Raj India Cuisine

As was too busy to go to restaurant, was forced to get to-go. I still got a good idea of the place though.

LOCATION:

Nice, in the middle of a large intersection in Oakland. But with that also comes a parking problem. After circling the block several times, my mom finally found a parking spot.

DECOR/THE PLACE ITSELF:

Small, but in a cozy way. Plenty of tables, and it also has a side table/counter! It has a modern decor, with fresh flowers and classy chandeliers. One thing: the tables and chairs give off a cafeteria feel and might need to be updated to match the rest of the modern decor. A half wall sperates the kitchen noise from the dining area. A cheery bright green awning welcomes you in.

SERVICE:

Very nice, quick, polite, and spoke good english.

FOOD:

Overall, excellent.

MEAT SAMOSA-Crispy pastry stuffed with spiced peas and minced lamb. First off, DELICOUS! I loved the contrast between the mediocre flavor of the bread and the spicy ground lamb.

MIXED VEGTABLE MASALA-Mixed vegtables prepared in a secret stock with garlic, onion, ginger, fresh tomato and mild sauce. Good, nice crunch combined with a spice.

SHAHI PANEER-Homemade cheese highlighted with creamy sauce. A nice twist on the normal cheese, although on first look it seems a bit like tofu. But otherwise, good texture combo and taste.

TANDOORI PRAWN-Prawns marinated in yogurt, herbs, and spices. Awesome! Tangy and crispy.

LAMB CURRY-Lamb in a special blend herbs and spices. Good, nice texture.

LAMB SAAG-Boneless lamb cooked with fresh spinach and fresh herbs. Nice flavor, has a crunchy-creamy quality.

CHICKEN MADRAS-Chicken cooked with coconut milk in a medium spiced sauce. Perfectly spiced, with a delicously cooked chicken.

MENU-

Excellent variety of foods, convinently archived into logical headings. Easy to understand, with good descriptions (I used them, just decided to credit them here :) ).

Inside of restraunt

Street view

Dessert!

Dessert Time!

Safeway-your ticket to a better night's sleep!

Umm yeah, finally finished 1 video, although my computer crashed 6 times and I am now using my mom's computer, I finally finished 1 2.5 minute video. :)

PICTURES!

THEY HAVE ARRIVED!  The pictures (sorry, videos aren't ready yet) from Keeesha and my cooking attempt have been successfully downloaded onto this computer... which means ya'll get to see them! Unfortunatly, there aren't many pictures- only ones of the Potato Bajji and the Nimbu Pani:

Me putting a freshly fried potato slice on a paper towel!

Us tasting the Potato Bajji!

Potato Bajji arranged nicely :D

 Potato Bajji- the close up!

Our drink, Nimbu Pani, finished in a glass!

Dates! (the fruit)

        If you read my post on the Nimbu Pani drink we cooked, than you might have noticed that we used dates (not the Saturday night kind) for sweetener.
    Be back soon!!
---gracie

Fruits from India!

              Did you know there is actually a breadfruit?! Yup, it's real, and it's eaten in India! If you play ZombieFarm®, like me (I love it), than you probably unlocked breadfruit and thought that, well, it was made up. Fictional, doesn't exist. Well this proves me (and all you other nonbelievers) that the zombie is indeed real and is eaten by lots of peasants (and others, but mainly peasants) all around south Asia.  Wait... did I say zombies?! I meant breadfruit, forgive me (ha ha that was actually funny :D).  But really, I've seen pictures and it looks like a big green melon with warty skin, and unfortunately, nothing like bread.  They have large, thick leaves and a milky juice.  Breadfruit is grown on trees in south India, but also in the Caribbean and areas around the Philippines, where the plant is native.  In many tropical regions, the breadfruit is a staple food (our class learned what staple foods are on Catalina Island, and I feel good using it :D).  Now, you're probably wondering why it's called a Breadfruit. I mean, it obviously doesn't look like bread, and bread certainly does not grow on trees.  So what is a melon-looking thing doing with the name like that?  The answer lies in the flavor: cooked, it happens to taste like potatoes, or like...fresh baked bread!  Bingo! You guessed it (well, actually I wrote it down, but...)!  Breadfruit is a plant with a very high annual yield.  In southern India, a single tree can produce 150-200 fruits a year!
          Thanks for reading!
--gracie

{ Regional Cuisine of the Day } June 2nd

Today's {Regional Cuisine of the Day} is....

