Comments on: Restaurant Review: Haveli (Indian)

By: Product Review #4: Dark Chocolate Almond Granola and Garlic Naan « Garnish With

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:02:56 +0000

[...] is sneaky and I find it irritating.) I’ve been looking for a recipe for naan since I was introduced to the fantasticness that is peshawari naan. None seem to be easy to make, though, so I was excited to find a packaged brand in the [...]

By: digi

digi — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 03:24:46 +0000

LOL, yeah, I’m always snooping around keeping an eye on you guys (someone has to make sure you’re behaving yourselves).

I know what you mean about the super spicy stuff—when it’s too hot all I can taste is… well, the hot, y’know? All other flavors get lost. A lot of times it just depends on the restaurant & the cook.

I used to have this Indian cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey (she’s really good) and there was this one recipe I really liked. I used to make it with like 2 of those dried red chilies, even though the recipe said to use like 5 of them. And get this—she said in India they use something like 12–15!!

Re my reservoir of weird knowledge, I have to impart it to someone, right?

Re the peshawari naan, sorry no recipes.

By: Erin

Erin — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:52:01 +0000

Hey Digi! Knew you’d find your way over here eventually.

I’ve never had Chicken Makhani before. I’m still new to Indian food, but I tend to stay away from the curries. I don’t love the super-spicy stuff, so I tread cautiously around Indian food. But what I’ve had so far has been good, so I’m kind of psyched.

I didn’t know the bit about Peshawar. You’re so full of weird but excellent knowledge. You don’t, perchance, have a good, easy recipe for peshawari naan? I’m thinking about just making the mix (once I get a food processor) and stuffing a pre-made naan (my supermarket apparently carries it from time to time – awesome!), and just heating it up. Dunno if it’ll work, but I’m sure it’ll be an interesting experience.

And yes, I’m sure there are chili cook-offs somewhere, but I don’t like chili, so I have no info for you.

By: digi

digi — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:21:51 +0000

Yum, Indian food! Have you ever had Chicken Makhani? It’s scrumptious—sort of like a cross between tandoori chicken & chicken curry, but the curry part is a rich blend of spices, nuts, and yogurt.

The lemony color of the potatoes you had probably came from turmeric, which is a fairly standard ingredient in Indian cooking.

Like the Chicken Biryani, if you have Peshawari Nan somewhere else, it’ll likely have different ingredients.

(An aside: Do you know that Peshawar is the capital city of Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province? That’s the wild & wooly tribal area that borders Afghanistan. Their food tends to have an Afghan influence, with Afghan food also having Persian influences. Persian food tends to be very mild and uses lots of veggies, fruits, and nuts. And the very best saffron in the world comes from there, IMO.)

In my experience, most foods have different variations depending on the region the cook is from and his/her personal tastes. Sort of like our variations of BBQ (Kansas City, South Carolina, Texas, etc.) or the myriad variations you’ll encounter at any good chili cook-off.

Do you guys even have chili cook-offs here on the East Coast…?