Tag: Kuch Meetha

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Football Fever

For the present month, many of us have turned couch potatoes and no one’s complaining.
Reason:
Of course is the ongoing FIFA world cup matches.

We can safely watch these matches since India is not participating- safely because we need not fear spikes of blood pressure or irregular heart rhythms commonly experienced when watching the Indian team play cricket. A sore throat is a possible hazard for those watching at home as we join the thousands in the stadia in South Africa to cheer Messi or Ronaldo as they surge ahead towards the goal. Initially I was foxed with the persistent hum only to realise it was from the vuvuzela. This article and this one helpfully suggest ways to protect our ears from losing their powers…

The surprising factor is that women have sacrificed their usual serials in favour of these matches. Its not surprising to hear an over sixty-year old grandma discuss her favourite football star with her twenty something granddaughter!! Several ads now cast their product on a football background hoping to leverage this fever and boost sales. Does it work? Don’t know- you have to ask the marketing wizards for an answer…

Personally I love the ‘break-free’ 45-minute adrenalin-charged session as the footballers magically move the ball around the field. While many are extremely dexterous in gaining possession of the ball others often push, shove, pull, kick the opponent player in an at-times no-holds barred play. The referee runs in promptly to take care of any such incident flashing the yellow or dreaded red card. Each referee in the current event seems an extremely tough guy and able to see through if the player apparently writhing in pain is really hurt or not… Their gestures to get him back on his feet brook no argument.

I was surprised to see them pencil in punishments awarded in a small notebook. No fancy hand held gizmos Thank You! Obviously in such a fast paced game the human eye may not be able to keep with the motion which can create controversy if a goal was indeed a goal or not. FIFA is said to be averse to using technology saying ‘‘Errors should be a part of the game.’’

Read this article about a new high tech football that can actually sense if it has crossed into the goal!! Wow!

This has been a longer than usual post and I must stop lest your attention wanders. We have two more weeks of Football Fever to contend with so the dialogue can continue.
Cheers!

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New Kid on the Block


Puneites now have another choice for their dahi (curd) needs with Danone launching its Dahi in Pune. Now making (setting) dahi at home is something innate to every Maharashtrian household. Buying it was never an option other then when returning from a journey or due to sudden guests.
Yet come the retail revolution we are spoilt for choice. Danone’s dahi in Pune has illustrious company : dahi by Amul (Masti brand), Nestle, Britannia, Gowardhan (Go) in addition to local biggie Chitale Dairy. Of course one can buy dahi loose from the local mithai store but that is often extremely sour.

For those of you keen to know the hard money facts behind this dahi/doodh market, click here and here.

Here is a homemakers perspective on the brands mentioned above. I have not mentioned costs and they usually vary by a couple of rupees. For me the deciding factors are taste, texture and ofcourse if it can be ‘reused’ or not (to set another bowl at home..)

  • Amul Masti: neighbourhood kirana stores usually stock this brand instead of Nestle. The dahi is often sour and most importantly does not work as a starter to set your own dahi at home. Texture is good.

I was told that dahi is prepared commercially using ‘designer’ bacteria. These become inactive once the milk is set into curds hence useless as starters. This is also the reason why the dahi does not turn sour.

  • Nestle: has many options and all have ‘live’ culture. This means a spoonful of this dahi can be used to set a delicious bowl at home. All varieties including NesVita are firm in texture and almost always sweet, but not often stocked by kirana stores. It also offers a range of flavoured yoghurts that are from all accounts excellent.

Don’t know if its because of margins or distributor incentives or customer preferences…

  • Britannia: again with ‘live’ culture and usually sweet to taste. Not available freely. Texture and taste are good.
  • Go: a recent entrant but does not have a ‘live’ culture. Texture needs improvement as does taste. Freely available at kirana stores.
  • Danone: the new ‘kid’ on the block in Pune is actually an European dairy major. I am not an authority to predict its success in this market segment but I do know this dahi is a good product. It did not seem to have ‘live’ culture (I did put on my glasses to read the fine print the packaging but could not figure out!). Taste and texture were good. I have not seen many ads other than huge hoardings and posters at the point of purchase.

