Favorite Indian Dishes

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (mar52)

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 13:00:08 GMT

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 07:33:18 GMT

@ammad,
If your State had just one more X, I should like to consider very seriously moving there

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (ammad123)

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 06:13:25 GMT

me too like indian food

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:33:59 GMT

One very interesting development in the larger cities of the US, e.g. NYC, Seattle, with large Indian professional classes is the proliferation of lunch delivery services who send over "home style" meals to offices: i.e. food bearing no resemblance to restaurant cooking.

Home style cooking is often exceedingly modest in scope:
For example, a favorite lunch from Maharashtra is saadaa varan: simple boiled toor dal, split pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan, served with salt, ghee and fresh lime. Hot rice. Period.

For Tamil Brahmins, yoghurt rice means exactly that: slightly soft-cooked rice mashed a tiny bit with whole milk, and then mixed with yoghurt, some ginger and a hint of crushed roasted fenugreek seed, eaten with something crunchy, like potato chips [here] or traditional crisps and a sour pickle.

In Rajasthan, a favorite lunch is fresh, real buttermilk with freshly-ground pearl millet tortillas and a sour pickle.

This is how tens of millions of Indians actually eat. Few consume tandoori chicken and the weird sorts of food that is gradually becoming popular thanks to restaurants and food stalls, even back in India. When I was young, people would rarely venture to eat food prepared on the street, and for excellent, sensible reasons: cleanliness & safety. Today, those cautions have been cast to the winds.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (mayor al)

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:23:05 GMT

Don't read into the description of his reaction to Food from the South Asia area. Skipping the possible predjudice built in, the fact remains some like it and some don't.
Leave it at that.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (mar52)

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:21:18 GMT

Your comment would have been okay had it not been for the prejudice comment.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:23:51 GMT

What has this comment to do with any of the discussions going on above? Hmm? Except as a vehicle of prejudice? Can you learn that Indian food is NOT curry? That is what I have been trying to explain! Is there something called EUROPEAN food? The Indian subcontinent is geographically as large as WESTERN EUROPE minus Russia, and infinitely more varied in terms of culture & cuisine.

There are at least 3000 endogamous groups with perhaps half as many distinct CUISINES. Just as Chinese cuisine is NOT represented by the corner take-away, "Indian" cooking likewise is not represented at all well by restaurant cooking, high or low, here or anywhere else, including India. Do you judge American cuisines by Burger King? So what point exactly do you wish to make by your announcement? Another gentleman already has said similar with respect to his spouse.

I love Roadfood because it helps me to learn about things I do NOT KNOW, to eliminate BARRIERS between regions & PEOPLES, NOT REINFORCE THEM!!

I urge you to open your mind to possibilities of taste & goodness in humans that you may not have considered possible!

Let me suggest a recipe and take you on a learning adventure. The cooking of the Dakshinatya Vaidikas, my own community from West Bengal, use no hot flavors or heavy spices. Sweet is the predominant taste, except in dishes where fresh, stone-ground black mustard seed is employed. Fresh mustard oil too is used, but that is a pungency quite unlike any curry.

Scrub Idaho russets, & with skin on, cut into uniform small cubes. Heat GHEE [ or clarified butter as an alternative] but not to smoking, in a non-stick pan or wok. Drop in 1 measuring teaspoon of NIGELLA seed. Wait a few seconds while they release their aroma. Add potatoes, stir to coat and toss until lightly colored. Sprinkle with VERY VERY little water, flicking it with your fingers, and a tiny bit of salt. Cover tightly, reduce heat to low-medium. Gauge time according to your stove. Potatoes should be just tender when cover removed. Add a bit of sugar to taste, to give a hint of sweetness. Stir carefully to not break but dry out any moisture. DONE. Eat with fresh chapatis, hot whole wheat tortillas or hot whole wheat pita bread.

This is a most authentic dish. Let me emphasize, that i MY NATIVE CUISINE, the particular one I mentioned, from Bengal, whatever you think of or smell as "CURRY" simply does not exist! People from my part of the world are just as surprised as you when they encounter NYC "Indian". it makes us very upset to hear foolish & supercilious dismissals, just as English food suffers from a bad rap. It is a very refined cuisine of many parts & regions, needing skilled practitioners that many outsiders cannot meet. Likewise, the case with BOTH INDIA & AMERICA.

