Useless Conversation

[rattran]

Biryani is typical at American weird bastardizations of Indian/Pakistani/made-up-cuisine places too.

Though there are a few places that do specific region stuff, there's a Punjabi place I used to go to outside Atlanta that was great. Sadly they went bust.

[schild]

Biryani is typical at American weird bastardizations of Indian/Pakistani/made-up-cuisine places too.

Unless it's a buffet and I'm feeling like I need to pound my face with foodstuffs, I tend to avoid anything that mashes one cuisine with another, not counting Chino Bandido in Chandler.

[rattran]

All Indian places in America are weird bastardizations of Indian/Pakistani/made-up-cuisine.

[Signe]

Wasn't Balti secretly invented in Birmingham or something?  And, yes, most Indian restaurants in the UK make Biryani, which is good for me.  The one Indian restaurant we actually bother to get take away from here serve it, too.  Maybe they're Indian from Britain, I don't know but their Biryani is very, very good.  I like some made up cuisines, actually. 

[apocrypha]

Yeah I think balti means "bucket" 

I love fusion cuisine. It's like language - always changing.

[Righ]

Biryani is common in India too. Cooking doesn't follow the borders set up during the subdivision of the British Raj, and recipes common to nomadic people pay even less heed to borders.

What Balti should mean in the spirit of truthiness is "yum, clogged arteries". It usually involves pounds of butter.

[Signe]

I guess that's why it's so yummy.

[Trippy]

Mmmmm butter chicken.

[Signe]

I know.  Butter is wonderful.  I'm very glad I don't have nasty cholesterol problems and I can have my bit of butter on toast and in cooking.  Not being able to saute onions and mushrooms in butter would make me especially sad.

[Righ]

I murdered a curry. It was a lamb rogan josh. More Persian influences in Indian cooking FWIW. Also an aloo paratha and some poppadoms. Signe had a chicken biryani and a Peshawari naan.

[Signe]

I had the chicken biryani. 

[Fraeg]

had chicken momos and lamb Laal Maas tonight

sooo yummy

[apocrypha]

OK, it's 7am and the last batch of posts in this thread have made me want a curry ffs 

Somehow I don't think muesli and blueberries are gonna assuage that urge.

[MrHat]

OK, it's 7am and the last batch of posts in this thread have made me want a curry ffs 

Somehow I don't think muesli and blueberries are gonna assuage that urge.

lol @ swedish curry.

[Yegolev]

I have been to one or two indian joints that are "close enough", in particular Bombay Cafe on Briarcliff north of the I-85 exit north of ATL was damn good.  It was a buffet, but the Indians liked it a lot.  I don't know the name of anything.  They seemed slightly impressed that I liked the goat.  I did not get to sit on the pillows.  Havati is terrible, do not eat there.

There are a rare few authentic mexican joints here as well, if you know where to look.  I'm thinking Taco Veloz in Roswell.  I prefer the American-bastard version of mexican food.

I can't believe the thai place close to my office (Spoon) is authentic, but the food is incredible.  Better than the two expensive thai places, Nan and Tamarind Seed, if you ask me.  Those are owned by the same guy and I would have to recommend Nan since Tamarind Seed moved into a more-cramped location on the outer corner of Colony Square.  Really I would recommend Spoon, though.  I don't care for coconut milk but it's still decent there when I want the green curry.

[Endie]

One of the few areas of life in which I prefer Glasgow to Edinburgh is the Indian food: there have been large Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities there for decades, and when i was a kid it was pretty much the only sort of eating out between the extremes of a chippy and fine dining.

I'm not saying that the Indian cuisine there is up to the standard of somewhere like Leicester, for instance, but it's still really, really good.

[rattran]

There are a bunch of Thai places around Atlanta, I was always amused by how many of them were owned and run by Vietnamese folks. There was (probably still is) a place on the south side by Fayetteville that had marginal Thai food, but great pho.

And as an update, Random is in surgery for his aural hematoma today. The prognosis is good, but it's still risky. So I'm quite stressed out.

