Medley of Many Things

My mom used to make a similar recipe with hard boiled eggs, salt and pepper: but I always need that extra spark, so here I mixed and matched some spices and trust me, it came out very well. Other than the time taken to boil the eggs, you hardly need 2 more minutes to whip out this recipe. Ingredients : 1)Egg - 1 ( Hard-boiled and cut into 2 halves ) 2)Gram Flour( Besan ) - 1 tsp 3)Red chilli powder - 1/4 tsp 4)Ginger Garlic paste - 1/4 tsp 5)Coriander powder - 1/4 tsp 6)Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp 7)Salt - to taste 8)Oil - 1/2 tsp 9)Water - 2 tsp 10)Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp Preparation : 1)Hard boil the egg in water and cut it into 2 halves. 2)Take a bowl, add gram flour, red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt, ginger garlic paste, water and mix well, make sure there are no lumps. 3)Coat the hard boiled eggs with the above mixture. 4)Heat oil in a pan and add the coated egg, flip them over once a side is done. If your pan is not a non-stick one, then the coate...

I remember my Granny, running aback of me to feed okra fry( which I hated the most ) when I was a preteen. She used to say, eat okra every day and you will secure 100% marks in Mathematics. I was like:  Holy cow, is that what is required to secure a centum in Maths?  :-) Those were the golden days. Well, I love Okra now! So let me move on to this simple, yet tasty fry. I usually have this with dal & rice or with curd rice. This one tastes good with Phulkas too, but make sure you have a wet subji or dal along with this fry. Ingredients : 1)Okra - 100 g( chopped ) 2)Oil - 1 tsp 3)Cumin and Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp 4)Urad dal - 1/4 tsp 5)Turmeric Powder - a pinch 6)Sambar Powder( I used 'Aachi Sambar Powder' ) - 3/4 tsp 7)Red Chilli Powder - 1/4 tsp 8)Salt - to taste Preparation : 1)Clean the okras in water and pat dry. There should be no water sticking to the okras. 2)Cut the okras into big chunks and keep aside. 3)Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, cu...

Another simple recipe from my den. The only point to be noted while making lemon rice is, buying a damn good Lemon. Also this is a fool proof recipe. Health benefits of having Lemon regularly : 1)Lemon juice is one of the best sources of Vitamin C. Also it acts as an anti-aging and antibacterial agent. 2)Lemon lowers blood pressure, increases the levels of HDL and prevents common cold from occurring. 3)Lemon juice relieves colic pain and gastric problems. 4)A few drops of lemon juice in hot water early in the morning is believed to clear the digestive system and also aides in losing weight. Ingredients : 1)Rice - 1 cup ( cooked ) 2)Lemon - 1( small ) 3)Onion - 1/2 ( cut lengthwise ) 4)Whole Red Chilli - 2 ( crush or break them, so that the seed can jack up the spice level ) 5)Ginger - 1/4 inch( chopped ) 6)Turmeric Powder - a pinch 7)Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 8)Split urad Dal - 1 tsp 9)Asafetida - a pinch 10)Channa Dal - 1 tsp( I forgot to add this in my lemon rice ;-) ) 11)Curry leave...

Lately, we have been hearing and experiencing( some ) quite a lot of cyber attacks and internet slow-downs. This brings us to a debatable question - " How secure is your data online? " There may be thousands of theories, stating that there is nothing to worry about when you use your  Credit Card  or do a  Net Banking  online, at the same time there are thousand others which would state otherwise. So here I'm, trying to shed some light on the following: Bazooka attack( latest news ) List of Best Web Browsers List of Anti Virus Softwares( Of course, I'm talking only about the freeware ;-) ) Simple Reckoner for internet safety while browsing.( Do read this! ) Bazooka Attack : What a dashing name, Bazooka ! Any idea as to what it means? It means, " rocket launcher ". Pretty heavy stuff, I must say. This attack is described as one of the most powerful cyber attacks ever seen and this has slowed traffic on the Internet. The following is from a daily: The attack ta...

