Ebenezer Scrooge of Charles Dickens famous novel of 1843 Christmas Carol comes to my mind whenever i think about my tryst with english prose in my school years . That character became so ingrained in literature that his last name has become the english byword for miserliness and misanthropy .
I dont know whether there were so many Scrooges in Dickens time but at least i see many Scrooges in these times . Seemingly its not a vice by itself ---afterall we need money to survive . After air and water , money is a necessity . But how much money is required for a person ? A very debatable issue . Studies in the United States have shown that beyond a reasonable income covering the basic expenses and some savings there is no correlation at all between more money and happiness .For example a person earning $ 30000 and $ 300000 is not ten times or even doubly happier . It is found that loving relationships are correlated with greater happiness in all the research studies.
Does this love(greed ) for money and loving relationships go hand-in-hand ? No . The negative correlation is obvious but the reasons are not that obvious .
One of the most obnoxious practices i have observed in some of the "nuclear" households is the great reluctance in sharing their food with others . By some primitive economic calculation they assume that by not giving food to their guest or restricting the amount of food prepared each day they cumulatively accumulate a lot of money . But food sharing being one of the fundamental trait of human social bonding is circumvented and these same people after years voice why they are unloved and why no one "is there " for them .
Both my grandparents house were always full of people and anyone who came be it relative , friend or beggar never went on empty stomach back . They were joint families and both the households were rich . But it was not the richness which made them share the food with all the guests but their rich attitude . This was in early 80s ...
Fast forward to 2000s ...... Nuclear family , internet , the era of Dominos and KFCs . But one thing still remained the same ... Food is an integral part of human interaction and social bonding. And on a primal level it is still an integral element of survival .
But these two decades have made a vast change in human mentality ... consumerism and self centredness creeped in , by iteslf not an evil , but not an asset nonetheless . These days i find two kinds of households. One is where whenever you go at whatever time you are invited to partake of thier food and they have no restrictions on the amount of food you consume . In other households there is a great reluctance in offering food as if each morsel is a gold coin . And interestingly this attitude is not towards me alone . On observation this behaviour is reported by all the guests to those households . Though not done a statistical study i have observed that the former households "spendthrifts " get back more than they asked for . People visit them often , they are showered with gifts ( you tell me which brings you greater joy ---- buying a 5000 rs fishing rod or 15000 rs mobile or getting the same as a gift from a close relative or friend ?) and though there is no love -o -meter most people speak in very loving terms regarding them . And the latter households --what about them ..... Yes they are visited less often (saving their bills on food ) , they have noone other than their nuclear counterparts when any need arises and they buy their goodies themselves .
So whats the whole point in this ?? Both these households are living ...whats my problem ....The problem is : They complain that they are unloved without reason and Im speechless for a second .
And my answer to them is .... read Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and pray that they understand
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Hungry in Zamorins land ---Calicut hotels
You can be hungry in the Sahara , thirsty in the Atacama desert but one place you shouldnt starve is ......Calicut ... The land of Zamorin Kings .....Strictly speaking the cuisine of present day Calicut is not the Zamorin Kings cuisine ,. But that is ok ... for its a great cuisine of its own " the malabar cuisine " . I personally like good vegeterian food as well as non-vegeterian food . But in Calicut the AUTO mode in my stomach goes into non vegeterian and the settings are set by theMalabar cuisine which is 99 percent nonvegeterian unless you count the sweets as vegeterian ... So here it goes
Paragon Hotel ... Seafood, Biriyani , you name it you get it in paragon around 100 metres from the famous mananchira maidan ( ground) . Be it the prawns masala or the "Ayakkoora " fry ( claims to be the sister of the Nemmeen (seerfish ) available in South Kerala )) their fish items are good each one better than the rest . Which to choose ? Dont ask me choose all:) . Their biriyani is good but i feel not as classy compared to their seafood curries or masala with any of the main dishes --parotta or idiyappam or appam . And please ... please dont try to be a chinese here ordering fried rice at paragon ( though avialable ) . This is a Malabari hotel and stick to your malabari dishes
Sagar ............hotel ... its near the bus stand ....When i was a tutor in Calicut Medical College when i came back from trivandrum first thing in the morning is i used to go to Sagar hotel for tea . And coming from South Kerala i was shocked to see people having Hot Ayakkoora curry and Appam at 7 am . Used to dosa iddali etc in the morning eating a FULL breakfast of hardcore nonveg food early in morning was unthinkable . Then slowly i too started to have this combination from Sagar Hotel . (but not at 7 am ) . Yes their Ayakkoora curry is too good ..... best in town . And the competing dish is their Biriyani ... i dont know whether the best in town but i like it the best ....And here also a word of caution ... dont be a chinese here (i think all these malabari hotels have a chinese connection due to it being a seaport with trade to China ((my view : no references))
Al Bake .....Arabian food ... authentic minus the belly dancers ., their broasted chicken which is prepared in a special imported device ( something like a cooker ... but more sophisticated ) . The chicken which goes inside comes out with a personality of its own called Broasted Chicken .And you have it with Kuboos ( yes the same one which u get in middleeast ) .The other specialities are Shawarma , Shaway chicken , kapsa rice etc and their milkshakes are worth every dinar ....And my personal comment is their arabian food is better than the arabian food i had in the middleeast .
