(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
Mithai are Indian sweets; this little one (and the broken heart some time ago for those of you who wrote requesting just the facts, ma’am) comes from Real Usha Sweets and Snacks Café, 259-15 Hillside Ave, Floral Park.
It has the form, but not the flavor, of watermelon.
Because outward appearances often belie what’s going on inside.
#mithais #tellastory.
👨🍳 Cooking in the Time of COVID 👨🍳
(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
Rifling through the pantry to avoid going out shopping, I unearthed a long forgotten bag of dried chickpeas. I decided to use some of them to make Indian Chana Masala because it’s really easy to prepare, I had most of the spices and aromatics on hand, and I needed a break from spending so much time on the elaborate culinary experiments I’d been attempting while sheltering in place. A proper sidekick would be basmati rice, a neighbor to the chickpeas on the shelf (and ultimately on this plate) – also really easy to prepare.
But then I hit upon the misguided idea that parathas would be a perfect accompaniment and “really easy to prepare” went right out the window. Kneading and resting and rolling and ghee-ing and coiling and resting and rolling some more…and a day and a skillet later it was ready for its closeup.
Actually, they turned out pretty well – check out this somewhat bungled attempt to demonstrate pulled-apart steaming-hot flaky layers. (Licking ghee-covered fingers helped.)
Well, at least that jar of tamarind-date chutney that’s been hiding in the back of the fridge since forever won’t suck up any more of my time.
Assuming I can get the lid off…. 😬
I did a few posts recently about Mumbai street food in Floral Park Queens; the examples I tasted were okay but they didn’t blow me away. So I was more than curious about Bombay Kitchen, an extension of Rajbhog Sweets at 72-27 37th Ave in Jackson Heights, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
I like chaats in general – actually I like anything with a lot of stuff going on: probably increases the odds of finding at least one delicious mouthful. This is their Dahi Bhalla Chat, a linguistic and geographic variant on dahi vada, a sweet and spicy Indian snack with multiple variations but usually anchored with fried crispy bits, potatoes, chickpeas, onions, and cilantro and kept afloat with yogurt (dahi) and chutneys; a masala spice blend ties it all together. Sweet and savory, crunchy and yielding, creamy and tangy, it’s a delectable study in contrasts.
This instance was one of the best I’ve ever enjoyed because this bready, cakey, doughnutty, sweet, almost floral vada elevated it beyond its rivals. Excellent.
The inner workings.
I guess it all depends on how you define pizza. Dough with stuff on top of it baked in a hot oven? I’d eat that. Everybody’d eat that. But I’d be hard pressed to call it pizza. Heck, I’m hard pressed to call Chicago deep-dish pizza pizza. (Don’t hate me, okay? I went to school in New Haven back in the day when men were men and pizza was ah-beets. But I digress.) This is my second foray into “Indian pizza”. This one from Bombay Kitchen was definitely tasty and better than my first experience in Floral Park.
Cheese two ways: this is Paneer Tikka Naan Pizza which makes it non-pizza but I like it for what it is. (This is also a non-cheese pull because it’s horizontal rather than vertical; turn your screen sideways if that makes you happier.)
This is a kathi roll, Egg and Lamb Boti to be specific. The marinated, well-seasoned lamb (boti kebab) was a surprisingly good companion to the fried egg, the roti was supple and flavorful and it had a proper chew. Definitely good eats.
Deconstructed (or at least unfurled).
A grilled Bombay Sandwich (yes, that’s a thing), apparently always triple decker, features melted cheese, green pepper and red onion, coriander chutney, and in this case, slabs of chicken tikka. Much moister, and consequently better, than one I had elsewhere.
Deconstructed (or at least toppled).
Bombay Kitchen is located at 72-27 37th Ave in Jackson Heights, Queens. Best I could tell, it’s an extension of Rajbhog Sweets, so enjoy some kulfi or mithai for dessert while you’re there. Restored my faith in Indian street food!
We journeyed to the far east – the far east of Queens, that is, a stone’s throw from Nassau County – to explore a South Asian neighborhood familiar to my dining pals but relatively new to me (my way of saying I’ll be back soon). One destination was Mumbai Xpress, a vegetarian restaurant at 256-05 Hillside Avenue in Floral Park with over 100 snackish items on the menu, so this post just scratches the surface.
(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
My favorite of the day was this Tokri Chaat (aka katori chaat). Glossary: chaat is an Indian snack featuring crispy fried dough, potatoes, onions and other veggies, yogurt, chutneys, herbs and spices but the number of variations is legion; tokri means basket, katori means bowl. In this case, the basket is made from fried shredded potatoes…
…laden with cubed boiled potatoes, mung beans, tomato, chickpeas, sev (crunchy chickpea flour noodles) all swimming in the aforementioned savory nectar of deliciousness.
