Amma

[Suvir Saran]

suvir, could you provide some info on the wine list?  specifically, what might be paired with the tasting menus?

congrats.  this is good news.  bad news for diwan, though.

Tommy, I shall share that information with you soon enough. Maybe you can come visit ut... and if you give me ample notice, I may make you some special dishes, only for your table.

I am sure Diwan and we can exist together. Certainly our little restaurant does not give too much to other Indian restaurants to worry about. It is small, and hence a place where Hemant and I can touch each dish with our hands.

[Suvir Saran]

Congratulations on the restaurant.  I look forward to sampling your vegetarian offerings.

Our vegetarian tasting menu has become quite the hit. Those that had it whilst we were doing mock servings of it, have brought friends back to try it again. The tasting menus in fact have been quite popular. The portions are not too big, and reduce the daunting nature of a seven course tasting.

Are you vegetarian?

If you do want to eat a vegetarian meal, if you give us some advance notice, I would be happy to cook some hard to find vegetables for you. In a small kitchen, these are some of the things we can do and enjoy working on.

Thanks for your wishes.

[Suvir Saran]

Best of luck to you Suvir on this new departure for you. Sounds wonderful. And with your book coming out soon as well!

Thanks Jinmyo!

[Suvir Saran]

Mango cheesecake? Like at the Clay Pit in Austin?

I think I want the Idly Upma just because of the name....

Not sure.. I have not eaten the one at the Clay Pit in Austin. Not sure what it tastes like.

Ours is prepared especially for us by Surbhi Sahni, the ex-pastry chef from Tamarind.

[Suvir Saran]

Congratulations Suvir,

This puts a lot of our posts in perspective now. I would never have been able to keep it a secret.

I bet the food uses less oil

This is what impresses me the most:-

Crispy Fried Spinach

mung beans, potatoes, onions, tamarind and mint chutneys How do you keep it crisp?

Trio of Southern rices (mint, lemon and tomato): A superb idea

Crab Kulcha

Apricot Stuffed Lamb Fillets (fennel- apricot stuffing, aromatic sauce, lemon rice)

Amma’s Mixed Green Salad (toasted cumin and balsamic vinaigrette, naan croutons) Getting adventurous arent we?

Kulfi (Indian ice cream) with Citrus Soup Please explain

Amma dekh tera munda bigda jaye!

Many thanks Episure!

The food uses oil. And some recipes more than others. It is not laced in oil for sure.

Crispy Fried Spinach are my take on what was first served to me at the fabulous getaway home of a friend of mine in Bombay, Czaee Shah. The spinach is crispy and light and we use whole leaves. We shall be happy to share the recipe, if you want it, email me. The mung bean salad is prepared as it would be in certain homes of Rajasthan. I have remembered the chaat from a meal I enjoyed with Lekha Poddar. The tastes were so simple, but the dish so healthy and yet so very addictive and amazing. Again, something simple and Indian, has become a dish many at the restaurant are eating and enjoying as a special preparation of the house.

Trio of Southern Rices - We sold an order of this today... and it was much appreciated. Both for the array of colors it brings in one platter, and also the diversity and intricate subtleties of tastes one can enjoy in something as basic as rice.

Hemant and I first made the Crab Kulchas for Diwan. They are made from lump crab meat and are simple and heavenly. The vegetarian in me, will break from my usual vegetarian instincts and enjoy many a bite of these.

We stuff the lamb fillets (pasandas) with a fennel scented apricot chutney. It has a deep slowly revealing flavor profile and the lemon rice makes for a quick and simple tang and spicyness with every bite. A nice pairing for each bite has both an immediate taste and one that comes a few moments later.

Amma's Mixed Green Salad was developed after a certain friend, to whom I owe many thanks, lectured me about the importance of greens in ones diet daily. As a vegetarian that does not like too many western style salads, I find this one addictive and have found customers Indian and non, that have been served this, come back for more. If you eat it, you shall see it becomes something quite familiar after the first bite. Somewhere between a Jhaal Muri (Calcutta style Bhel Puri), Phal Kee Chaat (savory fruit salad) and Bhel Puri (Bombay street food made with rice puffs, onions, potatoes and a mix of chutneys).