As for me, my vote goes to Nestle- any variant. Danone is a close second choice provided its freely available!!
Disclosures: other than hopes of my kirana stocking this brand, I have no interests in the company!!! This would save me the journey to a supermarket and parking hassles!!
Cheers!

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March on Tekdi


March was a month of hectic activity on our Tekdi. Instead of putting everything down in words, I have a few photos that will better convey developments on the Tekdi.

As the sleeping earth awoke (from whatever winter we have here) some trees burst into fluorescent shoots that always glittered as the caught the early morning sun. It was also time for others to shed whatever remaining green garb they wore as the reserve forest plantation took on a sad brown hue.

Man made or accidental fires raged in parts that often destroyed this dried up undergrowth and grass but often took along with it some healthy trees as well …

Some trees bloomed despite global warming or whatever is the latest ecological blip. Gliricidia (pink inflorescence- also called undir mari) spread their delicate fragrance. Yet another tree covered by delicate white blooms made a stark contrast to the brown landscape (I have yet to find out the name of this plant).
Like wise fruit of the Harandodi tree burst (see the first photo) spreading millions of seeds that created snowy cotton beds on the ground!

As the parched earth thirsted for water, morning walkers enthusiastically watered the trees using discarded plastic bottles. The forest department ensures (tries to) that cement water tanks specially built for this purpose are refilled regularly. To goad those who prefer to just walk past, many voluntary organisations and activists put up posters urging every one to do his/her bit. I have one photo of a sample poster but there are many more similar interesting ones put up on trees.

March on the Tekdi shows signs of hope.
People marching on the Tekdi all have a common aim- to stay fit and healthy and conserve this unique feature of our city.
Cheers!
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Natrang (again)

A few more observations to add to my previous post:

The author of the book on which the movie was based has been credited in the titles right at the start in a big font.

Once the movie ended, people rose to move out of the theatre but did not really walk out. Everyone waited to watch all the ‘rolling titles’ till the very end. Was it a fall out of the present controversy related to Chetan Bhagat’s book and the movie 3 Idiots? Cant say.

Cheers!

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Silicone Heaven

Being Christmas Day, I decided to investigate some stores that stocked baking items hoping to pick up some things that usually are hard to find or not available in Pune. I had some luck in that department but came across something different… Silicone
Silicone baking ware.
Yes apparently the stuff can be used to bake our cakes, muffins and so on in the oven and microwave.

Here is what I saw: the pans, tins, trays were completely flexible and were kept folded up on the shelf. That seemed to be a huge plus considering the space challenges in our kitchens. I came across this article on Kitchen Butterfly that gives you an in depth idea of what this stuff is, its pros and cons. There are several accompanying pictures so worth reading if you do plan to acquire these new age baking tins. Spatulas, pastry brushes made of silicone were also available. Cost wise the silicone bake ware was modestly costlier than the conventional stuff.

I still need to find out if using silicone to cook will harm our health in any way. And the environment. Once I get answers to these two questions, I may go in for these easy to clean, easy to store silicone bake ware.
Happy Christmas!

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Karanjee with a difference

Have successfully tried some variations to stuffing for Karanjee (also called Gujiya). For those keen for a different take on traditional recipes, consider this…

Instead of the usual stuffing of fresh grated coconut cooked with khoya and sugar, cook fresh grated coconut with milk and very little sugar. Cool and add gulkand. Mix well and proceed with rest of the recipe as usual.

Another variation is to stuff with Doodhi halwa (bottle gourd) or Gajar halwa. Ofcourse this means some additional effort but the final product is yummy! Use ready made doodhi halwa to save time.

Rainbow coloured Karanjee. For this: divide the dough into as many balls as the colours you want and colour each ball. Roll out each one separately. Then layer the coloured ‘rotis’ one over the other with a coat of cornflour mixed with ghee in between. Tightly roll the final stack and cut into rings. Roll out each ring and stuff and fry as usual. Work on the kitchen platform or a table top when rolling for best results.

Nobody said this was a simple process… But karanjees with colour streaked covering are great to showoff your cooking skills.

Bake instead of fry your karanjee. Set your oven to 200deg C and bake till golden. (you may need to tweak the temperature depending on your oven performance)

Found this link to Baked Anjir karanjees. Click here for the full recipe.

