May 20, 2005
Currying favorFood
The last time I was subjected to the water-boarding called looking for a Manhattan apartment, I cast a covetous eye on a beautiful midtown loft. This place had a sunny balcony facing the art deco fantasy of the Chrysler Building, and a motormouth roommate who talked like she was on cocaine. I’d almost convinced myself I could handle the roommate, but one thing she said stuck sourly in my head.
She asked me whether I’d be cooking. ‘I can’t stand that curry smell,’ she said.
Let’s put that trope out of its British Raj-induced misery. Indian dishes as a whole are not called curry. They’re called sabzi or khana in Hindi, or just plain Indian food. In Punjabi cooking, curry is one specific dish: a thick yellow sauce made with yogurt and garbanzo flour, spiced with turmeric and eaten with rice. Some stir munchies like vadas, chicken or mutton into this base.
Calling all Indian food ‘curry’ is like calling all American food ‘Jello’: it’s nonsensical. If you tell me, ‘Let’s get some curry!’ and then order saag paneer, I’m going to laugh at you. Loudly.
Is this just semantic quibbling, when cheap Indian restaurants themselves perpetuate the corruption? Forget Curry in a Hurry, try ordering a Chinese dish by the wrong name. I did that at the tiny takeout place on the corner and got a stern lecture. ‘That not chow mein,’ the owner said. ‘I make you lo mein.’ Damned if it wasn’t better, just like he said.
Furthermore, there ain’t no such thing as chai tea, star-buckers. Chai is tea, so unless you and your sibling are the Doublemint twins, or you’re the mascot for Little Caesars Pizza-Pizza, don’t be ign’ant and run around asking for tea-tea. (Mmm, Doublemint twins.)
On that minty-fresh note, I leave you with these bouts of Kiwi brilliance. From two weeks ago:
A Tauranga woman is accusing a local branch of The Warehouse of racial discrimination after she was denied the right to return purchases because they “smell like curry”… After a brief conversation with a Warehouse employee, the mother of five was allegedly told: “We can’t take these back - they stink like curry”… With the family having eaten roast lamb and vegetables for dinner, Mrs Ali argued there was no chance the clothing could have acquired a “curry smell”.
And in 2003:
A small-town motelier denied an Indian man a unit for a family holiday because she claimed he might make the room smelly by cooking curries… after learning that Mr Roychoudhury is Indian, she said she could not offer the room because she would not be able to get the smell out before the next guests arrived… Mrs Nemhauser had not asked the family if they would be cooking Indian food.
Do the various styles of Indian cooking have characteristic olfactory hues? You bet. So do Thai, Italian, Mexican and sex.
And they’re all orgasmic.
manish on May 20, 2005 12:21 AM in Food · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
¤ Ultrabrown said: Curry pushers
Finally, someone sets it straight. "Chai tea" got no small amount of eye rolling from me when I first heard the term.
Yeah well haldi (turmeric) stains everything. I was always the kid with yellow tupperwear. I do have to say though, that Indian food does have a smell that can hang around but only if food has been cooked in the same place for a long period of time. Haldi, however, never leaves a formica countertop. Perhaps the man who couldn't accept the purchases should have been a bit more sensitive and said something else? Yes well, these people might attack our food but they continue to gobble it up. Indian is, afterall, the national cuisine of England (who wants steak and kidney pie anyways?). Sometimes I think it has to do with harming another person's dignity and just plain being rude in order to carry out prejudices and learnt stereotypes. When my father worked in the silicon valley tech industry, my mother would prepare lunches for him. He distinctly remembers a man asking him in a degrading tone if his food had gone bad when my mother had made methi paranthas. Her excellent cooking made that man change his tune once he smelt the aroma.
I remember when my parents were looking for a new house in the 'burbs, we had to decline a mint-condition beauty because it smelt like seafood.
Any guess of who lived there?
In my experience this is going to be a downhill battle for a long, long time. Damn the Brit who brought over Indian spices to old Blighty, mixed them up randomly, and called the resulting concoction 'curry powder.' Even today I have to explain to innocently clueless gora's tha not all Indian food is curry. There are meat curries, fish curries, etc, and yes there is punjabi curry or 'kadi', but Indian food is NOT based on this bizarre curry paradigm.
Good luck driving this point home. Maybe Madhur Jaffrey can help us out here.
I do have to say though, that Indian food does have a smell that can hang around but only if food has been cooked in the same place for a long period of time.
And so does any type of fish. People still think it is suitable to reheat that in the office microwave, rendering it smelly and useless for days afterward (especially for those of us vegetarians!)
right on manish.
Haldi leavs a formica countertop if attacked quickly with a cleaner like Fantastik. Be prepared for a very creepy blood-red in between stage, however.