Paneer is always a regal favorite. It is really surprising that, with paneer as a main ingredient we can make umpteen number of recipes with different combination of masala and veggies. Paneer is definitely the best discovery ever made for the forever-starved vegetarians( including me ). :-) Only that, it is pretty heavy on the tummy. So here is one such variety of paneer that I make occasionally! Why occasionally? Because it requires 6 table spoons of oil(gosh!). But it tastes heavenly though! Ingredients : 1)Paneer - 1 cup(cubed) 2)Onion - 1 (medium, chopped) 3)Green chilli - 1(slit) 4)Curd - 6 tsps 5)Corn flour - 2 tsps 6)Maida or All purpose flour - 2 tsps 7)Kashmiri red chilli powder( Why Kashmiri? For the divine red color ) - 1.5 tsp 8)Ginger paste - 1/2 tsp 9)Garlic - 6 pods(minced) 10)Coriander powder - 1 tsp 11)Salt - to taste 12)Garam Masala - a pinch 13)Oil - 6 tsps 14)Water - a little 15)Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp 16)Red Chilli/Tomato sauce - 1/4 tsp( optional...

This is my 50th post & I want to write about something which is close to my heart. What better stuff can I pen down than "ZEN". Do not worry, the 'ZEN' I'm talking about is nothing to do with Religion, God or anything of that sort . By definition, being Zen is about doing things right for the mind, body and soul. It can help you relax, have a positive outlook on life and find a higher spiritual worth. Origination of the word "Zen" : " Zen " is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese character " chan ," which is in turn the Chinese translation from the Indian Sanskrit term " Dhyana ," which means " meditation ". Definition of "ZEN" : ZEN is not a belief, it is an attitude or a way of being! It is the belief of no faith. You can practice any religion or you can be a non-conformist, but you can still be a Zen. All about "ZEN" : Zen means free from concerns, interests, wants, distractions, con...

When you guys think about  Chinese Cuisine , have you ever thought of Chinese Dessert ?  Well, probably not. But guess what Chinese Cuisine does offer some dessert options which are usually liquid or semi-solid based & are very light on the tummy. Here is one such dessert, which is simple yet delicious. Ingredients : 1)Ripe Mango - 1/2 cup ( scoop the mango pulp out of the mango ) NOTE : If there are no Mangoes available, do not fret - buy a small tetra pack of Maaza or Tropicana Mango drink. That will do. 2)Milk - 1/4 cup 3)Sugar - 1/4 cup or even lesser 4)Water - 1/4 cup 5)Gelatin(unflavored) - 1 tsp Preparation : 1)Add water and sugar to a saucepan & stir well, in medium heat. 2)After a couple of minutes, add a spoonful of gelatin into the pan, keep stirring until the lumps melt. Remove the pan from stove & let it cool. 3)Blend the extracted mango pulp and milk together. Make sure it turns into a smooth paste.  Note: If you are using rea...

When CCD advertises their catch phrase as " A lot can happen over a cup of coffee. ", Oh boy, were they lying? Not at all. I got ready & took my half-read book " Attitude is everything " by Jeff Keller to a Coffee Day Outlet, located 3 minutes from my home. Also today being my ' cheat day' , I wanted to order a Frappe( a bit more caloric than a regular latte ), I went to the counter and ordered one, the sole staff in the counter was not in a good mood, she was grumpy and was not interested to even ask if I needed extra cream or choco flake or anything else. She took my order, gave my change & went back to make the coffee. CCD was nearly packed & I started scouting for a place to sit, since I was alone & the sole purpose is to read my book, I opted for a corner with 2 empty seats. And I started reading my book (I will come to this book review in another post, soon ).  Bangalore is completely cosmo, where you can hear quite a lot of languages w...

Yes, you heard it right, no grinding & no extra additions as always. You can have this either with roti or rice, it tastes ultimate. But, I can have this even without rice and roti, just a spoon will do :) Let's jump straight in, shall we? Ingredients : 1)Chick Pea or Channa - 1 cup(Soaked over night in 2 cups of water) 2)Onion - 1(Small, Chopped length-wise) 3)Tomato - 1(Medium, Chopped) 4)Green chilli - 1(chopped) 5)Oil - 1.5 tsp 6)Cumin seeds - 1 tsp 7)Ginger garlic paste - 3/4 tsp 8)Turmeric - 1/2 tsp 9)Red Chilli & Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp each 10)Garam Masala - a pinch 11)Cinnamon, Cardamon,Cloves & bay leaf - a little for flavor 12)Salt - to taste Preparation : 1)Pressure cook the soaked Channa with salt, water & turmeric powder for 4 whistles(depends) & keep aside. 2)Add oil in a frying pan, add Cumin seeds, Cinnamon, Cardamon, Cloves, Bay leaf  & let it splutter & release flavor. 3)Add chopped Green Chil...

