Yes, puris! Sounds right. Great little things, but a bit more labor-intensive than I can manage right now.
We love homemade pizza too, and thanks for the tip about baking--have to save that. I agree food is a great ice-breaker, probably with anyone from any culture. Sal On Oct 27, 2006, at 3:06 PM, curtisdeltablues wrote: > Sal, > > I think you are talking about Puris right? I don't mess with deep > fried stuff much myself. I am usually only cooking for one or two so > it is too much trouble. I make flat breads on a nice thick pizza > stone, that makes a huge difference for all breads including pizzas. > I recently went to NYC to see how they make pizzas in the last few > remaining coal ovens, Grimaldi's in Brooklyn is one. Coal cooks at > 800 degrees compared to about 600 for a wood oven. They get a char on > the bread and I was chasing that flavor in my own oven. I figured out > how to do it in my gas oven. I put the pizza stone on the bottom of > the oven and crank it up to broil to pre-heat for almost an hour, > Then I cook the thinly rolled pizza for about 5 minutes. After that I > put it under the broiler to broil the top for another 3 minutes. I > swear it is as good as any pizza in NYC's coal ovens! > > I spend some time here in DC talking to traditional cooks about how > they make their foods. I find that it is the best way to start a > conversation with people from other cultures. Lately I am chasing > traditional Ethiopian Injera bread made from Tev, millet flour. Most > Ethiopians here don't even bother to make it, they just buy it. I > have to talk to the grandmothers to get the good tips! > > Food obsessions is the luxury of having no kids. I'm sure when yours > get a little older you will be back at the rolling pin! > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: >> >> Curtis, >> >> Yeah, great place. I first started going there with a couple of >> friends when the food at CNL was crummy (pretty often) and that was a >> wonderful change...and it was also, of course, OTP, making it even >> more >> enjoyable. :) Those were the days. >> >> That's great that you got to know the family and learned some cooking >> techniques. At one point I was pretty good at making that puffy type >> of Indian bread (can't think of the name right now) but quit because I >> figured kids and hot oil didn't mix too well. Now we get take-out but >> at some point I hope to get back to making it myself, as I love Indian >> cooking too. >> Sal >> >> On Oct 26, 2006, at 10:47 PM, curtisdeltablues wrote: >> >>> Sal, >>> >>> That's great that you remember Parus. It was run by a South Indian >>> woman and her two daughters. Very homey and simple. She taught me >>> how to toast the coriander seeds and coconut for Sambar, and how to >>> let the Idli batter ferment properly to get that great sourness. I >>> can equal her Idlis and Sambar from her help, but not her Dosas. I >>> think you really need a griddle to make them right. She was really >>> sweet to me and spent a lot of time teaching me her cooking methods. >>> I was much more into getting the details down then her two daughters! >>> Since it was an easy walk from the center it must have been a >>> movement mecca for all the years it was in business. I went there >>> first in 1983 when I first met you at the CNL. I know one daughter >>> got married and had a baby after college, and the other was in >>> college >>> the last time I talked with her. I'm guessing it closed in the mid >>> 90's. Since South Indian style is my favorite by a long shot, I am >>> always trying any place that serves South Indian food, but none are >>> as >>> charming and delicious as that place. It attracted a great mix of >>> people, a funky crowd. I made some Besan Dhoklas and coconut chutney >>> tonight, so it really made me think of Parus and her kindness. >>> >>> >>> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine <salsunshine@> >>> wrote: >>>> >>>> On Oct 26, 2006, at 9:21 PM, curtisdeltablues wrote: >>>> >>>>> Was the South Indian restaurant Parus on T street opened when you >>> were >>>>> there? She taught me to make Idli and dosa and Sambar. It is gone >>>>> now, but I loved that place. >>>> >>>> Curtis, >>>> I'm pretty sure that was the place I was trying to think of, where I >>>> used to go with a couple of friends. Was it a small place, just > a few >>>> tables, self-serve, on some little side-street off Dupont Circle? >>>> If >>>> so, I loved that place too. >>>> >>>> When did it close? >>>> >>>> Sal >> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! 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