Achari Bhindi -- Okhra

Achari Bhindi is one of the most popular North Indian sides dishes. 'Achari' because it tastes tangy like  the pickles. Amchur, the special spice ingredient gives this dish its distinct name 'Achari Bhindi'. Hope you all like the recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Bhindi (Ladies Finger): Cut into 1.5 to 2 inch fingers: 500 gm
2. Tomatoes: finely chopped : 1
3. Onion : Diced : 1 Medium Size
4. Gram flour : Besan : 2-3 tbsp.
5. Turmeric : 1/2 tbsp
6. Coriander: coarsely powdered : 1 & 1/2 tbsp
7. Garam Masala Powder: 1 tbsp
8. Red Chilli Powder : 1 Tbsp
9. Aamchur : Dry Mango Powder : 1 tbsp
10. Roasted cummin seeds powder
11. Fennel seed / Saunf powder : 1 tbsp
12. Oil : 5-7 tbsp.
13. Salt to taste

Preparation :

1. Cut Bhindi into 1.5 to 2 inch fingers. Pat dry Bhindi and make small slits into each piece.
2. Masala Preparation: Mix ingredients 6 - 11 into a large mixing bowl.
3. Apply masala into each bhindi slit and then toss all Bhindi in the masala. Coat the bhindi with masala from all the sides.
4. Add 4-5 Tbsp oil into the bhindi mixture and toss nicely so as to coat evenly.
5. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan + add diced onion. Cook till onion turns soft.
6. Add finely cut tomatoes  and cook till tomatoes mash up.
7. Add Besan / Gram flour and toss nicely.
8. Add all the bhindi mixture prepared in step 3.
9. Cook on low flame . Close the pan with lid. Cook till the Bhindi turns soft.
10. Add salt and Stir occasionally.
11. Takes about 15 -20 mins of patient cooking on low flame.

Tip :

1. Bhindi has to be pat dried completely or they start to become sticky.
2. Amchur is the main spice that makes the whole dish tangy. Use fresh Amchur.


Serve Hot with Rotis or Phulkas.

Baingan Ka Bharta - Punjabi Style

This is my favorite brinjal dish. Bharta is made in almost all states in India with their own variety. This recipe is the traditional recipe from Punjab and North India.

Ingredients :

1. Egg Plant / Brinjal - 1 Medium Size (Flame Toasted)
2. Tomato - 2 Medium size (Fined Chopped)
3. Onion - 1 Medium size (Cut in Julian)
4. Capsicum - 1 Small size (Diced)
5. Ginger - 1 inch (Grated)
6. Coriander seeds - 1 Tbsp (Finely powdered)
7. Cummin Seeds - 1/2 Tbsp (Finely powdered)
8. Garam Masala - 1/2 spoon
9. Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 to 1 spoon.
10. Butter - 2 Full Tbsp
11. Oil - 3 Tbsp
12. Turmeric - 1/4 spoon
13. Asafetida - pinch
14. Green chillies - 2 to 3 (Chopped)
15. Salt to taste

Preparation :

Step 1. Toast / Roast  Brinjal with skin on direct flame or best on charcoal fire. Once it is toasted properly from all sides,  transfer it into cold water and peel off the burnt skin.

Step 2. Coarsely mash the brinjal and keep it aside.

Step 3. In a large frying pan add oil + fry green chillies+ coriander powder + cummin seed powder + Turmeric + Asafetida (heeng). Cook for minute.

Step 4. Add Onion and fry till light brown + add ginger + add Tomatoes and cook for 4-5 minutes.

Step 5. Mash all tomato  from the back of the stiring spoon.

Step 6. Add rest of the spice mix. Garam Masala + Red chilly powder for cook for minute.

Step 7. Add the mashed brinjal and cook for about 7-8 minutes. Add Capsisum + Keep coarsely mashing the whole mixture with the back of the stiring spoon.