It was 1993, Bombay bombings took more than 260 fatalities & injured way too many. We all saw the aftereffects in TV with moist eyes. Dawood Ibrahim is the mastermind behind these bombings. Of course, he did not do it unaccompanied & there were quite a lot of terror outfits & big shots joined hands to institutionalize this heinous crime. Story of Sanjay Dutt : The then super star,  Sanjay Dutt was indirectly involved in this heinous attack. He was arrested for securing the arms used in the attack and also for requesting the arms to be destroyed so that there won't be any evidence against him. And he was given a bail after serving 18 months in jail. Oh Boy, did he rule Bollywood after coming out of jail? Yes, indeed. Bollywood welcomed him with stretched arms & he became one of the favorite supporting actors and lived a huge life. As of today, he is convicted for his act & he is supposed to be serving 5 years in jail. That was 1993 , when th...

This incident happened 3 years ago at work. It was a Friday morning, 8:00 AM. I had come to work early that particular day to attend a client call & there was nobody else around my cubicle. You all know by now that, me & my ex-roomy had a ritual of eating out once every week in a new restaurant. So that particular weekend, we planned to go to ISKCON temple. Again, why are we going there? Of course, the one & only reason is to eat :). You may not know, ISKCON has some of the best food spread in their menu, for a meager 15 to 40 bucks(on each item) you have nearly 30 to 40 snacks to choose from & they serve you in a small bowl made of lotus leaf. Mind-blowing is the one word to express the amount of variety & the quality of food you get there. No buffet can beat that out. But ISKCON temple opens & closes at a weird timing. So we wanted to go on time & have good food & of course to enjoy the tranquility. So I started browsi...

What can I say? This one is even more simpler but tastes like heaven! So here you go: Ingredients : 1)Boiled eggs - 2 2)Oil - 1.5 tsp 3)Onion - 1 (small, chopped) 4)Tomato - 1(big, chopped) 5)Garlic - 3 pods(chopped) 6)Salt - to taste 7)Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp 8)Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp 9)Red chilli powder - 1 tsp 10)Coriander powder - 1 tsp 11)Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp 12)Water - a little Preparation : 1)Boil the eggs, take off the shell & slit the egg a little all around the circumference. Keep aside. 2)Take oil in a pan, add cumin & mustard seeds, let it splutter. 3)Add chopped garlic, onion and salt, cook until onion becomes translucent. 4)Now add turmeric powder, cook until the raw smell goes off. 5)Add chopped tomatoes, cook until the they turn soft. 6)Add red chilli powder, coriander powder & cook for few minutes. Add a little water & mix well. 7)Once this mixture cooks, add the boiled eggs into the pan & mix well, let it cook for 2 more minutes. Y...

Can somebody have fun with Acne? Simple answer, Nope. But there can be funny incidents under the purview of Acne, right?  Here is one: I like a clean face, but yearly once a single pimple from no where pops up & stays in some part of my face & takes a sojourn for a week or two & goes off. This is a yearly ritual for Mr.Acne & he considers my face as a vacation spot. I'm sure, some of you can relate to this. I had a presentation to give to a set of colleagues on a Friday, so I prepared damn well & was oozing with confidence as always. The day before the presentation, I got up in the morning only to see my unwelcomed guest Mr Acne who had already broken into my face. Disgruntled & sad ' me ' ran towards " God of Internet ", yes you guessed it right, I opened ' Google ' & started searching a quick fix to get rid of my single acne within 24 hours. Search went on for 5 minutes & I happen to stumble upon an advice by one of those...

What is the best drink that goes with " KFC's  Veg Zinger " or " MCD's  McVeggie ", it is definitely a Coke or a Pepsi! Hands down! You know they say, a junk goes best with a junk !! How true is that? The worst thing is, we all know the health risks involved in drinking sodas, but we still have them. We would have heard a thousand times about all the bashings the Nutrition Experts from various research centers around the world keeps yapping about, but we don't take it serious, because having sodas are not like having a cigarette which causes eventual degradation of organs and puts us at a risk of lung cancer at the earliest. Since we cannot see our health getting affected directly we don't mind having once or twice a week. But there are quite a huge population who consume them day in day out. Go to any house in the USA as a guest, the first thing they offer you is a choice between a coke and a diet coke? Why do we do that? Because, it is easy to off...

