The Sigrhi of My Success

Now you can fire up a sigrhi and turn out tandoori chicken, dal and chapatis in your own back yard. The sigrhi is a small portable stove that is used throughout rural India. It looks pretty much like a bucket, except there’s a grill inside and the upper part is thickly lined with clay. A vent near the bottom regulates heat.

Made in New Delhi, the sigrhi has just arrived in the United States. It’s on sale at the Bharat Bazaar, 11510 Washington Blvd., Culver City. The store can also outfit you with authentic accessories like stainless steel Indian cookware, a chapati griddle and a tandoori barbecue cookbook published in India.

Nothing Comes Between Meat and My Calvins

Calvin Klein’s new fall collection is due to arrive in Southern California stores this week--of course, we mean his dinnerware small portable stove small portable stove innerware, not his women’s wear. Something in kohl, perhaps for the dining room table? At most Bullock’s stores.

Basic Brights

Check out the chefs in some of your favorite restaurants and you’ll probably find that staid white toques and jackets are out; chile peppers are in. Even baseball caps in the kitchen aren’t cutting edge; these days fashionable chefs wear colorful berets. A lot of the kitchen brights come from Norton and Marcee Katz’s Venice company Gourmet Gear, which outfits waiters (with wine grape ties, for instance) and chefs all over the country. Home cooks can get in on the action too. Gourmet Gear’s Fresh Impressions catalogue includes aprons, chef pants, shirts and more. Call (310) 301-4111.

Cajun Ketchup

Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Pepper Sauce comes in the traditional skinny Louisiana-style hot sauce bottle, and if you look at the ingredients list, you’ll see both cayenne and habanero peppers listed. But surprise--this is nowhere near as hot as Tabasco, to say nothing of the sudden-death habanero sauces that have been coming on the market. Prudhomme’s take on hot sauce is medium hot and vinegary (but not sharply so), with a particularly rich pepper aroma.

In fact, there’s so much pepper aroma you may be reminded that the chile is first cousin to the tomato; this sauce is a little like a tart, brightly spicy ketchup. Two teaspoons--or even more, depending on your palate--would make a snappy topping for a hamburger or fries. In supermarkets.