Comfort Food

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  1. #1

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    Comfort Food

    The Dal Call:
    Indian Comfort Food


    20-05-2003, 08:14 PM
    kombuchakid

    http://www.geoexpat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=242

    On this page someone posted a copyrighted article, The Dal Call:Indian Comfort Food, that they lifted from our site. Kate Heyhoe did not authorize posting of this material.

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  2. #2

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    I wonder how he pronounces "Bouillabaisse"

    On a visit to France, George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac are having lunch in a fine local restauraunt. After being seated and presented with menus, an attractive young waitress approaches the table.


    "And what can I get for you gentlemen?" asks the waitress.


    Bush looks up from his menu and smiles politely. "Hey, honey, how 'bout a quickie?"


    Shocked, the waitress slaps Bush and storms off.


    After the waitress disappears from sight, Chirac leans over to Bush. In a low voice, he says:


    "I think you mean 'quiche,' Mr. President."


  3. #3

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    Not in the league of the Bouillaibaisse perhaps but being a Bong from Kolkata, the ultimate comfort food for me is
    mashed potatoes spiked with just a dash of 'Ganesh' brand mustard oil, a quick rub of green chili and sprinkle of rock salt. Kneaded into a ball and served with rice and perhaps a little dal and a caress of 'Jharna' brand ghee.

    Needless to say we get a regular supply of the 'Ganesh' and the green chili and the 'Jharna' from Kolkata. Don't even dream of substituting with any other brand of mustard oil or the Wellcome supermarket chillies. And keep the tin of Amul ghee away.

    Funny how I start craving this after more than a week of exotic food in any foreign locale.


  4. #4

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    yo gf
    being non bong am really intrigued as to what your mashed potatoes are called. Also how about a sample of Ganesh and Jharna, when we next meet. I picked up a most indescript tin of ghee the other day from Chung King, made from australian milk for Oman-really awful. Any receipe for making your own ghee?

    Looke at what ole Simon is up to

    Simon Tam of the International Wine Centre and Veda restaurant on Arbuthnot Road are holding a wine-tasting tutorial and Indian lunch on Saturday, May 31. The event begins with a pre-lunch tasting comparing Old World and New World wines, then Veda chef Rajiv Singh Gulshan will give a cooking demonstration. Afterwards, participants can enjoy an Indian lunch paired with wines. The menu includes appetisers of mini quail samosa and lemon pickle-crusted blue-eye cod, curry leaf and peppercorn-crusted duck with mustard potatoes, traditional lamb curry with liver biryani and mint cumin raita, and royal mango cheesecake. A vegetarian menu is also available. The tasting, cooking demonstration and lunch costs $800; reservations are required. Call Tam on 2549 0181 or e-mail [email protected] for details.


  5. #5

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    K

    I'm a true blue dal maniac so lets have a dal tasting/ debate/ recipe swopping session sometime- I've got some secrets I bet you wouldn't have heard of (on the seasonings front)!

    I agree though that experimentation works best. Dal is the most flexible sort of thing to cook cos you can't really go wrong and you keep getting better-
    and for all those carnivores who are not yet converted- I've got a special recipe for 'halim' (type of dal gosht) with loads of rich melt -in- your- mouth meat and spicy chilli, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon running through an assortment of lentils and grain- goes well with a chilled light lager and raunchy bollywood beats

    teatotalers may prefer a tall glass of mint lassi- mmmm-goes straight to the head.


  6. #6

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    K

    home made ghee is a long and boring process where you collect all the cream floating on the top of your handi of milk delivered by your neighbourhood milk supplier who keeps a couple of cows in his backyard

    if its a wellcome full cream milk you may as well forget it ..but essentially you collect and store this cream over a few weeks till you have enough to burn it in a pan to turn it into ghee before it turns into cinders or nothing

    My preferred way of eating mashed potato and rice is with milk and lots of creamy salted butter, spice salt and a long green juicy chilly -the trick is to get the mixture (minus chilly which you crunch hole with every mouthful) really moist so the rice needs to be slightly overcooked.


  7. #7

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    KK - in true Bong parlance the mashed potato is called "aluseddho" or "alubhate". And for a taste of the Jharna and Ganesh you've got to visit 51 Panorama, 15 Conduit Road. We'll also have the Old Fart handy.


