Mint(pudhina)-Pepper(kali mirch) Spicy Hyderabadi Mutton curry

This dish tastes so good because it uses the theory of “confluence of too many spices or ingredients gives a ‘donot know what it tastes like’ “. Hence, donot use dhania or other spices just because you use it for other mutton curries.

Ingredients:

Mutton 1/2 kg(after removal of fat – so get around 650 gms) - Remove all fat from the mutton. Clean it thoroughly.

Onions – 3 medium sized; oil

8-12  full green chillies

8-10 garlic cloves and equal amount of ginger.

Mint leaves – 1 hand full leaves alone

1 TSP of pepper corns

1 TSP of salt

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Grind all ingredients into a paste and marinate mutton for an hour. While grinding – use just the required amount of water so that the grinder gets going.

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Now, visualise this mutton and smell it in your mind. pasting picture for easy visualisation process.

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1. Take a cooker and add 8 TBSP of oil or as required.  Add a medium cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 2 cardamom and 2 bay leaves and 1/2 tsp of shah jeera(cumin) seeds to spice up the oil.

2. Take the marinated mutton and fry for some time(5 mins).

3. Close the lid and wait for 15-20 minutes.

4. After 20 minutes put of the stove. Leave it for 5 minutes without opening the lid.

5. Open the lid - check the mutton if it is cooked or not by pressing the stick into the mutton, and fry for an extra couple of minutes to get the required thickness of gravy.

6. Lick a little of the gravy to see if it is right and spicy.  Enjoy !

Where do I buy stamp papers in Bangalore/bengaluru ?

Sad state of affairs at bengaluru. You only get stamp papers from State Bank of Mysore. So, go to their web site and look out for the branches which sell stamp papers.

They normally have fixed timings and Rs50 and Rs 100 are unavailable most of the times and the window to get the stamp papers is generally between 9am -11.30am- so get their early.

The branch in Majestic will however have all the stamp paepers but be prepared for the serpentine queues and long wait times before you can fill the challan and get your stamp paper.

Do not know why they have not started e-franking the stamp papers. It is a pity that in Bangalore everything is lethargic. High time authorities wake up. IG of stamp  & registration should do something to not waste so many peoples time. Wonder what he is doing in office - must be a very busy official saving the Universe ?

 “All sub-registrar offices allow for official endorsement, the alternative to stamp paper,” -Ha Ha Dont rely on this because they will guide you to another office. Any complaints? Contact the inspector general on 2210246 or email: igrcs@vsnk.net.

How to cut Jackfruit ?

Check if the white, gummy latex flows from the jackfruit stalk when the slightly underripe fruit is harvested.

You will need some cooking oil and a sharpened knife to cut the jack fruit. All through out make sure you donot lose focus. Else you will cut your fingers.

Make a cut at the centre and run the blade all along the jack fruit. The centre of the fruit is a bit tricky and you will need some strength to cut through. Split the jack fruit open. The ripe fruit is somewhat laxative. Clean the latex or gum from the centre using a stick. Roatate the stick and the gum will come off. This is important because it causes digestive ailments and diarrhea. It is the raw, unripe fruit that is astringent and indigestible. Mix the gum or latex with vinegar and you can heal a snake bite. Next remove the bulbs carefully by choping off the gum at the tip. The threads that are used for making chips can also be removed. Be extra careful with the knife.

Voila. You have cut your first jackfruit. Wasn’t that easy ? They say that each jackfruit tree produces 150 – 500 fruits annually and is useful during morning hangovers – “useful in overcoming the influence of alcohol on the system.”

World Environment Day!! — Go Green

Your Planet needs you  — UNite to combat Climate Change

Wondering what it is ?? — It is the theme for WED – 2009 …..  Read the rest HERE

World Environment Day is celebrated every year on 5 June in more than 100 countries. The theme for 2009 is climate change and the broader consequences of environmental change, and what societies can do in response.

Combating climate change and preserving ecosystems services that underpin our economies is an issue for everyone.

 Every individual’s efforts, no matter how small, can contribute to the sustainable development of our economies and communities around the world.

On this day, individuals, non-governmental organizations, community and youth groups, business, industry and the media organize activities such as clean-up campaigns, tree planting, colorful street rallies, green concerts, essay and photo competitions in schools, and recycling efforts to renew their commitments to protect and develop the environment.   

Being a ‘Namma Bengaluru’ person it aches me to be a witness to the disaster Bengaluru has plunged into. Once known as Garden City, Bengaluru has seen rampant loss of greenery in the name of development.