Our destination in part involved sampling some of the many sandwiches on offer. There are countless delicious breads indigenous to India, but these two carbobombs borrow heavily from their American counterparts.
The first comes from the Breach Candy Special Sandwiches section of the menu – Breach Candy is a posh neighborhood in South Mumbai. To my eyes, the triple decker Mumbai Grilled Sandwich would appear to be India’s answer to the Dagwood Sandwich, at least in terms of architecture. Standard issue potato chips.
The top layer consisted of green pepper and red onion; the bottom, sliced boiled potato; melted Amul cheese, a pasteurized processed cheddar product, and coriander chutney all around. I opined that the bread-to-filling ratio seemed out of proportion, but my expert guide and sandwich stacker who has first-hand experience with the real deal assured me that on the streets of Mumbai, sauces are applied more liberally so we took matters into our own hands. Don’t know if Dagwood had such problems.
This Mumbai Vada Pav (pronounced pow) from the Mumbai Xpress Specials section of the menu is a fried potato patty with a bit of red onion for kick, covered with tamarind and coriander chutneys and sprinkled with spiced garlic masala served on a burger bun. Total starcho if you’re into that sort of thing.
This is muthiya (rhymes with shukriya, a Hindi word for thank you – sorry, I couldn’t resist). A Gujarati treat, these pillowy little dumplings are made from grated bottle gourd and onion mixed with seasoned flour, steamed and then sautéed with mustard seeds and sesame seeds. Topped with chutneys, they weren’t bad.
As I said, I’ll do a return visit to this neighborhood. And I don’t even need a passport!
(*All right, all right! It’s moo-TEE-ah.)
The Equal Opportunity Celebrant strikes again, eating my way through Holi today, the Hindu festival of spring and colors celebrated predominantly in India and Nepal. The holiday recounts the heartwarming legend of Krishna coloring his face for Radha, his love, and heralds the arrival of spring.
(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
This is gujiya (you might see gujia), a classic Holi sweet, half-moon shaped and similar to a deep-fried samosa. Crunchy outside and soft within, it’s filled with sweetened khoa (milk solids), ground nuts, grated coconut, whole fruits and nuts (raisins and cashews in this one), cumin seeds, and a bit of suji (semolina) for texture. These Holi day treats came from Maharaja Sweets, 73-10 37th Ave, Jackson Heights, Queens.
The inner workings.
Oversized jalebi are popular for Holi as well, and just like on Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, all kinds of mithai (Indian sweets) are the order of the day. Read about them and check out the photos here.
❤️
💔
#mithailove #mithais #tellastory
If pizza is a romance between Italian and American cuisines, then I guess that would make Indian Pizza a ménage a trois. And, yes, it’s a thing in India too. (Indian pizza, that is.) Chicago’s Pizza With-A-Twist is a franchise with at least 45 locations in the US, one of which is 259-07 Hillside Ave in Floral Park, the focus of this post.
(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
You’re looking at a half Butter Chicken, half Tandoori Paneer model; other toppings include Paneer Tikka Masala, Curry Paneer, Aloo Chaat, and Palak Paneer (with pesto sauce, of course) among many more.
Isolating a slice of each (chicken left, paneer right) reveals a disappointing similarity that I had tried to avoid though considerable deliberation when we were ordering; I don’t know if alternative choices would have mattered. The dominance of red onion, garlic, ginger, cilantro, and tomato overwhelmed any subtleties that the two mild sauces and toppings might have brought to these slices. Don’t get me wrong; it wasn’t bad at all, I was just after a little more variety at the time.
(I do know about Korean pizza and other international suitors, but that’s a story for another day. 😉)
(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
The 2019 Collection
Dear Friends,
I can no longer keep this to myself. I am an addict, hooked on mithai. What’s that? You don’t know about mithai? Mithai are Indian sweets and since Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, is upon us, I can think of no better time than now to tell you my tale. So gather round your diyas and check out my post “Indian Sweets 101: Meeting Mithai” right here on ethnojunkie.com!
दिवाली मुबारक
Happy Diwali!
When I write about restaurants on Instagram, they’re usually brief takes accompanied by a photo or two. (You can see my feed right here on ethnojunkie.com, updated almost daily, by selecting the “Instagram” category from my home page – no signup required.) But because of Instagram’s character count limitations, it’s often necessary to break up a review into several parts. This one originally appeared as three posts, published on October 15, 16, and 17, 2019.
