pictures from my india trip

[mongo_jones]

all,

you'll be glad to know that i took lots of pictures of many of the things i ate at home and in restaurants (usually to the consternation of family and friends) --both in process in the kitchen and in the final versions on the table. there's way too many of them to post on egullet, so i'm going to gradually upload them to a separate web-page, annotate them and then post a link here. those who've followed gautam and my exchanges on bengali food will be glad to know that i have pictures of most of the things i mentioned in that thread. give me a week or so to get organized.

regards,

mongo

[anil]

Awaiting with great enthu

[hillvalley]

Me too!

[BBhasin]

Great looking forward to it. Not a day over a week is permitted!!

Welcome home

Bhasin--

[docsconz]

Looking forward to it as well.

[Schielke]

Sweet!

[mongo_jones]

okay, so jet lag has me up at 3 and there's not a whole lot to do. here's the first batch of pictures. this is but the tip of the iceberg so check back frequently. see the bottom of the 4th paragraph of the introduction for design disclaimers:

http://home.comcast.net/~mongo_jones/indiafoodpics.html

if you have any questions about these dishes feel free to ask. i will attempt to answer to the best of my ability--and then gautam and bong will hopefully provide much more detailed commentary.

[docsconz]

Interesting. Keep them coming.

[Monica Bhide]

Yum.. keep them coming. Welcome back

[mongo_jones]

the site has been updated with pictures from one more meal. in response to pleas from friends in other places i have doubled the picture size; the page looks less elegant but the food looks a lot better. let me know if this cripples your load time. and, yeah, if you're on a 800x600 monitor setting this will really look ugly.

dishes featured on the new update:

alu-kofir tarkari--the bengali version of alu-gobi

fishball curry

bhindi fry--fried okra

(edited to add: here's the url again for those too lazy to scroll up: http://home.comcast.net/~mongo_jones/indiafoodpics.html )

Edited January 13, 2004 by mongo_jones (log)

[AndrewM]

Mongo - thanks for doing this. Very educational and delicious looking!

[mongo_jones]

yet another update. pictures from a lunch featuring a couple of hardcore bengali fish dishes.

http://home.comcast.net/~mongo_jones/indiafoodpics.html

at this point it should be evident to all how different this food is from what is served in the standard indian restaurant in the u.s. this fact is true not just of bengali food but pretty much the food of almost every state and cultural group in india other than north indian "mughlai" food. there are lots of experts on "indian" food who've never eaten this stuff let alone know how to cook it.

(edited to add: please let me know if the load time on this page is becoming unacceptably slow--i have a very fast connection, so can't tell; if so, i'll start a new page with the next set of pics.)

Edited January 15, 2004 by mongo_jones (log)

[BBhasin]

Great pics mongo, I am going to do your version of the Gobi Mattar on the buffet this sunday even though adding water somehow did not appeal to my dear wife ( uncouth Punjabis I guess).

The fishball curry looked interesting too, would appriciate your mom's reciepe. In my home all the fishballs would be gone right after frying and none left for the curry.

Thanks again for an insight into Bengali home cooking.

[mongo_jones]

Great pics mongo, I am going to do your version of the Gobi Mattar on the buffet this sunday even though adding water somehow did not appeal to my dear wife ( uncouth Punjabis I guess).

.

how'd this work out bhasin? if you did end up doing it, that is.

[BBhasin]

It turned out just great. even though i did not pre cook the cauliflower. The first batch ran out and in the second batch we added some roasted ground cumin for a different twist and that was pretty good too. I really like the simplicity of the reciepe. Now you should not complain that restaurants do not serve homestle food. This was from YOUR home.

take care

bhasin

[mongo_jones]

I really like the simplicity of the reciepe.

i'll pass on the feedback to the concerned parties. now, where's my cut?

most bengali vegetable dishes are prepared in this simple manner--minimal spicing, let the vegetables do the work. after our trip my wife insists i start cutting down on the spicing in my cooking as well (i cook bengali food with a marked delhi accent).

[BBhasin]

I really like the simplicity of the reciepe.

i'll pass on the feedback to the concerned parties. now, where's my cut?

Your cut.

Mongo PM me your address and I will mail you

1. Some garam masalla we make.

2. A spice blend for ' London Balti Chicken' along with the reciepe for you to try.

How's that?

[mongo_jones]

Your cut.

Mongo PM me your address and I will mail you

1. Some garam masalla we make.

2. A spice blend for ' London Balti Chicken' along with the reciepe for you to try.

How's that?

that will work. look for p.m soon.

also this has inspired me to do another *cough* daily update of my trip pictures (been 5 days since the last update). any hour now.

[skchai]

lau (in hindi, lauki; in english, unknown) about to be chopped up for a classic bengali preparation

For what it's worth - here are some Hindi-English conversions for various members of the gourd family, from various sources. Don't know their names in Bengali. .

lauki = bottle gourd

torai = ridge gourd

chichinda = snake gourd

petha = ash gourd

karela = bitter gourd / melon

[bague25]

Mongo_jones

Please, please, can you post the shorshe tangra and shorshe illish recipes?

thanks

[Monica Bhide]

I second that!

Mongo -- what fish do you like here in the US?

[mongo_jones]

i usually cook my shorshe ilish by feel--so i'll write down the steps the next time i make it. which, of course, won't be with ilish since you don't get it here in boulder, co. however, if you live in los angeles or anywhere where there is a large bangladeshi/bengali population you should be able to track down a store that sells frozen ilish, and they'll even cut it up for you. alladin, on vermont between 1st and 2nd, in los angeles has excellent frozen ilish (as well as every other bengali/bangal fish).

in the meantime i'll try to hunt down my sister's microwave "bhapa" recipe--which, as i said on the pictures page, is really quite good.

as for fishes more readily found in the u.s: for the shorshe preparation i'd probably go with cod or something like that. definitely not with a firm, meaty fish. i also like making bengali fish dishes with mackerel (available easily and cheaply in korean and chinese groceries, and loaded with omega-3's) and sometimes catfish and tilapia.

as for the picture updates promised last night, they're coming.

[deliad]

i usually cook my shorshe ilish by feel--so i'll write down the steps the next time i make it. which, of course, won't be with ilish since you don't get it here in boulder, co. however, if you live in los angeles or anywhere where there is a large bangladeshi/bengali population you should be able to track down a store that sells frozen ilish, and they'll even cut it up for you. alladin, on vermont between 1st and 2nd, in los angeles has excellent frozen ilish (as well as every other bengali/bangal fish).

in the meantime i'll try to hunt down my sister's microwave "bhapa" recipe--which, as i said on the pictures page, is really quite good.

as for fishes more readily found in the u.s: for the shorshe preparation i'd probably go with cod or something like that. definitely not with a firm, meaty fish. i also like making bengali fish dishes with mackerel (available easily and cheaply in korean and chinese groceries, and loaded with omega-3's) and sometimes catfish and tilapia.

as for the picture updates promised last night, they're coming.

How about Pomfret. One of our local Indian stores here in Chantilly, VA sells frozen ones. I have never tried myself but can do that if there is good report.

Cheers!

[mongo_jones]

we buy frozen pomfret from a large korean store (komart) in aurora (a suburb of denver). it is usually excellent stuff. if you like i can post a recipe for a sweet and tangy pomfret preparation.

[Monica Bhide]

How about Pomfret. One of our local Indian stores here in Chantilly, VA sells frozen ones. I have never tried myself but can do that if there is good report.

Cheers!

They are pretty good. I buy a lot of pomfret locally here in VA and its pretty good