The Kulfi I would make like this at home for the longest of time. I shared this recipe in the tasting menu at Diwan. Both Hemant and I enjoyed the pairing of our rich creamy Kulfi with the bittersweet tang of the citrus soup. The soup is a citrus juice reduction, infused with spices.

If you plan a trip to NYC, do give us a chance to share some of our foods with you.

Thanks for your encouraging post.

[Suvir Saran]

I have recently been asked the following:

"From your posts on the thread regarding the woman who was thrown out of the vegetarian restaurant, I gather you are vegetarian as part of your beliefs. In that case, how do you feel handling meat and fish products? Or is your partner responsible for those dishes?"

I think it makes for an excellent question.

To be honest, cooking meats is a passion for me. If I had my way, everytime I entertain, and that is very very very often, I would happily cook mostly meats and fish and poultry. The challenge posed by the idea of cooking what I will not taste, is one I enjoy and relish. I never taste foods I prepare, vegetarian or non-vegetarian. It is one of the few really Indian traditions I have maintained. In the kitchen of the home I grew up in, my grandmas, tasting foods whilst they cooked, or before they were served to the Gods as an offering and then within seconds served to the family was not something encouraged. Perfectly prepared meals had to be served without tasting.

Whilst Hemant has great expertise with meat, and thousands of more hours preparing meats, fish and poultry to perfection, I do not shy from doing so either. Handling meat for me is no big deal.

My being vegetarian only ensures that vegetarians dining in my non-vegetarian restaurant (with veggie options) can find food that will not compromise their religious or secular vegetarian beliefs or needs. I take vegetarianism seriously, and Hemant and I both ensure our vegetarian food is vegetarian. And we both enjoy cooking both types of dishes and each of them has their own unique and interesting challenges for us.

So, whilst I do not taste my own meat, fish or poutltry preparations, I handle them with no cares. In fact I enjoy every opportunity I can get to cook with them.

[Suvir Saran]

more here

Maybe some one can merge these?

Congrat's to Suvir and Hemant

Thanks!

[Suvir Saran]

Congratulations Suvir:

I just read Gael Green's article in New York magazine.  I can't wait to hear how the first evening went.  Even more, I can't wait until I'm next in New York so I can visit Amma!

Matthew in Minnesota

Thanks Matthew in Minnesota!

Do let us know of your NYC visit. It would be pleasure to see you and cook for you.

[Suvir Saran]

Congratulations Suvir, and Good Luck with the enterprise. Now we know why you were kind of laid back on the forums of late. I know its a busy time for you but we look forward to your posting some pictures menu highlights etc.

Thansk again BBhasin!

Click HERE, and you can get the menu highlights. I think I thanked you on that thread as well.

[robert brown]

Suvir, this is great. I am sure it will be the #1 eGullet gathering place. How willl you be dividing your time between the kitchen and dining room?

All the best for a grand success.

[prasad2]

I am amazed, thrilled and what a surprise to find the duo team of chef's, Suvir and Hemant at Amma. No wonder Hemant is been missing in action at Diwan Grill.

Click here to see the opening of Amma in Manhattan an article in New York Magazine by Gael Green.

Suvir:

Is the restarant's menu, a glimpse in to your book "Indian Home Cooking" by Suvir Saran and Stephanie Lyness?

How would you descibe your menu at amma? Regional? Modern? Fusion? Authentic?

I saw some amazing accompaniments like eggplant pickle? and Pear chtney with Lamb chops? Hmmnnn....

How does, Amma's menu differ from the rapidly growing Indian Restaurant scene?

As a passionated chef (good or bad or average) myself, my inspiration and obsession comes from my mom, how does it feel to be obsessed from generations such as your obsession from your grand mother?

How does one find a menu of Amma? May be you can give as a link to Amma's website?

Thanks Prasad for your quick posting of this announcement by Gael Greene. Hemant and I as well as our restaurant Amma, are so very fortunate to have been able to share our food with Gael and her friends. Ms. Greene unlike many outside of India, is no foreigner to the many intricacies that form Indian cuisine. She knows more about Indian culture and food than many who have lived in India for a lifetime.

As a curious and fortunate traveler, she has had exposure to India unlike what many Indians could ever imagine. She has done what tourists can enjoy, she has seen what only tourists with an endless budget can enjoy and her acquaintances have given her the added advantage of discovering an India that is home to its very foremost tastemakers and cultural elite. All of this and her own curiosity to always discover what the villagers are enjoying and celebrating, has given her a study of India not easily possible for the most of us even after a lifetime of living and being Indian.