When I come across inspirational or for that matter even funny short stories or quotes, I get a high! It instantly boosts me with either happiness or with motivation. The next work I do will just be perfect( effect of boosting indeed ). Motivation is like Caffeine, needed at least once every day. And I get even more high, when I share it with you guys & bring in a teeny tiny smile somewhere in your face when you read this stuff from some corner of the world. Why to write about some sad times? We all have our own problems & we definitely do not want to get involved in some others, so here you go - something lighter for today & at the same time, this mini story will emphasis on thinking positive. Let us pass on the wisdom, shall we? Read on. An African King had a close friend with whom he grew up. The friend had a peculiar habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life(both positive and negative) and would say “ This is good !”...

Although I drink tea everyday, I'm a huge fan of coffee. When I make coffee at home that is not just a regular instant coffee but something special. Also once a week I drink a Latte or two from CCD , Costa Coffee & kalmane(Yep local!!) . The only outlet I hate the most is ' Barista Lavazza ', they do not have good coffee(period). When I was working abroad, I used to frequent two coffee outlets one being the cliched but majestic ' Starbucks ' & the other being the effervescent ' Gloria Jean's '. A quick pick-me-up every now and then from ' Gloria Jean's ' used to be a ritual & my favorite drink used to be their White Chocolate Mocha (divine!!). Can you believe that Bangalore does not have a 'Starbucks' outlets yet? I hope someday, Tata Group which has a JV with Starbucks opens its outlet in this ever sprawling Coffee Lover's Paradise called Bangalore! Now, that is too much of coffee talk! So let us get back to business...

Okie, what is with the baby popping out of the egg shell?? I have no freaking idea ;-) Jokes apart, I'm going to be talking about the benefits of eating an egg per day . Have you guys ever felt hungry after 2 hours of having a bowl of cereal or 2 slices of toast in the morning? But at the same time, if you have an egg along with the toast, you may feel full & good, isn't it? The reasons are stated below, read on.. A single egg consists of 6 to 7 grams of protein. Not just any protein, it is high-quality protein & that is  the reason you feel fuller for longer period of time when you consume them.  The best time to have egg is during breakfast or lunch. Study says, consuming eggs regularly may prevent breast cancer. Women who consumed at least 6 eggs per week lowered the risk of breast cancer by 44%. If you are looking to loose weight, the right thing to do is to have one egg every day with your breakfast. Trust me, it works like a charm. If you are worried about the f...

First of all, Happy Women's Day to all of you! Today, I'm going to introduce you guys to a beautiful & delicate song called "Ai cha "( pronounced as 'Ai sha ' ). 'Aicha' is an Arabian name which means " She who lives ", apt it is!! Yes, it is all about women today. Some may like regional songs(like hindi, tamil...etc) and some may prefer international songs(pop, country...etc) & here, this one is a fabulous mix of its own culture( which is Danish ) & it also blends in an appeal of internationalism to the song. This song was a brainchild of a band called Outlandish, which enjoyed a very good success in the Western countries in 2003. Somehow, it missed the Indian subcontinent. Hence I'm here to do the honor of bringing this song back in & introducing this song to you guys on a remarkable day. What better day can I talk about women than "International Women's day", right? Do not worry, this is not about a guy si...

About Asin : This is the reality,   give "1 crore rupees" to Asin for a movie & she will act for "6 crore rupees" worth.  If you do not believe this, please do watch the bollywood movie "Ready"! If you think Bollywood is where she over acts or reacts, then my friends, you are wrong - You should see some of her South Indian movies(Kollywood(tamil) & Tollywood(telugu)) because you are really missing out on some of the over the top acting skills that she employs to woo the audience. The other day, I was discussing this with a Tamil friend of mine. He just shut me down saying " she is so beautiful & when she over reacts you have to see her eyes rolling like a naughty kid's reaction & as long as she is pretty and chirpy I will watch her movies" . I thought, oh boy! No point in talking to this maverick. I get eye sore watching her on TV & always wonder 'when will she stop reacting unnecessarily?' Also please watch this 9...