I came here first when I was 10. Ate sandwiches etc. from delis & was VERY VERY ILLAS A RESULT. I HAVE WORKED IN MANY RESTAURANTS as chef, THAI, CHINESE, CAUCASIAN, and am PERFECTLY AWARE of the standards of hygiene & food handling that prevail at most places, including supermarket meat slicers. [If you really knew & understood what you were talking about, I doubt you would be eating out all that much, ANYWHERE!!!!]

That did not make me condemn American food, but did make me WANT to explore every bit of this wonderful country of ours & make EACH CULTURE MY VERY OWN.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (Foodbme)

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 03:55:41 GMT

A number of years ago, I had a business lunch at a very upscale Indian Restaurant in NYC. I had a curry dish and became very ill with food poisoning. To this day I get very ill with just the smell of curry. I can't even go into an Indian Restaurant.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 17:23:29 GMT

Mango Lassi:

Purchase a good mango, and try to ripen it as best as you can. Cut off stem end and with cut slice rub the cut surface until froth appears. This is very toxic to eyes & skin, so be very careful to scrape it off and wash thoroughly. The stem end remaining in the fruit may also ooze some more of this gummy irritant. Caution.

Peel the fruit. Cut into cubes. Place in blender.

Buy a 28 oz can of ALPHONSO or KESAR mango pulp [about $3/can]. Use about a fourth or a third, or to taste per blender jar. Freeze rest in freezer bags.

Place pulp on fresh mango. Add some very good quality cold milk, enough to let blender blades spin and pulverize fruit + canned pulp. Add a little more. Whirl. Add high quality plain yoghurt, like Stonyfield, Brown Cow or better. Blend with ice to your taste. Adjust with more mango pulp for sweetness or mango flavor.

One glass in a restaurant costs >$3-4 plus tips!!

32 oz Brown Cow ==> $3.50
28 oz Mango Pulp ==> $3.00
1 mango,lg ==> $1.25
Milk @ 1Gal=$3-4 ==> $2.00
Ice @10lb = $2 ===>$0.25

Say, $10 for at least 8-10 glasses

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 16:57:38 GMT

@IM re: Shalwar Kameez

Ithaca has the House of Shalimar, a very successful clothing store run by a couple; he from Pakistan, she an American. They have catered to varied tastes for several decades, bringing Pakistani fabrics & garments in lovely styles, designs etc. Good quality, in sync with US needs/tastes.

As you know, shalwar-kameez is a style that originates in Punjab & points to its north-west; it is almost the national dress in Pakistan today. You might be well-served calling up Mrs. Sheikh at 607-273-7939 [142 The Commons, Ithaca, NY 14850] and puttng your questions to her. At least she might refer you to clothiers closer to you, e.g. Dallas.

A big Muslim festival is coming up September 11, the biggest religious event of the year when people buy new clothes galore. AFTER Eid, there may be clearance sales from PAKISTANI clothiers, something to keep in mind. Prices will drop anyway, just as they will peak before the major Muslim holidays. It pays to ask these questions directly from Mrs. Sheikh!! S

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:28:55 GMT

From a good friend, Yajna Patni:

"My recipe for suji halwa is simple. its quite sweet, but not sickenly so, but you could lessen the sugar if you liked.
It is one cup of semolina, and one cup of butter. ( i like butter better than ghee, but that might not be right) roast the semolina in the butter over a low heat in a heavy bottomed pan. The slower it roasts, the better it tastes. When it is done the butter should separate out, and it should smell sweet. Add all at once two cups of boiling water and stir off the heat. When it seems absorbed, add one cup of sugar and stir. it will seem to wet. put the lid on and let it sit for 10 minutes.
not boiling the sugar and water together makes a lighter fluffier halwa I find. Some times syrup is too thick to absorb.
You can add saffron or cardamom to the water, or chocolate chips with the sugar."
http://www.anothersubcont...n/index.php?t1229.html

My note: traditionally, you gently fry good quality sultanas until just puffed in ghee,which is not quite clarified butter. Then, an assortment of nuts: slivered almonds, raw cashew, pistachio if you are feeling rich! These are fried fried golden;reserve for garnish. These are stirred into the sooji which is similar to semolina during the final stage; fluff with fork, sprinkle with nuts.