It is this no easy task to cook for such a person, and more importantly, to share something that would be both near close to perfect and also somewhat novel. Hence the menu you see, it was planned to be authentic, fresh, seasonal, regional, of the times and with traces of fusion. My own travels across India and those across other nations and cultures, has always left me searching my own heritage for stuff that can be easily translated for my times and yet evoke the aura and meaning these dishes had in times past. Hemant and I are able to share a partnership that has been tested by time. I met him soon after he first came to the US. We became friends and what many would call "mutual admiration society" types very quickly. It took only a few meals, prepared by both of us in our own kitchens and then together, for us to realize we had a shared vision and similar thirst for an India both old and modern, living and breathing and pulsing in harmony. We have spent the better part of the last half a dozen years exploring our own ideas and those we each picked up in our travels, from tastings with other chefs, at their restaurants, and in their homes. Our food today, is a culmination of a yearning to share something we each have created in equal measure and with respect for each other and for our own heritages and our shared vision.

Does the menu have glimpses from my upcoming book? Certainly, many actually and will keep coming out. The menu shall change four times a year and each menu will have recipes from the book.

The menu is regional, modern, authentic and has elements of fusion, even if only of authentic but surprising partnerships of tastes and textures.

Eggplant pickle, pear chutney, laukee ke kofte (zucchini dumplings in a runny tomato sauce), kararee bhindi (Crispy okra salad) and crispy okra raita are just some of the many dishes borrowed from home recipes.

Ammas menu may not differ much from the rapidly changing and growing Indian restaurants across the US. It does change in that it is our own version of both new and old dishes. And with some we have had to translate them for a restaurant kitchen, and some restaurant classics have been changed to become what a loving mother would prepare when emulating a restaurant dish. We really did not spend much time trying to make our menu different, we only tried to make a menu of dishes we really each love to eat.

My obsession for food comes from the obsessions of many generations in my family. Early in the morning, they begin speaking of lunch, before lunch about dinner, and around dinner time about breakfast. Weekend foods are planned days in advance... Grandmas (both of them), their siblings (all of them and their spouses), their kids and my own parents have each left a lasting culinary impression. My parents traveled a lot both within and outside India, and we kids were always a part of the travel. Food was one if not the most important part of any holiday. And yes it is a great gift to have been born into a family that enjoyed food, and was fortunate to have it in ample supply.. and I wish each day, that someday, I can make enough money to share a lot of it with every child that is starving... Food is essential. And I was lucky to have it both for nourishment and as a thought provoking feast. I know I was in a much better place than millions far less fortunate. I never forget that, and this knowledge, always leaves me thanking life and all that it brought into mine.

There will be a website, and I shall give you all a link. Sorry that I cannot give you that tonight. I have posted above menus for you.

I am no Steven Shaw, SuzanneF, Jaymes, Aurora, Maggiethecat or Steve Klc, words are not what make me able, my apologies if I have represented myself and more importantly Hemant in verbal inadequacy. If you give us a chance at Amma, I shall ensure you enjoy food as we do. And perhaps, you will enjoy what we enjoy. And that will make us really happy.

Suvir and Hemant:

You guys continue to amaze me! To begin with Amma, what a menu! How did this name "Amma" come in picture, which I think is such a cool name.

I think Gael does beat me on Indian culture where most part of my life time I have lived in India, but I bet you will give her a run for money on Indian cuisine. What was her immediat reaction bite after bite? were you guys there cooking for her or watching her eat?

Hmmnnn I like the very sound of that seasonal menu. Was planning a dinner in NYC at Amma, which season would you suggest? What would be the next menu like?

Shared vision by two chef's in one kitchen, that menas a lot. Can it be three?

For this season's menu, what would be the siganature dish and can a recipe be shared?

The photographs looked just too good and just like what you said " Early in the morning, they begin speaking of lunch, before lunch about dinner, and around dinner time about breakfast. Weekend foods are planned days in advance... " I am planning a party of few happy diners at amma in the next two weeks and we believe in coming without notice.

