The food thread

Toast or dry roast the whole coriander seeds, cool and store in a jar, use a pepper mill to dispense.

Coriander leaves (cilantro in other countries), are known to be good for the kidneys in the Indian system of medicine, use them at serving time.

You can grow them in a pot or small part of your kitchen garden, add basil and curry leaves while you are at it.
 
Member
Joined 2010
Paid Member
I like my steak tartare medium rear.

Carpaccio is delicious... you ought to try "sushi" carpaccio. With yuzu... it's out of this World.

Pare! Down here banana ketchup is available in just about every "asian" supermarket.. and even some anglo ones. Even the Mexicans will carry it. You don't have to search for a Filipino supermarket... Just for fusion... I add a touch of sriracha to it, it makes the lumpia so much better.

But, just as it may be, we don't have to drive to LA County to get our Mamon.... we got a very large Filipino super a few miles from home.
 
1. UFC banana ketchup imported from USA, 320 grams (10 oz.), nearly $5.
2. Amazon is saying no stock for a brand called Juran, 12 oz. / 340 gram bottles.

I will ask my local exotic food guy, I need to send paani puri and sweet n sour chutney powders to Hyderabad...a trip to his shop is due in any case.

They are dry powder, very convenient, taste is nearly adequate, within limits of acceptance, 25 cents each!

And a lot less work than the real chutney, I start with boiling tamarind, jaggery, black salt, ginger, cumin, reducing it, and straining the pulp, that is chutney.
Chutney is added to a coriander mint paste based water.
Takes several hours.
That water is left to steep in the fridge for at least a day, then used.
 
Last edited:
'Tis the season.
Small spaghetti squash, split, gutted and Instantpot for a few minutes.
Filled with meaty tomato sauce and topped with white cheese.
All in one kinda meal.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1405.jpeg
    IMG_1405.jpeg
    188.7 KB · Views: 31
  • IMG_1408.jpeg
    IMG_1408.jpeg
    199.8 KB · Views: 27
  • IMG_1410.jpeg
    IMG_1410.jpeg
    212.6 KB · Views: 28
Black / pink salt is described here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kala_namak
The rock salt from the Himalayas:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_salt

I use the black salt in addition to regular salt, it can be too strong....one popular laxative here consists mostly of sienna pods and black salt.

The usual serving is a pinch or two per head.
It is added as a flavor enhancer to roasted peanuts here, and some spicy packed snacks as well.

It is described as being cooked in pots from rock or sea salt with some additives which give it the characteristic color and flavor.

Short remedy for gassy or burpy feeling is to add a quarter teaspoon of either kala namak + roast cumin powder, or chaat masala to a glass of club soda.

There are also available masala soda syrups and flavors, and a soft drink called "Rim Zim" (supply is erratic), which has the similar flavours.
Fennel seeds powder is also added at times as a digestive enhancing agent.
 
Last edited:
You might get Himalayan pink salt at an Indian store, chaat masala is also interesting, I sprinkle it on chopped fruit like bananas and papaya.

Or ask the owner for Kaala namak, it is about 75 cents a kilo here as blocks.
Get powder, a small 100 grams or so.
Chunks can break mixer blades...do not attempt that....or dry turmeric for that matter
 
Member
Joined 2014
Paid Member
Toast or dry roast the whole coriander seeds, cool and store in a jar, use a pepper mill to dispense.

Coriander leaves (cilantro in other countries), are known to be good for the kidneys in the Indian system of medicine, use them at serving time.

You can grow them in a pot or small part of your kitchen garden, add basil and curry leaves while you are at it.
I keep one of my 'pepper' mills filled with coriander and white pepper, about two to one.
 
A kilo of salt for the driveway! Around here it comes in small 50 pound bags, as most folks don’t like the hundred pound bags.

I usually buy a pallet for my shop. Although my forklift can handle two tons, the salt comes on a one ton palate.

Of course we remove the snow first and only salt where there is ice.

The problem is that there is a bus stop next to my building and the folks who wait there stomp down the snow and help make ice 24 hours a day.