Fish curry from God's own country.

So the usual Sunday came by and I stepped into church. The service was on and Uncle came hurriedly to me, as though waiting for me to break the news. "Mr. X passed away", he said, "The whole state is mourning.." and I was like, "who is Mr. X?", of-course in my mind.

I tried feigning sympathy, but in the back of my mind things were like, "Do I know him?".. I racked through my entire brain and concluded "No!" So much for nativity, it seems like the only trace of nativity I share is with food (I know, shame on me! But if its of any assuage, I did go home and throughly read about Mr. X. I didn't know him when he was alive, at least I know of him after he passed away. May his soul rest in peace. Amen!)

Talking of food and nativity here is a dish my grandma taught me. Fish curry, yes the very same red fish curry. The first step is to clean the fish and cut it into small pieces. Then wash the fish with rock salt and water. Marinate it with a pinch of turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander powder( Ration of 2:1). Add chopped garlic, ginger and curry leaves and enough water to cover the fish.

Meanwhile soak some tamarind in water, the one you get in Kerala, that looks like khokum. Fish tastes best when cooked in an earthen vessel and with coconut oil. Cook the fish in its marinade until it boils on a low flame. Then add the soaked tamarind(khokum) and let it cook for a few minutes.

In another khadai, pour some coconut oil and add fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds and jeera when the oil becomes hot. Once the mustard seeds start splattering add finely chopped onions, ginger and garlic and sauté until golden. Then add a few curry leaves and let them cook. Pour this seasoning into the fish once the fish is cooked. Let the fish cook for a few minutes with the seasoning, add salt as required and turn off the stove.

Delicious red fish curry is ready to be savored. After a few hours you can removed the tamarind(khokum) so as to retain the right proportion of its taste. Fish curry back home is had with cooked tappioca or with rice. The spicier the fish the richer the taste, of-course there is threshold to the amount of spice I can have though! In any case here is to the fish curry that is so unique in taste.

As the debate rolls....

So the big debate during this economic crisis is about whom to sack and whom not, whom to protect and whom not ? A year or two ago, everyone seemed to be very proud of the fact that the world was becoming a smaller place and there seemed to be loads of scope for outsourcing and hiring cheap labor and hence devoting more funds into research and development and maybe big fat paychecks for people higher above.

Today things seem to be rather different, its the debate of whether a Native is losing his job to the Foreigner ? So while the big shots fight it out on how to please the native workers and save on money with cheap yet efficient and skilled labor in this hour of economic crisis, there seem to be quite a few like me, wondering where things are heading ?

Nevertheless I am enjoying the political debate about the iron curtain due to a protectionist attitude and wondering maybe the middle east seems a good place, Iran just went one step ahead in the Space race with its latest homegrown satellite launch, atleast someone has reason to rejoice.

Well maybe I should just confine myself to local chakli fights and devouring Indian sweets or maybe I should just analyze the economic crisis in detail, would make a good phd topic I think...sigh!!! Our local FC ENTS team has a game today and my support and solidarity is with the team... Go FCENTS Go...you can beat them....

Snowfall and the recession...

So Londons hit by the worst snowfall in 18 years and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. With recession looming around, London doesn't have the money/equipment to take care of this sudden downpour of snow and the welcome snow for the kid down-the-block has caused a huge economic loss for London, with flights being canceled at Heathrow one of the busiest airports in the world and work being affected.

So who is to blame? Is it Lady lucks fault or is it the Mayors fault ? The Mayor had a valid point, for a place like London where snowfall is very rare it doesn't seem viable to invest on equipment to tackle the snow and as a result the whole public transportation has come to a grinding halt...hmmm interesting...a holiday just when you needed it...or one just when u didn't need it ??

As for me...am still deciding...who's fault lady luck or mine ?? Well there are loads of Indian goodies that came my way and instead of relishing it am back to my fruit diet. But you got to do, what you have to do, when you need to...(shrugging shoulders).... :).

Paneer Butter Masala

Indian food or any food for that matter is quite emotionally comforting is what I have discovered. Especially in the current environment, when bankruptcy looms about you, when recession seems to be the buzz word and when your jobs hanging precariously on a few strands, there nothing like a good home made meal to lift your spirits.

So here is how I cooked up a comfort meal for my friends at Natgeo.

Ingredients –

Paneer (Cottage cheese) - 1 Slab
Onions - 4
Tomato puree – ½ a can
Cashew nut paste – 2 tablespoons
Coriander powder – 2 tablespoons
Red chilli powder – 1 tablespoon
Turmeric power – ¼ tablespoon
Cumin powder – ¼ tablespoon
Salt to taste
Ginger garlic paste – 2 table spoons
Garam Masala – 1 tablespoon
Butter – 2 tablespoons
Oil as per required
Cream – ¼ cup


Dice the paneer into small cubes and fry them in oil until they are golden brown. Keep the fried paneer aside. Now blend the onions into a fine paste and keep this ready.

