I can’t imagine what life would be like without the love and
friendship of my sisters. Yesterday was
my youngest sister Candice’s birthday and we spent the day doing what we both
enjoy. That is eating out at places that are clearly off the beaten path. This afternoon we had lunch in the basement
of the New York Ganesh Temple. Situated on a quiet street in Flushing, the temple
is one of the oldest Hindu places of worship in the United States.
The basement of the temple houses, a kitchen with a row of
folding chairs and tables called Temple
Canteen. The menu is vegetarian which consists of a variety
of Dosas and specialties from Southern India.
Not convinced that we would become full, sans animal protein,
we got the works. It appeared the most popular dish was the paper dosa. It was
on everyone’s table. Therefore, my
sister and I ordered that along with idlis -the steamed rice flour bread
traditional, tomato uttapam-aka Indian pizza, medu vada –savory donuts and Bisi
Bele Bath-a lentil, rice and vegetable stew. While waiting for our lunch, the
cashier asked if we wanted something to drink.
I ordered a mango lassi for my sister and a chi tea for me. My tea was
prepared with whole milk. I haven’t had
full fat milk in years. I almost forgot
what it tastes like-absolutely delicious.
Candice’s mango lassi was very good too.
It had just the right balance of mango, yogurt and milk.
After about ten minutes, we heard our number, “73.” The
paper dosa, medu vada and idlis were ready first. The dosa clearly earned its name - paper
thin, light and crisp. I couldn’t wait
to get back to our table and tare into it so I bit a piece as I walked to my
table. It tasted a lot like a tangy
crepe. I broke off another piece and
plunged it into the curry sauce, which was the perfect compliment.
My
sister started on the medu vada. Her
first response was that they were a bit salty.
She has a high tolerance for salt, her saying that made me take
note. Yes, they were a bit salty but
when dipped in the yogurt sauce, they didn’t seem so briny. Unable to separate from the dosa I dip a piece
of it into the lentil stew. That was good too. Now on to the idlis
which was very light and airy. I have seen
them in other Indian restaurant but never tried them. They came with a tangy coconut milk sauce
that completely absorbed into the steamed rice bread when dipped.
We hear our number called again. It must be the lentil stew. Candice went up this time while I continued
eating the dosa and curry sauce. She
returns with the Bisi Bele Bath.
Our number is called one more time. By now, we’re
starting to get very full. I thought, “What else had we ordered?” It was the uttapam. Steaming hot and full of tomatoes and onions,
this also came with the same curry sauce as the paper dosa. It too was very good but in hindsight, I
think we would have been fine without it.
In any event, I was glad that I tried it.
I would recommend Temple
Canteen and all of the
items we ordered. I never thought
vegetarian could be this filling. I didn’t
eat for the remainder of the day. I am inspired to prepare my version of Indian
Vegetarian next week. Oh and how can I forget the cost of all of this $21.32.
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