Zains Restaurant (near the beach ) .........Zainu thatha .... and her husband Hmmm ... In malabar it is ladies first ... seriously ... if in doubt check the restaurant name ...This restaurant is really ethnic .... So you may like it best sometimes .... All the malabari goodies which are not available in other hotels are available here ... Arikkkadukka ... Its seafood mussel which is baked with pulverised rice served inside the shell of mussel . is delicious . And unnakkaiii ...a sweet dish made with eggs and banana but which looks much different from both its parents is good . These are the starters ... If you are lucky and in the right time you will get muttamaala called garland of egg which is a 1 mm thick fried with sugar dish made only from egg yolk ( cholesterol yes .....rich ...health conscious beware )
Main food you have all the seafood (take ur pick) or Mutton Estew with aripathiri ... my favourite .
tender mutton stew with a soft chappathi like thing made of rice ....but leagues away from chappathi .
( You can challenge anyone that u can eat 20 of these ...... they r so soft when mixed with milk of coconut ) . And dont challenge me .... i can eat 40 if im really starving ...
Ok .... so you have had a sumptuous food from any or all of the above ... then what to do .... ? If you read carefully .... i gave you two landmarks .... the choice is urs ..... The Calicut beach which is historic or the Mananchira Maidan (equally historic ) ....
And please say thanks to me as a comment ...
Paragon Hotel ... Seafood, Biriyani , you name it you get it in paragon around 100 metres from the famous mananchira maidan ( ground) . Be it the prawns masala or the "Ayakkoora " fry ( claims to be the sister of the Nemmeen (seerfish ) available in South Kerala )) their fish items are good each one better than the rest . Which to choose ? Dont ask me choose all:) . Their biriyani is good but i feel not as classy compared to their seafood curries or masala with any of the main dishes --parotta or idiyappam or appam . And please ... please dont try to be a chinese here ordering fried rice at paragon ( though avialable ) . This is a Malabari hotel and stick to your malabari dishes
Sagar ............hotel ... its near the bus stand ....When i was a tutor in Calicut Medical College when i came back from trivandrum first thing in the morning is i used to go to Sagar hotel for tea . And coming from South Kerala i was shocked to see people having Hot Ayakkoora curry and Appam at 7 am . Used to dosa iddali etc in the morning eating a FULL breakfast of hardcore nonveg food early in morning was unthinkable . Then slowly i too started to have this combination from Sagar Hotel . (but not at 7 am ) . Yes their Ayakkoora curry is too good ..... best in town . And the competing dish is their Biriyani ... i dont know whether the best in town but i like it the best ....And here also a word of caution ... dont be a chinese here (i think all these malabari hotels have a chinese connection due to it being a seaport with trade to China ((my view : no references))
Al Bake .....Arabian food ... authentic minus the belly dancers ., their broasted chicken which is prepared in a special imported device ( something like a cooker ... but more sophisticated ) . The chicken which goes inside comes out with a personality of its own called Broasted Chicken .And you have it with Kuboos ( yes the same one which u get in middleeast ) .The other specialities are Shawarma , Shaway chicken , kapsa rice etc and their milkshakes are worth every dinar ....And my personal comment is their arabian food is better than the arabian food i had in the middleeast .
Zains Restaurant (near the beach ) .........Zainu thatha .... and her husband Hmmm ... In malabar it is ladies first ... seriously ... if in doubt check the restaurant name ...This restaurant is really ethnic .... So you may like it best sometimes .... All the malabari goodies which are not available in other hotels are available here ... Arikkkadukka ... Its seafood mussel which is baked with pulverised rice served inside the shell of mussel . is delicious . And unnakkaiii ...a sweet dish made with eggs and banana but which looks much different from both its parents is good . These are the starters ... If you are lucky and in the right time you will get muttamaala called garland of egg which is a 1 mm thick fried with sugar dish made only from egg yolk ( cholesterol yes .....rich ...health conscious beware )
Main food you have all the seafood (take ur pick) or Mutton Estew with aripathiri ... my favourite .
tender mutton stew with a soft chappathi like thing made of rice ....but leagues away from chappathi .
( You can challenge anyone that u can eat 20 of these ...... they r so soft when mixed with milk of coconut ) . And dont challenge me .... i can eat 40 if im really starving ...
