Asam House, Buford Highway

Great flavorful, spicy food, large portions, dour decor, but exemplary service.
Tofu stuffed with veggies. Tried it for the first time; seems like a nifty dish to have on the menu.The noodle soup (with mushrooms and tofu) was excellent, on par with my all-time fav at Doc Chey's.

pet peeves about indian cooking

.finely chopping garlic

.finely chopping tomatoes

.finely chopping onion

.seasoning with mustard-the tadka or thaalichi that ruins your stove top every single time.

.roasting and then grinding masala

.the odor, oh the odor (notice how I carefully avoid qualifying the odor)

.the hours it takes to get the grease off the pans

Come to think of it, this list isn't really unique to Indian cooking. One has to chop vegetables for pasta too you know. Except maybe the seasoning with the mustards.
To make that easier, you can now buy these little pans that come attached with gauzy lids that allow the splattering but only within the confines of the pan. Got to get me one of these soon.

Potato Leek Soup

State Farmer's Market, Forest Park GA

Been in GA for a while now, but visited the farmer's market in Forest Park for the first time this weekend. Quite the cultural experience! Very reminiscent of the "sandais" or சந்தை back home. Not a lot people there, despite it being a Saturday morning. Probably because the market caters more to wholesalers than retailers. There was however a section devoted to local Georgian produce and prices were on average cheaper than at the supermarkets.

There were several Mexican stores dotted through out the market. Mexican stores selling genuine "Hecho en Mexico" merchandise, including food products, beverages, kitchenware and misc. tchotchke. That was surreal...walking into a store in GA, and not being able to communicate with the store keeper except through frantic hand waving and brow raising!

Although we were advised to haggle with the mostly Mexican store/stall keepers, we just couldn't muster up the chutzpah-this was South after all....people greet you from 2 miles away.

Well worth a visit...I would even chalk it down as a cultural tour stop.