Step 8. Add Butter  and simmer for minute ( Butter enhances the roasted brinjal's flavour)

Step 9. Add salt to taste + Coriander leaves for garnish.


Serve with Rotis. Serves 3-4 people.

Tomato Chutni - Bangalore Style

Tomato Chutni is a side dish eaten almost everywhere in the South India. Bangalore has its own variety and style of making the chutni. Bangalore style stands out as a little tangy and sweetish variety among all the varieties one can find in southern India. It is a perfect blend of mild spices with ripe tomatoes. I hope you all will like it.

Ingredients:

1.  Red Tomatoes : 3-4 medium size. cut into small pieces.
2.  Tamarind : 1-2 small pieces.
3.  Urad Dal : 2 tbsp
4.  Asafetida (Heeng) : 1 pinch
5.  Red Chilli powder : 1-2 Tbsp
6.  Oil : 3-4 tbsp  ( I use 'til ka tel' or gingelly oil)
7.  Jaggery : 1 tbsp
8.  Sambar Powder: 1/2 tbsp

Powder:

9.  Coriander seeds : 1 Tbsp
10. Fenugreek Seed / Methi seeds : 1/4 tbsp
11. Cumin seeds : 1 Tbsp
12. white pepper seeds: 2-3

13. Salt to taste.

Preparation:

Step 1. Tamarind pulp : Soak tamarind in warm water for 5 mins. Squeeze out all the pulp and keep aside.

Step 2. Powder:  Ingredients (9-12 )dry roast without any oil. Make fine powder. keep aside.

Step 3. Heat oil in a wide pan + Add  2 tbsp Oil + When the oil is hot, add chopped tomatoes. Cook tomatoes on medium heat for about 2 mins. Once they soften add tamrind pulp and shredded jaggery. Cook for 2 more mins until the raw smell of the tomatoes and tamarind goes away.

Step 4. Mash the tomatoes coarsely while it is cooking. Take out all the tomato mixture. Keep aside.

Step 5. Dry the pan and put it on flame again. Heat 2-3 Tbsp oil + add urad dal and fry till they turn reddish brown.

Step 6. Add heeng +  Red chilli powder + Powder made in Step 2. Fry for a min or two on medium heat.

Step 7. Add the tomato mixture prepared in step 4 and cook for 3-4 mins. + Add Sambaar powder + salt. Simmer for a minute.


Tomato chutni is traditionally eaten with steamed rice mixed with a tablespoon of ghee. One can also eat it with hot buttered Phulkas or Rotis.

DUM ALOO

Dum Aloo requires potatoes to be deep fried till cooked well.  To make this dish a little healthy and safe for all, I have skipped frying the potatoes. Instead, half boiled them. Tastes no different. Yummy !!

 Total preparation time  30 mins. Serves 4.

Ingredients: 
 

For Grinding:

1. Sesame seeds : 1 Tbsp
2. Coconut: Grated: 1/2 cup
3. Green chillies : 3
4. Water for consistency
5. Ginger: 1/2 inch
6. Cashew nuts: handful

Paste Mixture:

7. Curd : Half cup ( I used Amul Dahi)
8. Coriander Powder ( Dhaniya) : 1 tbsp
9. Fennel seeds ( Saunff) powder  : 1 tbsp
10. Red Chilli Powder: 1/2 - 1 Tbsp
11. Turmeric: 1/2 tbsp
 

Rest:

11. Potatoes 4-5 medium size : Half Boiled and peeled. Cut into large dices.
12. Oil for frying : 2-3 Tbsp
13. Asafetida (Heeng) : 1 pinch
14. Jeera : Cummin Seeds : 1 Tbsp
15. Red chillies : broken into half 2-3
16. Besan : 3 Tbsp
17. Garam Masala : 1/2 Tbsp
18. Salt to taste
19. Coriander leaves for garnish

Preparation:

Step 1 :  Half boil potatoes. Peel off the skin and cut them into large dices. Keep aside.
Step 2 :  Grind Ingredients 1-6 and make fine paste.
Step 3 :  Make a paste from Ingredient 7-11. Mix well.
Step 4 :  Mix the ground paste made in step 2 with the curd mixture made in step 3.  Keep aside.
Step 5 :  Heat oil in a pan + Add Jeera + Wait until it crackles + Add Heeng + Red chillies. Dry roast it for a minute.
Step 6 :  Add  Besan and fry till the rawness of the besan disappears. Add a little water if needed.
Step 7 :  Add the final paste made in Step 4. Cook with a little water (if needed) till the raw smell of the ingredients disappears. If you see oil coming out from the side, that should  tell you that the paste is cooked evenly.
Step 8 : Add Garam Masala cook for a min + Salt to taste + Simmer for 2-3 mins.
Step 9 : Add chopped Handful of coriander leaves and well.

Serve hot with buttered phulkas or rotis.

Mushroom Masala Dry

Ingredients:

Cut mushrooms : 1 cup diced

Green Chillies: Cut lengthwise

Garlic Pods: 4 thinly sliced

Ginger : Half Inch : Grated

Bell Pepper:Medium Size: Cut lengthwise

White Onion: Cut thinly sliced lengthwise

Turmeric Powder: 1 Tbsp

Curry Masala Powder: 1 Tbsp

Curry Leaves: 5-6

Red chilli powder: 1 Tbsp

Tomato chilli sauce: 1 and 1/2 Tbsp.

White Pepper Powder: 2 pinch

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Coriander leaves for Garnish

1) Heat oil in a large pan. Oil once hot, add grated ginger + chilli powder + sliced garlic. Saute for a minute.

2) Add sliced onion. Fry till golden brown. Add salt.

3) Add curry powder + Mushrooms + cut bell pepper. Fry till they soften.

4) Add tomato sauce. Cover the pan with lid till the veggies' cook. (2 - 4 mins)

5) Add salt to taste (if needed) + Curry Leaves + pepper powder, mix well.

6) Garnish with Coriander Leaves.

Serve Hot with Roti or Steamed Rice. Enjoy !!

Larger issues, Do we care ??

Larger issues !!

A reaction from my female colleague sparked this article and write up. We were watching the news played in our canteen. A teen aged girl killed by policemen in the state of UP. This news is being shown for more than two days now and in the intention that UP state govt does not care for the murder. Ofcourse we all know what is the state of development in UP. I commented looking at the news " This cant be a National news there are even bigger issues in the country and this does not hold good enough to be shown 40 times in a day". My colleague's reaction " You dont find a teenage Girl's death a national news, then whatelse can be?" and she walked away.


Now You decide:

Ofcourse any death specially murder of a girl is condemnable and is shame for the society. Where are all our virtues and respect for the women that our society boasts of ? We see in her Saraswati, Durga, Laxmi, Kali and how do we allow our girls being raped and killed by rogue policemen and yet no action is taken? Valid, very valid !! This is indeed a National shame, for our sisters are under constant threat of abuse and we do nothing but wait for a justice system to help us. But is the only thing that is important in the society and specially today when we are on the verge a total collapse?


China is threatening our borders and abused our soverinity so many times in the recent past. How many times is this shown on the TV and people know about it? Chinese goods enter our market as of we dont produce anything in our country. How many self styled and tradtional toy making small scale industries have stopped after the Chinese goods entered? Are the families dependant on toy making not suffering? Are their girl children not suffering a slow death? There are 100s of suicide cases in India after the 'open market' system was passed. Is this suffering in any way smaller than a girl's death?