In recent times, India’s tech hub has lost around 50,000 trees, which were felled to widen roads choked with traffic, build flyovers at busy road intersections, road underpasses and now metro rail, states a report Environmental NGO

According to another report,  During the early 1990s, the city had less than 700,000 public vehicles plying on its roads daily.

By the end of 2004, the number had crossed 2.1 million and in the last four years two million more cars, three-wheelers and two wheelers have been added to the city roads.  

On an average, around 1,500 new vehicles come on to the city roads daily.

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) carries three million people – 48 percent of the city’s population – in its 5,000 buses every day. The BMTC buses constitute only one percent of the total vehicles in bengaluru

Oh well  ….. I  am not sitting here writing the reports  … It’s really pathetic … I need change …. Only thing I keep wondering is  ” Can I be the change I want “

Guys keep asking yourselves the same thing……. May be we can Save “Namma Bengaluru”  & any other city like this to ” Namma – Next generation ”

 

SEEK  the Change & BE the Change ….

Cheeriooo…….

 

 

Wife is always right !!!!!!!!!!**

To prove my point even the Indian supreme court has said it. read the news here. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Wife-is-always-right-says-SC/articleshow/4553002.cms

People – do not mess with women and their rights !!!!!! The women have arrived on this planet.

Some men having trouble with Indian laws and you can read it here: http://www.498a.org/ and http://mynation.net/ and all they did was fight with their wives.

Madras University Migration certificate

I recently went to get my migration certificate from Madras University, chepauk, Chennai. Here is the procedure to get yours without too much tension.

1. Get an application form from Public relation officer costs rs 25 from Univeristy of madras counter.

2. Fill the form with register number, details and attach Rs 100 Demand draft from a nationalised bank. After you get DD sign and write your register number and name on the back of the demand draft.

3. Attach copy of degree certificate, self addressed postage of RS 25 for speed post with your address written on the envelope.

4. Submit by registered post acknowledgement due or submit in university DD section for faster response. Use the address mentioned in the application form and also add controller of examinations along with Registrar like this -

To,

Registrar/Controller of examinations, University of Madras, Chepauk, Chennai -600005.

5. Wait for next 45 days and check your mail periodically.

6. If you have trouble getting your certificate, check with the tapal section or mail return section which is on the left side if your certificate has been undelivered. They will verify if they have received it.

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If you do not get your migration certificate – then you have a problem. If you are a BE student like me from eons go to certificate section on ground floor and submit your details. In an hour or 2 they will get back to you with a dispatch number and dispatch date.

Take the dispatch number and date to the university post office and ask them to give you the Speed post number.

Take the number and type in in http://www.indiapost.gov.in/

Make a complaint at http://www.indiapost.gov.in/Ccc/PCData.aspx and check your status with the complaint number you get after giving complaint at http://www.indiapost.gov.in/ccc/PCStatus.aspx if you face any problems.

You will know where your certificate is buried.

Another way to find out if the University is troubling you is to file an RTI seeking details of action taken report and escalating to meet the Assistant Registrar. If he refuses make a complaint on him through registered post to registrar. I was one of the victims you went around for more than 6-8 months checking with India Post et al. Most likely the university mail return section and certificate section play fraud and not the postal authorities. They donot want to digitise or make it electronic. University of madras has computers for only showcasing but all the paper work is done by entry into registers and they insist on a small bribe to get you your information which is there job. Hail the Red tape. Dont budge – make sure you donot pay and insist on status. If more people complain they will have to digitise and not make students run around. This is reality ! Donot know why they have to make so many entries. Wonder what the Registrar (University of Madras ) is doing ? He must be busy saving the world.

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In case all these fail – write an affidavit and get another form and submit for duplicate migration certificate with double the fees i.e RS 250 DD.

If that is lost then postal office lost letter or a  declaration of the certificate to the effect that the original Migration Certificate issued to the candidate has been lost irrecoverably and that it has not been utilized for the purpose for which it was issued may also be accompanied by the application.Difference between Transfer certificate and Migration certificate and why colleges require at time of admission?

(a) Migration certificate* is from the University last attended indicating that he has passed qualifying examination from another University.

Transfer certificate is required/waivable by college against students dues to college, conduct, community, caste details etc.,See below what it really means.

(a) leaving or transfer certificate signed by the Principal of the College or equivalent authority of the University last attended and certifying to the satisfactory conduct of the student mentioning the highest examination he/she has passed, and:
(b) a certified copy of all the entries against his name in the enrollment register of University if such a copy is obtainable.

