13.1.10

Playing With Purchases

Heading to the subway to zip home from Jackson Heights on Monday, I popped into the Patel Brothers grocery store on 74th Street, desperate for some veggies and a few spices. I've played with most of the few things I purchased, and including the Swad frozen Paratha (surprisingly good), here are a couple of standouts:

I picked up this container of "Fantasy" masala-chai because I always like to have the chai option, and the product name was kinda funny. Turns out...it's pretty good!

I'm a dosa freak, and love the sambar served with them. I was entranced by this particular brand (who can resist an orange bag that says "HOT HOT"???), so I decided I'd buy it and use some of it for the base of the soup I was pondering. At first taste, I wasn't really sure (and of course I hadn't read the directions, so didn't have some of the ingredients to add to make it true sambar). But after tossing 25 grams in a pot of onion, okra, tomato, celery, and green onion soup, adding a little turmeric, cumin, coriander, and salt, I ended up with a pretty fantastic concoction that tasted even better the next day!

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