Shalimar - Cambridge, MA

Recently, I had to use up a groupon for $40 with of food and groceries at Shalimar, an Indian grocery store in Cambridge, MA. The last time I went there was over 5 years ago and I only bought a package of cardamom pods then. The store is actually quite impressive for its small size. Their spice selection includes quite a lot of different selections that you might not be able to find elsewhere. In addition to regular cardamom pods, they actually have dark cardamom pods, which smell a little smokey, so I'm guessing they're roasted. Another rare spice is dry mango ("Amchur") power, for $1.99 a box. I bought some but still not sure what I'm going to do with it! The others are spices, such as turmeric, coriander, fennel, cumin, etc., that you would find in a curry or other Indian dish.

It actually took me quite a while to choose $40 worth of goods for my groupon! I was tempted to get the snacks but I'm trying to shed a few pounds this summer and have too many Asian snack cakes in the house right now. So, most of my basket was filled with spices. I took pictures of everything I bought, so you can see what kinds of things Shalimar carries.

Sweets

Cadbury hot chocolate

Sweet almond treats

Indian Bread

Boil-in-the-bag meals
These are very good, by the way. I used to eat Japanese curry like this when I taught in Japan in the mid-1990's. These are very convenient products and not too expensive.

Boil-in-the-bag Palak Paneer

Boil-in-the-bag Korma

Spices

This is probably the main reason I would return to this store. Their selection is simply amazing (at least to a non-Indian). I'm sure there are spice shops in India that carry more but in the Boston area, you're not going to find this kind of selection in one place. One of the stores at haymarket has a pretty big selection but Shalimar might actually have more. I bought paprika, cumin seed, turmeric, and curry powder. Since the spices in bags have the Shalimar named on them, I'm guessing that they buy those in bulk and package them. I bet they're fresher too.

Turmeric, Curry Powder, Dried Mango Powder

Cumin seed and Paprika

Chicken Tikka spice

Rice

Arborio rice is probably not the most popular type of rice in India. I was actually surprised to find it at this store but got it because I wanted some sticky rice. They also carry basmati and other types of non-sticky rice, which are more typical in Indian cuisine.

Overall, this store has very reasonably priced items that you probably can't find elsewhere. If you're new to the Boston area or just want to add to your spice collection, check this place out! Also, it's one of the only places that carry Cadbury's hot chocolate powder. The Indian breads are also very good.

Orion Choco Pies and Pandan Cakes

Honestly, these are not my favorite Asian snack cakes. However, they're probably something kids might like to eat. The Choco pie has marshmallow in between the cake part and pandan cakes have green stuff in the middle. Kids love eating green things that aren't vegetables, right? I'm not sure what a pandan is but it seems to be a normal thing to put in cakes. I've seen other brands of pandan cake at C-Mart. Try 'em if you're in the mood for cake with green stuff in the middle or if you need a gift for a 4-year old...

Anyway, I'm not a fan of these but kids might like them. 'Nuff said. Here are some pictures.

Orion Choco-Pie and Pandan cake

Orion Choco-Pie and Pandan cake

Orion Choco-Pie and Pandan cake

More Asian Snacks

On a recent trip to C-Mart in Chinatown, I found some Asian snack cakes that I don't usually see at the Hong Kong Supermarket in Brighton. The first two snacks pictured below are from C-Mart and the last one (actually 2 different cookies but the same brand) is from Hong Kong Supermarket. These snacks are also from 3 different countries (Taiwan, Thailand, and Japan).

Green Tea Cakes

These cakes from Taiwan are actually quite small in volume but they are dense. They're not heavy but they're dense enough that you don't need a huge portion. This type of cake comes in different flavors and I think there are other brands too. I chose this one just because I hadn't had a green tea flavored cake in a long time. For $2.29, you get 8 cakes. The size of the box is misleading because a lot of it is filled with the plastic tray. Nice presentation though. It's worth a try but probably not something you'd load up the shopping cart with on a regular basis.

Green Tea Cakes from Taiwan

EURO Custard Cake

For $2.18, you get 6 individually-wrapped cakes. Actually most Asian snack cakes come packaged that way, for some reason. These are from Thailand. I chose these because I got hooked on those Korean Orion cakes and knew that they were about to sell out of those at Hong Kong supermarket! So, I wondered if these might be a good substitute. Honestly, the custard tastes more like custard in these EURO cakes. The Orion custard cakes have a filling that tastes more like cream, which is also good but not really custard. I really liked these and would get them if I can't find the Orion cakes. However, these are a bit pricier per cake than the Orion cakes, but not by a lot. 

EURO Custard Cake from Thailand

Japanese Cookies

The last snack selections are Japanese cookies, in Chocolate Cream and Tiramisu flavors. These were $1.99 a package of 8 cookies each, I think. The package is also misleading because there is a plastic tray inside that prevents the cookies from breaking. These are very easy to gobble up quickly because each cookie is actually quite small and very tasty. As the pictures on the packages would suggest, they go well with coffee or tea. However, the fillings are not runny, as the pictures might suggest. They're still tasty though. As with most Japanese sweets, they're very well made but very small. So, it's not the biggest bang for the buck but a tasty snack nonetheless.

