Dinner at Pongal

[Toby]

A friend who works on a farm in Pennsylvania is coming to NY for the weekend and we were thinking of eating at Pongal's. She's lived in Mali and traveled throughout Africa and Southeast Asia so she is quite open to new foods. Also, we worked on a tomato and chile pepper farm together, so she likes spicy food a lot. However, she is a vegetarian, so I thought Pongal's would be perfect.

I haven't eaten in Pongal's for some time now. Aside from the dosas and idlis, does anyone have any recommendations for other things to order there?

I read through the thread on Dimples and now I'm torn about whether to go there or to Pongal's. My friend lives in a rural area with no chance of eating Indian food, and rarely has a chance to come into NY -- which restaurant would be a better choice?

Also read through the thread on acquiring a taste for Indian food and was amazed all over again at the sheer complexity of the cuisine and the subcontinent itself. What a wonderful and informative -- I'm busy pulling my Indian cookbooks down from the shelf to look things up.

[Suvir Saran]

Maybe Dimple would be the place to take her.

You can get the Dosas and Idli at Dimple... not nearly as good as at Pongal, but then you also have the much greater addition of several other foods.

Your friend could then have a much larger experience of Indian dining.

Anil Da... what do you think?

[anil]

I'd agree about Dimple with caveat - I've never eaten there at nights i.e dinner.

If she's up to two meals, then do both Dimple in the morning, Pongal at night.

[Toby]

Suvir, Anil, Thanks for suggestions. We went to Pongal. It was wonderful. It's only a few blocks from my house and each time I eat there I am astonished that I don't eat there more often.

We had iddly and bhel puri to start and then paper masala with spicy mashed potatoes (potates were delicious), and gulab jamun for dessert. Everything was delicious. We both like chiles, and it felt great having all those hot flavors going on in our mouths. It was a real treat for my friend, who'd never eaten food from South India before, and being in rural Pennsylvania, doesn't get much of a chance to eat good Indian food of any kind. I could have eaten everything on the menu.

I think I'll try Dimple in the daytime. Thanks again.

[Suvir Saran]

Actually it was great to have gone to Pongal.

If someone has never eaten Dosai, there is no better treat to share with them.

In the richness of complexity, subtlety, layers of spicing, technique and variety of ingredients; this one dish could not ever be overlooked easily by most any others.

A Dosai well made is a magicians creation to charm and convert people into becoming believers.

I have taken those "American Xenophobes" I know who hate any cuisine other than French or American for nothing more than ignorance, for a first Indian meal to Pongal and they are hooked and changed for life.

Some I take to a good Indian restaurant for Tandoor Fare. Even that is a great way of breaking someone in.

But a Dosai is a gift that will give for centuries to come. I see children of all races enjoy in its pleasure. I see adults become greedy as they eat them. I see those that eat them daily salivate at the very mention of them. And certainly there are those ignorant xenophobes that change, but only if they are willing to make a one and only try.

I love Bhel Puri as well. Another dish "American Xenophobes" are able to accept and enjoy. In fact for most that eat it, it is a addiction that becomes apparent soon enough. If these "American Xenophobes" would only know how to make it and eat it as obsessively as they eat other "American style" junk food, we may have less weight related problems in this country. It is a healthy snack food for the most part. And also complex, bold and also subtle in the many complex layers of spicing and cooking technique that come out for those that are able to understand and unveil foreign cuisines and their technique and structure.

I write this not for I think your friend is a Xenophobe, but to make the point that you took her to a great spot and ate great food. You shared with her a great gift of food and restaurant. That meal you shared with her will haunt her memory for a long time to come. It will have lustre in its memories that did not come with its setting. What the restaurant lacked in table-setting and elegant and thoughtful and inspired service, it overcame in the complex rich-subtle-bold-wondrous-tasty-spicy-tangy-bitter-sweet-salty-savory undertones of each of its bite. Someday, as she is dining at another restaurant, she will revisit this humble meal, and thank you for having shared it with her and exposed it to her. That is a gift one can only find when eating foods that have history, culture, sense of place, sense of time, technique, boldness of rendering and an immediate flirtation with every and all human senses. These are not always found in those temples of cuisine one finds in every culture. Sometimes, one has to wade through even filth to experience that raw but lasting impact of foods that are meant to outlive the shallowest of our momentary existence. Dosais, Bhel Puri and Idlis are some of these dishes. Every culture and cuisine has some of these most compelling treats. They are not always noticed as they are not bold in superficial and fragile momentary impact. They are bashful but on the very opposite extreme from being worthless.

