• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

My first foray into Indian take-out

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
I went into the temple cafeteria and decided to get some take-out. I had no idea what to get. I saw the menu, but it may as well have been in Old High Martian for all I understood (it was in English, but I didn't know what was what). So I said to the guy working the counter "I have no idea what to get, but I like Indian food; surprise me and let me have whatever you like". He laughed and said OK. He described some of the items and I said "ooh yeah!" to each one. So I got (I had to look these up :D)...

Aloo bonda - potato appetizers;
Bisi bele bhaat - spicy rice and lentils?
Rava kesari - the semolina sweet;
Nellore karam dosa;

On the ticket he has puliyodharai. I found it in my searches, but instead of that he included a cold spicy rice pudding. It looks like kheer but it's definitely not sweet, it's spicy. Maybe he just switched the items mistakenly. I don't care because I've had it before, and I like it. I was happy when I opened it and saw it. He also included something that looks like soup, like a spicy minestrone base, but just the "soup" with small bits of onion and some other vegs. Whatever it is, it's good. And then there are the two small containers that look and taste like thin wasabi, actually lighter green in color. No flippin' idea what they are or what to do with them (nothing worse than not knowing how to eat something). :shrug: All that for $21. I could only eat half of what he packed. It's definitely enough for two people. I mean $21 for two people!? Now I'm on such a carbohydrate rush from all that rice and sugar I may never sleep again. I could go for a tall cold glass of insulin. :biglaugh:

OK, so as I was leaving his curiosity must have got the better of him, so he said as he shook my hand "Sir, you are Hindu? Have you been to India? When did you become Hindu? I see you have [he pointed to the tilak I still had on, and my small ॐ" pendant]". I told him I was raised RC, but even when I was Christian I believed in the gods. I told him drifted away from Christianity towards Hinduism because it felt right. I said I first came to the temple about 3 years ago, and even wear a dhoti on occasion. His face lit up. :)
 

Madhuri

RF Goddess
Staff member
Premium Member
The soup may have been sambar, which generally accompanies a dosa. The two little containers would have had the chutneys that also go with the dosa. You dip the dosa in the chutney :)

Yuuummm, now I'm hungry!
 

Sb1995

Om Sai Ram
The soup may have been sambar, which generally accompanies a dosa. The two little containers would have had the chutneys that also go with the dosa. You dip the dosa in the chutney :)

Yuuummm, now I'm hungry!

Definitely this.
 

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
Dang, where I live $21 will easily cover two vegetarian meals plus a healthy tip, usually.

Sounds yummy though. Especially the soup.

Tom
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Kesari is really easy to make on your own. I used to make it for breakfast a lot, before the gluten sensitivity thing.

Boil a cup milk with a tablespoon of butter in it. Roast (in a frying pan, no oil) half a cup of cream of wheat. When the milk boils toss in some sugar, chopped almons raisns cashews, whatever else for flavor. Throw in the roasted cream of wheat and stir constantly until it thickens. Keep stirring. Once thick lay it flat out on a dish or tray, and form into a 'cake' maybe a half inch thick. Then you can cut it and then you can eat it. Sugar etc, is done to taste, so mostly its just cream of wheat and milk.
 

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
Thanks for the feedback. The food was good, I have half of it left. Now I know how to eat the dosas and chutney. It makes sense the sambar and chutney weren't on the ticket if they go along with dosas. Come to think of it, he mentioned "temple rice", I wonder if that is the spicy rice pudding. We've had it for prasadam.

The recipe for kesari sounds very much like the way Hispanics make cream of wheat, called avena in Spanish. It's also thick and congealed and is way better cold. I'll have try it the Indian way.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
In India, I actually got sick of dosas. (and a couple of times from dosas) Go figure.
 

Maya3

Well-Known Member
Mouth is watering.
That sounds SO good!

Is this at the temple in NJ that you go to?
I feel strongly now that I must make a pilgrimage to this temple soon. :)

Maya
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Perhaps the sambar was not good. How can one get sick of dosas?

I'd get sick of anything day after day after day, but then urad dal and I don't exactly mix digestion wise. The physical illness wasn't the dosa but either the chutney or the water they used to wash the banana leaf.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
You are right. Things get spoiled quickly in heat and cleanliness is a problem in many Indian eateries. We always have problems with our coconut chutney bought from the market. Urad is my favorite, but there is a problem these days about quality. It does not soften enough. Some new variety for larger production without the old qualities. Same with many things here, particularly mangoes.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Same with many things here, particularly mangoes.

With fruit, it's generally because they pick them too green. Just have your own mango tree. (not sure if mangoes grow in Delhi) Where you live, do the neighbours all share? That's really a great way, and I've seen it in a couple of places. Free food. Nothing better than that.
 

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
Mouth is watering.
That sounds SO good!

Is this at the temple in NJ that you go to?
I feel strongly now that I must make a pilgrimage to this temple soon. :)

Maya

Yes, it is and yes you must get there. :) I must tell you, the temple and its cultural aspects are growing like weeds, rapidly and profusely. The cafeteria is in what was the old temple building. It felt odd walking in there and seeing the kitchen and counter where the main sanctum was, and seeing tables and chairs where the other deities were along the walls. The old building is being renovated and will host the classes. I may look into the Sanskrit lessons. :)

Do check out the website to see pics and videos. :: Sri Guruvayurappan Temple :: The interior is almost, if not completely done. The sanctums are painted as colorfully as you can get. The gopuram is almost if not completely done being painted, and the rest of the exterior is being done.
 

Jainarayan

ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय
Staff member
Premium Member
Btw, I think the soup was indeed sambar. It seems easy enough to make. It does look like India's answer to minestrone soup... go into the pantry and refrigerator and start grabbing things. :) There is an Indian store that has opened in the area. The others all along Oaktree Rd. (Little Delhi) in Edison are a day trip.
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
Btw, I think the soup was indeed sambar. It seems easy enough to make. It does look like India's answer to minestrone soup... go into the pantry and refrigerator and start grabbing things. :) There is an Indian store that has opened in the area. The others all along Oaktree Rd. (Little Delhi) in Edison are a day trip.

In the store, look for a sambar masala mix. Small box, labelled such. It will help it to taste authentic. Yes, sambar is too easy to make.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
With fruit, it's generally because they pick them too green. Just have your own mango tree. (not sure if mangoes grow in Delhi) Where you live, do the neighbors all share? That's really a great way, and I've seen it in a couple of places. Free food. Nothing better than that.
We have a mango tree at my father-in-laws house, quite large, but the monkeys would not leave anything. We do sometimes get green mangoes for pickles. They have many other fruit trees (large plot for Delhi - 1000 yards). We live in an apartment. There is drumstick tree by the side of our apartment, and the drumsticks are sweet.
 

Maya3

Well-Known Member
Yes, it is and yes you must get there. :) I must tell you, the temple and its cultural aspects are growing like weeds, rapidly and profusely. The cafeteria is in what was the old temple building. It felt odd walking in there and seeing the kitchen and counter where the main sanctum was, and seeing tables and chairs where the other deities were along the walls. The old building is being renovated and will host the classes. I may look into the Sanskrit lessons. :)

Do check out the website to see pics and videos. :: Sri Guruvayurappan Temple :: The interior is almost, if not completely done. The sanctums are painted as colorfully as you can get. The gopuram is almost if not completely done being painted, and the rest of the exterior is being done.



It's not too far from where we visit in NJ,
Wonder if I can get my husband to go on Saturday?
:)

Maya
 
Top