[Human Bean]

To be honest, cooking meats is a passion for me.  If I had my way, everytime I entertain, and that is very very very often, I would happily cook mostly meats and fish and poultry.  The challenge posed by the idea of cooking what I will not  taste, is one I enjoy and relish.  I never taste foods I prepare, vegetarian or non-vegetarian. It is one of the few really Indian traditions I have maintained.  In the kitchen of the home I grew up in, my grandmas, tasting foods whilst they cooked, or before they were served to the Gods as an offering and then within seconds served to the family was not something encouraged.  Perfectly prepared meals had to be served without tasting.

Congratulations, Suvir on your (apparently top-secret) endeavor, and best of luck to you. I hope that you achieve great success in this new venture, and aren't too busy with the day-to-day realities of the restaurant to continue posting here.

I didn't want to simply post a 'me too' message, and your reply has provided an opportunity to go beyond that.

Cooking without tasting is the single biggest mistake that most home cooks make. It's difficult to cook well without tasting, and requires honest feedback. To cook without tasting mainly requires experience, but there's also a definite amount of skill involved. Smell and feel (tactile feel and 'feeling that it's right') are the main elements. Although I don't eat steak, I cook it for others, and it's been very well received.

I know that it's possible to cook well without tasting the food, and am glad that you seem to have the ability to do it.

Again, best of luck. If/when I visit NYC, I'll definitely pay a visit. And your cookbook is on my to-be-purchased list.

[Suvir Saran]

Suvir, this is great. I am sure it will be the #1 eGullet gathering place. How willl you be dividing your time between the kitchen and dining room?

All the best for a grand success.

Quite sucessfully and happily I presume.

We do alot of the prep work in advance... everything but the tandoor stuff happens in a jiffy.

I shall spend time in the dining room to ensure we can translate the subtleties of the food for those interested... and otherwise, the kitchen will be our place of comfort and creation.

Maybe we will see you at Amma sometime soon.... let me know... maybe I can prepare some special stuff just for you and yours.

Thanks for your wishes Robert.

[rks]

Good work Suvir and Hemant. Your educate us of the unchartered territory of Indian cuisine in the US.

[Pan]

Congratulations, Suvir, and mazel tov to you! This puts into perspective all the talk about what would make a good upscale Indian restaurant. Your menu is intriguing and I feel pretty sure I'll find a way to go to dinner some time. But one question about your pricing: Will you charge the same for lunch and dinner?

[Suvir Saran]

Suvir and Hemant:

You guys continue to amaze me! To begin with Amma, what a menu! How did this name "Amma" come in picture, which I think is such a cool name.

I think Gael does beat me on Indian culture where most part of my life time I have lived in India, but I bet you will give her a run for money on Indian cuisine. What was her immediat reaction bite after bite? were you guys there cooking for her or watching her eat?

Hmmnnn I like the very sound of that seasonal menu. Was planning a dinner in NYC at Amma, which season would you suggest? What would be the next menu like?

Shared vision by two chef's in one kitchen, that menas a lot. Can it be three?

For this season's menu, what would be the siganature dish and can a recipe be shared?

The photographs looked just too good and just like what you said "  Early in the morning, they begin speaking of lunch, before lunch about dinner, and around dinner time about breakfast.  Weekend foods are planned days in advance... " I am planning a party of few happy diners at amma in the next two weeks and we believe in coming without notice.

Prasad, I wish Hemant or I or both of us could take credit for the name Amma. It is the combined creation of Anju Sharma, her husband and their consultant when they first began Amma over a year ago.

It is a cool name. Whilst the food is not what most mothers I know will cook at home, for it certainly does not look like home food, it has its roots in kitchens of moms and grandmas. We also hope, that with time, as we grease the wheels, we can send people home after a meal thinking of a meal that did bring back memories as precious as those one thinks of when associated with memorable meals at home with ones parents.

We were cooking for Ms. Greene and yes we did catch a few glimpses of her group eating the meal. Her reactions are not fully known to me.. like you, I have to rely on what she wrote and sum up her experience through assumption. There was a lot of food served. Most all of the menu... and in a limited space, she cleverly tried to give an overview of what Amma seemed to her. I wish I could think as her and share with you what she felt, but alas, I am a mere mortal and I can only share my part of the experience, and that was one of joy, nervousness and confidence. Equal measures of all three. I would feel the same way about serving anyone else with similar credibility and association. And then to that you add the experience with India that she carries, and the task of cooking what could excite this person becomes even more of a challenge. But challenges are exciting and wonderful. Especially when they come with the knowledge that you will present the outcome to one that understands what you are delivering in all its many nuances.