Oriya! (From the region Orissa)

The cuisine Oriya barely uses spices, and if it is used, very little is used. Seafood is very popular, especially crab and shrimp. Chicken and mutton are also popular. Oriya also has many desserts/sweets.

WHAT IS A TANDOOR OVEN?

         I know I've mentioned a tandoor oven before, (such as in the Tandoori Chicken at the restaurant I reviewed), but I've never actually explained what it is!  Tandoor ovens are shaped like a cylinder and are usually made of clay.  Azerbaijan, India, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia, along with Burma and Bangladesh are places in which the tandoor oven is used for cooking.  A charcoal or wood fire traditionally heats the tandoor, burning inside it.  Some modern day tandoors use gas instead.  The food in the oven is exposed to "live-fire, radiant heat cooking, and hot-air, convection cooking."  The temperature in the tandoor oven can reach 900 degrees F!  Wow, now I can understand why my Tandoori Chicken was so HOT! Tandoori Chicken and Chicken Tikka can be cooked in a tandoor.   Naan, the Indian bread, is also baked in one.  
        I have to go now, but I'll add more about the tandoor later! 
    --gracie
LATER:
             Yoski! (my made up word)! I'm back with more about the tandoor oven! 

 "Tandoori" is a word that describes a dish that has been cooked in a tandoor oven, or to be more exact, it means 'pertaining to the tandoor."  Popularized during the Muslim rule in South Asia, the tandoor has travelled all the way to the Middle East with the Roma people (not actually from Rome~ the Roma people began in the Thar Desert Tribes).  Tandoori food is displayed the culinary pride of the people of India because it is prepared with great care.  The tandoor oven at Flavors of India looks different than the oven in the picture above because they are made up of different styles and materials.
     --gracie

What is "kokum"?

As you probably saw in my {Regional Cuisine of the Day} June 1st post, I mentioned "kokum". So, now you are probably wondering...what IS this kokum you speak of?

Kokum is a dark, purplish black fruit. With curled edges and a thick, plum-like skin, it resembles a citrus fruit with seeds in different chambers. It has a sweet/sour taste. It is nativeto southern regions of coastal India.

{ Regional Cuisine of the Day } June 1

Todays { Regional Cuisine of the Day } is....

Maharashtra!

Maharashtra is a combination of Goan ( See my Goan {Regional Cuisine of the Day} post), Brahmin, Malvani, ect. cuisines. But ironically it has it's own spices, and tastes too. Fish, coconuts, and rice are in abundance. If you are wondering why most {Regional Cuisine of the Day}s have fish in abundance, it's because (don't ask me why) most cuisines I choose are coastal cuisines. Kokum is also used in quite a few recipes (See my "kokum" post).

Sorry!

As Gracie said, I can't post the cooking videos right now. I am currently having extreme computer problems, and will sort out video when my computer stops crashing every 5 minutes. Again, I apologize! Thanks for understanding!

--Keeesha

Random Fact:

• India has 28 states, over 50 languages, and hundreds of ethnic groups (no wonder there's a regional cuisine of the day...that's a lot of regions!).

