Flavor of India: My home away from home

If you keep up with my whereabouts at all, you’ll know I’m frequently at Flavor of India. It’s the only place in the world where I have an honest-to-goodness bar buddy. I was in last week and I looked over and saw a familiar face coming up to me; it wasn’t my bar buddy but it was another friend who frequents the place. He says, “Well, I was heading over to [other enjoyable Main St. establishment] but I thought since it was Wednesday I’d see if you were here!” I wasn’t aware until that point that I had a reputation to uphold as the Wednesday night buffet promoter! Daman and I were joking about me bringing in people off the street just by being there. There is a bit of a Flavor of India family that has been created around the ACTUAL family that runs this little haven of good smells and good times. I’m happy to be a part of it, if I do say so myself. Daman and Suki treat me like family and I am grateful for their presence in my life.

But on to the food!

Indian food is not the 1^st choice for many. But I think it’s misunderstood…
There’s more to Indian food than curry. Daman always recommends the lamb chops (which I’m ashamed to say I’ve never tried…but I will soon!), especially for people who aren’t very familiar with Indian food. Here are some of my all-time favorites: chicken pakora or samosas (appetizers), their chicken soup is AMAZING and will cure you of a sore throat in record time, nan of any variety is always a must, chicken tikka, tandori chicken, vegi or chicken korma (creamy and flavorful), chicken makhni (basically tandori chicken off the bone, in a creamy sauce), aloo gobi (potato & cauliflower) or aloo sag (potato & spinach) are good for vegi lovers, chicken biryani, and my favorite for dessert…kheer (rice pudding). Add a Mango Lassi for the kids (think- yogurt milkshake), chai or a King Fisher (Indian beer) for you and you’ll be in gut-busting heaven.

If you can’t decide, or still aren’t sure about the whole thing, I suggest going for the buffet. Go for lunch any day for $9.95; or dinner buffet on Wednesday nights for $12.95. I can’t resist the fried green beans and meatballs when I go on buffet night.

You’ll be greeted with a friendly hello, or if you’re as lucky as me….a few hugs, and feel at home while you’re enjoying all the flavors that Flavor of India has to offer. If you see a chick at the bar giving someone a hard time or giggling the night away then it might just be me.

 

http://flavorofindialongmont.com/

 

Blogmont Presents: Chai with KJ!

As I suspected, even before I got there, the chai we get here at home isn't quite what they have in India. Even at all my favorite places it's still good, but just missing something. Some people say it's the water that makes the food and drink different there. I'm not sure I buy that as far as Delhi is concerned since I certianly didn't drink any authentic Delhi water and my food and tea was terrific. I guess there could be something to it. But that is all of no concern to me now, as I have learned to make my own chai as close as I can to what my lovely hosts offered me in India.
And here's how I do it.

This is what I use:
-Taj Mahal orange pekoe tea (not in bags), you can get a box of this at Krishna's in Lafayette, but any black tea will do I suppose.
-Turbinado (aka "raw") sugar. I don't use white sugar because it makes it taste bizarre.
-Fresh basil leaves
-Cardamom pods (probably just the seeds would work too, but this is what I have.)
-Milk
-Cinnamon
-Fresh ginger

First I find my favorite little pot, strainer & special chai cup. I use the same one every day. You may have a bigger chai cup than me and will want to make your chai accordingly.
(If you want a cup that's twice as big, for example, I wouldn't just double the recipe. I'd stick with about 50/50 milk/water and then play around with it a little and see what works best. And if you're sensitive to caffiene, like my mother who gets all crazy eyed when I make her chai, you can certainly use less tea and it'll still be pretty good. The spices are the best part anyway!)

Turn your burner on medium, and pour in about 1/2 c. water, throw in a couple basil leaves (or one giant one if you have a macho plant like I do!) I sorta crunch open a couple cardamom pods so that I don't deprive myself of the potent seeds inside and throw the whole pod in. You'll strain it in the end so it doesn't matter which one you use. You can get the pods or seeds in the bulk spice section of most stores. (Or go to Simple Bulk on Main St.)