Ok .... so you have had a sumptuous food from any or all of the above ... then what to do .... ? If you read carefully .... i gave you two landmarks .... the choice is urs ..... The Calicut beach which is historic or the Mananchira Maidan (equally historic ) ....
And please say thanks to me as a comment ...
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Some good places to eat in india
Food is a priority for our family ----Marikar family . Ask anyone from our family the address of so and so person the reply comes always .....Mr X lives 50 metres from eating joint one , or if you cant find that two blocks away from this pani puri joint etc .
So continuing the legacy i felt to list some of the eating places i found worth a visit . They have been visited by me personally and i found the food great, but no guarantees (food taste like beauty is personal to some extent ) . But my job today is to show you the places where you find the beauties ... sorry good food .
MUMBAI
-Yoko sizzlers ....Andheri ,Bandra . They serve very good steaks and sizzlers and their pepper steak is yummy . There is almost always a waiting involved (indirectly shows the demand ) . With the variety of sauces and assorted boiled vegetables you dont need anything else if you are a meat lover . And yes it should be washed down with lemon icetea . Why lemon ? I think it blends with the strong flavour of the pepper steak much better than the peach ice tea . And what else is good there ...they have chicken sizzler ., even vegetable sizzler . But my advice is go there if you are a hardcore meat lover . per person cost approx rs 400
Urban Thadka -------Versova -----Hey --- Do you want to have proper north indian food in mumbai exactly punjabi food with the ambience of punjabi village . The restaurant has the ambience with all the punjabi village items like their traditional cooking implements , cot where they lazily sip their cold lassies etc .....The food is awesome and goes along with the ambience ....rich curries from dhal makhani , mixed vegetable , butter chicken all has the best ingredients . I didnt see their kitchen but the taste shows that they have put the best ingredients . (compared with the ? butter + chicken available ubiquitously all over india ) . Their butter naans are good . The desert of fresh jalebis and rabdi combination is a must have . Vegeterians equally welcome here ...unlike the yokos
per person cost approx 300
Only parattas ----link road ---bandra ----going to eat only parattas for dinner .. Visit the place if you are interested only in parathas .....boring ??? Never .... they have at least 50 varieties of parattas and you have to see how they serve it . For once you feel paratta is the main dish and its so tasty that no sidedish is needed . Why you need sidedish when they are stuffed with aloo, methi or ... all the tastiest ingredients . And of course there is channa and even the onions they serve with it r delicious .
per person cost approx 200
Mainland China ----Andheri ----west . Yes , with an authentic chinese cook and the decoration oriental style and the smell of soya sauce this place is "proper " chinese in india as far as it can get. The next option is to cross the great wall and go to china proper . Have tried their noodles and fried rice as well as the usual soups (hot and sour , wonton etc) . all are great .
per person cost approx 500.
So continuing the legacy i felt to list some of the eating places i found worth a visit . They have been visited by me personally and i found the food great, but no guarantees (food taste like beauty is personal to some extent ) . But my job today is to show you the places where you find the beauties ... sorry good food .
MUMBAI
-Yoko sizzlers ....Andheri ,Bandra . They serve very good steaks and sizzlers and their pepper steak is yummy . There is almost always a waiting involved (indirectly shows the demand ) . With the variety of sauces and assorted boiled vegetables you dont need anything else if you are a meat lover . And yes it should be washed down with lemon icetea . Why lemon ? I think it blends with the strong flavour of the pepper steak much better than the peach ice tea . And what else is good there ...they have chicken sizzler ., even vegetable sizzler . But my advice is go there if you are a hardcore meat lover . per person cost approx rs 400
Urban Thadka -------Versova -----Hey --- Do you want to have proper north indian food in mumbai exactly punjabi food with the ambience of punjabi village . The restaurant has the ambience with all the punjabi village items like their traditional cooking implements , cot where they lazily sip their cold lassies etc .....The food is awesome and goes along with the ambience ....rich curries from dhal makhani , mixed vegetable , butter chicken all has the best ingredients . I didnt see their kitchen but the taste shows that they have put the best ingredients . (compared with the ? butter + chicken available ubiquitously all over india ) . Their butter naans are good . The desert of fresh jalebis and rabdi combination is a must have . Vegeterians equally welcome here ...unlike the yokos
per person cost approx 300
Only parattas ----link road ---bandra ----going to eat only parattas for dinner .. Visit the place if you are interested only in parathas .....boring ??? Never .... they have at least 50 varieties of parattas and you have to see how they serve it . For once you feel paratta is the main dish and its so tasty that no sidedish is needed . Why you need sidedish when they are stuffed with aloo, methi or ... all the tastiest ingredients . And of course there is channa and even the onions they serve with it r delicious .
