He has a
special feeling for herb, vegetables and spices that he uses. Not only does Sri Param enjoy
cooking them, he also has a green thump when it come to growing vegetables and flowering
plants which is his great love.
Ever since a child he has had a close connection to the earth and food, always helping
his mother either in the garden or watching her prepare food that he helped to
prepare
In 1976 when he was stranded in Perth, Western Australia with only One dollar in his pocket, he
was asked if he could cook Indian Food. Without any hesitation he said yes, thus
started his journey into the food industry. He had never cooked before, all he
did was watch and helped his mother cook.
It is indeed an experience working with him and watching work in the kitchen,
he is magic.
Once I was with him when he was cooking for 600 guest and one very important
Saint, Mother Mata Amritanandamayi from Kerala, India. He want for a walk two
hours before dinner, all of us wondered if the food will be served on time. He
returned half and hour later, he was
totally relaxed, and his hand seemingly knows what to do. Dinner was
served exactly on time. When asked where he went, his answer was, I went to
see Mother, to get her blessing, then she will be the
one cooking and not me. With her blessing I could throw anything together, and the food would taste divine like Her, and so it did.
Working with him is a blessing, always learning going on, for Sri Param is
after all a teacher, of the highest order. Everyone are inevitable drawn into the
kitchen to watch or participate in the fare of preparing and chatting with Sri
Param. Always a good bit of laughter and learning goes on in the kitchen.
I could go on talking about his for pages, which I won't, but instead
I will let
you read reviews by food critics
There were many reviews about him, but for now we have decided to pick the
articles written by two top writes in the industry.
THE SUN HERALD, APRIL 8, 1984
This week, a quick return for curry delight at Woollahra
Param's Indian Restaurant, 222 Oxford St, Woollahra. At the beginning of March
this column became captivated by the excellent curries and other delights
(including vegetarian) of the Woollahra cheapie. It was followed by an
invitation to join a select gathering - the 40-off fortunate who, on the
last Tuesday in every month, partake of Param's special smorgasbord.
This is as select (in number) as, let's say Claude's monthly bouillabaisse -
only it's considerably cheaper. Only $18 a head entitles the curry lover to make
multiple trips to the smorgasbord.
what delights there are on the groaning table! Young ducklings bask in a mango
sauce. Succulent pieces of ling are coated with Param's special peanut sauce,
which has some heat, but in manageable proportions.
There are two separate meat curries, one a little hotter than the other, and a
very mild chicken curry. There is an abundance of excellent rice.
But the best dish of all is a cold concoction of mainly squid, in a tantalizing spicy sauce, cumin to the forefront. This dish
epitomizes the special art with
spices the Param practices.
Nice place, this man, Param. He has humorous eyes that glitter like chips of
polished coal and a bushy black beard that seems to wobble precariously on his
face when he talks of his cooking, and his "family" -
assistant/friend/chef Garry and waitress Penny.
"Don't write me up again," he pleads" "The last time
(March 4 issue) you said that the service was fast. We weren't full then, and
when we are, maybe it's not as fast as people like"
Sorry, Param. You've got a rare talent with spices - knowing exactly how much
will flavor without over-kill - that deserves the widest possible appreciation.
Michel
Gardner
Good Food Guide Sydney Morning Herald 1984
Param's is not your conventional Indian restaurant. True, it has some of
the color of conventional Indian restaurants but little of their
predictability.
It offers food that one would never - well, hardly ever - encounter in traditional
Indian eateries; dishes like sardines with hot peanut cream sauce and lemon sole
in cream coconut.
And, on the blackboard along with an announcement about a forthcoming Singles
Night ( another unconventional promotion notion for an Indian establishment),
visitors will see further evidence of the proprietor Param's unconventional
approach to food - lists of special, mainly seafood, that conform to no
predictable or traditional pattern.
Proprietor Param himself is a little unconventional attired in a form-fitting
Pierre Cardin sport shirt, he darts around the restaurant chatting up old
customers, sizing up new, one hand specifying what one should or shouldn't
order.
Do not draw an impression of culinary inactivity from this. Param is no moth
fluttering around tables when he ought to be at his stove. He there too, for his
stoves are plumb in the middles of the restaurant.
All this activities is most impressive. But it would mean little if the food
were no great shakes.
Happily Param is as lively at the hotplate as he is on the restaurant floor and
his food is not only of a high order but attractively cheap as well.
The menu is a lengthy one as it incorporates traditional curries like green marsala
beef and Madras with the usual accompaniment of chutneys and dahls, as well as a
splendid array of seafood creations and a great line-up of vegos dishes to boot.
"Seafood, the menu tell us, is prepared when ordered Ceylonese style by
poaching gently in coconut milk on the charcoal grill and therefore may not be
served as quickly as vegetarian or meat dishes. The wait is well worthwhile.
I can't imagine what impact the charcoal grill has on things as any ingredient
can be as effectively poached on a primus, but perhaps it sounds exotic, which
is what proprietor Param probably wants.
Tamarind fish, spiced balmain bugs, trout with green marsala and garlic sauce
are all recommended.
start with good samosas or mung beans with chapati. Choose the main course to
suit your mood, but whatever you do don't miss out on the homemade pickles which
vary daily and are indicated on the board.
Your average curry freak might find Param's a little to unconventional, but I
enjoyed the change from the mantra-like menu
$26.80 is what our substantial meal cost, which is good value indeed.