Manish, I had forgotten what real Punjabi curry is like until your evocative description. One of the most delish things I've ever eaten, as a guest in a Punjabi mansion in Delhi, was kadi on rice, accompanied by the tastiest lemonade known to humankind. (My mother had been telling me about that lemonade for years, yet it lived up to its expectatins.) Mmmmm. Now I'm hungry late at night. Damn you! :-)
Finally! A posting I thought just didn't exist outside of my mind. As for 'curry' smell, I say we let'em have it. Stink it to high heaven.
But seriously, this is classic culturural ignorance (and an opportunity). Here's how - its not just curry (as they mean it) that smells, this society is not set up to accommodate it. How many apartments and even 2000 or 3000 sq ft houses have you seen with kitchens worthy of Indian cooking? Pardon my generalization, but in the USA at least, cooking often involves temperature changes of tv dinners in microwaves. That involves little or no smell. An office assistant at one of my jobs actually threw out indian restaurant food leftovers from the fridge because "they had a smell". The deal was that typically the food is so inert that there is nothing for the nose when the food is not hot. So if there's any smell it must be bad. The kitchens that might work in all different ways fail in one: There is no exhaust to the outside. Add to that the hermetically sealed house with carpeting out the wazzu and you bet it'll overpower you. None of the open verandahs and front doors to get some cross-ventilation in before parathas are made in fresh air. The fumes generated while cooking are meant to be exited, not inhaled and imbibed. I mean, there's serious alchemy happening to that aaloo or bhindi, or tinda. That inert vegetable will never remain the same after passing over the fire! We actually put in our contract for the builder to install a letterbox type opening at the microwave level exiting to the outside from right over the range. This was what concluded the problem for us.
In my south Indian book, curry is nothing without the curry leaf it's named after. And most curries in the US don't use any curry leaves at all. Not that us Indians can claim sole hegemony over the humble curry anymore anyways.
OT: Any of you blokes in the city? I'm looking at spending the next 3 months there on an internship.
I used to almost throw up growing up at the smell of fish cooking in my house. To be Bangali and fish-phobic...but yeah, i harbor some long-held grudges against some of my White friends for comments about the "smell" of my house...although when i was 5 or 6 I thought the smell of another desi house I used to go to was objectionable (not that I ever had the bad manners to say anything to them about it...like some of my White friends at the time).
anyway, a friend of mine told me that Von Singh's (a punjabi and dutch owned place) (or maybe it's Indian Bread Company or whatever it is hideously called) now has things like "indian fritters" (pakoras).
Can anyone confirm? i don't like the new sucking up anymore than the old "let's take it on the chin constantly" response to racism :)
oh, and if we're going to quibble about language (which i'm certainly willing to do :), can we not use "Indian restaurant"? A substantial number, if not most, of the generic "Indian restaurants" that give you that "curry" in New York are owned and/or staffed by Bangladeshis.
Well, my good Indian mama ( I refuse to use anything more desi, I like the way that sounds, so what of it?) could never stand the smell of any kind of cooking hanging around the house and taught me well. Ventilate! Crack open a window (yes, even in the coldest days, the fresh air will do you good, and you only need to open it the tiniest bit) if you don't have a fan, if you do - run the fan when you cook and don't reuse cooking oil. Yuck. Actually, we didn't fry things usually, to stay more healthy. If stuck in carpeted apartments, vacuuming every other day or so will cut the odor. C'mon, it only takes a few minutes....
As for the haldi, use a board on top of your counter that you can put things on, so that if you spill any haldi, you can scrub the cooking board instead of the counter. And clean out the fridge regularly! Don't keep things open, keep them wrapped properly and in containers, and use lots of baking soda in the back. You can cook as much fish or kardi or garlic, and no smell.
Ok, I know you all know these things, but, ahem, I have sort of a thing for cleaning.....laundry or more complex cooking, blech. But cleaning, oddly enough, I like. Can't stand a messy house.
Saurav, Fantastik is indeed fantastic. And do you know toothpaste can get out a lot of stains on painted surfaces?
As for calling everything curry, well, gentle education is the best. I mean, I work with people from all over the world and everytime I meet someone from one of 'those Eastern European' countries (you know, all those former Soviet states) I embarrass myself by not knowing exactly where they are!!! I then have to go look it up on the internets. Poor red-faced silly me...
PS Can't use just MD as my 'handle' anymore? Comment submission error if no more than three characters? What shall I call myself now? MD, the real MD? MD#1, MD - your intellectual and moral superior (ha, ha, kidding)? Suggestions welcome (be nice).
Oh, and some people are just imaging the curry smell and are just close-minded jerks (re, the last few anecdotes of the post).
PPS You will notice, that the actual name of a certain person's blog is ChaiTeaLatte. Ahem. Didn't put much thought into it, thought it would last about two days or so.....
obviously, I meant cooking, not curry smell.....
Oh, never mind.
Good write up Manish. Especially about original Punjabi kari/curry, delicioso with pakora's and aloo and lashings of it drowning a plate of rice with peas, a bit of salad, and a popadom for dipping.
Yum Yum Yum.