 Good luck and donate some money to charity for this information.

Leader!! — Again Not by me!!

It goes without saying that good leadership is crucial to any successful business. But, what makes a good leader and how can someone develop himself or herself into a good leader if they are not one to begin with? The answer is that there are many factors that contribute to good leadership. And, whether someone is naturally a good leader or not, anyone can become a good leader.

GET TALKING

One of those factors of good leadership is communication. Communication is one of the most key elements of leadership. Good communication skills need to be learned to effectively become a good leader or manager. When communication occurs, as a leader, you will be able to accurately convey your ideas and thoughts to those that work for you. In fact, simply being able to convey these things in the first place, much less accurately, puts you in the right direction for leadership. If employees have no idea what is on your mind, your leadership is going to falter. Employees are not typically mind readers.

If there is a problem a certain employee is experiencing, good communication can filter the problem out. You, as a leader, can dissect the problem and offer solutions in various ways.

Ideas that are given to employees work both ways, as well. Employees can give helpful feedback and generate new ideas to you that help the company as well, when good communication is present.

GET THINGS MOVING

Motivation is another variable that plays into good leadership. Employees tend to stagnate when motivation decreases…and it will decrease, without proper motivation. Many leaders try to motivate the old-fashioned way…through fear. (Do what I say or something bad will happen) This is not advisable, since it tends to only deliver short-term results and cause even less competent work in the long run, due to resentment resulting from the fear tactics.

Instead, try adding challenges for employees. A fresh challenge always adds excitement and spawns creativity. Challenge your employees with tasks that may be slightly out of their range and let them at it! This increases motivation.

If they run into a snag, guide them towards a solution but don’t offer the actual solution outright. Coach them into discovering the solution themselves. Once they have, their self-esteem will rise, thereby raising their motivation level.

TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

Teamwork is always something to consider when striving to become a good leader. This means not only teaching your employees to work together but to become part of the team yourself.

Use others’ potential. Many times, employees’ potential is wasted. A good leader recognizes that his or her employees are more than just employees, they are people too. These people have lives outside of work where they have to make decisions on a daily basis, from how to deal with house payments, to car bills, to raising children, to uncountable tasks in everyday lives. Yet, at work, their decision making skills are not trusted enough to choose what type of toner needs to be ordered for a set of printers.

The point here is that employees need to be trusted to do more. A good leader doesn’t manage every single detail. Use others’ potential to your benefit. You will find that you have become a better leader for it.

BACK TO SCHOOL

As always, increasing your education is definitely a good thing when trying to improve leadership, but the school that really needs to be brought at attention here is the kind of school that you don’t get a degree for.

Take the time to learn as much about your position of being a leader as possible. Do some reading at the nearest bookstore. Talk to other leaders and see how they do things; trade notes. The more you continually evaluate yourself and your practices and search for as much information on leadership as possible, the more you will be able to keep up with changing times and the better leader you will be for it.

I surely dont think I am one……… Now R U The one  ???? … Ask yourself…..

 

Do let me know!!

 

  Cheerio

Gone with the wind!! ……. It kept adding the courage to Live!!

Margret  Mitchell is a great author …… This was the only novel  published during her lifetime, and it took her ten years to write it. This novel won her Pulitzer Prize in 1937 … supposed to have sold more copies than any other book except Bible….. close to 30 million copies sold….

The book was almost titled quoting the end line,  “Tomorrow is another day”; but the publisher at the time noted there were several books close to the same title, so Margret was asked to find another title that became, ” Gone with the Wind “, which again is a monologue in the book where the main characters wonders … if her home was also had ” gone with the wind which had swept through Georgia” ….  but finds that her home stood as tall her courage.

With such an accolade, movie based on this book should be equally worthy and that’s what is ” Gone with the Wind “  for you….. really a long movie almost 3 hrs 45 mins of your day if you are set to watch ……. nonetheless  not a movie to miss.

It has lot more feathers to add to its cap …..  Read about the awards galore here —- Awards

Movie is a Romantic drama set during  American Civil War & its Reconstruction  … Movie opens in to the opulent back drop of cotton plantaion & the idyllic life of the rich & wealthy with parties and gossip .

The strory is woven around the protagonist Scarlett O’Hara who is charm  personified … but as the movies rolls you can clearly see she is epitome of solid mental strength and she tries her best not to be a weakling while batling through life….

As most of Love stories the plot unwinds with strong emotions like treachery, jealousy , conceit ,deciet,  infidelity , betrayal, passion …….. at the same time it also brings the naked macabre scenes of gruesome death and blood of wartime tyranny and the compassionate selfless help that was expected of people… best part, how the royalty coped with it….