Pakistan, our friendly neighbour sends suicide bombers and kill our fellow brothers and sisters everyday. Is the death of a girl not seen there? Cant you open your eyes then? Our army men are killed day in and day out and for what? Because they are soldiers and are ready to die for us? How moral is this? They are the special children of our country, for they are the ones who take bullets in their chest and yet die for us with a smile on their face. Are we showing this on a TV making it a national issue? Does this ever gather social momentum in favour of our martyred soldiers? Where are the human rights when our soldier brothers are bombed and killed in the midnight sleep? Is this a smaller issue than a girl's death in a rogue killing?

When Babas and Swami are on fast, ready to die for a cause which can give us a bright future, govt abuses them and calls them anti-National. Did this ever become a National Shame? Did you all speak up at the loudest of your voice and say 'they are fighting for us and we will not tolerate any insult to our Sadhus' ? Where were all your morals when Saints were swooped in the midnight raid and beaten black and blue? Where were all the sentiments when a women was beaten on her spine and parallized for life? Is this not a shame on our society that we keep quiet when our saints are attacked and the corrupt rule us? Is this bigger than a girl's death in a rogue killing?

Fanatic muslims train their 'good' looking boys to hook up with non-muslim girls in our country. Win their trust, impress them with expensive gifts, promise them of a life time commitment, and later throw them like waste dumps once they have their satisfied hunger for lust! Make them pregnant , take videos of their private life and threat them to convert to Islam. There are 1000s of cases pending in Kerala alone where muslims boys have promised the girls to marry, force them to convert to islam, ask them stop talking to their family as they are non-muslims, take the girls to Arab countries and sell them to wealthy sheiks or use them as prostitutes. Our blood boils to see our sisters tortured by muslims goons. This is happening in all parts of the world, specially Bharat as it is good place to brain wash our innocent sisters and as we are non-Muslims. Does our heart say a atleast a ufff for your sisters? or is this a smaller issue than a girl's rogue murder?


Have a heart, a open heart for all that is happening in the country. Ofcourse death is a death. But death of the special 'brothers' called soldiers is far more important than a just everyday murder. If we are not in position to give a decent life for our solider, we hold no esteem to ask "oh! A girl's death is not a National news for you" ?


In the 'larger' interest of the society and our country.

--- Vishwanath Gaitonde

Not so friendly Colas

Coke and Pepsi:
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With so much hype around these aerated drinks, i was curious to know what goes into making of these so called soft drinks. Are they really soft on us? I was stunned to know from my study in the last few months of what goes into making of these world cola drinks. With this article I would like to touch few areas of our life which affect us so very much but we are made unaware ( Yes, we are MADE unaware on purpose). I have gone through quite a few articles, facts, statistics by major agencies etc and thought of summarzing all of them into my blog here.

First, are these drinks good for us? Do they bring any benefit? Can these drinks be subsituted for water (almost as they do in US)? The contents are shocking and so are the results.

Contents:
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Apart from water and loads of Sugar syrup whatelse do these drinks contain? Answer is "POISON". These contents below are found in the lab tests done by various agencies in India and abroad including FDA USA and FDA India. There are about 14 - 15 posionous contents that make our colas. I have mentioned the prominent and most destructive contents.

Mono sodium glutamate (Cancerous) : Banned in many countries including India for its cancerous properties. Coke and Pepsi like companies never mention about these contents.

Pottasium sorbate (Cancerous): Regular colas consumers have been reported to have Migrane attacks and lack of Hunger. Regular consumption leads to cancer in the stomach. Potassium Sorbate is acceptable food preservative found in many of the ready food around the world. But the permisiable limit is 12.5 mg/kg for a adult human. Colas contain 2 times more than this limit. Report from WHO and FDA America.

Brominated Vegetabe Oil(Cancerous): Now I've come across information of this dangerous additive that is found in the citrus flavored type sodas or drinks, such as Mountain Dew, Fanta, and is even found in the power drinks, such as the familiar Gatorade, and that is the additive of Brominated Vegetable Oil or BVO. The real kicker in all this is that BVO has actually been banned in over 100 countries, and even the FDA considers this additive as unsafe, yet, so far, no measures have been taken to ban it's usage here in India. Ref:www.associatedcontent.com/article/823337/the_dangers_of_the_additive_brominated_pg2.html?cat=51

Methyl Benzene (affects the Kidneys): Lab results around the world have shown regular consumption of Coke and Pepsi lead to Kidney disfunction.