per person cost approx 200
Mainland China ----Andheri ----west . Yes , with an authentic chinese cook and the decoration oriental style and the smell of soya sauce this place is "proper " chinese in india as far as it can get. The next option is to cross the great wall and go to china proper . Have tried their noodles and fried rice as well as the usual soups (hot and sour , wonton etc) . all are great .
per person cost approx 500.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
prawns recipe
Prawns Nariyalwala
To serve 4 Time 20 mts
Ingredients
Prawns - 1/2 kg
Turmeric powder - 1 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 2 tablespoons
Salt - 1 tablespon
Kodampuli (Kerala tamarind) - 2 pieces
Tomato paste - 1 packet
Bombay onion - 2 large
Coconut milk - 1 glass
Water - 1 glass
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Method
Remove shell from prawns, wash it and put turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt on it and keep for half an hour.
In a pan saute the onions for 5 mts in low fire and then add the tomato paste and other ingredients. Mix well.
Add the prawns and coconut milk and water. Keep in low fire for approx 20 mts. Stir occasionally. Take out from fire and serve immediately.
Serve with kuboos or chappathi or parotta.
p.s : please try it and comment ....check out this blog for more recipes soon
To serve 4 Time 20 mts
Ingredients
Prawns - 1/2 kg
Turmeric powder - 1 tablespoon
Chilli powder - 2 tablespoons
Salt - 1 tablespon
Kodampuli (Kerala tamarind) - 2 pieces
Tomato paste - 1 packet
Bombay onion - 2 large
Coconut milk - 1 glass
Water - 1 glass
Oil - 2 tablespoons
Method
Remove shell from prawns, wash it and put turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt on it and keep for half an hour.
In a pan saute the onions for 5 mts in low fire and then add the tomato paste and other ingredients. Mix well.
Add the prawns and coconut milk and water. Keep in low fire for approx 20 mts. Stir occasionally. Take out from fire and serve immediately.
Serve with kuboos or chappathi or parotta.
p.s : please try it and comment ....check out this blog for more recipes soon
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
padmanabaswamy temple treasure of gold
It was a proud moment when i heard the discovery of treasure of gold and diamond worth more than 90000 crore rupees in sree padmanabaswamy temple . I being a resident of trivandrum city where i did my schooling as well as college , was happy to know about this news . Though there are many temple towns i have visited in the last four years , trivandrum city has a unique class of its own . It has all the amenities of a city but at the same time preserving its cultural heritage . And one of the main reasons this is so is because of the temple Sree padmanabaswamy temple which is so much intwined with the travancore kings who used to be" padmanabadasas " meaning slave of the god padmanaba . And being extremely god fearing they used to take care of their people just like the god took care of them .
Though those kings didnt advertise it they were doing "the work is worship " motto by taking care of their people ---the subjects of travancore kingdom . Now some people may say arent all kings doing good to their people. Yes , mostly but these kings instead of focussing on plundering , conquesting and lavishing on the state wealth started so many schemes for the welfare of people . Their health reforms , education reforms and colleges like university college which they built are seen to this day .
Now it remains to be seen what is going to happen to this treasure . I personally feel that this wealth should be used for the good of the people especially in a country like india where so many people are needy . Anyone who has imbibed the essence of religion knows that god does not require money for him . It is in using that money for the wellbeing of His children (the people) that He will be happy . In a country like india hoarding wealth is a crime and this treasure (the bulk of it ) should be used to give free education , food and medical aid to the poor . And compared to most of our politicians in this matter the travancore royal family (who are still staying in trivandrum kowdiar ) should be involved . And yes part of the treasure should be given to the royal family , partly to the temple and partly for creating a museum ( a minor part ) . Bulk should be dedicated /used for the people of india . I would say the treasure belong to our country .......comments are welcome
Though those kings didnt advertise it they were doing "the work is worship " motto by taking care of their people ---the subjects of travancore kingdom . Now some people may say arent all kings doing good to their people. Yes , mostly but these kings instead of focussing on plundering , conquesting and lavishing on the state wealth started so many schemes for the welfare of people . Their health reforms , education reforms and colleges like university college which they built are seen to this day .
Now it remains to be seen what is going to happen to this treasure . I personally feel that this wealth should be used for the good of the people especially in a country like india where so many people are needy . Anyone who has imbibed the essence of religion knows that god does not require money for him . It is in using that money for the wellbeing of His children (the people) that He will be happy . In a country like india hoarding wealth is a crime and this treasure (the bulk of it ) should be used to give free education , food and medical aid to the poor . And compared to most of our politicians in this matter the travancore royal family (who are still staying in trivandrum kowdiar ) should be involved . And yes part of the treasure should be given to the royal family , partly to the temple and partly for creating a museum ( a minor part ) . Bulk should be dedicated /used for the people of india . I would say the treasure belong to our country .......comments are welcome
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