ethnic foodie

South Indian breakfast basic upma video

2011-06-15T11:07:00.000-04:00

A staple south Indian breakfast, made with semolina, and served with coconut chutney.

Coconut Chutney video

2011-06-11T20:56:00.000-04:00

How to make coconut chutney, including how to open a coconut!

Mixed vegetable sambhar video

2011-06-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

This is a very involved recipe for a traditional sambhar using a masala spice mixture made from scratch.

Pappu Charu (mild sambhar) video

2011-06-11T20:19:00.000-04:00

In this video, the Vahchef shows you his mother's recipe for a mild sambhar, called Pappu Charu.

Idli video

2011-06-11T19:55:00.000-04:00

In this video the Vahchef describes Idli as the number one South Indian breakfast.

Vegetable Poriyl Video

2011-06-11T17:23:00.001-04:00

Click the title to play the video
This is another dish mentioned in the South Indian Delicacies article

Traditional dosa recipe video

2011-06-11T10:41:00.005-04:00

Please click the title to see the video
This is the basic dosa recipe, that Sanjay Thumma mentions, in the quick dosa recipe video. It shows the traditional way of making dosa; he also gives several variations including uttapam, which was mentioned in the South Indian Delicacies article.

Quick dosa recipe video

2011-06-11T10:27:00.007-04:00

Please click on the title "Quick dosa recipe video" to see the video
The list of South Indian delicacies starts with dosa, so this video of Sanjay Thumma, the Vahchef, gives you a quick and easy dosa recipe for Rava Dosa.

Food in India and South Indian Delicacies

2011-06-10T22:40:00.000-04:00

There is no other country in the world that has such a diverse culture with diverse food habits. Exploring India, especially its food and culture, will take you months because each region has something different to offer. And each region has its unique food specialties. Spice is generously used in all food in India irrespective of whether it is north, east, west or South Indian food. And even foreign tourists never step back in savoring the myriad varieties of food in India though they know that spices are used. This is because every single spice used carries some or the other medicinal and nutritional properties. Having the right amounts of these spices in food in India helps one control or get rid of certain diseases. Meet an ayurveda expert and you will know the advantages of each type of spice. You will also get a wealth of information online. And it won't be an exaggeration if we say that beliefs and culture did play an influential role in the evolution of food in India over the years. And even cultural interactions like that with Mughals, Mongols, British, etc. did affect the food evolution trend, further extending the diversity of cuisines.
When we speak about South Indian food in general, what are the items that immediately flash in the mind? The list can range from plain dosa, masala dosa, onion rawa masala, rawa plain dosa, rawa masala dosa, plain uttapams to vada sambhar, mixed uttapam, sambhar idli, etc. More South Indian food items worth mentioning are murukku, uthappam, idiappam, rasam, thayir pachidi (fresh vegetables blended with dahi), thayir sadam (rice blended with dahi), poriyal (a dry vegetables dish), thayir vadai (dahi-soaked fritters), kootu/kari (vegetables prepared wet), papadum (baked lentil-flour crisps), appalam (deep fried lentil-flour crisps), and the list of more varieties goes on. And each dish is accompanied with some coconut oriented chutney and spicy sambhar.
South Indian food is a brilliant blend of nutritional balance, fragrance, taste, flavors, colors, seasoning, and visual appeal. If you compare the lentil dishes like dals with that of the other parts of the country, you will find that these are soupier besides being hotter and spicier. Once you start having South Indian food, you will truly get addicted to it; such is the appetizing taste. If you happen to go to the southern part of the country, you will find most of the restaurants serving the aforementioned South Indian food items.

Bikanervala provides latest information on food in India, Indian sweets, pani puri, namkeen, South Indian Food, about all Bikanervala Food in India and Cafe products.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bimal_Kumar

Family memories

2011-06-10T22:37:00.002-04:00

The article Enjoy Tea the English Way, reminded me of what my English Grandfather used to say about the strength of his tea, A proper cup of tea was one where "you can't see bottom of cup"(imagine an accent just as strong). On A more recent visit to England , my Uncle taught me the more common slang for "Would you like to have a nice cup of tea? " as "Have a cuppa?"
So in my search for a good cuppa (Lipton just doesn't cut it), I found a local Indian market, with an excellent selection, of strong black teas, many of them at a bargain price. It occurred to me, that the English probably inherited their love of strong dark tea with milk, from India. While browsing the isles, wondering what all the interesting ingredients were for, I got hooked. Every time I went to stock up on tea, I'd try something new and different. When the economy took a turn for the worse, the store had to close, and I had to pay top dollar, at the major grocery chain, for my favorite English tea, PG Tips.
My interest in Indian food went to the internet, where I became a connoisseur of Indian cooking videos, and articles such as the next one...

Enjoy Tea The English Way by Diane Aase

2011-06-09T20:09:00.000-04:00

My husband and I traveled to England several years ago. Everywhere we went we were offered tea or served tea in china cups or mugs and never in paper or plastic. The English are very serious about their tea so it is never compromised with stale leaves or tea bags and always carefully steeped and served from teapots into tea cups.
Tea drinking in England began as early as 1658, when a London merchant, Thomas Garraway, advertised the new product, "tee", for sale in his shop. Two years later he published a lengthy advertisement listing the many health benefits of this drink. Then in 1662, King Charles II married Catharine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess, who brought a chest of tea with her as part of her dowry. She began to serve it to her Court and word began to spread of the new drink.
During the eighteenth century, tea became the most popular drink in Britain and ale and gin drinking declined. People drank this new drink at home and new Tea Gardens became very popular in London causing the established coffee houses to close down. The Tea Houses continued until the early nineteenth century when London rapidly expanded and people's tastes in entertainment became more sophisticated and exciting.
Tea became the drink of all classes of British society and was drunk at all times of the day and especially after the main evening meal. Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, introduced the "afternoon tea", in the early nineteenth century, to satisfy her hunger between the light luncheon and the late evening meal. She began to invite her friends to share it with her and the custom became the British institution of afternoon tea.
Now there is high, low and cream tea. Low is the original afternoon tea which included small sandwiches, pastries, and tea served on low tables. High, or meat tea, is a meal of filling foods that was served after the working classes came home from work and served on high tables. Cream tea is served in the afternoon but consists only of sweets with clotted cream or jam to be spread on scones or sweet breads.
Now the British are the largest per capita tea drinkers in the world! They prefer black, always with milk, not cream, and sometimes sugar. For strong black tea they will use lots of milk and as much as two teaspoons of sugar per cup. The average working Brit will take tea in a mug and may have as many as six mugs a day, as employers make time for tea breaks during working hours for their employees. The formal afternoon teas are mainly for special events, royalty, tourists, and public officials.
I would love to travel to England again as I miss the assumption they make that everyone loves tea and takes time for tea. I wish it was more of a custom here in the US. There are more and more tea shops springing up across America as tea popularity continues to grow, so maybe we'll get the hang of it yet!

Diane Aase
http://www.teapotmama.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=DianeAase