Scarlett an vivacious spirit infatuated with a man  [ Who is deeply in love with another girl ] tries to snatch him with her wiked charm…… and just to begrudge him gets married to another friend….. loses him at war time and tries to find every reason to dance & party unable to cope up with widowhood…..Looks after a girl she despised during war… becomes a volunteer to serve wounded soldiers…. when the  war  drains her she longs to go home…. and wishes her home ‘ Tara’ is not  burnt down in the fire of the yankee war…

She sets on a long journey saving a young mother with the infant to her home  to be greeted by the barren land and what is left of home from the fury of the  war …. with most of the slaves gone… Mother dead… father demented… sisters sick with typhoid….. she puts her heart and soul to make home a place to live for for all f them….. she tries to desperately profess her love again… but realises she has lost it now because of the baby …… To save her home from taxes she also proposes to become mistress… But eventually cons her sisrer’s fiancee to marry her and gets hold of the business he was running & makes it more profitable…….. Loses this husband also in an mishap…..

Finally Settles down with a man she begrudgingly acknowledges for wealth & passion ……. Life seems all good as the husband lets her have the best of everything … her home Tara put back into life… has a beautiful child .. great society life again……

For once her husband will be the best one any girl could wish for … but for their own confusions in the past, both can not openly declare the true love and keep daring each other…. She loses her child and the husband grief stricken by the loss … blinded by the doubt he has always on her old flame….. Leaves her for ever without caring the love she confesses ll along leaving Scarlett alone again … in her life that she Resorts to her original strength ……… her Home TARA…..  Hoping Tomorrow would b another day… that would get her love back!!!

 

A great movie ….. I could not tear my eyes off the screen all along…. You bet worth your time!!!

Cheerio………..

Nutty affair — Almonds the best of all..

Well well … holidays…. all you should think about is   eat .. sleep …rest!! and Why not ??

So you can not blame me if I am thinking food all along!! Now almonds have caught my fancy!! Just because its the best nut of all…. ‘King’ of the nutty kingdom!!

Thanks to those Persian / Afghan traders we are enjoying Almonds today.. It is looked upon as the power house of energy!! and also used as the brain food… It is still considered as a delicacy… cherished  gift best of all a great munchie!!

Almonds are of 2 varieties Sweet  &  Bitter…… Sweet ones govern the food you cook… &  Bitter ones become a part of perfumes / syrups…

Almond butter is the best way you can use them… hmmmmm… yummy!! They have 20% protien.. close to 55 % fat!! Shocked ??  Dont be …. its Good Fat…. that adds glow to Skin / Hair / Nails….. Half beauty parlour

It also has great fibre content that gives  the fullness of a food with good nutrient density….

Best to have Almonds as the first food of the day… Pre- soaked can help maintain the blood sugar level constant throughout the day….. 

Make sure Almonds are fresh … while consuming … avoid the sugary/ salty varieties…. Avoid with meals also as they are high in calories….

Totally Nuts Am I??? Yup… if you can find healthy / supple / beautiful body … why not Fall in love with this Nut with healing touch!! you will never regret..

 

Cheeriooo

Red means Go!! Jolly Go?? — Reality on “Red Meat”

Surprised?? Yeah that’s  exactly  how I felt when I read about it  too….

Red meat !! getting out of ‘ Bad Boy ‘ reputation?? hmmm isn’t that a relief??you can devour on a lot of things …

 But ..

Of course little caution has to be maintained … that the cuts are lean/fat trimmed/moderate serving sizes… now that’s certainly not a tall order! what say??  

Oh Boy am I going to enjoy my Mutton Biriyani more now???…. Oh Yeah…  you bet!!

So what’s the factsheet?? Here you go!!

* Lean & fat trimmed meat is low in sturated fat.

* Lean red meat can lower blood pressure.

* Lean  meat contributes the same amount of Omega-3 fatty acids as Fish!

* Higher protien diet including lean meat is valid option for people trying to lose weight!

* Its been adviced not to take more than 500 g of lean meat / week and ofcourse avoid pocessed meat like Ham / Bacon/Salami/Frankfurt etc.

* Its also said that one needs to cut back on purine rich foods like Organ meats/Shellfish/Sardines  as they increase Uric acid levels…

 

So what are you waiting for?? Let the guilt rest gorge on Red meat!! I am anyway on my way to Biriyani House

Cheerioooooooooo