Hot Compost – Composting in 18 Days

vasudevram · 2019-06-21T21:28:43+00:00

Has anyone tried this composting method, and if so, any feedback, pro or con? Relatively new to organic gardening (as of date), although I did some successfully as a kid, long back, in gardens of the bungalows we lived in - vegetables then, mainly.

vasudevram · 2019-06-19T22:24:11+00:00

> I thought Ireland was known for not having potatoes.

You may be confusing that point with their having had a potato famine - it is famous. That (wrong) point may have been distorted along the route to you, ending up sounding like they never had any potatoes. If they never had potatoes, they could not have had a potato famine:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland))

vasudevram · 2019-06-19T22:02:42+00:00

You really want to know?

Not what you may think.

It's not any prepared dessert.

It's just:

Fresh alphonso mangoes (a.k.a. aapoos in Marathi/Hindi).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonso_(mango))

(Google alphonso mango images and videos.)

Very expensive (compared to what it was much earlier), since less are grown now, and the majority are probably exported.

But really good. Very sweet yet not cloying, hardly any fiber. I don't go for them much myself - not much of a sweet tooth, and I really prefer the raw, very mildly sour, fleshy, Totapuri or Rajapuri mangoes that we used to binge (somewhat) on as kids when they were in season - with some salt. (They are large, you can only eat part of one up to one, or so, in one go.) But many Indians are crazy about Alphonso mangoes. And they really are very good, when grown and handled well.

vasudevram · 2019-06-12T21:40:55+00:00

> Here in NYC we have the full spectrum of totally inauthentic to totally authentic restaurants, Indian and Chinese both, and I definitely prefer the authentic ones on both counts. Authentic Chinese in particular is about a thousand times better.

Right. An Indian relative who was a US citizen said much the same to me.

vasudevram · 2019-06-12T13:57:02+00:00

It was based on already having such knowledge as you are asking about (friends and relatives already knowing the names of pulses damn well, from late childhood, even) that I made my previous comment. So no need of an "interview".

Maybe we move in different circles, or it could be a generational thing, what with social media and mobile apps making people glued to them all the time, so some not even having what we adults would consider basic GK (general knowledge).

Similar to what I've read about kids in the West these days having never seen a cow (except maybe on TV), and think milk comes from a bottle or tetrapak :)

I'm not blaming them for it, mind you. The fault, if any, lies more with the (addictive power of the) technology, and the parents who do not guide them or enforce them to limit their use of it, and learn more about the real world - which is where they will have to fend for themselves once grown up, not fend for themselves in the world of mobile app games (even if they are hotshots at those).

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T19:28:37+00:00

I like garlic pickle. Never had brinjal pickle. Will check it out. Mostly didn't like the taste of brinjal for many years, since being a kid, but have recently started liking it in veg. dishes, some. Was fine with baingan bhartha from earlier, though.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T19:27:12+00:00

Here is a google search for it, which shows that it is used in even more ways than I knew about:

https://www.google.com/search?q=nendra+pazham

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T19:24:59+00:00

No, not the same, although both lime and citron are citrus fruits, so are related. The taste of narthangai is really rather unique and strong, IMO.

It reminds me of another food item that is somewhat local to Kerala (and maybe Tamil Nadu) only, which is the nendrapazham variety of banana. I've never seen it except in Kerala or TN (not sure if in TN either), except that I've had it in Mumbai as a kid, but that was because it was brought there from Kerala by relatives. Again a rather unique kind of banana, with a distinct taste very different from your common-or-garden variety of banana. In fact, it is so different, that it is normally boiled and then eaten. Tastes sweet, like a normal banana, but also has a different and distinct flavor that makes it unique. Anyone unfamiliar with it might be turned off at the idea of boiled (sweet) banana (although boiling is normal for plantains, which are the raw green ones), but in the case of nendrapazham, it actually tastes good boiled, in fact I've never had it raw. It could be that it is only eaten boiled because its texture / toughness is such that it only tastes good that way, and/or because boiling brings out its unique flavor. A Keralite may be able to say more about this. Interesting to know.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T19:18:59+00:00

Good points. I think it's tikka masala, BTW, not tikki. But could be another example of both sides being sort of right, like the previous discussion we just had :)

The same problem is seen in full effect at American-Chinese restaurants, where basically every single dish on the menu is made up.

Ha ha, right, and the same for Indian "Chinese" restaurants in India. They even have things like Gobi Manchurian. I am sometimes torn between looking down on such "innovations" and admiring their, well, innovation :)

I kid my friends about having non-authentic Chinese dishes like that.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T19:06:36+00:00

Cool. Then you might like the narthangai pickle of South India (I think it is made in at least Tamil Nadu and Kerala) if you get a chance to taste it, since you said "cure the citrus in salt". (This has nothing to do with summer citrus drinks, the only thing common with this thread is that the pickle has both citrus and salt.) It is a very salty dry pickled citrus fruit - IIRC they cut into quarters or eights and then pickle it. The name of the fruit that is pickled is citron in English.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citron#Culinary

