#3140 - 11/07/00 05:14 AM
Nostalgia trip here...
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old hand
Registered: 03/16/00
Posts: 1004
Loc: London, UK
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Jo
Besides your 'standard' dosa, a staple of South Indian homes, there are a number of related types. You have mentioned the masala dosa already, as well as the paper dosa (luxurious fare at 'Udipi' restaurants throughout India). There is also the delumptious (Enid Blyton anyone) ghee dosa (or nayya dosa, as we sometimes called it). Plus the truly scrumplicious, if you like the type, rawa dosa - made from a different batter, with a rougher texture and different flavour. Then (for the real specialists in South Indian food) there are things called aapams, cooked somewhat like a dosa, but in a bowl, so the centres becomes think and spongy. Which leads us along the continuum to idlis - steamed flying-saucer shaped 'foods' made from a batter very similar to that of dosas (identical, in some households).
Finally, for what it's worth, good dosa 'mixture', should be prepared by grinding it in a large stone mortar and pestle, and left to ferment slightly overnight.
Ahhh... brings back the memories of nayya dosa and podi. (Do they have that in Bangalore, Avy?)
cheer
the sunshine (momentarily sidetracked) warrior
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#3141 - 11/08/00 04:19 AM
Re: Nostalgia trip here...
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 03/22/00
Posts: 1981
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Thanks Shanks for stopping from the main cut and thrust of debate momentarily to cast your thoughts back to dosas. I'm feeling quite hungry already.
I had some funny flying saucer things once (in some kind of yoghurty sauce). I expect they would taste excellent with lashings of ginger beer.
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#3143 - 11/08/00 05:20 AM
Re: Nostalgia trip here...
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 03/22/00
Posts: 1981
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>US Presidential election farce instead
As you know Shanks, we are quite capable of having our own electoral farces. Wasn't one of Margaret Thatcher's victories "landslide" based on her only winning 33% of the vote? Come to Scotland where PR is doing OK (I think). The only problem was that the voting paper was about half a mile long and we had three different sets of papers to deal with. Back to bread rolls, I think.
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#3146 - 11/08/00 05:43 PM
Sorry, politics again
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 03/22/00
Posts: 1981
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it's politics again, please feel free not to read this post if you prefer (understandably) not to discuss politicsMax - How does MMPR different to the system we have in Scotland? The Scottish Parliament consists of 129 members (MSPs) 73 of whom were directly elected on a constituency basis with 56 additional members elected from 8 regions by PR. I've looked it up and have discovered that it is called Additional Member PR. I know that people found the two (and in some cases, 3) separate voting slips very confusing. I found a relevant Scottish Parliament report on voter awareness and was particularly interested in the comment: "However, by May '99 around one in 5 respondents (21%) still claimed to understand nothing at all about the voting system for the Scottish Parliament." http://www.scotland.gov.uk/cru/kd01/assess07.htmI wonder if New Zealand fared any better? [P.S. I just found this but I still don't see the difference: http://home.golden.net/~world/articles/feb232000.htm]
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#3147 - 11/08/00 06:26 PM
Re: Sorry, politics again
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 08/12/00
Posts: 3409
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I think it's all about nomenclature - that which we call an MMPR Parliament, would by any other name, be the same collection of politicians. NZ's system is basically this - 120 seats in Parliament about 60 electorate seats, the difference elected by PR - 5% threshhold for seats under PR, but if any party wins an electorate seat, it will get seats in the House proportionate to its total vote. Thus, the Greens, who got about 4.7% of the vote would have been excluded from Parliament but for the fact that they won an electorate sdeat, which meant that they got 5 seats in the house - much to the chagrin of the NZ Labour Party which would have been able to govern alone had The Greens not got those seats. It's incredibly complicated, but it is representational, unlike the US system, and our old FPP, where it is quite possible to win outright with a minority of the popular vote. This seems very likely to happen in the present US election - a president elected on a minority of the popular vote, and this happened many times in NZ under first-past-the-post. As an abstract, I think PR is fundamentally closer to pure democracy than FPP, but whether it results in better government, I am not qualified to say, especially as I choose not to vote.
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#3148 - 11/09/00 01:35 PM
Re: Now in "Smello-vision"
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Carpal Tunnel
Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 5400
Loc: rego park
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yes, jo, fresh hot country biscuits are wonderful-- but jackies are even better than yours. i am sure, Not that you aren't a wonder cook.
Its not just the changes that come from measuring, but the flour. American flour tends to be softer (the wheat kernel) than most european flours. (Julia child, i believe, in Mastering the art of french cooking did a bit of rant, on how to make real french style bread, and that you couldn't unless you started in the wheat fields!)
Next time try mixing your standard flour with half "cake flour" cake flour has less gluten, and is "Softer"
The moisture level of the flour makes a difference too, since american flour is less dry, a given volume usually weighs more, since it has been bleached white, and not aged white. and that effects the biscuits, too.
Biscuits, hot from the oven are a form of heaven!
I also like soda bread-- especially brown bread, made with whole wheat and oat flours, irish style. but again because of the differences in flours, its always better in ireland.
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#3149 - 11/09/00 05:07 PM
Re: Now in "Smello-vision"
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 03/22/00
Posts: 1981
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I'm hopelessly confused by phrases like "cake flour" ans "sweet milk". We have plain flour (without any raising agent), self-raising flour (with), strong flour (for bread) and then different kinds of wholwheat or wholemeal flour depending on the amount of the husk included (I think). So is cake flour like "plain flour" or "self raising flour". I have also seen references to "all purpose flour" - which I assume is plain flour but may be wrong.
Jackies tells me that "sweet milk" isn't milk with sugar it just isn't buttermilk. I don't know why we don't seem to use buttermilk here, I never see it in the shops. I know that it is popular in Ireland.
I think that we have the same problem as you in making good french bread. I think that the better shops import the flour from France as our flour just doesn't come out right.
Next time I come back from America, I'm bound to have the drugs squad going through my bags. They will be full of white powdery stuff that I want to try out at home!
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