All in a day's work

Drink to good health

2012-06-09T20:35:00.000+05:30

Its raining and you are at home. Either grumbling about the rise in petrol prices or shouting at your spouse for the extra packet of masala she bought or maybe staring out of the window at the water splashing around or fumbling with the TV remote. But one thing you probably won't deny is that you are craving for a plateful of bhaja, pakora, bonda or fritters to go with a cup of steaming tea.

Tea, a drink that is brewed in a majority home in India, has its roots in traditional systems of medicene but its commercial consumption began with the advent of the British. Today, India is one of the largest tea producers in the world, though over 70% of the tea is consumed within India itself.

In the early 1820s, the British East India Company began large-scale production of tea in Assam, India, of a tea variety traditionally brewed by the Singpho tribe. In 1826, the British East India Company took over the region from the Ahom kings through the Yandaboo Treaty. In 1837, the first English tea garden was established at Chabua in Upper Assam; in 1840, the Assam Tea Company began the commercial production of tea in the region, run by indentured servitude of the local inhabitants. Beginning in the 1850s, the tea industry rapidly expanded, consuming vast tracts of land for tea plantations. By the turn of the century, Assam became the leading tea producing region in the world.

Writing in The Cambridge World History of Food', Weisburger & Comer writes:
"India is listed as the world's leading producer, its 715,000 tons well ahead of China's 540,000 tons, and of course, the teas of Assam, Ceylon (from the island nation known as Sri Lanka), and Darjeeling are world famous. However, because Indians average half a cup daily on per capita basis, fully 70 percent of India's immense crop is consumed locally." [From Wikipedia].

While in its traditional form, it is brewed and mixed with hot/warm milk (cow milk or powder), in current years it is being had more without milk. Healthier forms of it being green tea, black tea, white tea, yellow tea, oolong tea and post-fermented tea.

Its advantages:

Tea contains catechins, a type of antioxidant.

The flavonoids in green tea reduce risk of heart attack and stroke. It lowers LDL cholesterol level and inhibits formation of blood clots.

Tea protects bones with its beneficial phyto-checmicals

Tea protects against cancer. Thanks to the antioxidants and polyphenols.

It is speculated that excess comsuption of tea may lead to several complications, but moderate quantities serve to enhance health. Atleast, when you have a headache, it relieves you as much as a tablet of disprin does.

The Japanese and the Koreans have an elaborate ceremony when drinking/serving tea. Wikipedia has more info on that, but with or without ceremony, it can be had with equal pleasure. It is infact a common man's drink in India and is available in every gully or nukkad ki chai ki dukaan. Some pour the hot, piping liquid onto a saucer and then sip from it while others drink direct from the cup but as the ad says, "surrrrrrr ke piyo", I suggest you try it, whenever you want all eyes on you. Don't forget the pakoras alongside. Keep munching.

Interesting food trivia :

The colors yellow, red, and orange are used in fastfood restaurants because those are the colors that stimulate hunger.

Growing a window-sil garden

2012-06-06T07:04:00.001+05:30

Have you lack of space in your crunched apartment? Need balcony space to use for the swing and can't place pots? But you love gardening and there's still hope around. You can still do it. Use your window-sill to place small sized pots that can hold herbs and ornamental plants. They not only look good, but lend a refreshing touch to the room. And green is always good for the eyes.

A few things to keep in mind:

1. Try to find a windowsill with lots of light and a window you can open and close for fresh air. If you're not sure about the right position for the plants you're planning to grow, look for printed instructions on most seed packets.

2. Choose your container. As long as you have good soil, the container you grow seedlings in shouldn't matter too much. You can grow cress seedlings in egg cartons, then use the tiny plants to add some peppery heat to your sandwiches. Well-washed plastic take-out cartons and old Tupperware boxes with some holes in the bottom for drainage both make excellent improvised pots. If you're planning on growing anything more complicated than lettuce or a few herbs, it might be worth investing in a few plastic plant pots with proper drainage holes in the bottom; they're reusable and last for years.

Consider the benefits of growing a window-sill garden :

It's great fun and produces edible or beautiful rewards.
It's healthy. If you choose to grow fruit and vegetables, you'll be growing healthy food that you like to eat.
It could save you money. Getting started growing things doesn't have to be expensive. All you need are a few packets of seeds, a small bag of compost, and a few receptacles to grow things in. You can grow seeds and some plants in really small containers such as (clean) take-out containers, glass jars, bamboo cutouts and egg cartons.

Do you have a windowsill garden? What's your favorite thing to grow? Share your green-fingered tips in the comments!