These are dishes I crave daily and also when I am eating a grand feast at Arpege in Paris. When I enjoy the wonderful courses of food coming out of that kitchen, I re-visit in my memory all my other favorite foods. That is just me. I do not look for the superlative, but in fact, when faced with the need to give a dish such a grand status as calling it one of the supreme dishes I have eaten, I easily and willingly reflect on all those other dishes that inspired similar thought from me at other settings. Very quickly I become calm and able to enjoy that glorious moment without going overboard and losing grip of reality. Within a matter of minutes, I am able to find in that setting of Arpege or ADNY or French Laundry, Charlie Trotters, Aruns, Four Seasons, Bouley, Bukhara or Tabla the gift each of these places gives my life and how what they bring me more than just a taste of something sublime, is my being able to in that beautiful isolated moment, reflect upon the many others of similar vibrancy that I have lived in settings that are isolated in their occurrence but just as powerful and magical.

Dosais, Idlis, Bhel Puri, Tarte Tatin, Croissants, Soup Dumplings, Cassoulet, Magical Pastas all teach me about the gift every cuisine has in abundance. A gift only available to those that are willing to embrace those other cuisines and cultures that seem so easy and affable but have every complexity and challenge that our own supreme culture and cuisine may seem to offer.

Your friend will remember her Dosai for a very long time. And in NYC, there are not many other options that would be better than Pongal for that experience.

[Toby]

I don't usually go to vegetarian restaurants because I like meat, but the food at Pongal is so delicate and yet so hot that I don't really miss meat for the meal. I agree with you that all food can be wonderful; I was talking with my friend who's a vegetarian about why I eat meat. I've tried for long periods not to eat meat, but my body seems to need it; I feel very weak without meat, otherwise I wouldn't be involved in causing animals to be slaughtered. But since the animal gives up its life, I feel better knowing I'm eating all the parts of it. I've seen people eat lobster, and they eat the claws and the tail and want to throw away the rest. Aside from the rest of the lobster being delicious and the pleasure of sucking and picking at the hard-to-get parts, the lobster valued every parts of its body equally, so why shouldn't we? And all food, if grown/raised well and prepared well, is delicious. The thought that there's so much food, so many varieties, so many cuisines, so many ways of making even the same dish, makes me want to live forever so I can get to eat all of it.

Suvir, how is Bhel Puri made? We just picked it off the the appetizer menu -- I'd never heard of it before, and it was delicious. It was crunchy and made a nice contrast to the iddly.

[vivin]

I had to take a few guests from India out to dinner last weekend. Got sick of cooking at home. Ended up going to Mavalli Palace. Had been there a long time ago. It had been uninspiring (except the few works of art on the walls).

We had Mavalli masala dosa (basically a Mysore masala dosa), rasa vada, onion and chilli uttapam, idli, rava dosa, mango ice cream and two of their thalis. I tasted everything but the thalis (Brahmin guests from India do not share). All except idlis were very good if not exceptional. Their chaat was not very good (my wife will order chaat even if it is a south Indian rest).

Any comments vis a vis - Pongal vs. Mavalli ?

vivin

[Sandra Levine]

What is the address of Pongal? It sounds wonderful.

[anil]

What is the address of Pongal?  It sounds wonderful.

West side of Lex. Ave between 28th & 27th.

[Suvir Saran]

Vivin,

Thanks for posting about your meal. I have loved Mavalli Palace in the past and then stopped going there after many uninspired meals.

Their Sambhaar was always better than Pongal when they were good. Their Aloo Bondas were sensational when good. The Aloo Chaat used to be very good.

Idlis have never been good there. But I do not like them at Pongal either, and for the most part in any Indian American restaurant. I am so spoiled by the perfectly steamed, soft and cooked Udipi classic recipe. It is to me the finest food I can want in my life. And yet one I really never seem to eat anymore. Living in the US that is. But it has such a strong power in its simplicity and yet very complex ability to please the palate in such intricate ways that Idlis live in my memory as vividly as a yet to be born child does daily in the mothers womb. I remember Idlis everytime I think of good food. And that is all the time.

Maybe I will go have dinner at Mavalli Palace tomorrow.

Interestingly enough in the past when I had poor South Indian meals at Mavalli Palace, the Chaats were good. And now the reverse is true as it should be. Good for them.

But I am like your wife. Nothing like a little chaat. Just as the word "Chaat (to lick)" implies, it wakes up my palate. Even on the most hot and miserable day. That is the power of Chaat in my book. So, if a menu has chaat on it, I order at least one kind.

Mysore Masala or Plain Dosas are my favorite. The extra heat and complexity of flavor make it even more exciting for my palate. For some the spiced chutney they brush on the inside of the dosa can be too spicy. But I love spicy. What can I say.

I now want to go eat at Mavalli tonight. I can never have enough of Dosai or "Good" Idlis.

Maybe others have been to both Pongal and Mavalli recently and can help us with their thoughts on how they compare. Not that comparisons are always good. But at least we can find out if the Sambhaar and Chutneys are anything like they ought to be. Those are the things that trouble me the most. Even Pongal which has in the long run been more reliable has often served bad Sambhaar and Chutney. They are the life of good Idlis, Dosai and Vadai.