Corn Chilli Soup

A long time back, R and I had gone to Austin Java Cafe for dinner. We always order their soup and sandwich special. I love soups and they always have a good soup on their daily specials. Our perennial favorite is the African Spicy Peanut Soup, but they had a jalapeno corn chowder that particular day which sounded intriguing. So I went ahead and ordered that. (I am the culinary adventurer of the couple, as you might be able to tell). It was fantastic. A smooth , slightly sweet corn soup with an underlying spicy smoky taste of jalapenos. I don't know how they make it, but I have been dying to recreate it or at least attempt it ever since. I finally got to try it out a few days back. I think theirs was a smooth corn texture, but I let about 1/4th of the corn stay whole and I ended up using Thai Birds Eye chillies instead of jalapenos.

I used about 20 ounces of sweet corn kernels and 8-10 Thai Birds Eye chillies. I covered the corn with about double the amount of water in my soup pot and set it to boil. While the corn was boiling, I stir fried the chilies in a little oil in a pan. When the corn boiled over once, I turned of the heat and let it cool a bit. Then I put about 3/4 of it along with the water from the soup pot in the blender along with the chillies. After pureeing it to a smooth consistency, I put the mixture back in the soup pot along with the remaining 1/4 of the whole corn kernels. I added about 2 tsps of salt and about 2 ounces of Velveeta cheese and let it boil for 10-15 minutes.

Indian curry at Java Noodles

After enduring a considerable period of time feeling nauseated by the sight, smell and even thought of food, I felt really happy at having regained a semblance of my former appetite. I still don't feel like eating any kind of meat. But the one exception I can always make is for the Indian chicken curry at Java Noodles, an Indonesian restaurant in Austin. One might well wonder why would an Indian go to eat Indian chicken curry at an Indonesian restaurant. I did run a quick Google search on Indian curries in Indonesia, but not with much success. I have no idea if it is eaten in Indonesia or if this is creation that took place in the US. Since Java Noodles is a good 14-15 miles from my house and the Indian curry is served only for Sunday lunch buffets, it's not a regular feature of our lives. But some days, the craving hits and I start dropping not so subtle hints to R and a few other friends. Fortunately R and our friends like the food there too, so not much persuasion is needed.

Making sure that we have a light or preferably no breakfast in order to do justice to our hearty lunch, we reach Java Noodles around noon. First I head towards the soup counter and help myself to tangy coconut soup. After that although there is a decent spread of other good stuff like satay, nasi goreng, rendang etc, I head directly towards the Indian chicken curry, ladling plenty of curry in a soup bowl along with 1-2 chicken pieces.I also help myself to some the crusty bread, which is perfect for sopping all the curry. One of the key features that makes this curry is that the chicken is not boned unlike the flavorless morsels which are usually served at other South Asian places where boned pieces are poached beforehand and then added to the curry while it is being heated. The fact that the pieces cook along with the curry lends it a special flavor. I am not sure what other ingredients are used, but I would guess there was liberal use of minced onions, grated coconut and lots of turmeric. I have tried the other food there before, and although it is quite good in it's own right, I don't want to to dilute the flavor of my favorite and so have given up on trying anything else. I do hope the restaurant adds this dish to their regular menu soon!

The Cool House Tour

Austin is routinely rated among the best places to live in the USA. Most ratings seem to elicit just a good natured yawn from long time residents - sort of like... well we already knew that, didn't we? Tell us something we don't know. I confess I hate Austin summers, but there is little else i don't like about this city I now call home. A booming metropolis on the make, with a small town feel, getting more and more diverse by the day with a young energetic population, Austin offers a lot of opportunities to do well 'Austiny' things. Like spending a Sunday going about town, carpooling of course with good friends S and S, to see and experience 8 environment friendly houses at the start of the Austin summer. The Cool House Tour 2006, organized by the Texas Solar Energy Society and the Austin Green Energy Building Program offered 8 houses that have incorporated different features to go green. Looks like in addition to all the accolades Austin regularly receives, it is now aiming to become one of the greenest cities in the US. Way to go!! As an architect by education, and an environmentalist by vocation, I loved the idea. After visiting each of the houses, (no we did not skip a single one) I was even more impressed. All the houses looked very different, reflecting the personalities of the people who lived in them. All of them were warm and inviting and had none of the cold mechanical look that might be associated with green buildings. Careful and judicious use of green building features like ceiling fans to reduce the load on air conditioning systems, sensitivity to site design, use of appropriate and sometimes recycled building materials, water tanks, bamboo flooring etc. combined into the very distinct design of each building led to a very pleasing effect overall. I and R came back with some resolutions, (The Cool House Tour- our resolutions), which we hope to gradually incorporate into our own house. So if you are in Austin at the start of summer, do try and go for the Cool House Tour!

Living in Tacoland

After spending almost four years in Tacoland (Austin) with it's umpteen number of Taco Shacks, Taco Delis, Taco Cabanas and of course the ubiquitous Taco Bell, one tends to take the taco for granted. Though I did fall in love with the first ever potato egg cheese breakfast taco that I ever had (lots of hot salsa on the side, of course), nevertheless I have never gone somewhere just to eat tacos. Till I discovered Torchy's Tacos on South First - a humble mobile food place, it reminded me of the Chinese ( really Indian Chinese) food vendors near University Circle in Pune. Though our moms frowned at our eating there, and the food was not perhaps the best (nostalgia makes everthing taste better), it was always a fun place to go to with my friends, sit on our two wheelers, munching chicken lollipops and eating spicy chicken Manchurian with fried rice.

Torchys reminded me a little of the same, though it is located at a much prettier setting, by the side of a creek with red lanterns strung on tree branches. However the rest of it is bare basic functional with a few plastic chairs and tables between the two mobile foot eateries. The food is good and justifies the line of people always seen there. The first time I went there, I had the monthly special Cool Runner taco comprising of Jamaican Jerk Chicken, avocado, mango, cheese and freshly squeezed lemon in a flour tortilla. It was so good that my Ranch Hand ( I hope I remember the name correctly here) taco paled in comparison and I don't recollect it at all. It wasn't bad at all, but the Cool Runner just completely overshadowed it. The unusual combination of the spicy Jamaican Jerk Chicken with the sweet- sour mango flavor and the smooth avocado and a squeeze of lemon juice was just delicious. I was left thinking if only I had ordered two of the same. Two were plenty of food for lunch and more than enough motivation to convince R to make the trip back with me some day.

The next time we went, we also had our friend A ( always willing to try something new), all of us ravenous after a 5k ( to be honest, I walked). We got done with the 5k around 11 am, a perfect time to eat some tacos. After a long and circuitous drive from Mozart's to South First (for some reason, many streets were closed downtown), we reached Torchys only to discover to my great dismay that they had changed the monthly special (yes, it does change every month). So no Cool Runner this time. I ordered the Baja Shrimp and a potato, egg, and jalapeno breakfast taco. R ordered the same while A ordered the breakfast taco along with a fried avocado taco ( highly recommended by vegeterians), all on corn tortillas this time). The Baja Shrimp was yummy with fried shrimp in a creamy sauce and shredded cabbage and carrots. The creamy sauce probably had crushed jalapenos in it. The breakfast taco was good too, but I ll opt for a flour tortilla for the breakfast taco next time as the corn was a little too strong a flavor for the egg and potato mixture. R and A liked their tacos enough to order one more. Go Torchys! I ll be coming back for more.