Saturday, September 25, 2010

Food Fundas

Wednesday, December 9, 2009


Okra dry sabzi / Lady's Finger fry

Portions indicated below serves three.

Ingredients:

Okra (bhindi or lady’s finger): 500 grams
Mustard seeds (kadugu): Quarter teaspoon (about 20 seeds)
South Indian Gun powder (molaga podi): Quarter teaspoon
Red chilly powder: Half teaspoon (if you do not want to use gun powder, increase the red chilli portion to half teaspoon)
Turmeric powder: Quarter teaspoon
Oil: about 5 teaspoons
Salt to taste


Method:
Wash the Okra, wipe with towel to dry, before chopping. Remove both the ends and chop into small pieces (about half-inch per piece). Heat the oil in a heavy bottom (Illupachatti / Kadai) pan. Add turmeric powder followed by mustard seeds. When they start popping, add the chopped vegetable and mix well to ensure oil gets coated well on the okra pieces. Cover the pan. Reduce heat to low and cook for 3-5 min with occasional stirring.

Now add spices and salt and mix well. Cook for 7-10 min with occasional stirring. Keep pan covered at all times and flame low.

The stickiness of the okra will go indicating it is cooked.

Serve with rice or chapattis.
Posted by Ram S at 2:55 PM 0 comments  Links to this post

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Monday, January 5, 2009


Delicious Poricha Kootu (Stew)



This can be made with Snake Gourd/Cabbage/Flat Broad Beans/Cluster Beans

Portions indicated below serves 3. It can be had with Chappatis or Rice

500 grams of any one of the vegetables given above
Around 50 gms of toor dal
4 teaspoons of urad dal
4 red chilly (dry)
10-12 black pepper
Approx 6-7 teaspoons of grated coconut
Half teaspoon of sambar powder
Turmeric power
Mustard seeds
Asafoetida

Part 1

Chop the vegetable fine. Put in vessel and add a glass of water so that the chopped vegetable is slightly immersed (approx 250 ml of water should do the trick).
Add sambar powder, salt to taste (approximately one teaspoon), a little bit of turmeric power and asafoetida. Put the whole mixture onto the flame and keep covered. Simultaneously, put the toor dal in a pressure cooker for cooking.

Part 2 – Preparing the masala

Add 2 teaspoons of Sunflower oil to a pan. To it add urad dal, red chilly, and pepper. Fry for 30 seconds by when the dal will start to turn brown in color and pepper burst.

Beat this mixture in a mixer. Once powdered, add the grated coconut and beat again. You may be required to add a little bit of water to facilitate smooth grinding.

Final Part

Add this mixture to the boiling vegetable and stir. By now the toor day would be ready. Mash the dal and add to mixture. Keep in flame for 2-3 minutes.

Season with curry leaves and mustard.

ps. I take comments seriously. My last post had a comment to have pictures of the dish posted, and here it it :)
Posted by Ram S at 1:07 PM 0 comments  Links to this post
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Tuesday, December 23, 2008


Sweet dish in a matter of minutes

Let me start with a sweet dish. Well, one cant classify this as a sweet "dish" per se, its more of a sweet "snack" that is healthy, and more importantly, TASTY

Portions mentioned below will serve two adults
1. One glass of poha. Flattened Rice. "Aval/avul in Tamil" The thick variety. Measure in a glass that will be able to hold 200 ml of liquid.
2. One half portions of milk. i.e. around 300 ml of milk
3. Half glass of Jaggery "gudd in hindi" "Vellam" in Tamil and "Gur" in Bangla
4. Some grated coconut - approx half glass
5. Elachi for seasoning - 3 nos
I am keping all measures in "glass" measurement to be consistent.

Put the poha in a bowl. Mash/grate the Jaggery and put in the same bowl along with the poha. Now add the grated coconut. Heat the milk and add. Garnish with elachi. Stir and keep covered for 5 min. This will allow the poha to become soft and the jaggery to melt and mix. Serve.

We now have a snack that is quick to prepare (max 10 min) and all you health freaks out there, this is one helluva snack.
Posted by Ram S at 11:33 AM 2 comments  Links to this post
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Friday, December 19, 2008


Intro to the site

I love to eat. Period. This blog is for fellow foodies who have sharpened their taste buds to perfection.

Having moved out of my parents' due to work opportunities, I have been managing my cooking all by myself. This has helped me sharpen my culinary skills.

I will share my ideas, recipes through this forum.

Be sure that we will not be discussing how to make "Maggie" Noodles, how to boil eggs, or how to prepare tea. Coffee - yes, but filter coffee it is gonna be.

Nevertheless, we shall also be looking at easy-to cook, YET tasty items :)

till chow time
Ram
Posted by Ram S at 4:48 PM 0 comments  Links to this post

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Monday, June 21, 2010

Voice Training

ServicesBusinessman speaking

Vocal Enhancement

Men and women who do a lot of public speaking, present frequently at trade shows, lecture at universities/schools or need an extraordinary voice quality/energy (radio/television broadcast journalists) are the people who will benefit from this service the most. However, anyone not happy with their current vocal production will also benefit from this service.
Vocal Enhancement Services Include:
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  • Pitch/placement/intonation optimization for more effective communication
  • Resonance development and actualization for more vocal command
  • Post-program evaluation
Broadcast journalist
Contact us at Vocal Essentials to set up your vocal enhancement consultations.