This first menu is actually a tricky one.. we have been generic in it and the next one will be more seriously seasonal. What season to dine at Amma? That is your calling, and our to deliver on. I am not sure either one of us has even begun thinking of the next menu just yet. We have some necessary tasks to deal with at the moment. Planning the next menu, is not on top of that list just yet. We shall keep you all posted.

Our shared vision can certainly be of three or even more. We never stop sharing and learning.. since we enjoy to live, it is part of the same parcel.

Since the menu is new to us as well, there are no immediate favorites and winners just yet. We can share those in time and also recipes.

Looking forward to cooking for your party of diners whenever you surprise us with your presence. Thanks for your curiosity and your encouraging words Prasad.

[Suvir Saran]

Good work Suvir and Hemant. Your educate us of the unchartered territory of Indian cuisine in the US.

Thanks rks!

[Suvir Saran]

To be honest, cooking meats is a passion for me.  If I had my way, everytime I entertain, and that is very very very often, I would happily cook mostly meats and fish and poultry.  The challenge posed by the idea of cooking what I will not  taste, is one I enjoy and relish.  I never taste foods I prepare, vegetarian or non-vegetarian. It is one of the few really Indian traditions I have maintained.  In the kitchen of the home I grew up in, my grandmas, tasting foods whilst they cooked, or before they were served to the Gods as an offering and then within seconds served to the family was not something encouraged.  Perfectly prepared meals had to be served without tasting.

Congratulations, Suvir on your (apparently top-secret) endeavor, and best of luck to you. I hope that you achieve great success in this new venture, and aren't too busy with the day-to-day realities of the restaurant to continue posting here.

I didn't want to simply post a 'me too' message, and your reply has provided an opportunity to go beyond that.

Cooking without tasting is the single biggest mistake that most home cooks make. It's difficult to cook well without tasting, and requires honest feedback. To cook without tasting mainly requires experience, but there's also a definite amount of skill involved. Smell and feel (tactile feel and 'feeling that it's right') are the main elements. Although I don't eat steak, I cook it for others, and it's been very well received.

I know that it's possible to cook well without tasting the food, and am glad that you seem to have the ability to do it.

Again, best of luck. If/when I visit NYC, I'll definitely pay a visit. And your cookbook is on my to-be-purchased list.

Many thanks for your wishes.

A day is rather long, and my body is very happy without much sleep, or happier with a couple or maybe three hours of sleep. Thus, it should not keep me away from doing what I do and enjoy. eGullet being one of the things I come back to with comfort. Members from around the globe, make it easy for me to find many voices to hear and find in all different ones things that bring joy.

Smell and feel play a Very important element in cooking for me. And experience certainly helps. When I cook meats, poultry and fish in a new recipe, and for the first time, I take great joy in looking at the feedback (verbal and non) that I get from the guinnea pigs that are kind enough to taste my food even in its first non-tested form. So I agree, feedback is necessary and tasting too. In my case, sometimes, I rely on others I trust for that.

My cookbook to come is lucky to be on your to-be-purchased list. You are a kind man, I hope time to come will make you still want it. It is now being produced, Clarkson Potter takes great pride in what they publish, and to maintain that pride, production is done at a very steady pace, maybe too steady for an impatient author. But in the end, the books are just as tasty to look at as the food they help you prepare. I certainly hope my humble offering into the world of cookbooks, is in synch with what Clarkson Potter has achieved in the past. Stephanie Lyness my co-writer spent a great deal of kitchen hours cooking, refining, testing and perfecting recipes for the untrained Indian chef. It would make us both happy to have a book that succeeds in sharing what we hoped to and in a reliable and attractive form.

If and when you do come to NYC, please give us a chance, it would be an honor to cook for an eGulleteer from another city.

[Suvir Saran]

Congratulations, Suvir, and mazel tov to you! This puts into perspective all the talk about what would make a good upscale Indian restaurant. Your menu is intriguing and I feel pretty sure I'll find a way to go to dinner some time. But one question about your pricing: Will you charge the same for lunch and dinner?

Thanks Pan!

