A few of Taipei's locally run restaurants can produce a reasonable curry without using ingredients from India, however, the better curries will always be those prepared by a native chef. \nOut of India is the latest Indian fare to hit the Taipei market. With less than two months on the scene, people are already queuing up for its homemade curries and tandoori meats. Compared with the other six authentic Indian restaurants in the city, however, there is some question as to how long Out of India will still be in Taipei. \nHe has studied Chinese at Shida for the past five years, but the restaurant's owner and chef, Andy, worked in a kitchen in northern India before bringing his Punjabi cuisine to Taiwan. The New Delhi native said he wanted to target the student market by offering reasonably priced Indian meals. His prices are slightly cheaper than those at other eateries and include a lunch time set meal with veggie curry, rice, salad and a drink for NT$150. A large set meal with soup, chicken tikka, curry, rice, butter nan and masala milk tea is also available at lunch and dinner for NT$350. \nThe most popular items, he said, are those from the clay oven. There is a mixed grill combination of tandoori chicken, mutton, fish and prawns (NT$450). In addition to the usual selection of chicken, mutton and fish curries, masalas and vindaloos are a few specialty dishes such as mutton kadaise (cooked with onion, tomatoes and herbs in a kadai Indian wok) and a Goa style fish curry. \nWhen asked, the waitress said all ingredients were from India, except a local brand of butter used to make the daal. It had such a poignant taste that after eating only a few spoon fulls it was difficult to tell whether or not the others dishes had also used it. \nThe nan was good, as was the basmati rice, which is used to make the biryani and pulao. Dessert is inexpensive at NT$50 and includes a choice between gulab jamun and Indian sweet yogurt. \nThere is seating for 24 on the main floor and a basement party room that holds 20 and can be rented out for private functions. Given how fast the restaurant filled up last Sunday (30 minutes after opening and every one arriving around the same time) the service was fast and friendly. \nOut of India might not have the best tasting vegetarian curries in Taipei but it definitely has the best decor. The red painted trim and tasteful collection of tapestries on the wall give it a warm ethnic look, but don't quite make up for the substandard daal.
PHOTO: DIANA FREUNDL, TAIPEI TIMES
A post titled “I want to get COVID-19 to pay off my debts” caused a stir on popular Internet forum Dcard last month, as the anonymous user asked for the blood or saliva of the infected so she could claim her pandemic insurance payout of NT$75,000. She had paid just NT$809 for the policy. Although the user later clarified that the post was made in jest to criticize the government’s handling of the ongoing insurance crisis, it’s entirely plausible that some would get infected on purpose to receive their payout — especially given that over 99 percent of the reported Omicron
“Long as I remember, the rain’s been coming down,” the song says. The last couple of weeks of wet certainly make it feel that way. The global media has recently observed the change of hitting a 1.5 Celsius degree rise in average temperatures in the next five years has risen to 50 percent. As many scientists have observed, once that level of warming is hit, the planet will reach a slew of tipping points. 1.5C is thus a major threshold. Nature has been sending us ever more urgent distress signals: murderous heatwaves across the Indian subcontinent, giant sandstorms in Iraq, collapsing
May 16 to May 22 Lin Wen-cha (林文察) and his “Taiwanese braves” (台灣勇) arrived in Fujian Province’s Jianyang District (建陽) on May 19, 1859, eager for their first action outside of Taiwan. The target was local bandit Guo Wanzong (郭萬淙), one of several ruffians who had taken advantage of ongoing Taiping Rebellion to establish strongholds in the area. A strongman leader of the notable Wufeng Lin Family (霧峰林家), Lin had impressed Qing Dynasty rulers five years earlier by helping expel the remnants of Small Knife Society (小刀會) rebels from Keelung. Lin’s forces routed Guo’s gang in just 11 days, earning a formal
You’ll need good eyesight to fully browse the Her stories on the postage stamps (真善美:方寸之間的女性形象特展) exhibition. Although some are shown with zoomed in replicas or feature blown up elements, most of the stamps are presented in their original 3cm-by-4cm size. What makes this fully-bilingual exhibition fascinating, however, are the original artifacts and artwork that many of the stamps are based on, as it’s a collaboration between the Postal Museum, National History Museum and women’s rights groups. For history buffs, it’s a unique way to browse through Chunghwa Post’s ideas of female representation since it took over the nation’s mail service
RSS