Women's Work: The Great Juggling Act

2012-06-05T17:42:00.001+05:30

Ramya S Sharma

One of the questions I get asked pretty often is how I balance my work, my children, my home, my parents/in-laws, my relationship with my husband and of course, any interests and hobbies.
I have been asked this question often enough that it has prompted some reflection. Am I unusual in what I do? Of course, I am not. Every single conversation I have had in the past so many years has shown me that women all over struggle with this great juggling act, whether you are single, newly married, married with kids,married with older kids and so on. Priorities vary but the fact remains that we do need to juggle all these aspects in our life. How do you get it all right. How do you do the best that you can flourish in all aspects of your life and frankly is that even realistic? I will be the first to say that I still havent found a balance but I do try every single day and I talk to the many really smart women around me to get their thoughts and opinions on getting it right.

A friend of mine who while not running her own company- is a fellow runner shared her perspective with me. Her approach to find the balance has been to be unapologetic about her priorities. If she needs to spend time with the children, then to be unapologetic about that at work; If she needs to take some time off and recharge, to be unapologetic about it with her husband and children; If has needed to travel at work and so on. This thought had a profound effect on me and really got me thinking since it was so diametrically opposite to my guilt ridden approach to find the balance. When I see her comfortably straddling the many aspects of her life, it struck me that like with everything else, it is really important to find an underlying principle that defines our approach to the juggling act. In this case, the underlying principle was that she would be unapologetic to and for all aspects of her life and do the best she could every single day! This principle had made it easier for my friend to deal with each day, each crisis, each situation, each context.

The other approach is to be clear about your priorities. What is the most important thing for you deep down? If given a chance to reflect on your life, what would you want to have gotten right? Inevitably, it will come down to one thing. I have a friend that said she wants to leave behind a legacy in technology and hence her choices on a daily basis were driven by that. Another friend/coach was clear that her biggest sense of accomplishment was going to come from being a great parent and she was willing to live with the compromises in her career and work. I think back on my moments when I had been truly facing challenges and I have to admit that being clear about my priority at that moment, at that time really helped me to make past that time. Whether it was taking 6 months off with both my children or going back to a hectic full time job or taking on a role with travel or taking time off to get our home built or spend time with my parents and in laws; All of these have meant making choices with consequences that I have had to think through and feel very comfortable with.

Sounds great while writing but I admit it has too much heartburn and worry while making these decisions. There are no easy answers to find the balance in the juggle act but these two have worked for me, helped me make it through those challenging times. I offer it to you as something to chew on. I would love to hear from you. What has made it easy for you to find the balance? Has the juggling act taken a toll on you? What would you do differently?

Ramya S Sharma is currently working as Senior Manager, Greater Asia Staffing at Intel. The above article was published in Silicon India, Women n City of which I am a subscriber. http://women.siliconindia.com/women-expert/

Going green with...salad!

2012-06-05T11:45:00.001+05:30

On World Environment Day, we need to reiterate to ourselves that we owe our existence to Nature and we must do all we can to protect it from further depletion. Adopting a few healthier, eco-friendly options into our lives can go a long way in helping sustain the earth. Reduced use of plastics, adopting farm-to-plate dining options, disposing of waste thoughtfully, wearing earth-friendly clothing, reduced usage of water and electricity, are ways to lead a eco-conscious life. Lets pledge to consume less to reduce wastage. To remind myself of this, I prepared a vegetarian option for lunch today, its adapted from Reader's Digest, Canada version.

Salad

*1 lb (500 g) cooked peeled

large shrimp
* 1 mango
* 1 honeydew melon,
peeled and cubed
* 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
* 3 cups (750 mL) arugula leaves (replace with cilantro leaves)
* 1 medium cucumber, sliced
* Salt and pepper

Dressing

* 2 tbsp (25 mL) olive oil

* Juice of 1 lemon
* 1 tbsp (15 mL) honey
* 2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped
* fresh mint
Garnish
Fresh mint leaves

1. Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing in a large bowl and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the dressing, cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

2. Halve the mango lengthwise, cutting down each side of the pit. Cut the flesh on each half in a criss-cross fashion to make cubes, then cut the cubes away from the skin.

3. Remove the shrimp from the fridge. Add the mango, melon and tomatoes and gently stir together.

4. Arrange the arugula(cilantro) leaves and cucumber slices around the edge of a shallow serving dish, and spoon the shrimp mixture into the centre.

5. Garnish with sprigs of mint and serve.

Stay healthy, weathy and wise!

Food from childhood days

2012-06-05T06:15:00.003+05:30

There are some foods that I associate with my growing up days. Like the bok ful bhaja, kumro ful bhaja, etc. They are blossoms from different plants and trees. Grandma had a big garden surrounding her home and it wasn't unusual for me to loiter about it all alone for want of company. Summer holidays were spent in sizing up her garden, taking stock of the plants, their names, what fruits they bore and plucking flowers that grew in abundance. She had bouganvilleas of various colors, pendulous sleeping hibiscus, the plain red hibiscus, sthal padma (translated literally its ground lotus, Hibiscus mutabilis), aparajita, some wild varieties that grew in bushes, whose names I now do not recollect. There were the eggplants, chillies, tomatoes etc that she planted seasonally.