We are still working on the lunch menu. And continuing to refine what we have created already.

There will be food that is different from the dinner menu, there will be dishes that are of a different price level and there should be choice.

Now we need to refine the concept and put it first into a paper for Hemant and I to look at and then translate into a menu that can be shared at lunch.

What are you thinking? What do you think a restaurant ought to do? I would love your feedback.

[bloviatrix]

As of now, what days of the week are you open, and what are your hours?

One more question...how many seats?

Edited September 30, 2003 by bloviatrix (log)

[prasad2]

Mango cheesecake? Like at the Clay Pit in Austin?

I think I want the Idly Upma just because of the name....

Not sure.. I have not eaten the one at the Clay Pit in Austin. Not sure what it tastes like.

Ours is prepared especially for us by Surbhi Sahni, the ex-pastry chef from Tamarind.

Ours is prepared especially for us by Surbhi Sahni, the ex-pastry chef from Tamarind

Surbhi Sahni, surprise after surprise. !! What else Suvir? What's next? Don't tell me you got a fish chef hiding in there too.

I must admit, I have had great desserts at Tamarind at first when they opened and I missed them in my past few visits. I guess, our dinner party should be arriving soon at Amma. I have especially developed a sweet tooth for desserts since I have become a non-smoker and I am looking forward to taste and savor desserts made by the ex-pastry chef from Tamarind.

[Pan]

[re: lunch]

What are you thinking? What do you think a restaurant ought to do?  I would love your feedback.

I think you ought to serve the dishes you want to serve at the prices that you consider a fair value and reasonable profit to you. I'm just hoping that when you do that, I'll be able to afford to patronize your restaurant more than once or twice.

It looks to me like a dinner at your place would probably cost somewhere in the $40s-60s (well, maybe less if I were to have just a main dish, but that kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?), inclusive of tax and tip, which would probably make it a special dinner with a special friend perhaps once every year or so, except in the unlikely event that I get a lot of playing gigs in this economy or get a full-time teaching gig. Might a $20 lunch be possible? I could do that more frequently.

I presume you'll be serving non-alcoholic beverages as well as wine. Any possibility of a masala lassi? I used to get a very pleasant one at Madras Cafe, but the chef/owner told me they stopped making it because too many people (about 40%, he said) returned it after finding it weird. For a while thereafter, they specially made it for me because I'm a regular, but it just got to be too much of a hassle. But maybe your clientele will be more adventurous and less fixated on having sugar with the meal?

[Suvir Saran]

As of now, what days of the week are you open, and what are your hours? 

One more question...how many seats?

All days of the week.

40 seats.

[Suvir Saran]

[re: lunch]

What are you thinking? What do you think a restaurant ought to do?  I would love your feedback.

I think you ought to serve the dishes you want to serve at the prices that you consider a fair value and reasonable profit to you. I'm just hoping that when you do that, I'll be able to afford to patronize your restaurant more than once or twice.

It looks to me like a dinner at your place would probably cost somewhere in the $40s-60s (well, maybe less if I were to have just a main dish, but that kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?), inclusive of tax and tip, which would probably make it a special dinner with a special friend perhaps once every year or so, except in the unlikely event that I get a lot of playing gigs in this economy or get a full-time teaching gig. Might a $20 lunch be possible? I could do that more frequently.

I presume you'll be serving non-alcoholic beverages as well as wine. Any possibility of a masala lassi? I used to get a very pleasant one at Madras Cafe, but the chef/owner told me they stopped making it because too many people (about 40%, he said) returned it after finding it weird. For a while thereafter, they specially made it for me because I'm a regular, but it just got to be too much of a hassle. But maybe your clientele will be more adventurous and less fixated on having sugar with the meal?

Pan, I do think you will find ways of enjoying Amma without feeling you have spent way too much.

And yes lunch will be more affordable.

There will be non-alcoholic drinks as well.

Masala Lassi for you... let us know when you get there.. ask for it, and I shall make you some. I made some everyday I was in Denver this last winter and early Spring.

[Pan]

Masala Lassi for you... let us know when you get there.. ask for it, and I shall make you some.  I made some everyday I was in Denver this last winter and early Spring.

That sounds like a deal, Suvir! [virtual handshake]

I'll look forward to meeting you fairly soon and will surely invite a friend.