Using saffron: Use a tiny pinch while making the sugar syrup. NEVER TOAST SAFFRON, NO MATTER WHO TELLS YOU!!!!!! Drop stamens into the hot water. VANILLA Imports has very good saffron. Sadaf Mail Order, likewise. You pay for quality. Will store 9-10 years in glass in freezer.

Using GREEN cardamom: purchase an 8-7 oz bag WHOLE PODS from Indian grocer. Great for chai, Christmas cookies, Nordic sweet breads, pilafs, biryanis, Indian cooking & sweets. Will store 2-3 years in freezer. Gently pop with your nail the tips or very lightly pound whole pod. Then cook with semolina when roasting in hot butter.

BUTTER: Use UNSALTED, much fresher. Add pinch sea salt to awaken flavor.

INDIAN CASSIA LEAF, Cinnamonum tamala, NOT BAY LEAF, may also be added while roasting, in addition to cardamom, for a touch of West Bengal!

Sooji Halwa in North India, Mohanbhog in West Bengal, Kharabhath in Karnataka!!

In the North, often eaten steaming hot with PURI, a fried bread somewhat similar to sopaipillas. That is why the sweetness is high, because it gets cut with plentiful puri.

One problem with cooking North Indian [or Bengali] gravied/dry dishes: these are meant to be eaten with a LOT of INDIAN BREAD or RICE PLUS OTHER THINGS IN THE SAME MOUTHFUL, as in 70-80% bread/rice, then dal, chutney or salad or raita, only then mixed with the so-called "entree"!!

I see many Americans spooning the very very rich gravy and a minuscule amount of rice or bread and then complain about oily, spicy food!! Do you eat meatballs & red sauce + parmesan cheese minus the pasta? Think how unbalanced that would taste!

Italians put even LESS sauce on their pasta & FEWER toppings on their pizzas than do Americans. They want to TASTE the WHEAT!!!

Absolutely the same principle with N.Indian food! If you are CLEARLY & PRIMARILY NOT TASTING THE WHEAT OR THE FRAGRANCE OF THE RICE, YOU ARE NOT EATING the food as it was meant to be eaten. So any judgment is your own problem!!

That said, 95% of "Indian" restaurants are horrors. Read reviews by Indians of Indian restaurants for some really pungent words!! e.g. nyindia.com, searchindia, etc.

Here is an excellent pair of recipes by DHARAMJIT SINGH [INDIAN COOKERY] posted here:
http://www.anothersubcont...p;st=0&#entry19119

Urd = Vigna mungo; it is sold whole as a small black legume or hulled & split [other variations too]. You will see them marked URAD DAL in Indian & many mainstream groceries. They are best cooked for thes e2 recipes on slow heat e.g. a Crockpot on low or a low oven.

Khara Maahn or Urd ]Khara =whole, maahn is the Punjabi form of MAASH, the Sanskrit name of Urad]

Take 1/2 lb. white urd lentils, wash, clean and soak them overnight, drain, then place in a very heavy pan and enrich with 2 oz. butter. Add 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped parsley, 4 crushed cardamoms, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a good pinch asafoetida, a few chopped mint leaves and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper. Mix and then moisten with just enough water to cover. Mix again, and poach (as you would rice), using lowest possible heat. Moisten lightly as often as necessary, but do not inundate with water. Test by extracting a few grains from the centre with a perforated spoon. When these are tender but whole (like rice grains) the lentils are done. If desired add 6 tablespoons melted butter and some chopped chives. Serve hot.

Black or whole urd or maahn lentils are cooked in the same way, but enough water is added to produce the consistency of a thick purée. If the lentils are cooked with butter, long and slowly enough - about 4 hours or more - they will turn a pinkish grey. Use 4 oz. or more of butter for every half pound of lentils and the result will be the most velvety dish imaginable. For an even richer dish substitute milk for a portion of water, and add 2 tablespoons cream and a little yoghurt [beaten so that it will not curdle] half an hour before the lentils are done.

My note: you can also add a handful of PINK beans or PINTO beans per lb of whole urad beans, when you begin to soak, for textural contrast.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (Sneetch)

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:48:22 GMT

hey IM - how about posting that farina halvah recipe? i love the stuff, and make a Greek cookie with it called Melomakarona every Christmas...it would be great to add an indian sweet to my repetoire...!