MAKING FOOD AT HOME

                 Last weekend, Keeesha and I made an Indian meal!  First, we took a trip to an Indian grocery store called Milan.  This was an amazing experience because it was very authentic in all the foods it sells.  Along with all the ingredients that we could not find at a regular grocery store, we picked up several packages of Indian sweet cookies, bottled guava and mango juice, and a bag of sweet puffed rice.  As we checked out at the counter, a man came in with a bag of samosas ready to be sold: fresh, hot, and only 75 cents each! We just had to try one. I bit into it first, and tasted potatoes and some type of spice.  Wrapped in a thin, crunchy, fried shell, many textures were present in our samosa. As our bites ventured closer and closer to the center, the taste got spicier and spicier.  I finally had to surrender and take a sip (well, maybe a gulp) of my guava juice.  On the way back to my house, Keeesha and I sampled the sweet puffed rice.  Man, does that live up to its name (the only two ingredients are puffed rice and sugar).  If you bite an individual grain of the rice in half, you can actually see the sugar crystals inside!   
                Back in my kitchen, we cooked everything we planned accept for the Mushroom Fried Rice dish.  Kaju Katli was the first thing we made. It's a dessert with a nutty, (from the cashews) sweet flavor. The instructions called for spreading it on a plate and letting it sit, so that is what we did. The mixture still dries and hardens into candy on a plate in my kitchen counter, and we absolutely can't wait to taste it.  We both sampled the batter before we poured it onto the plate, and it had a fantastic flavor and texture! Then we made Potato Bajji.  This was the hardest and longest one to cook because we had to heat oil and deep fry the potato slices in a pan!  First we mixed the batter that consisted mainly of flour, water, and a bit of chili powder.  Then we cut the potato, slathered the slices with batter, and gently plopped them into the oil, where they cooked until they showed a golden brown crust.  The smell of oil still lingers in our house, a reminder of all the cooking that happened.  We winded down our kitchen time with a drink called Nimbu Pani, a delicate lemonade-like drink sweetened with dates and honey.  Now, after chilling overnight, it has very light, honey/lemon flavor.  Water and dates boiled for ten minutes first, and then we added lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices and honey to boil for three more minutes. 
                 Of course, we filmed it all (with Keeesha's phone), and there is a lot of footage.  Please be patient because even though Keeesha is experienced with videos, it will still take a long time with so much to go through and edit.  In the videos we tried to show everything we did. For a while no one acted as camera man, so some things on the sides of the frame might be unclear.  Also, my awesome mom and sister were talking and even helping in some of the scenes with hot oil because neither Keeesha nor I have deep fried foods at home before.
        Hopefully you can watch the videos soon!
 --Gracie

{ Regional Cuisine of the Day } May 31

Todays { Regional Cuisine of the Day } is......

Kerala!

Kerala cuisine uses lots of coconuts and ground coconut because of the abundance of coconuts in the region. Kerala cuisine also uses curry as a spice/flavouring ingredient, rather than a dish in itself. Fish is also abundant in Kerala cuisine, because of the many rivers. It also has a long coast along the ocean. Rice and tapioca are another main component to the cuisine. Other spices such as ginger also play a major part in the cuisine. Also, check out Gracie's post "RECIPE: KERALA FISH CURRY!". As I said, fish does play a major part in the cuisine.

{ Regional Cuisine of the Day! } May 27th

1st point: Hey! We finally got back from our class trip, and will begin to start posting again! Yay!

2nd point: Back to Regional Cuisines! Yippe doodle day! Anyhowo, today's { Regional Cuisine of the Day } is....

Gujarati! ( From the region Gujarat )

Gujarati cuisine is mostly vegetarian. A tyipical meal includes flat bread, vegtables, spices, and rice. Gujarati cuisine combines many different flavors (spicy, salty, sweet, ect) at the same time.

Kaju Katli!

Okay, so I was searching for cool recipes to make (again), when Keeesha said that we should make a dessert!  Though we are pretty flexible, there are some restrictions and preferences:
-no raisins (for me)
-no coconut (for Keeesha)
-no ghee (We are amateurs. I mean, ghee? How are we supposed to get that?)
And I came across.....Kaja Kalti!  Sounds delicious, but I have to go now. I'll write some more about it later, so read soon!  
         ~gracie

{ Regional Cuisine of the Day } May 20

Today's { Regional Cuisine of the Day } is....