Let that start to bubble a little bit and let the flavors start flowing.
Then add about 1.5 teaspoons of Taj Mahal tea, about 1 Tablespoon of Turbinado sugar, and grate 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger right in to the pot--more or less depending on how gingery you're feeling.

I use my cinnamon grinder to add a dash of fresh cinnamon on the top, stir everything together so it's all in the water and let it bubble for a minute or so.

***You don't want your burner too high & don't want to let it boil for too long because it'll boil away your water and you'll end up with less chai than you planned on or it'll be too milky. Unless of course you like it that way, then by all means, boil away. Basically you want it bubbling and not really boiling.***

Add 1/2 c. of milk and wait for it to foam up a little bit. (I think letting it foam makes it creamier...but I could totally be making it up.)

Turn off the burner and let it sit for a moment to cool down.
Put your strainer over your cup and carefully pour it in. It'll strain out all your tea and spice chunks.
When I'm not in too much of a rush to get to drinking my wonderful chai I'll leave it to cool for a couple minutes until I get that milky film on the top because that'll get stuck in the strainer and will leave less in your cup to get stuck on your face.

If you're terribly efficient like me you'll run out and get the paper while your tea and spices are simmering, you'll pop in your toast just after you pour in the milk.
About the time the toast is done, you can turn off your tea, butter your toast (with Indian brand Amul butter), pour your tea in the glass, soak your pot, and grab the paper. It's a perfect system!

So there you have a morning in the kitchen with KJ....

Now who wants to help me with the crossword??

Beyond Longmont: Yak & Yeti, Elvis Cinema- Westminster/Arvada

I don't often venture toward the Denver-ish areas but on a toasty Thursday afternoon I had several reasons to take the trip.
First stop was Winchell's on Sheridan to meet my new friend Sarah. She operates Casa de Paz in Aurora and I had a coffee table and a big box of kitchen bits to donate to her house. I'm happy to get it out of the garage and happier if she can make use of stuff that's otherwise just sitting in a box.
After loading/stuffing the box in her car I had time to kill.
I went to King Soopers to grab a cold drink and saw the EZ Nails & Spa next door and decided to get my nails prettified. $10 for a manicure, if you pay with cash. Sweet!
I've learned over time that I can often to a better job on my nails than anyone else can but it's still nice to get the massage and for them to work on my sad cuticles. All things considered I was quite happy with my bargain and newly neon pink nails. She shaped my nails perfectly as well.
I hit the Big Lots down the walkway, and then decided to try and find my next destination.
I still had plenty of time so I stopped at the Unique Thrift Store, which is the size of a small city from the looks of the building. It's right after you exit 36 on to Sheridan...if you've been through there, you've surely seen it. It's surprisingly organized but needs more dressing rooms! 2 is not enough. You've got the room guys, stick another stall somewhere. I passed up a couple things that weren't quite "thrifty" enough for me but I'd go back again. There was a mountain...like, an actual small mountain, in the back of things that hadn't even gotten out of the bags yet. I'd bet you're sure to find new stuff any day you go.
Lo and behold, the restaurant I was on a search for was right in the same parking lot as the thrift store.

I give you...Yak & Yeti, serving up tasty food from India & Nepal.
I went to the Westminster location; there is also a location in old town Arvada, which may or may not be haunted!
I was meeting my pal Sister Alice, who was coming in from Kansas for the evening and soon moving even farther away so we took this chance to get together and be silly. Which is what we usually do.
I'm the Indian food fanatic usually but I know not everyone is so when she suggested we try this place I said YES PLEASE!
It is so amazing. Some of the best food I've had ever, let alone Indian food. (Most of the food you can get at restaurants here isn't quite the "home style" stuff I had when I was actually in India so I'm not comparing it to that.)

There's some vegi korma there, vegi pakora, vegi samosa, chicken tikka, saffron rice, and whatever those noodles are called. Along with that I got some raita and dal. And naan, of course.