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (IM)

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:55:35 GMT

I watch Indian movies that come my way via public library, film festivals, etc. It helps when some movies have an English translation feature (I do that with all movies anyway so I don't miss anything). I have a few Indian music CDs in my car. I am always on the lookout for salwar kameez (sometimes called Punjabi suit) and I'm sure if marketed to the average American woman would really be a hit in the USA because it covers all the right places and is very comfortable. I had a hot pink cotton salwar kameez with black pants and got many compliments on it. It was very comfortable and stylish to wear to work. If I could find the right styles I'd live in them.

My first introduction to "Indian" food, was the free Sunday dinners at Hare Krishna temples in the Seventies in Denver, Co. and Culver City, Ca. I found it was best to enjoy the food and smile and nod while eating instead of engaging in debate or I'd surely have a stomach-ache afterwards. I bought the 1972 Hare Krishna cookbook and still have it. I understand it's a generic style compared to your detailed accounts.

Sweet rice...YUM. I did help a friend cook for 65 people at a fundraiser last Fall. I have gotten pretty good at making sweet rice (kheer), chai, mango lassi, and chutney...I made a fresh green cilantro jalapeno chutney which is pretty similar to salsa. Luckily we had an elderly Indian man who I know is a very good cook to consult with. He uses Water Buffalo ghee in his own cooking. The other thing I've made a lot over the years is farina halavah. I've taken it to many American potlucks and it gets gobbled up right away by people who have never heard of Indian food. So full of butter and sugar though I get a sugar headache and don't make it often.

RE: Favorite Indian Dishes (IM)

Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:15:13 GMT

YUMMMMMM....
All your info sounds good. Hopefully I'll be able to find some of these places. Have to look up Sunnyvale.
I have yet to find a really good samosa at a restaurant. Most are dismally disappointing. There are some good how-to videos on youtube to make all kinds of recipes. I love samosas, carrot halvah, barfi (generally too sweet but I love it), chai, vegetable subji, of course the staple basmati rice with cardomom...MANGO LASSI YUMMMMM.
I only go to "Indian" restaurants during lunch special which is usually aprox $10. But after an Indian meal I've stuffed myself silly and am sleepy so Indian lunch is off-limits during a work week. Dinner is too expensive and sometimes it's the same food from lunch (ugh).
If I find I can cook it at home fresher then I don't usually return. In L.A. the restaurants have an A, B, C, D rating system which they have to post on the front window (GOOD IDEA) and one really good small restaurant somewhere in the Valley had a C or B but it was okay cos the food was awesome.
When I'm in Thousand Oaks I always visit Apna Spiceland off Hampshire...it's in a little open mall area with a palm tree on the logo. They are an Indian grocery but expanded and have a deli now. It's always better to be there early enuf in the day when the food is fresh.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 07:35:05 GMT

You ain't checked out the chickies in Bollywood & south Indian movies yet! You'll never be the same again!

http://www.google.com/ima...=4&ved=0CEMQsAQwAw

http://www.google.com/ima...=4&ved=0CDYQsAQwAw

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (MellowRoast)

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 16:11:25 GMT

My favorite Indian dish of all time is Padma Lakshmi. Baha!

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:42:53 GMT

http://www.anothersubcont...=30156&#entry30156

Here is a great site by Indians with their own authentic regional & home recipes

http://www.uppercrustindi...20Chefs&postid=107

an Indian cooking & food publication, online, so that you get a glimpse of traditional & current recipes

Nothing like the mystery food in so-called "Indian" restaurants.

http://thecookscottage.ty...com/curry/hot_as_hell/

types of chilies, with photographs

My suggestion is to use sweet or hot Hungarian paprika [not smoked Spanish paprika], Korean kochugaru i.e. red pepper [which is excellent, ground or flaked] or New Mexico chiles. You need color & aroma, not heat.

http://thecookscottage.ty...7/06/ghati_mutton.html

Use lamb shank & neck

http://thecookscottage.ty...3/more_indian_foo.html

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (quijote)

Mon, 31 May 2010 13:40:19 GMT

Thanks, Pimple-- That chef sounds amazing. And I'm looking forward to trying out that vindaloo recipe. Sounds delicious.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Sat, 29 May 2010 07:53:27 GMT

@quijote

http://www.virsanghvi.com...icleDetail.aspx?ID=311

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2...s/2006031800970300.htm

This is about Chef Urbano Rego, a truly great chef and a great human being. Native of Goa, the home of the vindaloo, it is worth traveling to taste his cooking which includes many Goan traditions, Christian & Hindu each with their remarkable contributions. E.g. the typical SHAKUTI of ripe cashew fruit, another dish of unripe mangoes prepared with mustard & coconut paste.