I am not feeling so persecuted and marginalised now for not being a South Asian Woman Writer.
Food solves alot of low self esteem problems.
Tim Curry! LMAO!
dude, the punjabi dish is karhi (i.e. with a hard r, like in garh) , not curry ... and it's not just punjabi btw, it's found all over western india - the rajasthani version is actually much lighter and somewhat more subtle than the punju versio i grew up with .. delicious! and of course the gujarati version is sweet...
Why do Gujaratis put sugar in their food? I had a sweet dhal it was nice.
punjabi boy,
on the subject, as a south indian it gets me slightly peeved when papad or appadam is referred to as "popadum." one more brit construct/vestige that we can do without, just like the "curry," hmm? and yes, manish, thanks for chai tea bit, lets all drink some good old chai to more of that!
on the subject, as a south indian it gets me slightly peeved when papad or appadam is referred to as "popadum."
as a south indian who can't read or write her mother tongue, it doesn't peeve me at all. poor turbanhead is forever subject to my IMs asking, "how do you spell 'avesham'?" or some other random word in malayalam.
i didn't realise that spelling was a colonial vestige. i think my young cousin spells the word similarly b/c that's what it sounds like to him. since the head turban doesn't exist to be my mallu translation expert, i spell out indian words improperly all the time. sometimes it's not a post-colonial hangover, it's just being human. :)
Manpriya- Clorox softscrub.
Haldi-stained tupperware- put a little oil on a paper towel and swipe the inside of the tupperware before you put the food in.
Thanks a lot Manish; great post, but now I'm starving!
I am not feeling so persecuted and marginalised now for not being a South Asian Woman Writer.Food solves alot of low self esteem problems.
don't get an eating disorder on me, Punjabi Boy. it's only food, not love ;)
For those who cant stand the smell of "curry" .......
I hope they know that scientists here in the west are reserching the impact of "turmeric" in preventing Alzhimers disease.
The spicy fish curry, the chicken curry from Kerala. Good stuff! :-P
Swati
I humbly beg your forgiveness for offending you by poppadom. How can I redeem myself? Please, let me try, are you tempted?
DesiDancer
I am allergic to love. If I have low self esteem I look at pictures like this, it cheers me up. I also like looking at pictures of monkeys with guns like this. I think it says something profound about men and our destiny, dont you? Otherwise, I go for long walks and only resort to comfort eating if there is no beer in the fridge. Then I eat pizza, sometimes chicken with rice. Other than that, I'm just a normal guy.
I mean, there's serious alchemy happening to that aaloo or bhindi, or tinda. That inert vegetable will never remain the same after passing over the fire!
This is exactly why I can't take too much desi food... I find the spices and flavors to be a little too overpowering. I much prefer cuisines (like middle eastern) in which the spices are more subtle and you can still discern the natural flavor of the vegetable or meat on your plate.
Why are we so bothered that all Indian food is called curry ?
Is it because curry supposedly smells and we have been negatively stereotyped for that ?
So educating people about curry-less Indian food would be an exercise in futility because the stereotyping and the smell allegations will continue anyway.
I have decided to be a curry eater and be in your face about it.
On a side note, most meat based Indian food served in Indian restaurants in the US is not really that Indian. Its Mughlai and except for a very small percentage of bourgeois North Indian Muslims who eat it regularly at home, Mughlai food is not a staple diet in the homes of the Indian masses.
How about not calling Indian food -- Indian food. We don't speak Indian. And we certainly don't eat Indian. Most of the "Indian" restaurants in America serve Punjabi/Mughlai stuff.
Manish, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I find your "pun"-ditry hilarious- the picture of Alan Curry is a case in point.
This "curry" business is a very English thing. Watching the footie, going for a pint, then for a Ruby Murray (cockney for curry) on the way home. Probably where it stems from this unforgivable usage. Where to begin? Naan bread, not just naan. Lentil daal, not just daal. Chicken tikka masala, you what? Vindaloo, que? Bloody Brits, can't take us anywhere.
"Curry" in Tamil Nadu is vegetables sauteed in oil and the holy trinity of mustard seeds, red chili peppers and curry leaves. "To curry" as in "to blacken."
I believe there is a difference between "curry" as in curry powder and kadi.
Papadum / popadum - it all tastes good, transliteration be damned.
How about some Mulligatawny soup, eh?
(Molagu Thani = pepper water)
Can someone enlighten me to the origin of 'vindaloo'.
Why do Gujaratis put sugar in their food? I had a sweet dhal it was nice.
i'm gujarati. i've never really seen my mom, or any of my aunties put sugar in our food, but i've heard a lot of people say that they know gujarati people who do this. however, i do know that when my mom makes dhal she puts ketchup in it and perhaps thats the 'modern day equivalent' to sugar? i think sometimes people put gohr (chunks of sugar from sugar cane?) in it.
How about some Mulligatawny soup, eh?
