Indian Vegetarian Food in New York Times

[skchai]

Here's the link:

After Centuries, the Vegetarian Feast of India Finally Arrives

[Episure]

The images on the multimedia show ( click on right side) are delicious.

I am curious to know what the chinese writing on Chinese mirch's crockery means. Any body care to decipher?

[mrbigjas]

Dear South Indian Vegetarian Chefs of the world:

PLEASE MOVE TO PHILADELPHIA AND OPEN MANY RESTAURANTS.

I beg you.

[mongo_jones]

a decent enough article but a few quibbles:

1. what does the title "after centuries the vegetarian feast of india finally arrives" mean? arrives where? has new york really been waiting for this for centuries? or does a cuisine only arrive after it arrives in new york?

2. still too much reliance on the generalized "indian" which in the context of food is pretty meaningless--there's occasional breaks into south indian and north indian but there's a whole world of south indian outside of the udupi kitchen. similarly the mustard seeds-curry leaves/tomatoes-onions division that is used to signal the difference between "south" and "north" indian doesn't really hold--the bengal kitchen, for instance, doesn't dabble very much with tomatoes in vegetable dishes. similarly the madras onion/shallot is a large part of many cuisines in south india (vegetarian and non-vegetarian).

this is the kind of thing that writers could get right if they'd talk more to the chefs they interview instead of worrying about keeping their magisterial tone.

3. when do the indians in new york get to also become new yorkers?

on the whole though the article makes me jealous of the range of indian food available in new york--though new jersey is no slouch either.

mongo "never satisfied" jones

p.s: i was impressed to read that suvir's family can track their history back to the 15th century. my paternal family can't even remember what their real surname was (the current one is a title bestowed upon a recent ancestor in the late 19th century).

[anil]

a decent enough article but a few quibbles:

...........

3. when do the indians in new york get to also become new yorkers?

on the whole though the article makes me jealous of the range of indian food available in new york--though new jersey is no slouch either.

When those indians start picking up bagel with cream cheese and coffee to go, every day during the work week from the carts outside their offices bldg. or the corner - Or is it doughnut

Move to New York mongo

[skchai]

I am curious to know what the chinese writing on Chinese mirch's crockery means. Any body care to decipher?

The writing on Chinese Mirch's crockery is actually Japanese - "おいしい" = "oishii" means "delicious".

[Vikram]

p.s: i was impressed to read that suvir's family can track their history back to the 15th century. my paternal family can't even remember what their real surname was (the current one is a title bestowed upon a recent ancestor in the late 19th century).

Suvir will clarify this if he ever gets round to checking this forum again , but I'm guessing its the Hardwar/Benaras pandit tradition. Many north Indian families followed, and still do, the tradition of having a pandit in Hardwar or Benaras who kept the records of births and deaths in their family literally stretching back for centuries. Everytime someone in the family was born or died you had to travel there for religious rituals, or at least send money for the pandit to do them, and in doing so the records were updated. I forget if the archives were actually written or were entirely memorised - certainly large chunks were memorised. So its quite likely that Suvir's family can trace its roots back to the 15th century through this connection,

Vikram

[Pan]

I'd love some more comments about the Dosa Hutt in Flushing. I pass it all the time on the Q27 bus but have yet to get out and have a meal there, because then I have to wait for another bus instead of just catching the 7 train right away. Also, there's a Singh's Pizza on Kissena Blvd. north of Holly Av. I guess that's unrelated to Singa's Pizza (which also has a branch further down Kissena Blvd.).

[anil]

Suvir will clarify this if he ever gets round to checking this forum again , but I'm guessing its the Hardwar/Benaras pandit tradition. Many north Indian families followed, and still do, the tradition of having a pandit in Hardwar or Benaras who kept the records of births and deaths in their family literally stretching back for centuries. Everytime someone in the family was born or died you had to travel there for religious rituals, or at least send money for the pandit to do them, and in doing so the records were updated. I forget if the archives were actually written or were entirely memorised - certainly large chunks were memorised. So its quite likely that Suvir's family can trace its roots back to the 15th century through this connection,

Vikram

We go 11 generations in Haridwar - (add two generations more as my nephew recently became a father )

[mongo_jones]

p.s: i was impressed to read that suvir's family can track their history back to the 15th century. my paternal family can't even remember what their real surname was (the current one is a title bestowed upon a recent ancestor in the late 19th century).

Suvir will clarify this if he ever gets round to checking this forum again , but I'm guessing its the Hardwar/Benaras pandit tradition.