The GOAN VINDALOO is not Chili-hot. It is spicy, tangy, and the flavor palette is contributed by:

per 1 kilogram or 2.2 lbs of meat, roughly

Cumin 2 tsp.
Cassia Bark or cinnamon [like cassia + eugenol, i.e. a clove-like fraction] a finger length
Clove 6-10
Black pepper 10-20
Anise/star anise, a hint [optional] a very small amt.; use own judgment in all things e.g. cinnamon since quills are fatter, thicker, etc. Ditto garlic, ginger etc.

Garlic 6-10 cloves
Ginger a reasonable chunk
Onion c. 2 cups, diced

Mild New Mexico or Aromatic Rose Paprika type of red chiles : your call. Soak the chiles, removing seeds if you wish. Then bring to a boil. Then grind the softened chiles with mild vinegar or any vinegar [white or cider; adjust tang later] with all dry spices, tamarind, ginger & garlic
Palm Vinegar : a little bit, a few Tb.
Touch of molasses or brown sugar
Tamarind pulp, ripe
OIL! FAT!!
Sea salt
Cashew fruit liquor like grappa or vodka

Meat with bones, skin, cartilage, fat.

Select flavorful meat, pork shoulder with skin, bone; trotter, fresh hocks, ear, some belly with skin,large chunks.

Or, whole duck/goose with skin, cut into pieces.

Salt & rub thoroughly, sit for a while and drain. Do not let meat touch water or watery substances if you are making the long-keeping type of vindaloo. This will be a spicy confit, sort of.

Rub half the ground paste into meat and let sit for a while, say 1 hour.

In 1/2 cup oil, add onions and bring up to heat. Cook slowly, covered, until they are transparent and raggedy and exude moisture. Gently increase heat until they begin to change color to light gold.

Add the remaining half of the paste and carefully cook for a few minutes, then add the meat. Stir and fry it in the spiced oil until it changes color. Cover and lower heat and gently seethe in its own juices until half tender. If you are going to make a thin gravy, add boiling water 1/2 cup at a time, letting meat create a gravy under cover on low heat before adding another 1/2 cup. Or you can add 1/2 c. of a neutral liquor like grappa and let it cook the meat, covered, with the barest hint of brown sugar or cane jaggery or maple syrup. This together with the fat, will create a concentrated spicy dish eaten like a meat pickle.

Whether in the water-based gravy form or the more concentrated "pickle" form, vindaloo must be left to cook slowly under a tight cover in an enamelled cast iron vessel. Then it must mature for 12-24 hours [or more] in the fridge before consumption.

Be careful with salt, since you have salted the meat to begin with.

Game like venison, boar & waterfowl do very well with this treatment.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Sat, 29 May 2010 06:33:36 GMT

Hi CES,

I am sorry that your first experience was so equivocal. Where are you located? This place seems not to have any competition, because th spread was not too generous.That might be bcause of location, rent, white tablecloth service, no competition, or many other factors.

It would be interesting to learn the name of the place. That might provide a clue to the ethnic or regional roots of the owners. That might mean something or nothing, because cooks are difficult to find owing to Immigration & Labor regulations. So, there is a diminishing pool of trained subcontintental workers, whose ranks are supplemented by many wannabes, including the owners' relatives, pals, and miscellaneous passers-by e.g. Latino casual laborers taught rudimentary skills by the owners.

Many or most of the Indian restaurants today are being opened by Bangladeshis, Nepalese and various other groups who are poorly equipped to interpret or cook the "Indian Restaurant Standards'' created and defined by 2 or more generations of Punjabi restarateurs.

Hence, you received a decidedly odd interpretation of "Chicken Mulligatawny Soup"where save the chicken, everything else had been surrendered to the ignorant and wild imagination of the cooks. There is spontaneity & refreshing creativity and there is travesty & truly bad food. One must know when ignorance & carelessness has gone too far, as in many restaurants be they in the UK, USA or in India.

Then the other liquid was a dal, a legume, that should have been accompanied by a side of vegetable. Combining vegetables with dal is fine, but that cookery is accomplished in distinctive regional styles and is a matter of great pride & delicacy. Never a nondescript bowl of dog's vomit! It was created out of commercial Green Pea soup base, some packaged dhansak/sambar masala, and some lettuce/spinach ground in for color.