"People are talking about us", says the message on Param's card. They
certainly are, for the place it's jumping.
And if all of this has not given you the impression that proprietor Param is
also something of a promoter, I should perhaps add the restaurant's card also
offers classes in cooking, massage and Yoga.
No wonder people are talking about it.
Leo Schofield
The following this is what he had to say about Sri Param Eswaran
The proprietor is a legend in Sydney as a mystic Man for all seasons.
The Australian Good Food & Accommodation Guide in association with
Australian Wine Club awarded his Restaurant Excellence Award for
Consistently Fine cuisine
Before we offer you recipes, let me write a few words about Australia, in
case you think that we eat beef and have kangaroos as pets. We do not have
Kangaroos as pets, and they live in the wild, and not every one eat beef. We know
a butcher's wife who loves to eat vegetarian food rather then meat in Bellingen
where we live.
Australia is a cosmopolitan country with immigrants from over 135 different
nationalities. Hence the blending of
the different food has made eating out in Australia very interesting. One can
shop for almost any ingredients that are available in most of this countries. Visitors
to Australia today can freely sample food of various races
You do not want to spend hour in the kitchen.
Most often one spends lot of time because the kitchen is not well equipped.
Until I met Sri Param Eswaran, kitchen utensils meant a knife, rolling pin ,
spoon, mixing bowl and grader. I never realized the important of have such a
variety of utensils.
When ever he starts want to cook, he first works out what he want to cook,
then he lays out his utensils like a surgeon would have all his equipment before
starting surgery. Watching him work is watching an artist at work.
Every thing seemed to flow and a meal is ready at no time at all.
Shopping for a good versatile kitchen utensils that would make preparation of
food easy and fun.
wok heavy
Round polling board
Mesh Strainer
Coffee grinder
Cutting boards
Cooks knives
Butchers Steel
Serving spoon
Tongs
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Stone Mortar and pestle
Stainless steel ladle
Vegetable grater
Cast iron skillet
Aluminum Foil
Bread knife
Vegetable peeler
Serving spoon perforated
Good quality paper towels
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Rolling pin
Stainless Mesh lifters
Blender
Colanders
Mixing Bowls
Spatula
Ladle
Whisks
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Vegetarian diet treats human as a whole, comprising body, mind and soul. The
Mind and body both affects each other and together form the seat of disease.
First indication of disease can be observed from the direction your navel
pull. The navel is the center of a being, which is connected to all your
organs.
The stomach health contributes to most of human illness. Our body carries a huge amount of morbid matter, dead cells and diseased tissues; and the
toxic wastes which have been accumulated in the tissues for years, causing
disease and premature aging. Thus the health of the stomach is very
important.
In spite of tremendous achievements of modern civilization, today's human
beings seem to be less tranquil and happy than ever before, for our lives have
gone out of balance. The lack of proper exercises, improper food and
over-eating, negative influences surrounding us on all sides - all these
degenerate our health and disturb our minds.
There are certain kinds of food that produce a certain change in
the mind; we see it every day. There are other sorts which produce a
change in the body, and in the long run have a tremendous effect on
the mind. It is a great thing to learn; a good deal of the misery we
suffer is occasioned by the food we take. you find that after a
heavy and indigestible meals it is very hard to control the mind; it
is running, running all the time. There are certain foods which are
exciting; if you eat such food, you find that you cannot control the
mind. The discrimination of good, bad, pure and impure food, only
helps one, to a certain extent.
According to Hindu scriptures, there are three things that makes
food impure.
1. Jati-dosha - onions, garlic and heavy use of chillies
2. Nimitta-dosha - external impurities such as dead insects,
dust exc., that are attached to fast food, especially cold fast food.
Ashraya-dosha food produced by negative people. Food created
without love.
Those who are in the spiritual path must pay a special attention to
the above three dosha which has come down by ancient saints who have
tested the effect on themselves.
Through the scientific practice of Tantra and Yoga we can learn to
reestablish the balance of a natural life, to regain the radiant health of our
bodies and the serenity of our minds and health's.
We are what we eat. Those delicious morsels of food we pop into our mouths
eventually develop every cell of our bodies and affects not only our physical
health, but the way we think as well.
Thousands of years ago, yoga sages realized the tremendous important of the
food we eat on the state of our bodies and minds. What those ancient yogis
realized, modern scientists since Einstein are just beginning to discover; that
the entire manifested universe is composed of vibrations - vibrations of energy
and ultimately , vibrations of consciousness.
All foods are also permeated with their own subtle vibrations, at
different frequencies, and these vibrations in turn affect the body and mind of
the person eating them. After long experimentation with different food on their
bodies and minds, our ancient yogis learnt the effect food had on our
body. In the next page we have given a list of books
on Ayurvedic and Chinese Healing Cuisine.
The
first part of the recipes will be on Indian cuisine that Sri Param
Eswaran has notes on, then we make him share with us more of his
knowledge on other
Asian, African and Western recipes. He has owned or has helped
others operate Indian, Western and African restaurants.
Visit
our new addition to the Web
Yoni Tantra
Yoni puja is a worship par excellence
and by omitting it every other puja is rendered useless. For this
present Yuga the part of Sakthi's body worshiped is the
Yoni. Thus, Devi is worshiped only with regards to her Yoni.
Last modified
July 14th, 2000 copyright© IFC NET Email Sri
Kalima
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