[Engels]

In the US, my experience with Indian, Thai or just about any other ethnic food is that its quality cannot really be pinned down to a particular region. Its all about the actual owner and the cooks, most of whom are called Jose and Manuel rather than Suraj and Daeng. Sure, the greater the population of a particular ethnic group, the better your chances are, but for every one fabulous Thai place in Seattle, there are a good dozen that are pretty mediocre.

Hang in there rattan.

[NowhereMan]

In a break from Indian cuisine I made an authentic Irish stew today with mutton and mutton stock no less. It might not have the spice of a good curry but by god is it flavourful. I also live about 5 minutes walk from Manchester's Curry Mile so if I get a craving for Indian I can sort that out too

[Yegolev]

Wife dislikes beef stew.  Did not come out until well into marriage.  Divorce too costly.

[Merusk]

Curry.. the dish I've always been tempted to try but dare not risk in middle America with no Indian population around.   I need to find me someome who knows a good one and reccommend a place.

And to hop back to Yeg and mine's Disney discussion quickly:  

We tried doing the Holiday thing when we were there, Yeg, because it looked pretty damn cool. It was the first weekend of the Halloween run, but the damn event cost another $200 on top of the park tickets.  Fuck that noise, we went back to the hotel and had some pool time instead.

[apocrypha]

One of the few areas of life in which I prefer Glasgow to Edinburgh is the Indian food: there have been large Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities there for decades, and when i was a kid it was pretty much the only sort of eating out between the extremes of a chippy and fine dining.

I'm not saying that the Indian cuisine there is up to the standard of somewhere like Leicester, for instance, but it's still really, really good.

Oh yeah spot on. Had some awesome curries in Glasgow. I'd say just in terms of pure enjoyment totally on a par wiith Bradford curries (never been in Leicester long enough to eat there), especially the South of Glasgow for some reason. Better naans!

[Yegolev]

We tried doing the Holiday thing when we were there, Yeg, because it looked pretty damn cool. It was the first weekend of the Halloween run, but the damn event cost another $200 on top of the park tickets.  Fuck that noise, we went back to the hotel and had some pool time instead.

It is indeed expensive as hell, which serves the intended purpose of clearing out huge swaths of humanity so you can ride Space Mountain over and over until you get a migraine.   We don't really have the cash for this, but that's why we are bringing the inlaws.

I'm proposing our next trip be to Destin so I can sit in an innertube for hours on end.

[Righ]

One of the reasons that Glasgow's Indian restaurants are so good is that in the 1960s some chefs decided to re-invent primarily Punjabi Indian recipes using the local produce. As a result the spices are better balanced for fresher ingredients. Because these early Glasgow restaurants (in particular The Taj Mahal in the West End) were so good they became highly influential and many other fine Indian restaurants were started using a similar idea and often using their recipes. That's why Glaswegian Indian food typically has a strong Punjabi theme.

I used to have a cook book written by Sultan Ahmed Ansari, the original owner of The Taj Mahal Restaurant. It was great, but it was published by a small press and distributed only by the restaurant. It should really get a better printing, but I doubt it ever will - I don't think the current owners are as interested in teaching.

Now I'm going to warm up the left overs of Signe's biryani and have that for lunch.

[apocrypha]

Cool. I miss Glasgow a lot sometimes. Might have to go visit soon :)

[Segoris]

for every one fabulous Thai place in Seattle, there are a good dozen that are pretty mediocre

In the Chicago burbs, for every mediocre Thai place, there are a dozen craptastic ones...wait nevermind, there aren't even a dozen :(

I miss living in Seattle sometimes for their Asian cuisine options, even their low end places were better then some of the "good" places out here   However, more specifically, I miss this place (Buddha Ruska). The trip to Seattle is almost worth it alone to just go to that place for their Crispy Garlic Chicken or their Roast Duck with various seafoods, nuts, and veggies over it.