The humming bird blossoms

At the centre of the plot was a well from which she and my aunts drew water. It was close to where the trees grew. A white flower blossomed in one of those and when they fell to the ground, I would collect them for her. She told me, "See, its shape is like the crane. Hence, we call it so." Bok=crane or flamingo, ful=flower/blossom. To a 6 year old, that was intriguing. And I pestered her for more. She shut my mouth by saying, "Go now! Go back and play until I call you." Later during lunch, I would have bok ful bhaja in my plate. The humming bird or the flamingo blossom.

Hummingbird fritters

My mother owned a kitchen garden too and we had pumpkin crawling on the ground. Its blossoms were used for making fritters too. A yellowish flower that blooms for one day and withers the very next.

Pumpkin blossoms.

To make fritters, you will need to use chickpea flour(besan), rice flour, salt, a pinch of turmeric and water. Make a batter with these and dip the flowers (chop off the bottoms) before frying in hot oil. The blooms are tender and do not make for much. So, make them when you have a handfull.

Kumro/pumpkin ful-er Bhaja

The pictures are courtesy the blog, http://masalatize.com/bengalirecipes.

Keep visiting.

A,B,C of Bengali cooking

2012-06-04T08:29:00.002+05:30

While I do not assume my readers are uneducated in the art of cooking but I was wondering where to start from? "From the beginning" is the answer, as they say. Since the site is for people from all over, it is judicious to first let them know what to expect. I will in all likelihood speak of Bengali cuisine mostly. I may also share food I have tried outside of my culture, which very often I do. Having lived out of home for many long years, the food I eat and cook can conveniently be termed, "fusion".

So what is it that makes a cuisine Bengali? Its flavour certainly. Derived from certain typical ingredients that you will find in every Bengali household and the style of cooking.

Bengali food (called jol-khabar), originated in Bengal and over the course of its journey added to its basket the influences of several other regions, particularly the Mughal (called Mughlai cuisine), the Awadhs (Awadhi cuisine uses liberal amounts of ittars, (essence)) and later, the Christians. Tea and confectionary items now sold in every nook and corner are what the British contributed.

Fish, rice, sweetmeats are the dominant constituents with rice being the staple. The Bengalis eat a many-course meal. I for one have grown up having humongous amounts of rice served with lentil(dal), fritters (bhaja or bora), curry (torkari in the form of chorchori, dalna, chenchki, ghonto, paturi, pora, etc) followed by fish (again curried, steamed) and/or chicken/mutton (also curried). Shaak (leafy green vegetables) is usually served before others. So is fried bitter melon. To round off the meal, chutney, doi(sweetened curd) and mishti (sweets) is served. That is how traditionally things were. In today's busy world, a few courses are happily skipped now and then.

Ingredients that you will find in a typical Bengali home -

1. Panch foran - a five spice mix. It is used to temper the curries, added mostly at the beginning to hot oil. The mustard may be replaced by carom seeds (ajwain).

2. Radhuni or erroneously, wild celery seeds. Similar in appearance to that of ajwain or carom seeds. It lends a flavour when added to hot oil. A small portion is enough.

3. Nigella seeds (or onion seeds, kalonji). The dry-roasted nigella seeds flavor curries, vegetables and pulses. The black seeds taste like a combination of onions, black pepper and oregano, and have a bitterness to them like mustard seeds.

4. Mustard oil. Mustard often has a sharp, pungent flavor. The pungency of mustard is always reduced by heating, but not just at the time of preparation; if added to a dish during cooking, much of the effect of the mustard is lost. The basic taste and "heat" of the mustard is determined largely by seed type, preparation and ingredients.

5. Yellow Mustard paste: Mustard finds a common ground between South Indians and Bengalis but unique to Bengalis is the use of yellow mustard. The paste is made by soaking yellow mustard grains in water and then grinding with green chillies. It is used to curry fish, vegetables and also used as a condiment called kasundi. Mustard is known for its antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic and has anti-inflammatory properties. And since its pungent, tangy taste enhances food so uniquely, it can easily replace fattier condiment options such as mayonnaise, butters and sugary ketchups.

The above list is not exhaustive, I have only mentioned the core ingredients of a typical Bengali recipe. Other spices like fennel seeds, poppy seeds (khus khus), sesame seeds, jaggery, coriander, cumin, aniseed find extensive use in preparations. So does, coconut, milk(used to make sweets), whole mixed spices (garam masala), etc.

While I go research more about spices, food and their origin and history, you be good and take care. Bong Appetit!!