Soul Fire (Allston, MA) - Review of the Pitboss Sampler

Barbecue is one of those things that is best eaten at a restaurant or ordered take-out because it takes a long time to make it well at home. If you live in Boston, Red Bones in Somerville is probably one of the more well-known places to get tasty barbecue. However, if you live in Boston (and not in Cambridge or Somerville) and don't want to haul your butt over there, Soul Fire (in the Allston area) is a pretty good place too. I had a Living Social deal that was about to run out and finally got some take-out there. For a more thorough review of everything they serve, check out the pigtrip blog (it has pictures of most dishes).

Since I didn't know what to order, I got the Pit Boss Sampler, which includes a bit of a lot of different things for about $43 with tax. I thought it would be enough food for about 2 days. It's a lot of food and supposedly feeds only 2 or 3 people - umm, yeah, if the people are big football players! I think it feeds at least 4 or 5 people (who are not football players). There was plenty of food for at least 5 meals and I'm not a skinny person. There are 7 different meat dishes in the Pitboss Sampler: pulled pork, spare ribs, baby back ribs, brisket, a hot link (sausage on a stick), fried chicken, and spicy hot wings (with sauce on them). All of the meats were cooked very well and the brisket was especially good. That explains why the 2 guys who ordered after me both chose the brisket. There was enough seasoning to not need any sauce but dipping is part of the fun of eating barbecue, right?

7 different meat dishes in Pit boss sampler

hot link (top), pulled pork, spare ribs (left), and baby back ribs (bottom)

yummy brisket chunks (on top of a slice of bread) hiding under the rack of baby back ribs!

As if the big pile of meat were not enough, the Pitboss sampler comes with 6 different sides, cornbread, and all the sauce you need. The guy said I could "load up" on sauces but I took only a small container of each of the 3 sauces in the pumps because I expected that the meats would be well seasoned already. Ok, so the sides were: collard greens, beans, rice and beans, mac & cheese, potato & egg salad, coleslaw, and cornbread (with butter). I liked the potato & egg salad very much. The mac & cheese was good too. The collards, slaw, and beans were actually on the sweet side. However, I'm not sure if I might be a little more sensitive to sweet than other people because I've been cutting my sugar consumption. Personally, I like collards to be a little on the salty side. The cornbread was pretty good and the rice and beans were quite good with a bit of a spicy kick. All of the sides were in the 8 oz deli containers, which made me think that this would be way too much food for 2 or even 3 people (who are not football players). In rank order, I liked the mac & cheese, potato egg salad, rice & beans, and then the other 3 (because they were all just a bit too sweet for my taste).

Sides included in the Pit boss sampler (and all the sauce you need)
going clockwise: Collards (top), beans, rice & beans, corn bread, mac & cheese, potato egg salad, 3 sauces

potato egg salad

coleslaw

The Pitboss Sampler is a great thing to order if you're having a Superbowl party with a bunch of dudes who like to eat a lot. I would love to go back and order a brisket meal because that was done very well. The spare ribs were good too. For sides, I'd probably get the mac & cheese and/or the potato salad. If you have a LevelUp card (this link gets you a $5 credit, by the way), they take that too.

Cheap spicy meal - Slow cooked curry

For about $10, you can make enough curry for at least 8 meals. If you want to lower the cost even more, use beans instead of chicken. That will drive the cost down to about a buck a meal and it will look like you have more food (because a pound of dried beans will increase in volume a lot). However, you'll have to boil the dried beans (about $1.39/lb) and then add them to the curry. You can also add a smaller amount of chicken for flavor and add a lot of beans.

The other great thing about making curry is that it is very easy to do. Just get a 6-quart slow cooker, dump everything in, put the lid on, and go away for about 3 hours. You might have to stir it around once every hour but that's it. If you have one of those cookers with an adjustable temperature knob, you can adjust the time it takes for the curry to cook. If you're in a hurry, you can probably eat in about an hour (if you don't keep opening the lid). The temperature can also be set to about 180-200F if you plan on going to work/school and coming back in about 6 to 8 hours. Just make sure you have enough water in there and the lid is on if you're going away for more than a few hours (because if all of the water evaporates, the curry will burn).

NESCO cooker with adjustable temperature knob

Possible ingredients:
Chicken (or other protein) - $2.50
2 lb vegetables (frozen veggies are good) - $2.50
onion (diced) - $0.50
3-5 cloves garlic (chopped) - $0.10
2 large potatoes (cubed) - $1
2 plantains (cubed) - $0.40
4 blocks of Japanese curry roux (e.g. Golden Curry) - $2 (for half a large box)
1 can light coconut milk (e.g. Trader Joe's light coconut milk) - $1
water (depending on how much sauce you want - start with 2 cups and add if necessary)

* Prices are approximate

Big pot of curry all ready to eat!

Small portion - veggies, potato, plantain, mushroom

Small portion - veggies, potato, plantain, mushroom

If you have room in your fridge, the whole pot can be stored in there. However, it's probably better to store it in smaller containers so that you can take a box to school or work the next day.

The potatoes and plantains are enough carbs for some people but having rice on the side would be how most Asians would serve this. A healthier alternative would be to have a side of mashed beans if you did not use that as the protein in the curry.