Had some of the Soup Nazi's Mulligatawny soup...disgusting, it had me running for my bottle of Hajmola.
I much prefer cuisines (like middle eastern) in which the spices are more subtle and you can still discern the natural flavor of the vegetable or meat on your plate.The only house that smelled in my diverse neighborhood was the Middle Eastern kid's. Go figure.
Ketchup might be a substitute for tomatoes.
Vindaloo, is not exactly an Indian dish. I think it was the Portugese in Goa that came up with it. The "vin" in vindaloo stands for wine or vinegar neither of each is common element in Indian cuisine. I think (not sure)it doesn't spoil easily and therefore the portugese sailors used to take this on board on their voyages.
That aside, can someone tell me why Vindaloo seems to be in so many punchlines of jokes involving Indian food. I think the recent Leno bit had it. And then there have been others, some eighties movie that I can't remember now.
Historically this was a pork dish cooked with plenty of wine vinegar and garlic, known as "Vinho de Alho", however it soon received the Goanese treatment of adding plentiful amounts of spice and chili... the word "aloo" meaning garlic (presumably derived from the Portuguese word "alho") is mistranslated as "potato" as it is in Hindi.
Regarding this:
... can someone tell me why Vindaloo seems to be in so many punchlines of jokes involving Indian food.
Probably for no deeper reason than it sounds funny. Or, to be nicer about it, it has a poetic ring.
Gurpreet, actually Indian food depending upon what the dish is and what regional touch it has, has the full spectrum of flavors - right from jeera-chawal which is simply light fried cumin with cooked rice to all the way volcanic mirchi masala for which you have to have a tongue of steel or just plain numb. I am *intimately* familiar with at least a couple of regional cuisines, and I can guarantee you that the food offered in 99% restaurants does NOT represent everyday home cooking. Restaurant cooking is typically overcooked, overspiced and overcreamed, and you can typically tell by the lack of much green-ness in any green veggies. In fact most dishes offered at your typical Indian restaurant aren't even cooked regularly in most homes, and not even 5% of the vegetables sold in Indian markets are ever prepared at these restaurants. Note that I'm not saying these are not tasty, just that I can't eat them regularly for the reasons above.
In summary, unless you've already tried it, see if you can land a freshly home-cooked meal at one of your friends place when in India. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
I expect a better answer than it just sounds funny. The least I expect from this place is a full cataloguing of the term in chronological order. Cross-indexing wouldn't hurt either. And should we be offended by it becuase it's really not Indian?
Why is it that some people can go on and on about things like mid-palate bitterness of certain wines but when confronted with Indian food, all they can say is "Spicy!"
Next time I break bread with "those" people, I am going to take a bite of my complex spice infused food, move it around in my mouth, and then say "ahh yes a hint of cardamom, I believe from the Malabar coast". I think the use of an actual Kerala village name instead of Malabar Coast, should make the comment even more esoteric.
The real victims of the "curry" offense are uneducated tastebuds. That "mulligatawny soup" recipe made me want to cry.
Any chance I could see a thread about favorite South Asian restaurants in New York?
A small-town motelier denied an Indian man a unit for a family holiday because she claimed he might make the room smelly by cooking curries after learning that Mr Roychoudhury is Indian, she said she could not offer the room because she would not be able to get the smell out before the next guests arrivedThis must have been in the pre-Patel epoch of motel ownership.
Hey Al Mujahid, 'sup.
Why are we so bothered that all Indian food is called curry ? Well, I think it just represents a willing ignorance or uncaring attitude towards something that isn't all the same. Same reason why all Italian food isn't called pasta, or all caffinated drinks aren't called just coffee - they all are not the same. I find it akin to saying all people that look a certain way are Arab or all muslims are terrorists (pardon the extreme; the concept is the same). I mean being simply ignorant is one thing, but claiming one "likes curry" surely requires some enlightenment.
Disagreement number two: Mughlai may not be staple diet in the homes of the Indian masses, but its as Indian as the Taj or Mirza Ghalib. Some ideas imported, others perfected and localized in India.
Yes,
We need a thread on the favorite Indian restaurants across the US.
Indian restaurants in UK are better though. Jamaal's in Oxford, England absolutely kicked ass.
A Mutineer's Dining Guide- good call!
Any chance I could see a thread about favorite South Asian restaurants in New York?
I can chip in my two cents:
I like cheap dhabas like Pakistani Tea House (tribeca-ish); i'm also a sucker for curry in a hurry's naan, but i think that makes me a coconut :) there are also a couple dhabas on that little street just above houston where allt he cabdrivers wait (b/w 1st and A i think).
