I had a great lunch today

[touaregsand]

I went to India Sweets and Spices in Los Angeles. It's a grocery store with a vegetarin restaurant attached. In all my years of eating Indian food at I've neglected to learn the Indian names for dishes.

By the way I had the Lunc-Dinner Special (that's what they call it) for $5.99. For thi amazingly low price I got a Veg Samosa with a dipping sauce, Mushroom mutter paneer, aloo something (I can't remember the name now, it had peppers in it), basmati rice, chapati, puri, a small pickle and a garnish of greens and onions (which I did not like so much) and Mango Lassi. The individual portions can seem a bit small but they add up to a really filling meal. I find that it's enough for lunch and dinner for me. There is plenty of starch and legumes,

The also have an a la carte menu that I want to try. But there are no English descirptions. So this is what I think I know about Indian menus, please correct me if I am wrong (I know you will )

Aloo= Potatoes

Gobhi= Cauliflower

Paneer=Cheese

Paratha= layered bread, sometimes stuffed.

Gajar=Carrots

Daal= lentils (generic term?)

Chana=Chick peas

Saag=Spinach

(I hope that I'm correct about at least two of the above)

What are

Aloo Tikko

Aloo Bonda

Aloo chole

Bhatura

Dosa

Vada

Upma

Onion Uttapam

Tikki Chana

Kachori Chana

Chana Puri

Chana Bhatura

Thanking you in advance for your time.

[Milagai]

I went to India Sweets and Spices in Los Angeles. It's a grocery store with a vegetarin restaurant attached. In all my years of eating Indian food at I've neglected to learn the Indian names for dishes.

By the way I had the Lunc-Dinner Special (that's what they call it) for $5.99. For thi amazingly low price I got a Veg Samosa with a dipping sauce, Mushroom mutter paneer, aloo something (I can't remember the name now, it had peppers in it), basmati rice, chapati, puri, a small pickle and a garnish of greens and onions (which I did not like so much) and Mango Lassi. The individual portions can seem a bit small but they add up to a really filling meal. I find that it's enough for lunch and dinner for me. There is plenty of starch and legumes,

The also have an a la carte menu that I want to try. But there are no English descirptions. So this is what I think I know about Indian menus, please correct me if I am wrong (I know you will  )

Aloo= Potatoes

Gobhi= Cauliflower

Paneer=Cheese

Paratha= layered bread, sometimes stuffed.

Gajar=Carrots

Daal= lentils (generic term?)

Chana=Chick peas

Saag=Spinach

(I hope that I'm correct about at least two of the above)

What are

Aloo Tikko

Aloo Bonda

Aloo chole

Bhatura

Dosa

Vada

Upma

Onion Uttapam

Tikki Chana

Kachori Chana

Chana Puri

Chana Bhatura

Thanking you in advance for your time.

←

excellent linguistic deductions touregsand!

here are approx translations for the other terms,

best strategy, take an indian friend with you

or read up a cookbook (these are mostly south indian

delicacies so try chandra padmanabhan's "dakshin" for

a quick starter; others are punjabi staples).

Aloo Tikki (not tikko): potato patties

Aloo Bonda: potatos in a fried chickpea batter coating

Aloo chole: potatoes with chickpeas, spicy

Bhatura: fried bread, sort of half-leavened with yeast i think, to eat with above

Dosa: cross between crepe and pancake, made of fermented rice/lentil batter.

crisp and yummy.

Vada: lentil batter made into a donut shaped fried thingy. also super yum

Upma: cream of wheat style thing, mild, with vegs in it

Onion Uttapam: uttappam is a fatter spongier pancake thingy

Tikki Chana: chana = chole so see above, also for tikki, so this dish is

potato patty + spiced chickpea

Kachori Chana: kachori is another fried stuffed snack + chole

Chana Puri: chana = chole, see above, puri = fried puffy bread, yum

Chana Bhatura: both terms decoded above.

all delicious in the right hands.

milagai

[touaregsand]

I'm printing this out to take with me!

[BBhasin]

What you need is...

Pocket Dictionary Of Ethenic Foods by Daniel G. Blum

ISBN 0-9754894-3-7

CREDIT CARD ORDERS TO--

1-800-291-6186

fax 202-291-6186

its 9.95 plus 2.98 shipping and tax where applicable.

NO, I don't get any of the proceeds, though I did help Mr. Blum with some of the Indian descriptions/clarifications. But I do think it is a good tool for folks like you.

[touaregsand]

I had lunch at the same place today. I ordered the special again (what can I say, they rotate the offerings and they looked so good). I also ordered a la carte. But one of the items was out in the open in a chafing dish unlabeled. Maybe I'm way off in describing it as a chili pakora. It was stuffed with a spiced potato mixture, dipped in batter and fried.

My question is about the batter. My guess is chick pea flour. Does anyone recognize this? If so how is the batter made? I couldn't detect a leavening agent. It was very thin and cracker-like.

[Pan]

Chick pea, AKA besan flour is common for pakoras. I'll let others describe the method of making the batter, as it's been quite some time since I've made pakoras. They're not hard to make, though.

[Milagai]

My question is about the batter. My guess is chick pea flour. Does anyone recognize this? If so how is the batter made? I couldn't detect a leavening agent. It was very thin and cracker-like.

←

sometimes baking soda can be added to the batter,

or rice flour for extra lightness or crunch,

but i'm not sure.... maybe others know what

restaurants typically do.

different from home cooking...

milagai

[touaregsand]

Now that I think about it I'm certain there was baking soda in the batter.

I also ordered the gobhi paratha. My husband said it looked like an Algerian stuffed bread. I also did some shopping and was surprised to see Pilsbury brand Atta flour. It's an interesting store, they have 3-4 locations throughout Los Angeles. But alot of the bulk packages of spices and flours aren't labeled in English at all. I've already mentioned the menu with no English language descriptions. I don't have a problem with it, it's pretty fun testing my knowledge of ingredients by figuring out what things are based on appearance and smell. But I can't help but think that maybe their customer base could expand...

I'll stop rambling now.