They have a lunch and dinner buffet daily. Everything was hot, fresh, and perfect. They have white, saffron, and brown rice all in giant steamers.There were a few things I'd never even heard of before.
Alice and I both tried the Chai Milk Stout, it was also amazing. I like milk stout because it's got that creamy element to it, and it's dark, but this had the spices of heavenly chai in it as well. It's bites at your tongue a bit. It's also served in awesome mugs which I very much wanted to stick in my purse.
They have several beers to choose from that are made right at their other location.

The staff was all very nice. I would recommend this place to ANYONE and wouldn't find it at all silly to drive all the way to Westminster to eat there again. It helps that the buffet price is very reasonable. I also want to see if I can buy one of their mugs. They have a little shopping nook with t-shirts and stuff.
The only thing not really to my liking was the kheer (rice pudding.) It definitely wasn't what I'm used to. It was almost more oatmeal texture than milky. I like mine in between...not too soupy but not as thick as this was. I'm not sure if it's regional or just personal preference of the chef. So I'll pass on that next time and double up on gulab jamun and banana pakora! Yummmm

After stuffing ourselves to the breaking point we went down Sheridan a little ways to the Elvis Cinema. (Just off 64th & Sheridan, on the NE corner in a strip mall.)
As their website says, it's the best movie value in town, and they are so right.
$7 for 2 movie tickets. Honest. Had I not been so full I could hardly move, I would have bought a small popcorn for $2. I just love the place. It's a perfect combination of tacky and retro. It's like my paradise. We went to see Mirror, Mirror. It was cute, clever, and amusing. Not winning any Oscars, but perfect for our evening.

Beyond Longmont: Krishna's Groceries & Chaat House, Lafayette

I know it's called Blogmont, not Blogwhateveryoufancy but I am master of the blog and I have to branch out a bit. Longmont doesn't have EVERYTHING after all.
Just 20 minutes down the road you can find several things I just HAVE to leave town for.
One of my most favorite and frequented places is Krishna's Groceries in Lafayette.

~Closed Mondays~ Yep, forgot that once.

Krishna's is an excellent South Asian/Indian market with rice, spices, fresh and frozen vegetables, snacks, & more. I'd like to build myself a fort in the towers of rice and live there, but I don't think we know each other well enough for that quite yet. The fresh vegis sell out very quickly since they are very reasonably priced and there's a few things in there that you can't easily find other places. I hear that they get a new load on Thursdays, so that's the day to go in for your fresh stuff. If you want a good price for a fresh selection of ginger, eggplant, cilantro, and lots of other stuff, it's the place to go.
If you want an AMAZING price for spices, you need to put it on your list this very minute. If you are a big spice user I suggest trying any of the Asian markets in the area because they are usually much cheaper than Walmart.

I lost my reciept, but once I find it I will gladly tell you how much this was...

My personal shopping list for Krishna's usually consists of Amul Butter; ghee; ginger, cardamom, & Taj Mahal tea for chai; and snacks...lots of snacks. The snack stuff can sometimes be a little pricier than your everyday bag snacks since they are a specialty item.

The brothers than run the store are very nice and smiley. I never see them in the same place at the same time so I have yet to be able to tell them apart. I think one is taller...
There are several other Indian markets around Boulder but this one is by far the tidiest and has the best and freshest selection.

Right next door to the market is Krishna Kafe. Chaat is a kind of "street food" sold in India. It's not quite what you'll get at the lunch buffets or off the menu at the local Indian restaurants. (At least to my knowledge, most restaurants don't have this variety of food but if anyone knows of a place that does, let me know!) I can't quite figure out how to describe it but it's a bowl o' flavor that slaps you in the face with its tastyness. There are stands everywhere you look in India. I, however, was not brave/dumb enough to give it a try so I am very glad to get the chance here at home! I wasn't there long enough to not play it safe so maybe next time I'll stay longer and throw caution to the wind while I eat food from unknown sources!
If you're not quite sure what things are, don't worry...they have a picture book. They are very nice and happy to explain what things are. They have Bollywood music or movies playing or Indian TV.  Their menu will be expanding, if it hasn't already, to offer a few more items from South India. I can't wait!
You can check out their menu on the website: www.krishnakafe.com

(To read more about India: http://road2india.blogspot.com/)