Dimple's chaat is legendary (two locations, only been to the manhattan one--near chelsea in the nonprofit ghetto) but I heard rumors about them being targeted for poor working conditions, if that's something that would concern you;
there's Kati Roll's overpriced but good rolls (near nyu);
jackson diner is obviously good but it's expensive now (74th b/w roosevelt and 37th i think);
there's a good south indian place in jackson heights as well, although i forget what it's called--i think it's around 35th ave and 73rd street, but i could be totally off on that.
and of course there's the plethora of other places in jackson heights, which vary in quality and depending on product. i don't mind shireen mahal, shaheen (actually they changed their name...it's the one on 72nd and broadway)is okay if you can deal with pakistani food (i.e. are not vegetarian) and are very supportive of work to assist the local community; and there's delhi palace too; kabab king has the same problem as shaheen--pakistani food.
you can also go exploring desi neighborhoods besides the commercial areas in manhattan and jackson heights (which not enough people do) depending on what particular kinds of food you like--if you dig pakistani food, go to midwood (coney island)--people seem to like bukhara and there are a bunch of other places. there are a number of places in astoria, there are some bangali places in church mcdonald (f to church) that are okay (they have big ramadan stocking stuffers), there are places in jamaica, etc., etc.
oh-- and don't miss the chinese desi cuisine--there's tangra masala in elmhurst, i think, and a few other places scattered here and there (there's one in new hyde park actually).
just don't get caught on 6th street :)
I don't get the fuss over Jackson Diner; I agree it's overpriced.
I really like Dosa Hut and its neighbors (Something) Mahal and Pongal on Lexington. I like Curry in a Hurry's food and prices, but sometimes I'm not in a hurry and don't feel like carrying an overloaded tray up stairs and hunting for a table while my meal gets cold.
Curry Leaf in Brooklyn Heights is really good, everything tastes fresh and distinct.
I had a truly awful meal at Ayurveda Cafe on the Upper West Side. It was like having baby food for dinner. Criminally bland.
What I want to know is - has anyone tried the exorbitant Devi?
In addition to Kati Roll, Roomali (27th east of Lex) is good. Also India Bread Company, round the corner from Kati Roll-- they also offer Naan-sandwiches and some really killer stuffed parathe
Rajbhog in Jackson Heights has great chaat and "staple" food. Their mithai is also outstanding.
Baluchis (multiple locations) is consistent, but the menu is a lot of heavy dishes.
for Chinese-Desi, Chinese Mirch (28th & Lex) is good.
and Ghandi (yeah, that's how they spell it) on Bleeker at 7th is atrocious. Avoid.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention Surya, on Bleecker just west of 7th Avenue. The food there is fantastic. But it's really expensive. They have a great brunch of weekends for $10, which is the only way I can afford to eat there.
I don't get the fuss over Jackson Diner; I agree it's overpriced.
I really like Dosa Hut and its neighbors (Something) Mahal and Pongal on Lexington.
nina-- i TOTALLY agree. jackson diner never tasted great to me, i gave it three tries before giving up and muttering, "i can't believe i paid that much for THAT".
i think you're referring to madras mahal, btw. they are AWESOME; i was raving about the dinner i had there for days. i've heard good things about pongal, too. other than that, i totally miss bukhara. and tamarind. and utsav*. sigh. new york.
in d.c. it's heritage india or NOTHING. for south indian food, i have to go all the way to maryland, which means i never do.
:+:
*i could be wrong on the name of this one...i just remember it was within walking distance of where i lived in midtown.
ANNA- yeah it's Utsav. I totally forgot about them and Tamarind... both good.
I never really appreciated Jackson Diner either. It gave me my first case of heartburn, ever. Every subsequent visit has yielded similar side effects.
*I suppose I should footnote that my recommendations on restaurants are from a vegetarian point of view.
Nina, Devi is absolutely fabulous. We've been there for two special occasions. (We also used to frequent Suvir's former kitchen, Amma... and loved it... which is why we followed him to Devi.) Tasting menu is divine.
Whatever you do, don't go to Bombay Talkie. Went there twice 'cause everyone was talking about it, and the food was mediocre at best.
in case anyone's curious, boston is a disaster. one ok dhaba spot, and one homestyle bengali. thassaboutit... if anyone has tips, let me know.
where the houston, atlanta, los angeles people at? in my experience the best indian grub, like the best immigrant grub of any ethnicity, is to be found in stripmalls in sprawl cities.
peace
How true, like in Nashville- Taste of India on 21st Ave, in Village at Vanderbilt. Village at Vandy is a medical office plaza. Go figure.
Also India Bread Company, round the corner from Kati Roll-- they also offer Naan-sandwiches and some really killer stuffed parathe
How much does a meal cost at India Bread Company? Or is it more of a snack place? also, where is it exactly (anyone have a street corner?)
I never really appreciated Jackson Diner either. It gave me my first case of heartburn, ever. Every subsequent visit has yielded similar side effects.
i was working on the assumption that three quarters of these places give us heartburn :) in seriousness, though, that's good to know. i've only eaten there once or twice and never had a problem as far as i remember.
and and all of them violate their workers' rights (a friend of mine who used to work at a restaurant told me to tip directly to the hand of the person serving you; don't leave it on the table b/c management will steal it).
who's up for starting a desi restaurant blog?