So its quite likely that Suvir's family can trace its roots back to the 15th century through this connection,

Vikram

i didn't mean to imply that i was sceptical of suvir's genealogical claim--i was actually impressed.

suvir, by the way, is still reading this forum--he dropped me a note last night on this very subject. now, if we can only get him to post again. amma must be keeping him very busy. now, what he should do is set up a computer in their lobby area that's always connected to egullet and ask his guests to post their impressions/reviews as they leave.

[Suvir Saran]

p.s: i was impressed to read that suvir's family can track their history back to the 15th century. my paternal family can't even remember what their real surname was (the current one is a title bestowed upon a recent ancestor in the late 19th century).

Suvir will clarify this if he ever gets round to checking this forum again , but I'm guessing its the Hardwar/Benaras pandit tradition.

So its quite likely that Suvir's family can trace its roots back to the 15th century through this connection,

Vikram

i didn't mean to imply that i was sceptical of suvir's genealogical claim--i was actually impressed.

suvir, by the way, is still reading this forum--he dropped me a note last night on this very subject. now, if we can only get him to post again. amma must be keeping him very busy. now, what he should do is set up a computer in their lobby area that's always connected to egullet and ask his guests to post their impressions/reviews as they leave.

Thanks for being so easily impressed.

After reading from Anil, my family seems to have not had very good records at all.

But that is not what matters... Anil has so much passion, that in his own life, it seems he has filled others with great riches that come from his lineage and his own curiosity.

Mongo, you too have enriched eGullet and its boards with your unique and special perspective. That is what makes the world so wonderful.

Amma and many other things keep me very busy. Actually, I often get very little sleep for there is so very much for me to do in one day, and not enough hours to cover them in. eGullet while a great passion of mine, has had to take a back seat. What keeps me happy in that back seat, is the fact that all of you that post in this forum, hardly need my words to keep this forum alive, poignant and relevant. It is fascinating for me to come and find treasures here that keep me wanting to delve into food.... and there are many here that leave me with a lasting impression. I would be wrong in only sharing praises. eGullet like any other entity, has it pros and cons. They balance out in the same way all entities end up finding a balance. I let the cons sift into the airI do not chase after and the pros are that I enjoy and savor as I go back into my eGullet absence

I may not be here, but I am here. Friends from eGullet keep me informed through email and are kind enough to bring what they feel absolutely essential for me to read to my attention.

My cooking, my cooking classes, my teaching about food and hospitality, my travels in search of new culinary inspirations, my dining outside of Amma, my life with family and friends and my two dogs and my private life keep me plenty busy. And that is what keeps me behind on eGullet but certainly not lacking in interest or intrigue.

As for reviews/impressions by customers of the restaurant, I would hardly want that.... I enjoy hearing the customer feedback and most often, it is the most sincere and most lack lustre of feedbacks that leaves me inspired. The people that give me such feedback, are not always into leaving impressions in public settings. There are those that are very kind and leave me impressions on eGullet, and to them Hemant and I owe are most hearfelt thanks and gratitude. But similarly, we also owe plenty to the nameless and silent many that leave us inspired and working towards higher goals.

Mongo, you seem fascinating, maybe you can tell the board more about your own family. Maybe we can all learn more about India through that... when you have the time, and if you have the desire to share such information, please do.. and I hope I can be alerted to that post. Certainly a person as passionate about food as you, must have some wonderful family stories to share and some amazing family legends to reflect on and thus enrich the rest of us.

Vikram, I enjoy your posts and always crave for more. Thanks for your very generous and well researched posts. You make the world of Indian food and food in general so much more.

The pandit tradition is certainly amazing, and also there is the Kayastha tradition of documenting family additions and losses at Dussehra. If a family has maintained the record, one is saved the trip to the pandit. And the more amazing discoveries you can make are the members of the family that could write in Persian or Arabic. Many of these were mostly written in these languages, and only if the elder male figure did not write Persian or Arabic, would the document be added to in Hindi. It is a most fascinating study into ones heritage.

And yes titles that were bestowed onto many Indians have also complicated and further enriched our familial heritage. So many of us have names that would mean nothing by themselves, but as one goes into our past, one is united by a larger community that often opens doors into a culture that quickly become a world that is so familiar and yet totally unknown.

[anil]

....... now, what he should do is set up a computer in their lobby area that's always connected to egullet and ask his guests to post their impressions/reviews as they leave.

Kee lobby ?? There is no lobby -

[anil]

After reading from Anil, my family seems to have not had very good records at all.

But that is not what matters... Anil has so much passion, that in his own life, it seems he has filled others with great riches that come from his lineage and his own curiosity.

No, You attribute too much to my curosity. It's just miles and FF. 11 generations is < 15th century.