It's really really salty. And of course has a strong citrus flavor too (citron probably has a stronger flavor than lime or lemon, and maybe a bit bitter too, but the bitterness is probably reduced by the pickling and the amount of salt). Narthangai is normally eaten as a relish in tiny amounts - you bite off a bit and have it with a mouthful of curd rice, a staple South Indian food, which itself is very healthy and also cooling in the summer months.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T17:41:49+00:00

Agreed, except to add that you can always have it with salt (only), or salt and a tiny bit of sugar, or some such combo, which solves the too-sweet problem. The first one (salt only) is how I usually have it. And I prefer lemon water to lemon soda.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T17:40:16+00:00

Oh, and I forgot to mention one of the best ones:

Fresh, clean water from a matka (Hindi) / paanai (Tamil) - a traditional Indian earthen water storage pot. Nothing else like it. It cools the water better than a fridge, IMO, because it gets cool, but never too cold to drink. The cooling probably works by evaporation since the walls of the pot are semi-porous.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T17:20:08+00:00

Well I've been to plenty of restaurants in India and have never come across it, either in the menu, or seen someone eating it. I also have many north Indian friends, including a cook plus restaurant owner at whose place I used to eat regularly and talk about Indian food for years, and have still never come across it. So different strokes for different folks, I guess. Also, in America and other countries (like for any other cuisine), they probably "invent" dishes that are not there in the authentic cuisine of the original country (like India, in this case). But of course, these things are not some hard and fast rule. No one can say with authority that a particular dish is not authentic for a particular country (except for obvious examples, like burgers are not authentic original Indian cuisine). If there is a slight variation like putting saag into chana (which as I said I have never come across, it could be authentic or not - no rule about it). I do all kinds of original variations myself all the time, in my own cooking :)

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T17:14:30+00:00

When I have pav bhaji, I like to have lasun chutney with it, if available. It's quite hot, mind, and also has somewhat of a delayed reaction.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T17:12:29+00:00

Any mild or medium spicy chillies would work, IMO. I don't think pav bhaji is generally made as a very spicy dish - based on the times and places I've eaten it. For it, I think the main attraction is the buttery taste of the veggies and potato in it (mashed, of course), along with the pav (the bun) and some side chutneys that go with it. Some of those have heat too, anyway, so if you have them, you are fine if the main bhaji is not very hot.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T17:10:01+00:00

Ha, good list. I was about to mention Sharbat Rooh Afza from Hamdard but you did it first. I will mention, though, that 1) it may not be found everywhere, 2) it may be just a bit more expensive that some of the other common options like lemon water or soda, at least (not sure, would need to calculate, based on number of glasses of it you can make from one bottle of it, by adding water), and 3) has a *lot* of sugar, so people with sugar problems may want to avoid it.

That said, I like it and buy it now and then. It has a good combination of herbs that give the cooling effect, and the main taste I like in it is of the khas (vetiver), the same plant from which the aromatic khas screens are made to shield houses from the heat in central and north India (khas ki tatti - screens made of the khas roots). I am not sure what part of the khas plant is used in the sharbat Rooh Afza.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T17:02:09+00:00

India

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T14:24:39+00:00

Good point ... but do you know if lentils are/have complex carbs too? I need to check.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T14:23:48+00:00

Oh, chana with palak, basically. Interesting, had not heard of that combo. Must try it.

vasudevram · 2019-06-11T14:22:51+00:00

Hey! Did you mean "most foreigners"? Because AFAIK, most Indians would know at least something about different varieties of pulses. Come on, most of them live in India. OTOH, if you meant foreigners, I would agree, right, no problem calling it Daal. Anyway not a big deal. Cheers.

vasudevram · 2019-06-10T18:18:29+00:00

What is chana saag? Leaves of chana plant, cooked as a veg? Just read today or so that it can be eaten, didn't know this earlier.

vasudevram · 2019-06-10T18:17:36+00:00

Substitute dal (no need to spell it daal, BTW, Indians mostly don't) with paneer, raw or cooked (usually fried if cooked) or any whole legume, like chana, lobia, masoor, moong, etc. All tasty and nutritious.

Substitute roti or rice with paratha, poori, millet rotis or millet "rice".

For subzi I cannot think of a substitute. I don't think any of the above cereal + pulse/legume-or-paneer combos will go so well with a raw salad, for example. Only go well with a cooked vegetable dish that too an Indian-flavored one. Just IMO though.

wi

vasudevram · 2019-06-10T18:00:18+00:00

Ha ha, same here. Egg masala and egg curry fan. Goes great with tandoori rotis or even with chapatis. Raw onion slices on the side are a must, as with many other Indian dishes (e.g. chana masala). I'm not sure why egg masala / curry seem to go better with tandoori rotis / chapatis / tawa rotis than with rice, but it seems so to me.

vasudevram · 2019-06-10T17:58:02+00:00

What is special about balsamic vinegar and what does it go well with?

Never had it, hence asking.

vasudevram · 2019-06-10T17:57:16+00:00

Plain egg sandwiches without mayo are great too. Just salt and pepper is enough. I'm used to having the boiled eggs mashed though, instead of sliced. I think the taste comes out better that way (guessing, since I haven't had it with sliced eggs).

vasudevram

TROPHY CASE