Re: sugar in Indian dishes: We Bengalis are also known for adding sugar to certain dishes. I suppose that's what it gives our food a certain appeal. Have you ever tried sweet & sour masoor dal? Bengali specialty. Flavored with green mangoes, roasted red chilies, and... sugar. It's awesome. We even add sugar to simple alu gobi dishes and its awesome. Must be the Bengali sweet tooth.
Re: eating in DC: Minerva rocks. Udupi rocks. I'm going to Heritage in DuPont this weekend. I wrote about these places in the latest Shabash guide...
oh and all you foodies should pick up the Shabash 2.0 guide right now, it's awesome and i'm in it too. Can't find the link w/ info on where to buy it, I'll post later once I dig it up.
How much does a meal cost at India Bread Company? Or is it more of a snack place? also, where is it exactly (anyone have a street corner?)
$6 for a paneer naanini, $3.50 for an aloo parantha, both delicious. Bleecker between 6th Ave. and Macdougal. Also, some background on Indian Bread Co.
who's up for starting a desi restaurant blog?
Saurav- Indian Bread Co is at 194 Bleeker (betw 6 & McDougal)
Pricing is quite decent, considering the generous portions...
I'll meet you there sometime for lunch!
in d.c. it's heritage india or NOTHING. for south indian food, i have to go all the way to maryland, which means i never do.
ANNA,
Have you tried Amma's in Georgetown?? It has authentic and inexpensive South Indian food, AND you don't need to go to Maryland to try it. Whenever I crave my mom's tamarind rice, I go there. Also, Indique in DC is good too. But, Heritage is the absolute best in DC, I must agree with you there.
There is this great joint in L.A. called Abhi's Apartment. They have been known to discriminate against men though. The food is still great.
There is this great joint in L.A. called Abhi's Apartment.
Yeah but the door policy at Chez Abhi's a bitch: hot date mandatory.
Have you tried Amma's in Georgetown??
Amma? i take credit for keeping it afloat during its arid first few weeks. :)
as a homesick grad student new to GW, i missed my mom's cooking sum'n FIERCE. when i found this unknown, new Mallu restaurant (they serve AVIAL!), i fell to my knees and wept. i also walked there, every day, to have dinner and study before my evening classes. i credit that 30-block round trip for my then-wondrous abs that co-existed with nightly samosas, mysore masala dosas, kappi and semiya payasam. wind, rain, snow...it didn't matter. i had dinner with my "chetan" every evening (one of the waiters there is from my dad's town in kerala).
that familiarity is precisely why i no longer go; they fuss over me (especially cheta), which is AWESOME (my friends report that when they go without me, the experience is far suckier) but this means they also fuss AT me. there's always a trade-off.
what do i mean? here's a random sampling:
-what are you doing?
-did you forget your malayalam?
-are you making money?
-did you go to church?
-don't you want to get married?
-does your sister?
-why aren't you eating more?
-were you sick/darkening in the sun/ungrateful and is THAT why we haven't seen you?
etcetera ad nauseum. :D
they are kind, consistent, appetizing and quite convenient; it took me years to overcome my blind adoration and loyalty and acknowledge that the mysore dosa at udupi *is* actually better. :)
i'm partial to Vatan on 3rd and 29th-ish. A few blocks from my old apartment. I moved to New York and caught a nasty flu a few weeks later. Desperately in need of some kitchidi & kuddi but couldn't begin to imagine wheere i could find that in NY.
I went to Vatan a few weeks after i recovered and ate it there as part of the price fixe. Now whenever I'm craving mum's good guju food, I go to Vatan.
Neither Kati Roll or Indian Bread Company gets the Kati Roll right. I.B.C. gets the filling right but the wrap tastes like a bland chappati. K.R. gets the sizzling paratha right, but the masala filing is terribe and underdeveloped. Always sits in my tummy for hours..(and I keep going back). One day I will surely sit on the corner of Bleecker and MacDougal, equidistant from both storefronts and assemble my own superior kati roll, godammnit.
Before my recent trip to Bomaby, I wondered whether my intense craving for Frankies was just hipster nostalgia.
This trip I made sure to gorge on real kati rolls every time I saw them. And my memory of a most sakkath street food was confirmed. word, life.
Priya, so funny, I was just about to post about Vatan as well- it's the only Guju restaurant my parents truly approve of. Oak Tree Road in Edison also has a few good Guju restaurants, but I'm blanking on their names at the moment.
And if you're a fan of chaat, Vik's in Berkeley rocks.
And if you're a fan of chaat, Vik's in Berkeley rocks.
all hail VIK'S in berkeley. yowza, they are GOOD. that's the only brown food in berkeley i'll eat. since their owner doesn't keep sex slaves and whatnot, AFAIK.
Saurav- Indian Bread Co is at 194 Bleeker (betw 6 & McDougal)Pricing is quite decent, considering the generous portions...
