Had upama (South Indian semolina porridge w/veggies) for lunch after a fun day at the zoo with the baby...then dinner was garlic dosas with sambar and a chayota squash stir fry.

I like to mix a little into marinara sauce for a kicked up version (you can also use vindaloo paste).

I wouldn't knowingly eat it...that being said, I don't go into the kitchen at each establishment where I eat out so I'm not sure if I have (though I do ask questions and make educated choices).

I also agree w/@dbcurrie.

@Linebackeru - if the knife wasn't washed in between, I wouldn't eat it. For example, at Subway, I ask them to wash the knife.

This sort of reminds me of salad bars at delis in NY where they use one pair of tongs per salad which means the tongs get dipped into meat then all of the veggies leading to lots of cross contamination. I won't eat that either.

I used to hate nom nom but my 13 month old says it when she eats something she loves. I have no idea where she got it - we have never said it to her. But yet, in goes some cheddar cheese and out comes an ecstatic "nomnomnom." How can I not love it? Of course, I don't think I could ever say it.

@Sunnysideup, Better than Kinchleys? Wow. We will definitely have to give this a try on our next visit to NJ! Pictures look great.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. We ended up deciding to go with Tamarind Tribeca.

@eatgirl - We had it narrowed down to Devi and Tamarind...close decision. Both are great.

@Sarar - I love Otto. Definitely very veg friendl My husband, daughter and I are celebrating my actual bday there tonight.

I make a green tomato kootu (stew) with toor daal, chili peppers, coconut and a few roasted ground lentils. The sour tomatoes go well with nutty dal. That's been the only Indian dish I've made with green tomatoes so far. This looks great, and I'll definitely give it a try.

@Nick - you're quite the Indian cook :)

My husband and I are lifelong vegetarians, so I've never really thought very hard about vegetables...as in, we just cook and end up being "smiley" about our vegetables and vegetarian food. Although, I do cook a lot of Indian food so I guess you could say that I use spices (though not always a lot) and different proteins like paneer, tofu and seitan to keep things exciting. I've been making baby food for my daughter, and while I give her a few spices, I also keep things simple. It's reminded me how delicious fresh vegetables can taste without any add-ons like salt or spice.

A few ideas though:
*Vegetable kabobs on the grill with either paneer or tofu. Marinate the veggies and paneer/tofu in a tikka masala sauce like you would chicken.

*We've been getting really soft eggplants at the farmers market. I buy the skinny ones and cube them then saute in olive oil until the eggplant is really soft and translucent then sprinkle on a little salt and either cayenne pepper or sambar powder.

*Red radishes and white radishes (daikon) have been another farmers market favorite. We cut them up (halve the red radishes and peel and cut the daikon into matchsticks) then toss with some cherry tomatoes and cucumber slices. Sprinkle a little salt, chat masala and cayenne pepper on top then splash with some lemon juice. You have a spicy, zesty and fresh salad.

These sound delicious...I have a bunch of zucchini from the farmers market and will have to try these! I just used some to make a first orzo and sauteed zucchini with parmesan for my 8 month old. She gobbled it up!

Indian. Everyday.

I agree with @ Taste Traveller. Plus you aren't going to be eating the fried food on the plane (well, assuming you can resist). That's usually when the smell factor becomes an issue. I doubt people will be able to smell it packed away in your bag.

And if you REALLY don't want to take them but don't have the heart to say no to your pregnant cousin, you could say you bought them but security made you throw them away. I know. It's dishonest. But just a thought if you really don't want to truck these along. Of course, there's probably some resulting bad karma from lying to a pregnant woman.

@mhurst826 - my husband smothers all breakfast foods with ketchup. ick. and any non-Indian dish often gets a few shakes of some type of hot sauce before he even tastes it. i hate that!

okay so my story: we invited my husband's colleague and his wife + 2 kids over for dinner and had my brother and SIL as well. I made a full Indian meal - palak chole, pudina paneer and aloo gobi. Three time consuming dishes. Each dish was perhaps my best version ever. Husband, brother and SIL all agreed they were amazing, and I have a good sense for taste - they were great. Husband made raita and Indian salad (chopped up veggies), and we served frozen naan. They could not stop mentioning how GREAT the RAITA, SALAD and NAAN were! WTF? I mean, even if all three of those dishes were on their "do not love" dish of Indian foods, they could have said something. I was pissed.

Also, one time we invited his other colleagues over, who were our parents age and also Indian. They could not stop mentioning how impressed they were that we (1) ate Indian food and (2) knew how to cook it. But mostly that we ate it. It was pretty condescending.

I hope you didn't serve your son and his GF anything - that's rude and inconsiderate.

Moustache in the West Village, Bukhara Grill, Piccolo Angolo and Joe's Pizza on 6th & Bleeker.

I love this thread!