1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die: A Food Lover's Life List (218 page)

Where:
In New York
, Madras Mahal, tel 212-684-4010,
madrasmahalnyc.com
; Dawat, tel 212-355-7555,
dawatnewyork.com
;
in Boston
, Maharaja, tel 617-547-2757,
maharajaboston.com
;
in Washington, DC
, Masala Art, tel 202-362-4441,
masalaartdc.com
;
in Chicago
, Indian Garden, tel 312-280-4910,
indiangardenchicago.com
;
in Los Angeles
, Mayura, tel 310-559-9644,
mayura-indian-restaurant.com
;
in Toronto
, Udupi Palace, tel 416-405-8189,
udupipalace.ca
.
Retail and mail order:
In New York
, Kalustyan’s, tel 800-352-2451,
kalustyans.com
.
Mail order:
For bhel puri, rice flour, chickpea flour, tama-rind concentrate, and puffed rice, iShopIndian, tel 877-786-8876,
ishopindian.com
; for fresh tamarinds, Melissa’s Produce, tel 800-588-0151,
melissas.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Chaat Cookbook
by Tarla Dalal (2000);
The Cooking of India
by Santha Rama Rau (1969);
vegrecipesofindia.com
(search bhel puri);
indianfood.about.com
(search bhel puri);
sanjeevkapoor.com
(search bhel puri).
See also:
Kosheri
.

India’s flowery, aromatic basmati rice (see
listing
) is the basis of many great dishes, foremost among them being
pulao
, a rice dish similar to pilaf and risotto. But for special occasions and discerning palates,
biryani
is the rice dish that
becomes the main event, a specialty said to have been a favorite of the seventeenth-century Mogul ruler Shah Jahan—he who infamously blinded the architect of the Taj Mahal to ensure that his magnificent palace would never be replicated. (The despot may have deserved neither feast nor palace, but his taste was certainly irreproachable.)

Moist but still shapely grains of cooked rice form the base of the richly flavorful dish. Tossed with onions that are lightly seared in the clarified butter called ghee, the rice is enriched with golden raisins and a variety of crunchy nuts that might include almonds, pistachios, and cashews. The braised meat that adds substance and depth is almost always young lamb, flavored in a virtual raid on the Indian spice cupboard. Cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, pepper, turmeric, nutmeg, and cayenne might all make an appearance, and the aromatic results—rice and meat—are placed in alternating layers in a deep, heavy pot with a topping of saffron-tinted rice for a final golden glow. Baked slowly in the hermetically sealed pot, the rice absorbs the rich juices of the lamb and its spicy stock to emerge wet but not runny, with every grain temptingly separate.

If the top layer of saffron rice is not luxurious enough, tradition demands a topping of flakes of either gold or silver leaf just before the biryani is presented on its serving platter—a final touch that’s certainly worthy of royalty.

Where:
In Delhi
, Karim’s Hotel, tel 91/11-2326-9880,
karimhoteldelhi.com
;
in London
, Gymkhana, tel 44/020-3011-5900,
gymkhanalondon.com
;
in New York
, Dawat, tel 212-355-7555,
dawatnewyork.com
; Tamarind, tel 212-775-9000,
tamarind22.com
; Tulsi, tel 212-888-0820,
tulsinyc.com
;
in Boston
, Maharaja, tel 617-547-2757,
maharajaboston.com
;
in Cambridge, MA
, Punjabi Dhaba, tel 617-547-8272,
royalbharatinc.com
;
in Chicago
, Sheesh Mahal Dhaba, tel 773-274-4444,
sheeshmahaldhaba.com
; Udupi Palace, tel 773-338-2152,
udupipalacechicago.net
; Jaipur, tel 312-526-3655,
jaipurchicago.com
;
in Houston
, The Bombay Brasserie, tel 713-355-2000,
thebombaybrasserie.com
;
in Los Angeles
, Mayura, tel 310-559-9644,
mayura-indian-restaurant.com
;
in San Francisco
, Amber India, tel 415-777-0500,
amber-india.com
.
Further information and recipes:
Mughlai Khana
by Tarla Dalal (2007);
Classic Indian Cooking
by Julie Sahni (1980);
saveur.com
(search pakistani lamb biryani; how to make chicken biryani).
See also:
Risotto
;
Kosheri
.

A farmers’ market find.

Botanically a fruit but prepared as a vegetable, the bitter melon lends its tart, quininelike flavor and a green pepper’s crispness to numerous soups, stews, and stir-fries indigenous to various Asian cuisines. The bumpy green gourd may be powdered, pickled, juiced, and eaten raw or cooked—but for most of us, this member of the squash–cucumber (Cucurbitaceae) family may be easiest to find as a supplement at the local health food store. Bitter melon is renowned worldwide for its medicinal properties, thought to be effective in the treatment of such disparate conditions as acne, the common cold, and diabetes.

This so-called melon (
Momordica charantia
), also known as a balsam apple (the name given to it by the American painter James Peale
in a still life now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art), bitter gourd, or bitter cucumber, is between five and ten inches long. (The larger it grows, the weaker its flavor.) If it is being used for cooking, a bitter melon will be cut open, its seeds and fibrous core discarded, and its dense flesh typically softened by blanching or parboiling before being put to use. It is when it is split that its appearance suggests a crocodilian animal.

