Indian Guy's Review: South Indian Food

Indian Guy's Review: South Indian Food

Ammas Kitchen
7633 Reading Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45237
(513) 821-2021
http://www.ammaskitchen.us/


A Rock......


Good South Indian food is a staple of mine. After a long night of imbibing and buffonary, a heaping plate of steaming rava idlis, kootu, sambar and rassam do wonders for azeotrope driven hangovers this side of Bangalore. Whoever said one needs meat to feel full hasn't stuffed their faced with upma laden with ghee and cashews or a rava masala dosa and bowl after bowl of tamrind rich sambar and watery sinus draining rassam, only to have to unbutton various layers of clothing and lean back in their chair to fit in a mug of thick filter coffee.

No such satiation however is to be found at Amma's Kitchen where South Indian food is served with classic South Indian efficiency.

I arrived a little after noon, in the midst of the Saturday lunch time rush, and was promptly seated at a nearby booth by a kind old man who seemed to implicitly ask me why I wasn't yet married and he knows a nice girl in Columbus...but I digress. He seemed very nice.



A masala dosa is included with the buffet I am informed; splendid. It arrives rather quickly (a charming surprise because many Indian restaurants will tend to make you wait for such things). I grab some of each type of the red, light green (coconut/cilantro) and dark green (mint) chutneys and clumsily poke around for a fully integrated bite of dosa and potato, only to miss on my first few attempts. Peeling open the dosa I find only a few teaspoons of very lightly seasoned potato in the center. The dosa itself I realize, is clinging to the plastic plate for its dear life to the extent that I eventually have to intervene with a fork and scrape it off, like paint off an old wall.

The problem is, where ELSE am I going to get a decent dosa in any 45xxx zip code?

Earlier, I had left my idly in the sambar to let the two become friendly. A few moments later though, they were at a standoff, each braving its own territory. To the sambar-educated, this is a sign of an overly dense idli, unwilling to let another's spice soak. Sadly though, I'd rather have a passe sambar at a card-carrying South Indian restaurant over what passes for imli soaked toor dal at some of the north Indian restaurants in the area.

The bhel...not sure I even really want to go there.
Unfortunately, I did. Nuff said.

I generally like to get some fluffy upma into my system early on in the meal, but was not able to find any...but there was a tray of gobi manchurian. Now, I know we have a border issue with China in the Indian owned Aksai Chin region, but unless reports of central india's loss to the Red's have been greatly exaggerated, gobi manchurian is not south Indian fare. Id rather have my upma, thank you. But then again, it was tasty, and where else in a 20mi radius of the I-75/275 is one to find a bottomless tray of gobi manchurian?

To close the event, I ordered their madras coffee was a pleasant surprise. Warm and thick and frothy, just how it ought to be, with mild sweetness and a definite bitterness lurking in just the right proportions.

The service was consistently friendly and quick and they do seem to try hard at doing a good job.

.....A Hard Place.

And there you have it, my review of Amma's, lying somewhere between a Rock and a Hard Place. You see, as the only credible excuse for a South Indian buffet in the greater Cincinnati area my unfettered opinion would only serve to diminish its revenue stream and, as the limit of T tends to infinity, deprive me of this unindulgent indulgence. However, should I laud it with the niceties of people who have never had a proper dosa in their lives, I would only serve to promote what passed for an amalgamation of Tamilian/Kannada/Madrasi fare.

If there were a better South Indian buffet here, Id gladly pay twice the $10 charged at Amma's.
So, will I be back? Likely.
But only when I have a hangover.

The real culprit here is not Amma's - it is Capitalism, or the lack thereof. Perhaps the Reds and their commie ways have ventured further South than earlier feared.

Someone, please open up another south Indian restaurant here!! I'll even invest!

West Chester Farmer's Market

http://www.westchestersfarmersmarket.com/

In an odd little twist of fate, Ohio, which is rich in fertile, farmland, and Ohioans, who descend from generations of farmers, seem barely linked today. I've found that the common daily diet in Ohio consists mostly of red meat and some corn or potato based side. A plethora of processed foods is also a staple. So you can imagine my glee when a co-worker pointed me to the weekly West Chester Farmer's Market, across from Dinglehouse, my favorite watering hole.

I came a little late today but there were still a few stands open displaying their colorful vegetables, organic meats, poultry, soaps, jams and assorted treats. On principle, I generally don't buy on impulse. Maybe it was the warm afternoon breeze that lulled me fiscal conservatism to slumber but I picked up a small bag of organic dog treats. (Hope you like em' Bhim!) There were plenty of organic vegetables and meats to choose from but before I plunk down my dozen quid, I'll check out this place everyone raves about called "Jungle Jims" and stop by the Whole Foods on the other side of town. I was a bit disappointed at the high prices though.

I have always assumed that the exorbitant produce prices in Ohio at places like Meijer and Kroger are due to the lack of locally grown vegetables (read: fuel to truck over vegetables from the San Joaquin valley) coupled with the generally low demand for fresh produce in the American midwest diet. If that were true, the locally grown produce at this market should be cheaper - some claims to be grown only a mile or two away. Someone needs to explain to me the economics of Ohio produce; the numbers just don't add up.

Compared to the lazy weekend farmer's markets I used to frequent in Los Angeles, this one was downright skeletal, but you have to judge a fish by its pond, and any organic, local, natural food in the mid-west is a step in the right direction. For things like this, demand leads to supply, not the other way around. Count me in the 'demand' column folks! Now, if I can only find someone who will sell me kelp and wheat grass, I'll be raving.

