664131 Mon Nov 02 11:18:16 -0800 2009 10 19 Outer Boroughs 0 5149477 I was on one of my trips to JH yesterday and stopped into Rahjbog for snacks with some friends. The south indian dishes (dosa, iddly) were very disappointing, which was sad, as in the past they have been pretty decent there. However, they had a kind of steam table full of veg dishes (about 10 of them) and you could get two with pooris or a paratha. we tried a couple of plates of these, and some of the veggies were great. the pooris were decent, the paratha too cold and old. My favorites were a chana dal and pumpkin dish, a karhi, or buttermilk curry with boondi in it, and another of mixed veg that seemed to me to be mainly beans of some kind or another (it was all green and brown) All of these had that sweet and spicy gujarati flavor--it's a type of preparation i love, and while it can sometimes be too sweet, it's a nice change from the usual punjabi/bengali/bangladeshi fare you get in most restaurants. Anyway was just wondering if any other JH place did gujarati food as well and/or better. Noticed that Raja foods was way more packed, as was Maharaja. Do these places offer up any gujarati fare? Mon Nov 02 11:18:17 -0800 2009 12221 missmasala 1 5149652 I think the places (on 37th St) right behind Rajbhog have in the past had some Guju stuff - is it Dimple and dosa Hutt (the names keep changing) - the larger of these was at one time under the same ownership as Vatan in Manhattan and Ive had a gujarati thali there but it has been YEARS. might be worth sniffing around in any event. Mon Nov 02 12:09:47 -0800 2009 5149477 11130 jen kalb 2 5150666 thanks jen--should have known you would reply to me! I've been to the latest iteration of dosa hutt (or whatever it is) and don't remember any guju stuff. As for dimple--I enjoyed it years ago, but last time i checked it, it looked too gross even for my very relaxed standards and i'm not even sure if it's there anymore. Mon Nov 02 17:18:05 -0800 2009 5149652 12221 missmasala 3 5150744 the smaller of the two restaurants, that used to be dimple, never had much esp compared to the now closed Manhattan Dimple. and I was never tempted to eat their the Dosa place (Udipi palace or some such) had a gujarati thali, but like I said, this way years ago - they may not any more. what about the Bombay place farther out in Queens? Maybe it has some veg dishes as well as snacks???? Mon Nov 02 17:48:49 -0800 2009 5150666 11130 jen kalb 4 5150792 You're referring to Mumbai Xpress. They definitely had a good selection of veg dishes, but whether or not they were Guju I couldn't say. I lived with two Guju guys for two years, but apart from the neon colored and wickedly spiced string beans, I couldn't pick another Guju dish out of a lineup. I couldn't find the menu online but the Village Voice article describes the owners as "Gujarati Jains," which sounds like a prescription for Guju veg. http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-03-04/restaurants/dining-in-floral-park-s-mumbai-express-and-new-kerala-kitchen Mon Nov 02 18:12:28 -0800 2009 5150744 13059 Greg 5 5150990 yeah, been meaning to try that place, tho their emphasis on snacks made me wonder if they would have the veg dishes i am looking for. Do they do a thali or anything more meal-like, or only the snacks? (and i mean these in the Indian sense, as obviously their snacks can fill you up.) I would be more in a hurry to get out there if I liked pav bhaji, but unfortunately I may be the only person with Mumbai roots who doesn't salivate at the thought of it. Mon Nov 02 19:54:09 -0800 2009 5150792 12221 missmasala 1 5179930 Hey there, The owners of Mumbai Xpress are most definitely Mumbai Gujus. Also, they've got quite a few Guju dishes though they're more their weekend stuff than anything else. They have kichdi kadhi on some days and what not too though. Justin P.S. The buttermilk curry with boondhi sounds vaguely like kadhi. Fri Nov 13 15:33:42 -0800 2009 5149477 113604 JFores 2 5179969 Yes, I spell it karhi, but that's what it is. What's kichdi kadhi? I think of kichidi as those sago balls women eat on fast days, but i've never seen them used in a kadhi, or karhi. Welcome back--nice to see you posting again! Had been wanting to hit up Mumbai Xpress all spring, but then a summer visit to the actual Mumbai satisfied my cravings for a little while. But now i'm back and looking for good indian stuff. If only Floral Park wasn't so far. Are the Indian grocery stores out there (ie. patel bros) as big and good as they are in JH? Then I could get my shopping and my eating done in one trip. Fri Nov 13 15:57:52 -0800 2009 5179930 12221 missmasala 3 5180214 I think what he means is the combo of khichdi(Khichri) and kadhi that the gujaratis and for that matter rajasthanis serve. Was served this basic food several times in ahmdabad I didnt develop a taste for it - the khichdi was a very bland , simple rendition (rice-moong dal) without noticeable spice and with a big ladle of ghee poured over it - the karhi in that part of the country is quite sweet. About the third time around I started to enjoy the flavors of the karhi sort of around the sweetness, but I can see how people who grew up on the babyfood like khichdi could like it but the ladle of ghee was just too much for me. Fri Nov 13 18:06:32 -0800 2009 5179969 11130 jen kalb 4 5180489 hmm, i've never had that in rajasthan. I used to get these steamed millet balls on the thalis there--the server would break them up and ladle ghee over them. I loved those. If I could find those in the NYC area I would be very happy. I don't know that much about gujarati food and have never had that rice-dal combo in Mumbai either. My family is maharashtrian and they don't make that kind of thing--or at least they've never served it to me. Fri Nov 13 20:27:15 -0800 2009 5180214 12221 missmasala 5 5182240 you have had kichadi/kichri, havent you? Mina makes a version of it. There are lots of variations with roasted or unroasted dal, more or less spicy and with or without vegetables, etc across northern and western india and similar dishes in the south (pongal, sometimes). Sat Nov 14 18:43:15 -0800 2009 5180489 11130 jen kalb