  8. #8

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    mozzarella

    Yo R und GF
    will certainly take you up on a recce to Conduit Rd, possibly after your[gf] Redondo Raid to Oh Moon.

    Looking forward to sampling bothe the alubhate and 'blue dal'
    and thanks for the tips race 1 #5 and race 5 #1[???]

    just got this great receipe for mozzarella: simple yet brilliant


    EQUIPMENT:

    1 cup pyrex measuring cup
    2 cup pyrex measuring cup
    5 quart pot, stainless or enamel, with cover
    Small skillet (2 inches smaller than diameter of above pot)
    Thermometer, -20 to 110C
    Sterile fine-weave dish cloth
    8 inch strainer
    1000 watt microwave oven
    INGREDIENTS:
    1 gallon milk (I used cow's milk, homogenized, pasteurized, 3.5% butter fat)
    1¼ teaspoon citric acid powder (from local pharmacy) dissolved in ½ cup cool water
    ½ tablet Junket rennet suspended in ¼ cup cool water

    Dissolve 1¼ tsp. citric acid powder into ½ cup cool water. Add to milk and stir well. Heat milk to 31C (88F) over boiling water in a small skillet.
    Dissolve ½ tablet Junket Rennet into ¼ cup cool water. Stir thoroughly into warmed milk mixture. Let set undisturbed for 1-2 hours, until a clean break is achieved.
    Cut curd into ½ inches cubes.
    Over low heat, stir the curds and whey gently to keep the curds separated and temperature uniform until temperature reaches 42C (108F). Hold at 42C (108F) for 35 minutes, stirring every five minutes to keep curds separated and off the hot bottom.
    Collect curds by pouring curds and whey through a fine cloth held in an 8 inch sieve over same covered container, let drain for 15 minutes. Save whey to make ricotta (You bring the acidified whey to 95C, cool, filter particulates).
    Break up curd, thoroughly mix in 1 teaspoon salt.
    Place 1 cup salted curd into 2 cup measure.
    Microwave on high (1000 watts) for 45 seconds (adjust the time so that you get the desired elasticity). Separate hot curd from container with the back of a fork, knead with hands to distribute heat evenly. Stretch and fold to make smooth and elastic, shape into a soft ball, pinch, place in refrigerator to solidify.


  9. #9

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    Originally posted by reema
    K

    I've got a special recipe for 'halim' (type of dal gosht)
    How about it, Reema? Please post or send PM - shall be very gratefully received. Have only had 'halim' once - in Dhaka 2-3 years ago during fasting month and was truly delicious - much more so than dalcha or dhansak. Was a business trip out of HK and that was probably the most memorable bit. Now, I begin to wonder - is it a bong dish (unusual)?

    HKFella

  10. #10

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    Originally posted by reema
    K

    home made ghee is a long and boring process where you collect all the cream floating on the top of your handi of milk delivered by your neighbourhood milk supplier who keeps a couple of cows in his backyard...but essentially you collect and store this cream over a few weeks till you have enough to burn it in a pan to turn it into ghee before it turns into cinders or nothing
    KK, there is a far less troublesome way of doing it than accumulating malai from your gowala's milk, and while the results may not satisfy a die-hard purist, I found them perfectly acceptable during my life before HK in Taipei (where the sole Indian grocery shop chose to open just as I was leaving). Anyway, I'm not a huge consumer of ghee - just for that special dish.

    You can subject supermarket-style unsalted butter to a long low uncovered simmer - i.e. literally clarifying butter. Doesn't work with salted - too many impurities and they'll burn.

    Place the unsalted butter in a dry heavy-bottomed pan on low heat till it melts fully, then up the heat to medium till it starts boiling and frothing. Give it a stir, then lower heat to the minimum needed to keep it simmering uncovered. Don't disturb or move it any more. You'll see the liquid get clearer and a few milk solids settling at the bottom. After 45-55 min of simmer when the milk solids have turned light golden brown and the liquid is really clear and transparent, stop. Let it cool. Strain into jar. For later use, keep capped and refrigerated and it won't ever spoil. Just keep kitchen doors shut and use hood and/or window ventilators to keep smell from getting all over your home and out the front door. A one-pound (454g) piece of butter can give you about 1.5 cups of ghee. It' s not hard at all.

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