Combining chicken with sauce is likewise distinctive and takes training and care. it seems you were offered some bowdlerized version of Chicken Butter Masala, probably concocted from Tomato Soup base, cream and package tandoori spices.

I am sorry that you had such an indifferent experience. You might write them a note telling them it was your first Indian meal & how underwhelmed you were. Please include your suspicions that the sauces were created from canned commercial bases.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (ces1948)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:54:52 GMT

Well I did give it a try and I mostly liked it. Unfortunately I cannot tell you exactly what I had. It was a bit of an unusual and slightly uncomfortable experience. There was no buffet as I thought there would be and no menu was presented. There was a hand lettered sign indicating three lunch specials, a veggie, a chicken and a lamb. I told the waiter who spoke very little English that I had never had Indian food before. He asked if I
liked Veggies, chicken or lamb best and whether I liked spicy or mild. I told him chicken spicy but not real hot. I got the following.
A green colored soup with what appeared to be small bits of chicken, was not real spicy but had a good flavor.
A salad standard tossed with cucumber slices, iceberg, carrots etc with a very thin nearly tasteless dressing with chopped onion, perhaps yogurt and nothing esle identifiable.
For the main course I was served a generous portion of white rice, a small bowl of a curry laced sauce with corn kernels in it but nothing else identifiable. I rightly or wrongly poured the sauce over part of the rice. This was quite spicy and good.
I also received a bowl of what resembled tomato bisque with chunks of reddish colored chicken in it. This was also pretty spicy and good, I also poured some of this sauce over a portion of the rice. I also got Indian bread with something maybe butter smeared on it. It truly reminded me of pizza crust but was not unpleasant. For dessert I was served a thin rice type pudding which maybe had a hint of coconut. It was good.
The entire lunch special was $7.99 plus drink.
All in all a good if somewhat confusing experience.

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (NYPIzzaNut)

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:08:37 GMT

I guess I should venture something here - I do love most Indian food (even though my wife is not keen on it as she spent lots of time in India in the Peace Corp way back when and got her fill of curry, curry, curry to last her several lifetimes.)

I have been to a number of Indian restaurants in greater Cincinnati and very seldom have found something I did not care for on the buffets generally offered.

I have fallen in deep love with naan and just discovered it is being sold by Culinary Circle in Biggs and some other markets around town.

I can almost live on their garlic naan.

http://www.culinarycircle.com/servlets/productDetails?productId=152&categoryId=22

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (ces1948)

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:53:06 GMT

I guess at age 61 I should finally give it a try. A local place has just started a lunch buffet so maybe this coming week I'll try it.

RE: Favorite Indian Dishes (quijote)

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:42:10 GMT

Pimple, I hope you didn't take my remark to be snarky; that was far from my intent. My main point was to underscore the successes and problems of terminology when applied to a cuisine with different dimensions. I'm a big fan of cuisine authenticity, though "authenticity" can be a problem as food is always evolving. We can pin down a quintessential prototype for a dish, but we need to remember that the dish evolved from something else; it didn't develop in a vacuum. Not many of the "American classics" (pizza, bagels, etc.) can be considered truly "authentic" in a historical sense, though they may be held up as benchmarks or prototypes of some sort. To an extent, it would be almost contradictory for a mass public to experience many truly ("historically") authentic dishes. In the case of vindaloo, yes, we can follow an authentic recipe, but the circumstances of our lives, kitchens, preparation methods (such as a "recipe" itself) and ingredients would necessarily transform the experience into something not truly authentic. This is the call of Roadfood, in fact: to experience the timelessness of regional food in context, even when things keep changing.

However, I'm not against innovations in cuisine, either. I know that a pizza with duck confit is not reflective of the original pizzas, but it could very well be that such a pizza is indeed the best I've had. Tastes change, and food evolves along the way. If potatoes are native to Peru, then can there be an authentic boxty (potato cake) in Ireland? Or an authentic potato and pea samosa in India? Most food, perhaps all food, is fusion cooking. I understand that the original and more authentic vindaloos do not have chile heat, as chiles are a New World item. The same goes for Korean kimchee, Szechuan food, spicy Thai curries, and other foods that now use chile peppers.