In a frying pan add the butter and oil as per required. Once the butter has melted add the onion paste and the ginger garlic paste, sauté this mixture until it turns light brown. Make a paste with all the powders and add this paste to the sautéed onion mixture, let this fry for about two minutes until the masala is cooked. Now add the tomato puree and the cashew nut paste and slightly toss it, add water as required so as to form a smooth sauce. Now add salt to taste and let this sauce boil. Once it starts boiling add the fried paneer to it and let it simmer on a low flame for a few minutes.

I made a variation of this by adding pre boiled potatoes and peas along with the paneer.

Add cream to this and stir gently. Delicious paneer butter masala is now ready.

Maryland Madness..

Maryland is one of the schools you got to experience at least for the sporting activities. Tonight was Maryland Madness, the day they introduce the Mens basket ball team and the Womens basket ball team for the year.

A day when the gymkhana troupe, the competition cheer group and the spirit group perform and what performances, mind blowing something I am so happy I got to experience.

They have some stupendous performances, great displays of flexible bodies being tossed in the air, with absolute synchronization and co-ordination that is truly worth a standing ovation.

A grand entry of the respective teams and their coaches. It spreads an aura of pride and sense of respect and a feeling of admiration for such a great school and such a great sports facility.

So for all of you considering a school, I would definitely vote for Maryland, we Terps rock anyday!

Letz go Maryland! Letz go.... letz go...

The gymkhana teams performance -

Part 2



Competitive Cheer Team



Spirit Squad

Ash's kitchen

Headed out up North for this weekend to meet Srill's friends and other than Kitty, they were all new to me. This was an invitation I couldn't resist, always wanted to be there and when given a chance I just couldn't turn it down.

So here I go, absolutely shamelessly, I know, to Ash's house. Maybe its the being far away from home thingie, where you kind of get used to welcoming yourself to hardly known peoples houses, like you knew them from ages.

Pretty used to that now, its like any one from you country, north/south, are all part of your big family. Love that feeling actually!

The trip was short and sweet a time for Srill to catch up on her good old DSC days, that took me to mine too, just that its been way too long since I caught up with anyone.

A time where we got to know that gates at Atlanta airport changed by the minute and so does your probability of missing your flight.

A taste of the Hilton, am so guilty of this, still am, I dont know why, maybe because my hands are tied. I dont know who to help and how to help especially when I know they have time unlike a few other unlucky souls.

A time when Ash's kitchen never ceased to produce all the homely food I could ever get in the US of A. I was so glad Ash made curd rice. Its been a long time since I had curd rice the proper one with tadka.

I love curd rice, the one with pomegranate and grapes in it and creamy creamy curd and mustard seeds.

For the tadka, you need to heat a little oil and to it add a little bit of mustard, chana and urad dal seeds. Let it splutter then add the red chillies, a little bit of chopped onions, green chillies, garlic and ginger. Lightly saute the onions till they turn golden brown.

Mix the boiled rice with curd and little milk and add the pomegranate and grapes to it. Once you have mixed it add the tadka, a little bit of salt and mix well, then garnish it with chopped coriander and voila you have yummy curd rice ready.

This reminds me of picnics, when ever we went on family picnics we always had curd rice without fail. Those were the days....

A tribute to working Moms :)...

I wonder whether MBA case studies include stories of house management. I think one of the best places to learn the tricks of management is at home something that our Moms have been mastering day in and day out especially if they are working Moms.

There are different forms of management displayed at home, the simplest being managing your own house and the most difficult being managing a house where you are actually sharing the roof with different individuals.

If you are a house wife then that is the simplest form of house management, the house is run at your own wish and command and you are your own boss and you are the person you need to manage, with maybe a little help from your spouse and kids and maybe your in-laws and so on.

But with the nuclear family scenario being the new fad, its mostly you, and your little nuclear family.

The next is being a working Mom, I really wonder how working Moms manage their house. Its so much simpler here as most of the things are pre processed and buying, stocking, cleaning etc are really easy tasks.

But back home things are not this simple, so its really a challenge to manage your house, take care of your kids, manage your work environment and handle your family life in general. Its really marvelous how they manage it.

Kudos to you guys for having been through all that trouble and for having done such a wonderful job of getting where you are today despite the troubles and hurdles life poses. A special thanks to my Mom and what better day could I have chosen.

The third is the scenario I am in right now, living away from home. After having been pampered at home, after having played the kiddo role at home, with Mom/Dad being there to do everything, I am standing in this place far away from home, where I have to do all these mundane routine house management tasks alone.

The challenge is in getting the groove going when you are actually sharing the place with different individuals. Each person has their own way of doing things, each person has a different upbringing, each person has their own priorities and each person has a different way of managing things at home.

It is especially difficult when people are new to the 'do it your self' life style. For some reason unkown to me, back home every household has a servant so every child is so used to having the servant take care of most of these day to day chores that it is very difficul for them to adapt to the 'do it your self' life style.

So well how do you actually work on the 'keep the house you stay in tidy' moto when your dealing with people who have hardly done all this back home. Challenging isnt it? Pretty much a scenario where you are in charge of a team and the people under you are reluctant to work.

Now you dont want to boss around anyone and break anyone's heart and at the same time it doesnt seem fair that you do all the work, does it? So how do you get people to do the work they are supposed to do? That is what managing people is all about isnt it ?

So well there you go, I proved my point that one of the best places for learning how to manage people is right here at home :).