Phaal (Phall or Paal)

[cheezepowder]

Yeah I love vindaloo tho I haven't tried it at Haandi Falls Church. I've been there once and had a good meal so maybe next time I will order it.

Anyone tried "phaal" before? It's hotter than vindaloo - I tried it once based on reputation when I lived in London. Now THAT was masochism... even tho it was tasty. I quickly ordered a lassi...

It's funny that you mention it because a friend just said to me recently that if I like vindaloo, I should try phaal (Wikipedia link here, says it's also spelled phall or paal ). That was the first time I'd heard of it. Does anyone know if you can get it in the DC area?

[bbhasin]

Most Indians have never heard of Phall and nor had I,in spite of 30+ plus years of professional association with Indian food, until a guest ( you guessed right, of British origion) requested one.

After talking to him and a bit of research it appears the Brits concocted this to indicate an extreme degree of hotness.

When curry became popular a kind, of ' hotness scale ' came into being in the UK which went as under-

Curry - well seasoned with mild to medium hotness.

Madras - denotes a hot curry at the level of 6 or seven on a scale of ten.

Next was the Vindaloo pretty hot 8 or 9

and if you simply wanted pain you asked for a phall which would take you off the scale and probably leave you numb and in shock.

Just ask them to make it as hot as they can at any Indian place and that should do it.

I saw this Indian restaurant in New York specialising in HOT curries, on the Food Channel ( sorry the name eludes me)

where they were apparently cooking such hot stuff that the chef at the stove was wearing thick rubber gloves, goggles and a breathing mask.

A phall should be kid stuff for those guys.

[vvill]

Yeah I think there is a place called... "Brick Lane Curry House" funnily enough in NYC that will do you a phall. I wanted to try it (the place, not the phall in particular) last time I was there but didn't end up having the time to do so.

[DonRocks]

Most Indians have never heard of Phall and nor had I,in spite of 30+ plus years of professional association with Indian food, until a guest ( you guessed right, of British origion) requested one.

After talking to him and a bit of research it appears the Brits concocted this to indicate an extreme degree of hotness.

When curry became popular a kind, of ' hotness scale ' came into being in the UK which went as under-

Curry - well seasoned with mild to medium hotness.

Madras - denotes a hot curry at the level of 6 or seven on a scale of ten.

Next was the Vindaloo pretty hot 8 or 9

and if you simply wanted pain you asked for a phall which would take you off the scale and probably leave you numb and in shock.

Just ask them to make it as hot as they can at any Indian place and that should do it.

I saw this Indian restaurant in New York specialising in HOT curries, on the Food Channel ( sorry the name eludes me)

where they were apparently cooking such hot stuff that the chef at the stove was wearing thick rubber gloves, goggles and a breathing mask.

A phall should be kid stuff for those guys.

In all seriousness, if I ask for a curry "in the style of a Madras" am I going to get a plate of food looking like a plaid shirt, or will they know what I'm talking about? Or maybe just say "medium hot?" Vindaloo is a specific Portuguese preparation (thanks, Poivrot Farci), and I'm still not sure just how closely related it is to heat, at least traditionally. And what about a tindaloo?

Again, I refer everyone to the Vindaloo I had at Haandi described in this post which I genuinely believe is the hottest thing I've ever eaten.

Phall? I think it's hilarious that it's related, supposedly, to "Phallus."

Cheers,

Rocks.

[FunnyJohn]

And an extremely hot, curry-flavored lollipop would be called a ....

[ghostrider]

In all seriousness, if I ask for a curry "in the style of a Madras" am I going to get a plate of food looking like a plaid shirt, or will they know what I'm talking about? Or maybe just say "medium hot?" Vindaloo is a specific Portuguese preparation (thanks, Poivrot Farci), and I'm still not sure just how closely related it is to heat, at least traditionally. And what about a tindaloo?

Again, I refer everyone to the Vindaloo I had at Haandi described in this post which I genuinely believe is the hottest thing I've ever eaten.

Phall? I think it's hilarious that it's related, supposedly, to "Phallus."

Cheers,

Rocks.

Apparently comes from the same root that resulted in Mott The Hoople's bassist being nicknamed "Phally."

My impression of U.S. Indian restaurant practices is that the distinguishing feature of "Madras" dishes is the inclusion of tomato & that the term has nothing to do with levels of heat. I've had Madras dishes that were milder than the standard curry offered at the same place, and vice versa.

[leleboo]

Phall? I think it's hilarious that it's related, supposedly, to "Phallus."

Apparently comes from the same root that resulted in Mott The Hoople's bassist being nicknamed "Phally."

OK:

1) The shared root shouldn't be at all surprising to anyone with even a cursory, vague memory of Indo-European root structures. But the new meaning is, in fact, pretty funny.

2) There is massive win for ghostrider for the Mott the Hoople shout-out. (Go Bombers!)

2a) Only ghostrider and I, and sandynva, will smile at my parenthesis.

3) Don, you can delete this at will.

[Hannah]

You're unlikely to get a really hot madras unless you specifically ask for it to be hot; they tend to fall more or less in the middle of the continuum at most places. Vindaloo is always going to be at the hotter end of the scale at any restaurant; Haandi is quite capable of producing dishes that will blow the top of your head off, so if you're ordering vindaloo there it's best to tell them "medium" unless you really, really want something intestine-scorchingly hot.

[ghostrider]

OK:

1) The shared root shouldn't be at all surprising to anyone with even a cursory, vague memory of Indo-European root structures. But the new meaning is, in fact, pretty funny.

2) There is massive win for ghostrider for the Mott the Hoople shout-out. (Go Bombers!)

2a) Only ghostrider and I, and sandynva, will smile at my parenthesis.

3) Don, you can delete this at will.

Heh.

This was on my mind because I almost flew to London in November for the long-awaited Mott reunion.

A secondary motivation for the "almost" trip: I have long been curious as to whether the inexpensive Indian restaurants in London are still as good as I remember them from the 1970s, which was a time before anyone had heard of CTM, let alone Phaal.

(Sorry for the derail.)

[Miami Danny]

..... Mott The Hoople's bassist being nicknamed "Phally."

...it was Verden, not Overend, who was nicknamed Phally....

[ghostrider]

...it was Verden, not Overend, who was nicknamed Phally....

Oops.

I can only plead that, if they hadn't waited 35 years to get back together, I might have had these details more firmly in hand.

[Miami Danny]

Oops.

I can only plead that, if they hadn't waited 35 years to get back together, I might have had these details more firmly in hand.

Firm. Hand. Gotcha

[sandynva]

Heh.

This was on my mind because I almost flew to London in November for the long-awaited Mott reunion.

A secondary motivation for the "almost" trip: I have long been curious as to whether the inexpensive Indian restaurants in London are still as good as I remember them from the 1970s, which was a time before anyone had heard of CTM, let alone Phaal.

(Sorry for the derail.)

i did smile!

[DonRocks]

[Yep, great diversion! Now ... back on topic. ]