Without experimentation and adaptation, food can still be good, but it also becomes akin to a museum object. A chile-spiced vindaloo served at American or British restaurants may not be an authentic Goan or East Indian vindaloo of the kinds you referenced, but it could be its own genre: a chile-spiced vindaloo that stands on its own merits, and that isn't merely derivative of something else. I agree that innovations can mask original versions of foods that are perfectly good--not just vindaloos, but also pre-chile versions of pickled Korean vegetables and pre-chile versions of Szechuan dishes using native peppercorns. But I don't think the search for authenticity should keep us from enjoying innovations. Many authentic dishes are enhanced by time and experimentation. In the meanwhile, we must use language to try to describe our foods, even if the words we use carry a lot of historical baggage. Though the bagels I get at the local stores do not resemble the true bagels of legend, and though the vindaloos I enjoy do not closely resemble their ancestors, the words "bagel" and "vindaloo" will have to do for now.

And by the way, I would love to have any vindaloo recipe you're willing to share. Perhaps you could post it in the "recipes" forum or e-mail it to me?

RE: Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:38:11 GMT

quijote

I love the samplings of Indian cuisines I've had in North America and Europe, and hope someday to go to India itself and travel my way through the culinary and cultural landscape.

I understand the pitfalls of talking about "Indian food" and "curries," but I see them as mere conveniences of terminology, not as pronouncements on the cuisines themselves. Similar issues arise with many other cuisines--"Spanish," "French", "Italian," etc.--even though much, if not most, cooking in those countries is highly regional and diverse.

Anyhow, my favorite dishes are vindaloos--pork vindaloos, lamb vindaloos, goat vindaloos. I also love malai kofta, masala dosas, and everything else I've sampled--each has a distinct tradition and history, for sure, but the convenience of saying "Indian food" sure beats more precise yet clumsy phrases such as "authentic and internationalized subcontinental Asian food."

Q-meister,

Your point is very well made. What you want to communicate to our fellow enthusiasts is the term "Indian Restaurant Cooking." However, even here, some caution is required. You may be familiar with the complaint by New Yorkers that their favorite "style(s)" of "Cantonese" take-out or sit-down, especially the taste of several "classic dishes" they had taken for granted and which represented a huge investment of memories & other emotional capital, were not available even in other Toisanese restaurants far from the NYC area. Likewise, the St.Louis classic, Chicken with cashewnuts (?), saturates that cityscape, but appears in that particular guise nowhere else. The same story is true for the regional adaptations of Chinese cuisines in micro-regions of say, India, that are extremely dear to those who have grown up with some specific dishes but available nowhere else!

North American "Indian" restaurant cooking is undergoing significant demographic transitions with respect to cooks & ownership, that can make the newcomer's experience more choppy, less pleasant. That was the reason for my caveats. It helps to understand the roots of the owner and/or cooks: Indians North, South or West, Pakistani, Bangladeshi or Nepali. I say this for a number of reasons. In NYC, a bunch of poseurs from Chowhound, who know NOTHING whatsoever of any Indian cuisine, let alone that of Bengal, write reviews and expert-sounding comments on restaurants that then can make or break them. For example, a specific place whose specialty is ONLY a particular genre of vegetarian small eats from the state of Gujarat was reviewed on its naan, saag-paneer etc. which they keep precisely for such fools, who would not have the palate nor the knowledge to make the correct choice and the range of choices necessary for a worthwhile evaluation. Naturally it was not very good, like the Western food served in Chinese buffets!! It is there for the same reason. So now do you understand the folly of gently mocking me?

NYC is full of Indian restaurants that actually are owned by Pakistanis & Bangladeshis. When you try to understand what these groups excel at, then you will naturally have a more satisying encounter than a "ONE SIZE FITS ALL." Your pork/lamb/goat vindaloos would fare very badly at the hands of most Pakistanis, ditto dosas. Meat cookery in a certain style, kebabs, certain ways of cooking whole beans & dals and wheat breads: these are what you should judge them by and they will excel.

Bangladeshis excel in a whole different spectrum of foods, but also in meat cookery. However, with regard to your "vindaloos", note that an entire genre of dishes were invented by Bangladeshi emigre cooks in Britain in the last 40 years, that have names of Indian origin but no resemblance whatsoever to the original, none at all. These are concocted from 3 basic master sauces, mixed together in various proportions with boiled cubed meats, and finishing garnishes, e.g. vinegar for vindaloo, fenugreek leaves for x, coconut cream & nut paste for y, etc. And now they have invented the absurd name of Balti this, Balti that. In the beginning, Peshawar had just 1 Balti or karhai meat! Superb. Nothing else was karhai or could be!

