A Vegetarian's Delight!

The Lotus Stem Surprise

Unlike NYC where there are a variety of Indian restaurants in almost every neighborhood, NJ has a few to choose from; especially in our neck of the woods (Morris County area). Don't get me wrong there are Indian restaurants but none that I would bet my money on. I've had the chance to go to a few with my parents over the years and narrowed down the list that I would go back and try again. Those will be ones I'll share with you today.

Most recently, we went to Chand Palace in Parsippany next to Subji Mandi (Indian Store) off of Rte. 46E. I haven't been there in years so it was a nice surprise. If you are vegetarian, you will love it because it's all VEG. I love a good Veg Buffet here and there. Now mind you, the day we went, we were all exhausted from moving and unloading into our new house so we were famished and wanted to eat some real good food. My parents have gone to this restaurant a few times and suggested it.

As you enter the restaurant, you will see a Guest Check In and then the table setting and in the back is the buffet table. I could already smell all the goodies. I couldn't wait to jump in line and try everything. I decided to stay healthy and started off with salad (cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, carrots...etc). Then I headed towards the manchurian Gobi (cauliflower) and kamal kakkadhi (Lotus Stem). That was just the first plate. I was not too impressed with the Cauliflower manchurian but I liked the Lotus Stem so on my second run, I grabbed more salad and Lotus stem with naan and rice. My friend who joined us for dinner said the lotus stem curry reminded him of being back home in India when he used to go over to his friend's place for food.

The rest of the curries were alright. I liked the lotus stem one the best. They also serve mini dosas with the buffet so there is plenty of food to go around. Oh. and don't forget to try the desserts.  Overall it was a good experience. I went over the weekend so I'm not sure how the buffet is on weekdays. If you have been here before, let me know how you found the place.

I apologize for the picture quality, I only had my phone with me at the time. Until next time, keep on eating and enjoying!!

"Just Moved In" Curry

The First Meal

Friday July 30th at 730AM - The movers came to our old house and began the hours long moving process. We thought it would take 4-5 hours. We packed everything ourselves except for the furniture. Hey, we not Super People. Anyways, long behold, 5 hours passed and we are not completely done. In fact, it was after 5 hours that the movers headed to the new house to transfer the stuff. Either they took their time or we had way more stuff than we calculated. Anyways, by the time the whole move was completed it was 10 hours and we were all tired and hungry. We tried to group the boxes in their respective rooms so we do not run around like headless chickens when it comes time to look for items. That night, we just decided to eat out since cooking was not an option.

The next night though my mom decided to make some curries so we could a nice home cooked meal. I realized you can eat out as much as you want but the meal can never be compared with what you make at home. The taste is too different. I point this out because the previous night we went to a vegetarian Indian restaurant (Chand Palace, Parsippany, NJ) and the cuisine and service was fine. Actually I haven't been there in years so it was a nice surprise to find the place more enjoyable this time around. My point is that some of the curries that I tried lacked certain ingredients (a little salt here and there). I started critiquing the items and realized that no matter where you go, you are bound to question the way it is made or the amount of ingredients used if it is not something you are used to.

On with the subject at hand, the "Just Moved In Curry" was prepared with the utensils and cookery we were able to unpack from the numerous kitchen boxes (as you may see in the pictures). My mom used a small pressure cooker to cook the curry. Mind you, you may use the pressure cooker when you are using fresh ingredients but if all you have are frozen veggies, then it is not needed. My mom used the bottom of the pressure cooker (the container part) to make the curry. When you are limited to ingredients available in your kitchen, you are really testing yourself on what you can make for dinner and you will be surprised at the results. Why you may wonder? You actually tend to cook better. At least that's what my mom figured out soon enough.

Ingredients:
Garam Masala
Crushed tomatoes
Small boiled potatoes
Frozen vegetables
Salt to taste

Procedure (from what I recollect):

1) She started out by sauteing garam masala in the cooker with some oil. Then added crushed tomatoes and let them cook a bit.

2) Next add the frozen vegetables.  (Hint: Defrost the vegetables a bit before adding to the mixture.)

3) Add the boiled potatoes and cook everything together on simmer until it comes to a gravy consistency. Add salt for taste.

4) It should ultimately look like the picture below. I will add the exact measurements in a bit. Until then, please enjoy the story and the pictures which by the way I took with my phone since the camera was packed away.

I realized that in some cases, improvising makes the best dishes.