried chilies, etc. that it takes up alot of room. Does anyone use the traditional spice box? It only holds 7spices doesn't it? Is this practical for anyone? Which spices do you decide to put in it, and which stay on the shelf? Does anyone have good ideas on how they have organized a small kitchen to contain the evergrowing collection of legumes, flours, spices, etc...

Hi, I'm new to eGullet but looking at the former posts I believe I arrived to the right place Walking in a market, where there is a large Indian community, I came across an old guy selling strange looking pods or pulses. He asked me if I was Hindi speaking and when I answered negatively he smiled (with only a few teeth... ) and said that this was like "indian okra" and muttered something like "ChaPAnga" (with an accent on the PA sylable). These are 5-6 inch pods, green with some reddish lines. They are hard, not as soft as other pods I know. He told me to trim the ends, peel and cook them. This is what I'm going to do, but I wanted to know if anyone has a clue what these are, what are they called and what's the best use for them (otherwise it's tomato sauce with spices...) Thanks, Zucchini

my friend showed me some sort of bark-like substance that came in his dish of TVP and some other stuff (this was the first time i'd heard of TVP). this bark really didn't have any flavor at all, and it was more brittle than chewy. perhaps it had flavor at the beginning of the dish, but certainly not when i tried it hours later. any idea on what this could be?

The past few years the Food Network, a US based cable channel, and recently "The Restaurant," a reality show chronicling the opening of Roccos 22nd Street, have popularized the concept of "celebrity chef." There are celebrity chefs and prominent personalities representing most cuisines. A few examples: Ming Tsai, Emeril Lagasse, Bobby Flay, Nobu Matsuhisha, Jamie Oliver...the list goes on. Who would you nominate as a prominent Indian cuisine chef/personality in the US, UK, India? What characteristics/skills/achievements garner an Indian chef noteriety of any level?

City of London is one my favorites for dining INDIAN besides of course India and US and especially Amma in New York. I am the chef/owner of the restuarant THALI. Here is My Webpage. We are about 40 miles North of New York in NEw Canaan, Connecticut. Last summer I had the pleasure of meeting Iqbal Wahib owner of Cinnanmon Club UK and since then I couldn't wait to go to London. Starting Nov 24th I should be staying in Chelsea (Central London, I guess) for about seven days. I definetely plan on visiting several restaurants like, Cinnanmon Club, Zaika, Veeraswamy, Tamarind, Benares, Chutney Mary, Le Port De Indes, Nobu. (Bombay Braserie..not sure) Any other suggestions please ! and any cuisine is most welcome. I am there for a reason.... to eat .... to learn... to get inspired. Food is important but also like to check trends. What I really like to do is to spend a day or two in a couple of restaurant kitchens and I shall reciprocate in a similar way if any one is interested in my kitchen. May be as a guest chef? May be just to watch the kitchen in action? or may be even to chop some tomatoes or onions. Thanks a million and looking forward for the culinary trip and your help with connections and influence with some of the fine restaurants in UK.

We all grew up with it and got out of it....you all have, havent you! I'm grown up and there is no way I'll touch the stuff again, unless...... Ok, okay, stop the beatings, I admit it... I cant help it... I absolutely must have Tomato sauce when I'm breakfasting on an Omelette. Sniff, now that it is out of my system I feel much better, thank you. Okay, all you guys stand up and confess.

anyone have a simple recipe?

I am sure that there is a proper name for Bhang without the cannabis... any help here?

I was reading a review of Charlie Trotters book Raw and thought it would be interesting to hear ideas on how you would make a "raw" Indian dish. Charlie Trotter defines raw as "using the best possible ingredients at the height of their seasons, and not adulterating their flavors." All the dishes are prepared with basic techniques--juicing, dehydrating, and slicing preserving all the nutritional value avoiding the enzyme-rupturing process that intense heat induces. what would be best ingredients? would you incorporate lots of spices to make a "raw" dish Indian? what would be the quintessential ingredient to a "raw" Indian dish?

does anyone have a regular home-kitchen friendly recipe for chicken or goat biryani that they'd be willing to share? what do i mean by "regular home-kitchen friendly"? a recipe that doesn't require multiple hours of prep, multiple helpers or overly expensive/exotic ingredients or utensils. thanks in advance!