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Ode to Mutleye



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Mutleye the dog

Love and Respect

Robert Chambers - Mutley the Dog

I have put the eulogy I wrote for Rob, that was read out at his funeral, online here:
Mutley the Dog
(the blogspot cheeky monkey chatters is a place where I left him a valentine this year)

Sadly, his blogs have been removed from the net.
Shockingly, I received an email from him last week, stating this.
It was written by his ex-wife. She has also removed him from our shared private blog - In my Dreams - a place where I'd been pouring out grief. Privately.
(Part of sudden death I've discovered is an inability to accept someone's departure. We were still talking, still listening, still joking, still cuddling.)

Rob lived alone these last three years. He died but a few days from Divorce Absolute.

Words fail me entirely.

Well, I will say this - She has done much good for him, there are children involved and I understand that she grieves too.

I do not think that blogging should be controlled. I think that what we write, what we feel, how we connect with each other should remain forever available. Rob was a lifelong champion of human rights and freedom of speech. He reached out to many people here on blogger at dark times as you know and in life he worked for justice and equality, most recently supporting victims of crime. I am certain he'd have disapproved - of anyone being silenced in such a fashion.

Perhaps though, perhaps - he would have understood..

I've nothing more to say, nor will, to his ex-wife. I wish her well. Sincerely.
I have my health and sanity to maintain now. Grief is complex. And I've a family to bring up. Three lively boys. My youngest is 5.

Rob was wonderful, funny, kind and clever. Even better in real life than on the net. In my experience of him these last two years :-
  • he was not in alcoholic decline,
  • he did not die on the brink of organ failure
  • and - he most certainly does not have boring brothers!

He was a cheerful, independent man who liked his beer (real ale only!) and who, as is now known but too damn late, had a bad heart. Sometimes he was very low, aren't we all - "I'm sad about a sad thing" he'd insist. And then, he'd become distracted by something interesting, something worthwhile and his spirits would return to their usual setting of - Happy! - His cause of death is yet to be pinpointed but I comfort myself entirely with this knowledge - having laid on his bed the next morning - he passed on peacefully in his sleep with no suffering, just dignity.

His brothers are much like him, kind, clever and private. I'm kind and private too, but not as clever though! I would have been very proud to have been an honorary member of their family.

Alas.

Rob - I would like you to be remembered with smiles and affection by all you encountered here on the net, may your mischievous spirit live on forever. Love and respect darling - that's all that matters. And maybe now, like so many creatives before, you may be discovered and published. Posthumously damnit! But published perhaps - who knows.

Grief I'm finding is the most debilitating thing. Confusing, numbing and extremely painful. In brighter moments I imagine Rob making his usual daft comments beside me, pulling faces, cheering me up, spurring me on. At other times I feel that the future is entirely pointless. Futile. Because simply, unbearably, he isn't here.

I have my three beautiful boys thank God.

I press on.


With many thanks to all who have helped me, commented and emailed. And much love to Wife in the North, Ubermouth, Miss Smack and Electro-Kev - who were all true friends to Rob when it mattered most
POSTED BY MERRY WEATHER AT 21:57

WEDNESDAY, 26 MAY 2010

Rob (mutley the dog)



2nd January 1964 - 21st May 2010

My best friend and soulmate died last Friday. Tributes have flooded in from blogland. He would have been so touched. He said he loved to make people laugh. Give them a smile. And when they replied with "Thanks Rob, that cheered me up!" he was pleased no end.

I wanted to write him a celebration post. But you know what, I think you guys have already done that, many times over! ( I'm smiling!)

His funeral details are at robert.chambers.gonetoosoon.org
All family and friends know they are very welcome. If any one has any requests, please contact the funeral director and I'll be happy to do whatever is necessary.

I have to say that now, today, after visiting the funeral director, I'm stepping back. It's been a long journey travelled in what, five days, a tour right through Rob's world. (If you thought he was a man of many mysteries, well, yes, he was!) (Smiling again!) I'm basically a kind and sensitive soul and now, unsurprisingly, I'm pretty much overwhelmed.

I've to pick up my life and restructure it.
There won't be a bright red car pulling up outside my house anymore, there won't be a key in the door, a step on the stairs and a big hug and a bag chock full of little goodies - anymore.

I miss him more than I can bear.

Oh don't be so sentimental! he'd say, what, miss an old fart like me?!

Being with Rob gave me a spring in my step, an easy smile and a sense of purpose, of life well-lived. We had a great laugh. And a great love.




Till the next time darling...


;-)
POSTED BY MERRY WEATHER AT 10:04


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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

CE Marking


FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010

ISI Marking and CE/UL Marking

ISI Mark is a mark for Performance of the product, the licence to mark is given only to manufacturers

ISI Marking is voluntary except for certain products like bottled water, etc


CE/ UL Mark is mandatory for exports to EU/ USA

CE/ UL Mark indicates only that even if the product fails, it will fail safely without injuring humans and animals and the Environment
POSTED BY TQMCINTL AT 9:04 PM 0 COMMENTS
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