Consider the uttapam
Today I had some Trader Joe’s uttapam for lunch.
I love southern Indian food, although if you haven’t ever had it it’s hard to describe and doesn’t sound all that tasty. But it’s very yummy. It’s completely vegetarian, but features unusual grains (unusual to us, anyway) such as chickpea and lentil flour, often in fermented form.
Yes, I know—sounds pretty “ugh.” But take it from me, it’s a wonderful cuisine, and many of its specialties have an especially toothsome comfort food quality.
The uttapam is somewhat like a pancake, although Wiki compares it to pizza. I never thought of pizza, though, because an uttapam’s dough is unbreadlike. What is it like? Soft and springy, resistant yet yielding, with the tang of something like sourdough and a slight spiciness that complements the grain and gives it just the right amount of zip.
And the coconut chutney is the finishing touch.
I don’t know how to make uttapam from scratch, and I’m probably not about to start. So imagine my delight when I saw that Trader Joe’s has a frozen version, and my excitement when I took a package home to try them. Voila! Pretty darn good, and if they were not quite on a par with the very best southern Indian restaurants, I really can’t fault Trader Joe’s for that. Excellent for a frozen version, and simplicity itself to prepare.
Trader Joe’s is a national treasure. My only regret in moving to FL to care for my aged parents is that I’m now a two hour drive away from the nearest one.
If it’s from Trader Joe’s, I expect it to be tasty. They choose their products very carefully. And they’re very, very secretive about who supplies the various products.
http://www.chow.com/food-news/64791/trader-joe-s-exposed/
Mind you, they’re secretive about everything they do. There is an interesting history of Trader Joe’s and Aldi, which are owned by the same two German brothers. There’s even a kidnapping.
I went to a Trader Joe’s several months ago, and bought some stuff. I doubt I will be back. Its emphasis appears to be prepared foods and wine, neither of which I purchase much.
I did notice the Indian frozen dinners, which I thought would be a faster and cheaper alternative to going out to an Indian restaurant. As there are two Indian restaurants within a mile- one within two blocks- of where I live, Indian restaurants are a fast alternative for me. Not expensive, though more costly than a frozen Trader Joe’s dinner.
Gringo:
Trader Joe’s is also good if you want to save money on things like cheese and nuts, and certain kinds of produce. I don’t buy much of the frozen food there, actually; haven’t had much success with it. Except for the uttapam.
However, the store has a great policy on returns if you don’t like something. So it doesn’t hurt to try a product, if you’re not shy about returning it if you’re not happy with it.
There is an Aldi near me that carries some Trader Joe’s products, like walnuts. Within the next few months, they will be moving to a newer and bigger store that is even closer to me. It will be interesting to see whether they offer more American products. I rarely go to Aldi now. All of the chain stores here are offering more house brands for ordinary stuff and lots more foreign stuff. Shopping is becoming a bit harder because you never know what you will find on the shelves.
We drive to Des Moines 3-4 times a year to stock up at TJ. We buy lots of nuts and dried fruit, TJ’s cafe pajaro, good cheap wine, and cheese. We like Indian food, so we’ll try some uttapam next time which will be towards the end of the year when we visit TJ to buy Christmas food gifts.
The description of the bread sounds a bit like what is served at Ethiopian restaurants. Or am I way off the mark?
parker:
It’s a lot thinner than injera, which is thicker, more spongy, and more breadlike. But they have similar sourdough flavors.
Chickpeas are used extensively in TexMex. I would start with the spiced then mention the base, but to each their own. I prefer northern Indian but like it all.
Sounds good. I’ll give it a try.
Strange but I had the same thing.
Well, one of the nicer things about San Francisco is that I could throw a cat just about anyway, and hit a Trader Joes.
OTOH, we have about a bazillion Indian restaurants of all kinds here, too.
I’ve been shopping at Trader Joe’s since 1977. It is one of those places that just keeps improving. I love chocolate, and for the $$, their chocolate can’t be beat. Great place to buy cheese as well!
“Consider the Uttapam”-That sounds like something from Lewis Carroll.
Sharon you might want to stock up on Chocolate,
we have the Lindt chocolatier (?sp) here in NH (so yummy, they have a gourmet choc & red chili pepper bar, wacky but different, chocolate with an after burn, lol) there have been stories from them that they are worried how Ebola will effect access to West African chocolate.
I suppose it s time to resume growing chocolate in
South America, after all it is a new world crop but so slow, I think I read a tree is 6 years old before you get a harvest !
Yancey Ward:
Actually, from M.F.K. Fisher.
Uttapam is actually the delta area of the uterus according to Senator Udall. He has introduced legislation to preserve the delta area and ensure its survival.
I have never had uttapam even though I eat a lot of South Indian food. My in-laws are South Indian and make a number of items with the same batter: Fried in a thin crepe they are dosa, steamed in pucks they are idli, the favorite method is fried in balls about the size of a ping-pong ball. This is performed in an appo kaili.
I will have to ask my mother in law about why she never makes uttapam.
Our favorites are dosa and masala dosa, which is just dosa with some baji inside.
dbp:
I love dosa, and that used to be my favorite, till I discovered uttapam.
Mali kofta is my fave Indian dish… the sauce is so creamy and rich.
I actually tried some today – after seeing onion uttapam in the frozen foods case of the Indian grocery that we like to buy loose tea in. (Wagh Bakri international blend, BTW – which makes a fantastic cuppa. As my English granny used to say, ‘strong enough to trot a mouse over.’) It’s an Indian brand, but as Neo said, it was very good, with a sourdough taste, crisp around the edges and with a tender crumb, rather like hard-set scrambled eggs. It came with four in a zip-lock bag, with two little containers of sauce. Very good – and will certainly buy again!