Methyl Benzoate
(Liver and urinal cancerous) : Like Methyl Benzene tests have shown how this lethal content called Methyl Benzoate affects our Liver and Urinal system.

Endo Sulpane: This ingredient probably is most dangerous and fast affecting agents in the colas drinks. Endo Suplhane is used as pesticides in farming. Very popular among farmers worldwide. In the name of Green Revolution in India, chemical fertilizer were introduced in our farming techniquies. Since then Endo Sulphane is the highest selling pesticide in the country. We dont need any lab tests to make us understand what pesticide do to our Intestine.

Carbon Di-Oxide : Our human body is designed to leave CO2 out and consume more oxygen. With Colas as our daily suppliment we have been playing 'cat and mouse' with death everyday. How far do we think we can cheat nature and win over it.


Phosphoric Acid : Acidic nature of any given liquid is measured in terms os PH level of that liquid. Clean potable water is considered to have a ph level of 7. Anything below ph level 7 becomes more acidic. Smaller the value of the ph, more acidic the liquid is. Highly concentrated acid are supposed to have a ph level of 1. The ph contents of coke and pepsi are found to be 2.5 which is higher than that of found in the toilet cleaners used domestically. No doubt why Coke and Pepsi should not be called as 'Toilet cleaners' and not soft drinks. This is on record and aired many times on TV channels that road Accident spots in US are cleaned by pouring Coke and washing the blood stains. A lab test by FDA India has shown that coke produced in India is 40 times more acidic and posionous than its American produce.
Ref: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/phosphoric-acid-in-soda.html

Whatelse is the loss to our nation apart from health concerns?

Economic loss:
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A bottle of cola is produced at a cost less than 1 Indian rupee. Sold at 12-14 rupees for a regular size bottle. Statistics of number of bottles of colas produced in a year by Coke and Pepsi alone in India is 800 Crores. If you multiple 800 crores by 14 rs this comes close to rs.11200 crores. Just these two Anti National and Anti human companies stash away 11200 crores of rupees every year from our country to US.



Ill effects on Nature and our farmer brothers:
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Each factory of Coke and Pepsi pumps out 1 million litre of fresh ground water from our land every day. And it does not even pay water bills for it. But pays only taxes for its sales. What is the result of such high water pumping? These factories are normally situated outside the city limits on our farming lands. The farm lands have dried up and the agricultural yield around these factories has gone down 50 times. Why so? Thats because of reseding ground water level and infertile land. I will bring to your notice what happened in Kerala's Coke factory case. More than 7000 farmer brothers were jobless and yieldless after the COke factory came up. The farm lands were sold to Coca cola at nominal prices and the farmers' suffered to even get two meals a day. The reseding water levels dried up all nearby borewells and wells. After 5 years of struggle and judicial fight the coca cola factory was asked to stop functioning in that area. It was too late by then. More than 50 farmers had committed suicides and 400 farmers were landless.

What it brings to us is the 'High' probabilty of these following things ..

Cancer,
Diabeties,
Calcium defecincy in Bones and teeth.
Oxiophorousys
Obesity
Arthritis and 38 more Diseases or disorders.


Other than gifting us the more than 40 kinds of deadly dieases it leaks out money to pharmaceutical companies like Pfiser etc. A recent survey done in the entire country tell us that we spend around 2 Lakh crores of rupees annually alone on diseases that are directly caused by junk foods like Coke. Wondering what a bottle of coke can do to a country on a larger perspective. On a whole Cola bottle is costing us 2 lakh 15 thousand crores annually.


Choose your drink properly, switch to Fresh juices !!