I'll meet you there sometime for lunch!
Thanks Manish and Desi Dancer. I looked at the menu and now I'm getting hungry like Saheli did. "If only I had a teleporter..." he thinks wistfully.
As a connoisseur of desi food all over NYC, I'm going to add my two annas.
For those who aren't veg. and are okay with "Pakistani" food (I'm not sure I necessarily understand this term, but I will assume the poster simply meant to identify it as non-veg) Haandi on Lexington and 29th is quite good. It's as close to home cooking as I've ever seen in a restaurant, but then again, I'm one of those "bougeouis" N. Indian Muslims who eats stuff like biryani and korma at home. :-P
Also, there's a place on Greenwich that is called Lassi. It's owned by two non-Indian chefs and they make parathas and... well, lassi. It's pretty good, they've got the technique down pat, but there's some oomph missing. Back in the homeland, we used to refer to it as "haathon ki mahl" - which, indelicately, refers to the fact that the best food is indeed "dirty" street food. Yum.
I personally didn't like Devi very much. My bf was estatic to see they had tindas on the menu, so we ordered them only to find them exorbitantly oversalted. The bhelpuri was okay, and the lamb, not bad but not great. The desserts, especially the falooda fusion, were awesome. Maybe I'll give Suvir Saran's restaurant another try sometime, because I love his cookbook to death, but let me tell you, the first go wasn't what I expected it to be. I've felt more satisfied at Kati Roll.
I'm also a fan of Bukhara Grill - the spinach with corn is amazing. I don't usually like palak desi style, but man -- it was awesome.
Sheereen Mahal in JH makes the best laddoo, IMO. Kababish is also not bad, for cheap kababs and naan, also in JH.
I also had an amazing Bangali biryani in Astoria (can't remember the name of the place, but it's across the street from Kabir's bakery). I like it better than Mughlai biryani.
I love Amma's in DC and I'm glad you were a devout Amma lover, Anna.
I hate Indique (overpriced South Asian fusion food).
Going to Heritage for the first time this weekend to celebrate! Glad/relieved that Sepia DC foodies like/love it.
I'm really enjoying reading all the ladies describing restaurants & food in such mouth-watering detail. I like women with healthy appetites. There's nothing worse than going to a restaurant with a girl who eats two leafs of lettuce. No, I like food-girls.
Your article is very to the point. I wrote something similar which can be found here: http://cooking4her.blogspot.com/2005/04/commentary-lets-talk-curry.html
But we could continue to rant about many things as English continues to evolve. For example, I felt the same way about Chai, we call it cha in Bengal, but Latte in Italian means milk, unless you call say Caffe Latte you are just asking for milk, get it?
I am less irritated by people calling the food curry than thinking that there is one spice called curry that goes into the preparation!
I live and grew up in the Baltimore Area. I envy New York because it may be the only city in the U.S. with a lot of cool indian restaurants without the mughlai/punjabi standard fare(maybe San Fran has some). I dont eat at Indian restaurants often. Of the ones Ive been to my favorite has to be Bombay Grill in Baltimore. I also like Madras Palace (south indian veg) in Greenbelt/Lanham, MD a few min from a South Indian and a Tamil temple.I grew up in a si vegetarian family so I feel more at home there than the standard Indian restaurants. Plus the si indian restaurants may have the ni things too like paneer mateer. There is an Indian Fusion Restaurant on Charles Streetin Baltimore(operated by Tony Chemmanoor the owner of bombay grill chain of restaurants in baltimore area) called Saffron that I want to try. It was on the 2004 baltimore magazine best restaurant list. http://www.baltimoremag.com/annuals/best_restaurants04/best_restaurants_2004.asp There is also a weird combo indian restaurant I read about near John Hopkins university in Baltimore called Tamber's that combines 50's food and atmosphere with Indian food.
attn: baltimore is ghetto watch out
http://www.jhu.edu/~newslett/10-12-00/DiningGuide/28.html
Here is the url for saffron:
http://www.saffronusa.com/
although baltimore can be sketchy so watch out baltimore is known for its murders, durg addiction, crack whores, prostitutes etc although it shouldnt be that bad just park closeby and walk to the bombay grill
anyone know of any south indian non-veg restaurants in the balt/dc area or anywhere in the us?
anyone know of any south indian non-veg restaurants in the balt/dc area or anywhere in the us?
Aaaaargh. That's my pet peeve too. The only such place I know of is in new york - Asaivam, opposite Udupi(?) in Lexington. That wasn't very good, either. Any idea of such a place in DC area? I vividly remember the great Andhra food I used to have in Bangalore. Andhra-style briyani beats mughlai briyani anytime..
Sapphire in Laurel,MD is also a good Indian restaurant in DC area. For veggie food, Amma's rocks.
70+ comments and no one asked what Michael Jackson's doing on the saag-paneer link?
My entire family diversified their business ventures to include restaurants.