An acquired taste, the gourd is most effective as an earthy seasoning in a large-scale production, such as a complex curry.

Mail order:
For the fruit, Melissa’s Produce, tel 800-588-0151,
melissas.com
; for seeds, Evergreen Y.H. Enterprises,
evergreenseeds.com
(search bitter gourd).
Further information and recipes:
My Grandmother’s Chinese Kitchen
by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo (2006);
Mangoes & Curry Leaves
by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (2005);
660 Curries
by Raghavan Iyer (2008);
Beyond Bok Choy
by Rosa Lo San Ross and Martin Jacobs (1996);
Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini
by Elizabeth Schneider (2001);
saveur.com
(search stir fried bitter melon with chicken wings; bitter melon with pork and black bean sauce; mighty melon); for numerous tips and recipes, the National Bitter Melon Council,
bittermelon.org
. For an extraordinary artist’s view of bitter melon,
metmuseum.com
(search still life with balsam apple).

India’s national condiment is unquestionably chutney, the relish made of pickled or stewed fruits and vegetables. The word is an Anglicized version of the Sanskrit
chatni
, which means “licking good,” and it generally lives up to its name. But when it comes to exactly
which
chutney, debate never ends, for India boasts an incredible array of the intensely flavorful condiment, varying not only according to geography and region, but also within individual families. As an Indian adage aptly puts it, no two chutneys are alike, and the condiment’s span stretches from the coconut chutney popular in South India and generally eaten with
idlis
(dumplings, see
listing
) and
dosas
(similar to crêpes, see
listing
) to the sour cherry chutney of Kashmir, and from the mint chutney also typically eaten with samosas to fresh coriander-peanut chutney from the state of Gujarat in western India.

Despite these many variations, all chutneys have some qualities in common. They are always eaten in small quantities to complement the flavors of other foods. They are always pungent, and often acidic, providing an excellent counterbalance to the sometimes unremitting spice of dishes like curries. And they are always vegetarian. Within those parameters, they range from the simplest varieties, made of uncooked mixtures of herbs and spices, to the chunky, jamlike iterations Westerners are most familiar
with—slow-cooked concoctions of fruit stewed with sugar and vinegar, and spiced with the familiar Indian flavors of cumin, cardamom, tamarind, ginger, and turmeric.

In traditional Indian households, chutneys are usually made fresh for each meal, by a home cook who grinds herbs and spices together into a paste. The most popular chutney in the world is the mango chutney ubiquitous throughout northwestern India and in Indian restaurants abroad. Its prevalence is due in part to the British, who first encountered mango chutney in their colonial days—the enormously popular jarred brand of mango chutney, Major Grey’s, being one direct result. (The company that produces it, Crosse & Blackwell, was founded in 1706 and has long claimed that Major Grey was an actual person, an officer in the Bengal Lancers and a foodie.) Other notable brands include SWAD and Patak.

Where:
In New York
, Dawat, tel 212-355-7555,
dawatnewyork.com
;
in Boston
, Maharaja, tel 617-547-2757,
maharajaboston.com
;
in Washington, DC
, Rasika, tel 202-637-1222,
rasikarestaurant.com
; Masala Art, tel 202-362-4441,
masalaartdc.com
;
in Chicago
, Udupi Palace, tel 773-338-2152,
udupipalacechicago.net
;
in Los Angeles
, Mayura, tel 310-559-9644,
mayura-indian-restaurant.com
;
in Toronto
, Udupi Palace, tel 416-405-8189,
udupipalace.ca
.
Retail and mail order:
In New York
, Kalustyan’s, tel 800-352-3451,
kalustyans.com
;
at multiple locations across the U.S.
, Patel Brothers,
patelbros.com
(search mint, garlic, tamarind, and mango chutneys).
Further information and recipes:
Indian Regional Classics
by Julie Sahni (2001);
Indian Cooking Unfolded
by Raghavan Iyer (2013);
cookstr.com
(search tamarind chutney);
epicurious.com
(search cilantro chutney).

Along with vanilla and chocolate, cinnamon is one of the most essential flavors of the baking world. But this exotic, sweetly aromatic spice is good for much more than a gooey breakfast roll or a refined coffee cake or a delightful topping for a sugar-crunched piece of toast (see
listing
). The ancient, fragrant spice adds its warm, sweet, deeply rich and satisfying essence to savory foods the world over, providing a kick to Mediterranean spitfired and grilled meats, adding depth to African stews and
tagines
, and acting as the secret ingredient in Cincinnati’s famed chili and Mexico’s hot chocolate (see
listing
).

Careful cooks are well advised to read their spice labels carefully, as a cinnamon ringer called cassia—a member of the extended
Cinnamomum
genus—is often labeled as cinnamon but has a flavor that is harsher, hotter, and more bitter. The real thing,
C. verum
or
zeylanicum
, is a delicate golden spice derived from the inner bark of evergreen trees in Madagascar, India, the Seychelles, Latin America, and their native home, Sri Lanka.