If you wish, I shall write you an authentic vindaloo recipe, and you will be astonished at its COMPLETE ABSENCE of chili heat and very restrained spicing. There are Goan Vindaloos, and then there are even milder East Indian Vindaloos, East Indians being a community of Catholics settled in Bombay after it passed into English hands [with the marriage of Catherine of Braganza], who preferred to call themselves by that name. Finally, there are Parsi Vindaloos, created out of a very long tradition of hiring Goan cooks. All are similar to a degree, none very hot. There are long-keeping vindaloos, cooked without added water, but with the addition of cashew fruit liquor.

Some modern authors, cashing in on their notoriety and the gullibility of their readership, have invented all sorts of recipes for vindaloos out of thin air. I too can create pizza recipes out of duck confit, arugula & avocado, because they sound trendy, sophisticated, expensive and hard to find for ordinary folk. It might even taste wonderful to someone who never has had pizza before, and become his favorite, go-to flavor!! No harm done!! The question is, would YOU want to eat such a pizza?

So, to truly enjoy the offerings of a culture that might be somewhat unknown, some circumspection may be warranted. That was my reason for trying to be helpful, supplying specific places & specific dishes to eat there. I know as well as you the points you make, and helpfulness towards those who are less sure than yourself surely does not merit a completely unproductive, snarkey response. No one learns anything useful to them re: eating out, the purpose of this site, except how smart you are!

Re:Favorite Indian Dishes (alwayshungry475)

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:23:49 GMT

Try a variety of dishes.

Start with aloo samosa (Potato fritters if you will)
Mango Lassi (Yogurt smoothie)

Daal
Paneer Makhni
Saag
Chicken Tikka
Lots of Naan.

Finish up with Kulfi

That'll be a hearty indian meal.

RE: Favorite Indian Dishes (quijote)

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:25:41 GMT

I love the samplings of Indian cuisines I've had in North America and Europe, and hope someday to go to India itself and travel my way through the culinary and cultural landscape.

I understand the pitfalls of talking about "Indian food" and "curries," but I see them as mere conveniences of terminology, not as pronouncements on the cuisines themselves. Similar issues arise with many other cuisines--"Spanish," "French", "Italian," etc.--even though much, if not most, cooking in those countries is highly regional and diverse.

Anyhow, my favorite dishes are vindaloos--pork vindaloos, lamb vindaloos, goat vindaloos. I also love malai kofta, masala dosas, and everything else I've sampled--each has a distinct tradition and history, for sure, but the convenience of saying "Indian food" sure beats more precise yet clumsy phrases such as "authentic and internationalized subcontinental Asian food."

RE: Favorite Indian Dishes (arianej)

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:12:57 GMT

BTB

You have to develop a taste for Indian food. It doesn't come easily, but once you become accustomed to it, you'll be addicted for a long time.

It only took me one visit to develop a taste for Indian food, and that was when I was a kid. Ditto my husband, who was a picky eater in his childhood to teenage years, more so than I. In both cases, it was saag paneer that did the tricky-- creamy spiced spinach with cubes of mild white cheese. I've loved it ever since.

RE: Favorite Indian Dishes (BTB)

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 20:09:57 GMT

You have to develop a taste for Indian food. It doesn't come easily, but once you become accustomed to it, you'll be addicted for a long time.

RE: Favorite Indian Dishes (pimple2)

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:55:04 GMT

The two absolute best places to try dosas , a very tricky thing to do perfectly,

see here:
http://pleasuremountain.wordpress.com/2007/11/05/some-bangalore-restaurants/

http://pleasuremountain.wordpress.com/2007/11/22/banzai-uma/

in the USA, afaik, are in CA :

Saravana Bhavan
1305 S Mary Ave
Sunnyvale, CA 94087-3029
(408) 616-7755

http://www.saravanabhavan.com/

They have branches elsewhere on the east coast but the reputation there is poor.

The second place is the canteen attached to the basement of the Hindu temple in Queens, NY. Anyone is welcome to eat there. It gets very crowded on weekends!!

45-57 Bowne St
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 460-8484
www.nyganeshtemple.org

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