Here's a link to the West Chester Farmer's Market and if you have any tips for an Ohio newbee looking for affordable, fresh produce (or better yet, a restaurant that'll cook it up for me), shoot me a line; I might even want to invest in it.

http://www.westchestersfarmersmarket.com/

Chew thoroughly,
IndianGuy who Cooks

Rajma

I often hear people complain about how vegetarian food doesn't have quite the 'uumph' that lamb or chicken (or beef) pack into a main course.  I've never believed this to be true.  One of the hallmarks of Indian cuisine is its ability to take a simple vegetable or grain and dress it up in a myriad different personalities and temperaments.  Try for instance, one of my favorites, the mild mannered chickepea - sometimes seen gracing your plate as a side salad overpowered by the likes of the red onion, lemon and chaat masala, sometimes seen as batter for fried broccoli, sometimes seen as the base for a spicy and sour kadi soup and sometimes seen as a feisty bowl of chole (see other installments of this blog for those).  To believe that vegetables cannot satiate like meats, is like sequestering grapes to the domain of the salad leaving unbirthed the world of wine.

Similarly, I challenge my carnivore friends to take on a solid bowl of Rajma alongside any lamb curry or chicken kabob in its inherent 'meatiness' and ability to make you lean back in your chair after a meal and wonder if it was you who consumed the rajma, or the rajma that won a democratic majority among your tastebuds.

Here I present several recipes for Rajma; some simple for the time-conscious and some a little more adventurous.

Simple Rajma

Ingredients:

-

Ingredient	Quantity	Prep.
Onion	1 medium (~4" diameter)	Chopped ~1cm chunks; use white/yellow, not red onion
Tomato	1 medium (~3" diameter)	Chopped ~1cm chunks
Green chili	1	Coarsely chopped
Ginger	~1"	Chopped ~1cm chunks or grated
Garlic	4 average sized cloves	Chopped ~1cm chunks
Red kidney beans	1 can	It's a can - open it. Don't dump out the water, you'll need that.
Cilantro	3-4 stems	Coarsely chopped
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp.
Red chili powder	1/2 tsp.	-
Cumin seeds	1 tsp.	-
Coriander powder	1 tsp.	-
Garam Masala	1 tsp.	-
Oil of choice	1 tbsp.	-

1. Chop up vegetables.

First, cut up your vegetables.  For those of you new to this, see the pics below.  It doesn't really matter how small or large you cut the tomatoes but do try to make the onions small.  This is because as you cook it, you want the onions to break down and form a gravy - most gravy's in Indian cooking are really mostly onion by volume.  If it makes you cry, stick the onion in the freezer for 5min before you cut it.  If your tomato is mushy or overly ripe, you can cool that down too.  Here's a question for the physicists, why does a tomato get more plump as you cool it for 5min?

2. Make your tadka/phodni.

As you'll find out real quick, most Indian dishes regardless of north Indian, south Indian, meat, fish or vegetable, start with a tadka (see my tadka posting for more detail on this than you'll ever want to know).  Put about 3/4 of your oil in a hot pot, I prefer to avoid non-stick but its up to you.  Add cumin seeds, watch them sputter (but not from too close if you want to keep both eyes intact).  As soon as theyre all popping, toss in the garlic, ginger and green onion.

Tip: To avoid messing up, be careful to not burn the garlic, it likes to do that.  You're not using much oil so as soon as it begins to want to turn even the slightest bit tan/brown, put in the onions.  You're better off undercooking it than overcooking it.  You can add the rest of your oil if things begin to get too dry.

3. Once the onions are cooked, add tomatoes and spices stir thoroughly and often.  Don't add the salt just yet.  How will you know when the onions are cooked?  Well, sniff it.  Raw onion has a pungent flavor and smell that gradually disappears as it is cooked.  You want to avoid raw onion flavor in your rajma so cook it on medium heat for a good long time, stiring to make sure it doesn't stick or burn.  This part usually takes the longest time, usually 10min.  How will you know if its over cooked?  Sniff it.  If you cook white/yellow onions for too long, they usually begin to give off a sweet smell.  For rajma, its better overcooked than undercooked.

4. Add red kidney beans, add all the water it was cooked in or all the water in the can if you use canned kidney beans.  Stir often, simmer on low heat.  Add salt and stir until you have the taste you like.

5. Done.  Garnish with cilantro.  I like the scent warm cilantro adds as background so personally, I add 1/2 the cilantro leaves, stir and then add the 2nd half cilantro leaves as garnish.  Some people like to also add finely chopped onions as garnish, my mom does that.  Food is what you want it to be.

Rajma With Power Tools

This is mostly the same as the Simple Rajma except...
Change #1 - Chop about 1 bunch of cilantro leaves, in addition to those for garnish.  Cilantro is usually sold in bunches and most bunches are about the same size, don't lose too much sleep over it, its a leaf.
Change #2 - In a blender or food processor, blend to a gravy the: onions, tomato, ginger, chili, garlic and cilantro.
Change #3 - At the beginning, add this gravy to the hot pot right after you add the oil.  Cook this gravy for a good 15min stirring off and on until the raw onion smell is gone.  Then, add the spices and proceed as above.

You'll find the 2nd recipe to have a much more warm and thick gravy and a more pleasing texture, but a lot of people may not want the extra step of using a blender and washing it afterward.