#NewsFlash | A South Indian vegetarian feast is next destination for Queens Dinner Club
BY QEDC It's In Queens
Great food. Great ambiance. Great Ganesh.
The Queens Dinner Club’s next “meeting” will be a South India-style vegetarian feast at The NY Ganesh Temple Canteen in Flushing on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7:15 pm.
Located at 45-57 Bowne St., the country’s oldest Hindu temple – formally known as Šri Mahã Vallabha Ganapati Devasthãnam – has a restaurant (or canteen) in the basement. Its chefs will produce a special menu featuring dishes popular in the Kerala and Adraha territories. The blessed food is normally served during Hindu weddings.
Tickets are $35 each, and the night’s menu follows.
- Appetizer: Onion pakora (crispy onion fritters).
- Second course: Koottu curry (Keralan plantain and chickpea curry); Vanyaka koora (spicy Andhran eggplant); Besibele bhath (Rice and lentils with mixed vegetables); Yogurt rice (Rice and yogurt seasoned with ginger and chilies); and Mixed pickle (the classic citrus-chili condiment).
- Third course: Paper dosa (a crispy, fermented rice-and-lentil flour crepe served with vegetable sambar and coconut chutney); Masala dosa (crepe filled with potatoes and masala seasoning); Onion chili uttapam (spicy onion pancake with sambar and coconut chutney).
- Dessert: Adai Payassam (rice and cardamom pudding); Jalebi (a bright orange sweet made of fried flour); Laddu (ball-shaped minced dough sweets scented with cardamom and cloves); and Pineapple halwa.
Since the temple is a cultural and spiritual center for Hindus, the hosts will also teach about Ganesh and other Hindu deities (or devas) during a pre-feast tour. Depicted with an elephant head, Ganesh is the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and science, and the force behind intellect and wisdom.
Founded in April 2016, Queens Dinner Club is an informal, open-to-all group that visits a different restaurant each month. The goal is to provide outings during which foodies explore eateries while chefs show off their chops. Interested parties who can’t attend this event are encouraged to wait until next month. Simply sign up to join.
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