[Fraeg]

In the Chicago burbs, for every mediocre Thai place, there are a dozen craptastic ones...wait nevermind, there aren't even a dozen :(

In California it seems like cheap Thai is the new cheap Chinese food.   I guess it doesn't help that at one point I spent 2 months in Thailand eating some amazing food, but most Thai joints are pretty meh to me.   However, recently an Indian couple from Fiji opened up a small restaurant.  Simply amazing, pumpkin curry, goat curry, lamb, yum yum stuff.  I have become pretty good friends with the owners and they have told me that if I bring them a goose they will make a goose curry for me out of it... Now I just need to figure out how this non-hunter gets his hands on a goose.

[Lantyssa]

In California it seems like cheap Thai is the new cheap Chinese food.   I guess it doesn't help that at one point I spent 2 months in Thailand eating some amazing food, but most Thai joints are pretty meh to me.   However, recently an Indian couple from Fiji opened up a small restaurant.  Simply amazing, pumpkin curry, goat curry, lamb, yum yum stuff.  I have become pretty good friends with the owners and they have told me that if I bring them a goose they will make a goose curry for me out of it... Now I just need to figure out how this non-hunter gets his hands on a goose.

The food was just awesome in Thailand.  I don't think I've ever eaten so well for so little.

Have any local parks with a pond?  A bit of bread and one well-fed goose is yours for the taking.  It'll almost be fois gras without the guilt.

[rattran]

Well, Random made it through the surgery, now he's home and doped to the gills. He keeps falling over, due partly to the drugs, but mostly to not having an ear swollen to the size of the rest of his head.
He also has a piece of plastic sewn to the back of his ear to keep it in shape, and prevent him from ripping the sutures out. Looks like an oversize guitar pick. So he looks goofy, but is alive and hopefully will stay healthy.

[Segoris]

Now I just need to figure out how this non-hunter gets his hands on a goose.

$$ + Google = the answer to everything

[Engels]

Well, Random made it through the surgery, now he's home and doped to the gills. He keeps falling over, due partly to the drugs, but mostly to not having an ear swollen to the size of the rest of his head.
He also has a piece of plastic sewn to the back of his ear to keep it in shape, and prevent him from ripping the sutures out. Looks like an oversize guitar pick. So he looks goofy, but is alive and hopefully will stay healthy.

I just realised that Random is your dog, and not your partner.

[Endie]

One of the reasons that Glasgow's Indian restaurants are so good is that in the 1960s some chefs decided to re-invent primarily Punjabi Indian recipes using the local produce. As a result the spices are better balanced for fresher ingredients. Because these early Glasgow restaurants (in particular The Taj Mahal in the West End) were so good they became highly influential and many other fine Indian restaurants were started using a similar idea and often using their recipes. That's why Glaswegian Indian food typically has a strong Punjabi theme.

I used to have a cook book written by Sultan Ahmed Ansari, the original owner of The Taj Mahal Restaurant. It was great, but it was published by a small press and distributed only by the restaurant. It should really get a better printing, but I doubt it ever will - I don't think the current owners are as interested in teaching.

Man, I'd forgotten about the Taj Mahal.  My parents used to take me there in the 70s when they could afford it.  I was far too young really to appreciate the food at the time, but I did love that they treated my little sister and I like royalty.  I think my parents even have a copy of that book somewhere...

[rattran]

Well, Random made it through the surgery, now he's home and doped to the gills. He keeps falling over, due partly to the drugs, but mostly to not having an ear swollen to the size of the rest of his head.
He also has a piece of plastic sewn to the back of his ear to keep it in shape, and prevent him from ripping the sutures out. Looks like an oversize guitar pick. So he looks goofy, but is alive and hopefully will stay healthy.

I just realised that Random is your dog, and not your partner.

Random is a cat.
More specifically, he is
<--- That cat.

[Engels]

my apologies. not that my sympathy is lessened knowing that Random has 4 legs rather than 2.

[Signe]

Good, Rattran.   I'm glad your kitty is going to be okay.