Goan ( From Goa )!

Main ingrediants from Goan cuisine include seafood, coconut milk, rice, and paste. Many dishes have strong spices or flavors. Most every dish has fish in it, to the point where a dish isn't considered Goan without fish. Kingfish is a large delicacy.

Nimbu Pani~ this sounds AWESOME!

                 Pretty soon, Keeesha and I are going to be... actually cooking something! Hopefully this weekend, we will be making four DELICIOUS dishes that were hand selected...by us!  We're planning to make something called Potato Bajji (yes, yes, that was the random link I posted to remember earlier), but we're still kind of blanking on what to do for our other three things.  Then, two minutes ago, I had an inspiration...we should make a drink! I immediately set to looking up good drink recipes (*NO BANANAS!*..to be honest, I think they're really gross) and I discovered <drum roll please> Nimbu Pani! 

It looks fantastic because:

~no bananas!

~simple

~cold, and it's supposed to be getting warmer around here :D

~ no milk! (I'm mildly lactose intolerant)   

Doesn't it look exactly like lemonade?  It's actually very similar to it, and you can add all sorts of spices according to how you like your drinks to taste! This recipe uses dates and honey as a sweetener instead of the sugar and artificial flavors commonly used in the US.  "Lemonade" in India looks cloudy, and is ALWAYS served fresh.  It can be made with lime juice instead of lemons, but there are many different variations.  

Can't wait till the (hope we can make it then!) weekend! ;D

{ Regional Cuisine of the Day! } May 18th

Today's Regional Cuisine of the Day is.....

Bihari!

Bihari cuisine is not only eaten in Bihar, but is also eaten in Uttar Pradesh, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and more. Bihari cuisine is mostly vegitarian, but there are some meat and fish dishes, due to the large amount of rivers in Bihar. One of the most interesting costoms is "smoked food". Smoked food refers to food with smoked red chili, which infuses a deep, strong aroma.

Basic Ingrediants

UPDATE: We may not post this or the following week because:

a. We will not have time in class to work on it

b. We will be on a class trip from the next Monday on

All of you probably know the ingrediants of your favorite food, right? So do you know the ingrediants of your favorite INDIAN food? Well, if you don't, here are some basic ingrediants from basic Indian foods.

Bajra: Pearl millet, a type of millet (a millet is a grain). India is currently the largest producer of pearl millet. Roti, which is made from pearl millet, is most farmer's primary food.

Rice: A tyical basic for any type of meal, whether it's dinner, breakfast, or lunch.

Atta: Whole wheat flour

Pulses: Pulses resemble snap peas, with 1-12 different seeds with a variety of different shapes and colors. The word "pulse" is reserved for dry seed only. These pulses could be kidney beans, lima beans, pinto bean, red lentils, a black gram, ect.

Many Indian dishes or curries have oils, such as peanut oil (used mostly in Northern and Western India) and mustard oil (used mostly in Eastern India).

Bread----Indian Style!

Everyone knows about naan, but do you know about other types of Indian bread, such as paratha? Or maybe dosa? Some of the most popular types include....

Chapati: A typical Indian flatbread, accompaning many dishes.

Paratha: A delicous, pan fried treat. Resembling a croisent, it is crispy and flaky.

Aaloo Paratha: A potato version of paratha, which tastes great with butter of cream.

Poori: Another flaky bread, eaten with many dishes, or pickles...

Bhatura: Usually eaten with chickpea curry, or eaten as it is made/piping hot.
Dosa: Dosa is eaten for breakfast or dinner, with vegtables, or meat sauce.

As you can see from above, most breads are only eaten with curry or main dishes.

Fun Facts!
Naan comes from the Persian word for bread

Some breads, such as naan, are cooked in a tandoor oven
The classic teardrop shape comes from the dough being streched while baking

Random fun fact about general Indian cuisine!

• The left is hand is used for personal hygiene, so it is considered bad manners to use it for eating