Keep an eye on the calories else you will pay the price for the next couple of months at least…

Wish you all a Happy, Safe and Healthy Divali.

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The story of Tulsi

Ganesh Chaturthi is an annual festival celebrated with equal fervour in homes and together at a community level.

21 types of leaves (Patri) are one of the various offerings to the Lord on this auspicious day.
Though Tulsi is considered to be a holy plant, Tulsi leaves are never offered to Ganapati except during the ‘pranpratishtha pooja’ on Ganesh Chaturthi day (to ‘breathe life into the idol’). There is an interesting story behind this. The following is the story available on the Shree Siddhivinayak Temple website….

Tulsi, the daughter of Dharmaraja. the God of righteousness, was roaming about in the world in ecstatic devotion to Lord Narayana, in her youthful days White thus going about, she came upon the banks of the sacred river Ganga. There she wandered into a serene ashram full of fragrant flowers and plants swaying in cool breeze. She saw Ganeshji, who was in the prime of his youth, beautifully dressed in yellow silks, and lost in deep contemplation on Lord Krishna. She was captivated by the beauty of Ganeshji, and entreated him to marry her.

Ganeshji turned down the proposal, saying that he was least interested in married life. Tulsi became angry and cursed Ganeshji saying : “You shall surely marry !”, whereupon Ganeshji also pronounced a counter—curse on her : “You too shall get married, but to an Asura, and thereafter you shall be cursed to be born as a plant by the wise men”. Realising her mistake, Tulsi pleaded for mercy, and extolled Ganeshji with divine hymns.

Ganeshji relented and said: “Though you shall be born as a plant, you will inherit the essence of all fragrance. All the gods will be happy with your fragrance, and Lord Hari will be specially glad to receive worship with your leaves. But you shall not be acceptable in the worship offered to me”. So saying, Ganeshji left that place and went to Badrikashram.

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Why swearing may be good for you…

Cut your hand/ stumbled on a stone and hurt your toe nail/ finger caught in the door hinge…
One usually swears whenever such accidents occur. Ever wondered why?

A study published in the journal NeuroReport by experts from the Keele University found that study participants who cursed freely were able to tolerate pain about 50% more than those who did not swear. Click here to read the full news. Though the exact link between swear words and pain relief was not found, researchers attributed the analgesic (pain relief) effect of ‘colourful’ language to the ‘fight-flight’ response it triggers in our body.

Keeping a ‘stiff upper lip’ while in pain may not be such a good idea after all…
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Amazing Heart recovery

Hannah Clark of England is thought to be the only person in the world in whom her failing heart sufficiently recovered so that the transplanted heart could be removed. Read the story here and here. Professor Magdi Yacoub of Imperial College London and Hannah’s doctor since the begining has co-authored a report about this miracle in the Lancet journal.

Hannah developed a type of cancer due to drugs given to prevent her body from rejecting the transplanted heart. As the doctors changed medication plans her body responded with her own heart healing and recovering.
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The Son Rise

While political analysts may have felt slightly deprived at the speed with which our new government was formed- they had a field day in speculating and counter speculating strategies, names and potential situations if the Congress ‘allies’ had decided to support the government from outside.

The dust has finally settled. With the second round of  swearing in India can now get back to business. 
While the exclusion of Rahul Gandhi in the cabinet did raise some questions, the Cabinet is well sprinkled with scions of political families. Sons, daughters and all manner of relatives that were political heirs have come into their own and landed ministerial appointments. 
In a country with a huge youth population, there are high hopes from the young ministers. They need to set the bar high and work towards it despite political, social or other pressures. This article talks of performance being the criteria. 
Many have questioned if we are a dynastic society. Does a constituency vote blindly for the progeny of the previous popular leader? Is pedigree all that matters? What about performance by the next gen?
Results across India would suggest as much which will explain why every such politician makes an extra effort to ‘nurse’ that region towards more growth. 
A sociologist would give us a better perspective on this. In the meantime,
the son has risen
there is hope on the horizon
a new day
a new beginning
time to start afresh…
Jai Hind!
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