My uncle Surinder Samra owns the India Oven on Haight and Filmore in San Fran (tres maqnifique food cooked by the most jovial Pakistani-punjabi you will ever meet but I must say that the food is really geared to Western tastes, though the biryani is quite good). Say hi to my uncle, he's super friendly.
My other mamaji owns a great little place on the strip in Las Vegas called "tamba". Haven't been there as of yet, but heard great things. Besides, it's my cousin's venture and he knows how to be trendy.
My parents own two restaurants (India Oven) in the Portland, Oregon area. The one in Portland is the best because my mother is a very talented cook.
Oh and one last place in Monterey, CA. The India Clay Oven. Owned by my uncle. The food is okay.
I hadn't realized that the corner-shop of yesteryear became the restaurant today. Haha.
vatan (gujrati) and chola (pan-Indian; sounds scary, I know, but its really good)in manhattan
have people tried "Cafe Spice"? It's on University Place around 11th street (near NYU)?
re: food smells. Maybe because I eat mainly vegetarian, I find the smell of meat - steaks, chops or whatever else, being heated in a pan pretty overpowering (and not in a good way ;-)).
agree about the smell of fish in microwave ovens. Why can't everyone just eat sushi ;-)
are okay with "Pakistani" food (I'm not sure I necessarily understand this term, but I will assume the poster simply meant to identify it as non-veg
Largely, yes. I have to admit that in hindsight, there may been some unconscious essentializing/racism going into it too. Sigh...sorry.
70+ comments and no one asked what Michael Jackson's doing on the saag-paneer link?
Ask (or click on the picture yourself) and ye shall receive:
Headline: 'Michael Jackson wants Saag Paneer'
Excerpts:
Facing trial on child abuse charges is hard work, and Michael Jackson is a tired, hungry superstar who really wants some Naan and Aloo curry...The pop legend has asked Raj Bajwe, the manager of Glasgow's 'Café India' to fly to London to cook his favourite Indian meals...
Bajwe told the media: 'I know Michael is facing serious charges but I can only judge the man as I find him. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.'
Speaking of Jackson's culinary preferences, Raj mentioned: 'He loves his Indian food, particularly the way we do it in Scotland. Michael doesn't drink and washes the meal down with iced water.'
'His favourite Indian dish is Saag Paneer, which is spinach cooked through with cheese. He just loves that. He also likes Allo Golu, which is a spicy potato dish. Michael is 99 per cent vegetarian -- he sometimes eats chicken. I will also prepare him his favourite dessert of fresh fruit.'
one of my fav places in Jackson Heights is Al Naimat, which is a Pakistani restaurant with a kick ass buffet, and everything from their chicken biriyani to their palak paneer is yummy! Its the only place apart from Coney Island Ave that I go to satify my nihari and haleem cravings..and their kababs are just divine! I don't particularly like Kabab King (the one next to Eagle theater) much except for their masala chai...I think one of the things that puts me off is the look you get going in there as a single desi woman.
I really miss desi chinese food! I haven't yet been to a restaurant in NY which even comes close to the taste of chinese food in India...I think Kolkata's Tangra has the best desi chinese food...I went to this one new chinese restaurant in J-H which is owned and operated by Bangladeshis and everything, even the vegetarian stuff tasted like fish! of course, as a fellow bong, I don't mind fish, but not in my vegetarian hakka noodles! ok, all this food talk is making me hungry!
There is also a good place called Food Factory on rt 1 in college park, md. It would be described as a Pakistani Place. Perhaps Afghani. Its like madras Palace no decor nothing but decent food.
Seeker - you give Gurpreet too little credit. He has lived in India for an extended period of time and is familiar with home cooking. I don't agree with his characterization, I just know that his opinions are formed through exposure.
He loves Indian food the way it's done in Scotland...hah..I love it! Thanks Saurav.
for really good south indian veg and non veg food and great desserts try Minerva in Fairfax, VA. their weekend brunches are the best. service ain't that great otherwise.
I was suprised to learn Germans like "curry", or at least curry powder.
(German Chancellor) Schroeder, whose taste is known to run to "currywurst", a Berlin speciality involving grilled sausage doused in tomato ketchup and curry powder... http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3337001a4560,00.html
About "Chai Tea" and Starbucks... In the stores in the US, they now call it "Chai Latte" at least, altho they dont on their website... And Starbucks in Britain still calls it "Chai Tea Latte" in their stores!
There's actually a well known South Asian American publicist type of gal called "Chai T. Latte" who sends out informational emails, which people round the country seem to get - she's gotten a fair amount of reputation, because of the memorable name. I beleive she started it the very week that Starbucks introduced their drink, as a parody.
Starbucks' chai tastes vile anyway.
Though Chai T. Latte would be a great desi-drag queen name...
Oh my goodness you are awesome! I can't tell you how long that has been waiting to be said. Also another important point, all Indians do not speak TAMIL!
Cheers,
Tash.
P.S. i came across your site while browsing. :) have a good one!