It was a beautiful day back in 2011. D, my ex-roomy & I went to a reputed hospital chain in Whitefield ( the hospital name starts with letter "A", who am I kidding? everybody knows ) to get Swine Flu(H1N1) shot as a precaution. I'm going to rewind this story a month or two prior to the day we got the shot. My dad, who is a doctor himself asked me to take swine flu shot as soon as possible owing to the flu pandemic that was prevailing in Bangalore. He also asked me to take D along with since she is my room mate & a friend. Although D had no interest in getting this shot or for that matter to visit a hospital, I persuaded her to come along. It was a sunny Saturday noon. We have a ritual of trying out new restaurants during weekends & that day was no different hence we decided to go to "Herbs & Spices" in Whitefield. The restaurant is located in the midst of a lovely garden with ducks & turkeys crossing by every now and then. We had our lunch, n...

How many of us keep hearing a lot of familiar but not-so-proper English language usage day-in-day-out? Here, I have jotted down some of the most commonly used or overused words/phrases in India. I'm sure you would have come across these. 1) "Doubt": A professor asks his class, if they understood everything that was taught today and our bespectacled guy gets up and says " Sir, I have a doubt? " A what? " doubt "??? Probably the bespectacled guy had a 'Question'. The correct way to frame the sentence is, " Sir, I have a question? or a query? ". When someone says, they have a doubt, it means they are kinda doubting the professor's knowledge in the subject matter. When you have a question, all you need is a little more insight to the subject that was taught. 2) "You do one thing": When a person asks you a question & your reply begins with "Do one thing", then you are definitely doing it 100% wrong. There is not...

Yesterday was full of leadership advice in the form of anecdote, so I thought, I should tone down to something lighter today. And here it is -> 2 jokes back-to-back. Do read & enjoy maadi! Joke Number 1: A South Indian software engineer named "Anantharaman Subbaraman" arrived at American Consulate  for a visa interview.  He ended up waiting for 2 hours for his name to be called by the authorities. He got super bored, pissed off & irritated seeing rest of candidates move past him every passing minute. So finally he walked up to a visa processing window & asked the authority why his name was never called.  The authority told him that, they have been calling his name for the past 1 hour and a half, but he never responded back. The reason was made clear later when the authority pronounced his  name as,   "Anotherman Superman" instead of "Anantharaman Subbaraman". :-) Joke Number 2: A beautiful couple gave birth to a child. And a year later o...

I have a strange habit of saving stuffs that I feel are interesting enough from various sources and keep it for future reference & the following anecdote about Mahatma Gandhi is one of them. Just wanna share the wisdom! This talks about - " How closely does what you say as a leader align with what you do? " Read on. In the 1930's there was a young boy who had become addicted to and obsessed with  eating sugar. His mother decided to get help and took the long and hot journey with her son walking many miles and hours under the scorching sun.  She finally reached Gandhi and asked him to tell her son to stop eating sugar, it wasn't good for his health. Gandhi replied, "I cannot tell him that. But you may bring him back in a few weeks and then I will talk to him." The mother was confused and upset and took the boy home. Two weeks later she came back. This time Gandhi looked directly at the boy and said "Boy, you should stop eating sugar. It is not good f...

Another staple food from my den. Ingredients : 1)Toor Dal - a handful 2)Green chilli - 1(medium, slit length-wise) 3)Onion - 1 (small, chopped) 4)Tomato - 1(small, chopped) 5)Oil - 1/2 tsp 6)Ghee - 1/2 tsp 7)Asafetida - a pinch 8)Water - 1/2 cup 9)Mustard & Cumin seeds - 1 tsp 10)Garlic - 3 pods(chopped) 11)Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp 12)Salt - to taste Preparation : 1)Soak toor dal in water for 20 to 30 minutes. Pressure cook the dal with a pinch of asafetida for 4 to 5 whistles. 2)Add 1/2 tsp oil in a pan & add mustard, cumin seeds - let it splutter. 3)Add chopped green chilli & garlic, saute for few seconds until the aroma kicks in. 4)Add chopped onion, salt & saute until they turn translucent. Add turmeric powder & saute well. 5)Add chopped tomatoes, saute until they are done. 6)Add the cooked Dal mixture into the pan, mix well & let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes. 7)Once done, add 1/2 tsp of ghee & remove the pan from heat. Simple dal fry is ready. It goes ve...