There are scores of cookie cutter Indian restaurants in Manhattan; clones with pretty much the same mix-n-match menus: a predictable assortment of curries with your choice of protein. So as much as I love Indian dining, I sometimes leave wondering if that’s all there is around these parts. When I crave food from Goa, the Indian state that had been formerly colonized by the Portuguese, I usually head to New Jersey. But that may no longer be necessary.
Roasted Masala Indian Cuisine emerged at 914 Columbus Ave in Manhattan about eight months ago under the purview of Samson Severes, its co-founder and manager. Hailing from Goa, India, Sam’s family owns two restaurants, so his culinary bona fides in this arena are well established. We were treated to a lunchtime feast that day. In no special order, here are a few of the dishes we tried.
(Click any photo to view in high resolution.)
Lamb Cafreal
A unique combination of flavors featuring tender lamb, coriander, mint, tamarind, green chilies and the distinguishing acidic note of this preparation, lime juice. Its roots are in the Portuguese colonies of Africa; cafreal (also made with chicken) made the voyage to Goa via the cuisine of Africans that had been modified by the Portuguese under whom they served.
Goan Fish Curry
Chilean sea bass in this case, served in a tasty but not spicy coconut sauce.
Katori Chaat
A katori is a bowl, in this case an edible one; chaat is an Indian snack and a popular street food boasting myriad variations. This one has been split to reveal chickpeas, crunchy mini croquettes, and lots more goodness plus pomegranate chutney, all topped with yogurt and sev (crispy noodle bits). Don’t try to deconstruct this savory appetizer, just dig in and enjoy!
Lasooni Gobi
This delicious starter from the Vegetarian Appetizers section of the menu is Lasooni Gobi; lasooni refers to garlic and gobi means cauliflower. I’ve seen this Indian-Chinese dish by other names like Gobi Manchurian but it’s the sweet-spicy element that’s so compelling regardless of the designation. Crispy outside, crunchy inside, with a sticky, ketchupy crust, this one is a crowd pleaser.
Chicken Xacuti
“Xacuti” (or a similar spelling) is your cue that it’s a coconut based curry. A classic in Goan cuisine, this version features roasted spices in a masala paste pureed with coconut along with fresh curry leaves. Spice level was noticeable, but not intense. Good eats.
Daal Palak
Yellow lentils and spinach, herby with a gentle touch of spice, from the Vegan section of the menu.
Boti Kebab
Grilled cubes of marinated lamb; green chilies in evidence and tastefully seasoned, but not overwhelmingly spicy.
Chicken Sorpotel
Back to the cuisine of Goa. Often prepared as a Christmas dish, sorpotel boasts a distinctive spice blend that incorporates vinegar, but don’t think “vindaloo” just because vinegar plays a role. Roasted Masala offers vindaloo as well – and that’s a significant factor in my admiration for this restaurant: if you’ve dined at any number of Manhattan’s Indian eateries, you’ll find tasty renditions of your favorites here, but Roasted Masala also provides an opportunity to taste some delicious Goan specialties that may be less familiar to you and that you shouldn’t miss.
Note: This was a complimentary meal sponsored by the management of Roasted Masala. The opinions expressed in this post are uninfluenced and impartial.
Part of the mission of the Association of Indians in America is to promote the image of India in the US and this past weekend, their 32nd Deepavali Festival in South Street Seaport achieved that goal with traditional entertainment, crafts and, of course, delicious food.
(Click on any image to view it in high resolution.)
There were two items that were particularly tempting and I wasn’t disappointed by either. This is dhokla, the delicious snack that hails from Gujarat, India. Soft, delicately spongy, and impossible to stop eating, it’s made from a fermented batter of rice and chana dal (split chickpeas) the proportions of which vary depending upon the type of dhokla. It’s topped with mustard seeds and green chilies and served here with spicy mango shreds and a yellow curry sauce on the side for dipping. Tiptop.
I confess that kulfi may be my favorite ethnic ice cream – sweet, creamy, intensely flavored, slightly chewy. It starts with milk that’s been cooked down for an eon or two, flavors are added, and it’s poured into molds and frozen directly, not churned. This process contributes to kulfi’s dense texture because no air has been blended in. Shown here is malai (cream) flavor but it’s not merely cream; classic malai kulfi is aromatic with cardamom and nuts, sometimes saffron, sometimes rosewater. This one, purchased from a modest orange truck, was small batch crafted employing a proper kulfi mold and one of the best I’ve ever tasted.