You Will be Missed Dear Bri

We will miss you Bri.

Deepavali Wishes to All of You

Diwali this year is kind of low key. We miss the festivities of last year in India. Our family got together, amma had an iyer come home and make sweets and savories and we bought loads of fireworks, since it had been years we had celebrated Diwali in that fashion.

Coming back to this year, what you see is all we made. Rava Ladoo, Murukku and Badam Halwa. This year, I made it a point to follow only amma's recipes coz of hmmm nostalgia of last year.

If any of you want a recipe for any of the above, send me an email to indianfood.cooking@gmail.com.

Have a safe and Happy Deepavali

Sweet & Spicy Tomato Chutney

I know I know, this recipe should have been posted when tomatoes were in season. But those of you who have tomatoes still growing in your backyard, I urge you to try this.

Even my picky friend J liked it a lot.The chutney goes well with dosas, pakodas, bread toast and even kichdi.We have basically been having it as a side with everything we can think of.

This is a recipe from the book,"The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking " by Yamuna Devi.

Oil - 3 T
Fennel - 1/2 tsp
Cloves - 1
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Bay leaf - 1
Dried red chillies - 4
Ripe Tomatoes - 1 1/2 cups chopped
Jaggery or maple sugar - 1/3 cup
Raisins - 1/3 cup
Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

• Heat oil in a large pan and when it is hot (should not smoke) add fennel, cumin, cloves and mustard seeds.
• When the mustard begins to pop, add the bay leaf and red chillies broken int to two.
• Immediately add the tomatoes and cook over low heat for about 10 -12 minutes.
• Add the rest of the ingredients and cookfor another 20 minutes until the chutney is fairly thick.
• Serve at room temperature.

The only change I made to the recipe was to substitute oil for ghee and to add more red chillies and less raisins. The author says it can be stored for 5 days in the fridge. I made a double batch and have stored it for more than a week.

A review on Dosa

Our minds were fogged up after an intense workshop in San Francisco for 5 hours. The plan was to have dinner and then head back on our 2 hour drive home. Dosa has been on our list of restaurants to visit in SF and there was no other day better suited than that day. We needed our dosai and filter kaapi.

We were early and Dosa was not opened yet, so we strolled around Valencia Street, and discovered a tiny book store called Dog Eared Books. If you have not visited this place, we encourage you to. We were both delighted at the variety of used/new books available and bought a few. When we looked out the window, it was 5:10pm and there was line beginning to form outside the restaurant. Rajesh took a pic and we headed to the restaurant, in time for them to open the doors.

We were greeted by the host (you can see her in the window) and the waitress and were taken to a table for two by the window. Rajesh was delighted to get the widow, as he wanted to try his hand at panning , while I was salivating looking at the menu. The menu is not a melting pot of dishes from all over the country. While they do have a channa masala, they sure focus on South Indian food.

We were given the menu cards and pappadums were served. We took our time to go through the menu while we munched the pappadum. We started off with an appetizer called Chennai Chicken - Boneless chicken marinated in Strauss organic yogurt, spiced with coriander & cumin, and deep fried. The chicken was perfectly cooked – Soft, not chewy and crisp on the outside and spicy with the fragrance of curry leaves. One can tell that this was made fresh and served immediately. The chicken was a sure winner and we were now excited about our main course. Rajesh ordered the Rava Masala dosa and I had the Mysore Masala dosa. We never look forward to the coconut chutneys just because they taste like coconut oil, and we were pleasantly surprised with the freshness of the coconut and tomato chutney. The rava dosa was very crisp and tasty. The masala dosa was not as crisp as I wanted it to be, but everything was so good that it did not bother me much. The sambar was awesome, and Rajesh polished off both the left over cup remnant's. The service was excellent, empty plates were whisked away fast, glasses were always full and the waiters had a smile on their faces. Oh yeah, the restaurant has a lot of dishes for those of you who want the food wheat free and also a lot of vegan choices.

For those of you who would like a glass of wine, they have quite a huge list to choose from. Be prepared to wait as the restaurant gets filled very fast. But you will not be pressured to leave soon. If you don’t mind, you can get seated right away at the bar.

We finished off our dinner with a strong cup of Madras Filter coffee which kept us awake for the long drive back home. After many years in the US, I think this was the first time I felt that when I crave for home made dosas and I don’t want to make them, I will be at Dosa.

Damage to our pockets - less than $45 Portion Size - Huge Satisfaction - 5 stars Taste, service & portion size compensated for the price.