Baingan Dosa Ingredients
All of you must have eaten Dosa or Masala Dosa. I cannot take any credit for making the dosa itself but my wife is good at it. The credit for the recipe goes to my wife. We had some left over Baingan Bharta and we both decided to try something innovative and make a Baingan Dosa instead of the Masala Dosa. The recipe is quite simple if you know how to make the Dosa.
Dosa Ingredients
Rice – 2 cups
Urad Dal – 1 Cup
Chana Dal – ¼ cup (gives the brown color to the Dosa)
Methi seeds – ½ table spoon
Salt to Taste
Baingan Bharta Ingredients
Follow the recipe here – Baingan Bharta
Process
Soak the Chana Dal, Rice, Urad Dal in water overnight. Grind all of them together and make a soft batter. Heat a pan, add one teaspoon oil (if you do not want oil, you can use the Pam spray), pour one small cup of batter on the pan, spread it thin. If you really want to make it like the guy on the street in India, Spread the batter cut a large Onion into half and dip it in Oil and spread it on the dosa.
Now take 2 large tablespoon of Baingan Bharta, apply it on the unroasted part of the dosa. Turn the Dosa around and let the baingan Bharta side also roast for some time. If you want to make it spicy, you can cut small pieces of onions and also apply them on the Baingan Bharta.
Take the dosa out of pan and it is ready to eat. Remember this is a very heavy dish with all the Baingan Bharta on it. Enjoy it.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Hillary Clinton, Indra Nooyi and Azim Premji
I am going to take a deviation from the ordinary as I feel like I have to blog about the USIBC meeting I attended today. US India Business Council (USIBC) as the name suggests is an organization to strengthen the trade/ business relationships between the 2 countries.
There were a lot of speakers at the one day convention but the highlight among them were
Indra K Nooyi – Chairman & CEO Pepsi CO
Hillary Clinton – Secretary of State
Azim Premji – Chairman Wipro
I really had no business to attend this convention but thanks to my CIO and AT&T, I got a chance to attend. First of all, I have to say that I was really fortunate to attend this convention.
First about Indra Nooyi – What a great speaker she is. She is eloquent in her speech, well prepared and whenever she talks, it looks as if she has control over the issue. She is also very clear and articulate about the message she wants to give the audience. I had seen videos of her speeches, her interviews before I went into the conference but nothing like seeing her on stage and seeing her talk. She commends a lot of respect from Hillary and the other secretaries of state that were present at the conference. She is respected for what she is doing as a leader and her visionary thinking. In One word – Amazing. I would really like to see her as a Prime Minister for India. I guess she is a US citizen now and hence forfeits’ the rights to become a prime minister of our country.
Hillary Clinton- the moment she walked in, the entire room gave her a standing ovation. We all know how great she is as a person and how good an orator she is. Again, seeing her in person and listening to her talk is a great experience in itself. After the democrat primary last year, media would not get away from the fact that she did not win the primary and continued to say that she was not 100% behind Obama. I thought the media was being crazy. After listening to her today, I think she still regrets not being elected in the primary. At one point she said – India had great leaders like Indira Gandhi and that US has learnt from them but US still has more to do.. now you can read in between the lines here. If you were present at the convention, there would be no need for you to read in between lines – her expressions would say everything.
Azim Premji – A great speaker, Orator, visionary and Leader. He got the award for Global vision. There are few people in India who have taken advantage of the right opportunity at the right time and Premji ranks on the top. He used the occasion to give a stern message. His message was sharp and clear. 3 points that I cannot forget in his speech 1) he called what we are going through right now as a global reset and not a global recession. He thought a lot of things will change after this – the way we live, the way we work, the way governments function and the way countries build relationships. 2) He said the way things are going in the US, one of these days there will not be anything Government will not own and we thought India was backwards in this area. Finally, when there was talk of protectionist policies around the world, Premji gave a classic example and I paraphrase – a subject went to Lord and said – Lord show me Heaven and Hell. Lord took the subject to a room and showed him a group of people who were all unhappy. They had stew in front of them, really long spoons to reach the stew from the pot but the spoons were no good to feed them (they were too big). Then he took the subject to the second room – the same set of people, same stew, same spoons but everyone was happy. The subject asked the Lord – how is this possible and the Lord said they had learnt to feed each other.
There were a lot of speakers at the one day convention but the highlight among them were
Indra K Nooyi – Chairman & CEO Pepsi CO
Hillary Clinton – Secretary of State
Azim Premji – Chairman Wipro
I really had no business to attend this convention but thanks to my CIO and AT&T, I got a chance to attend. First of all, I have to say that I was really fortunate to attend this convention.
First about Indra Nooyi – What a great speaker she is. She is eloquent in her speech, well prepared and whenever she talks, it looks as if she has control over the issue. She is also very clear and articulate about the message she wants to give the audience. I had seen videos of her speeches, her interviews before I went into the conference but nothing like seeing her on stage and seeing her talk. She commends a lot of respect from Hillary and the other secretaries of state that were present at the conference. She is respected for what she is doing as a leader and her visionary thinking. In One word – Amazing. I would really like to see her as a Prime Minister for India. I guess she is a US citizen now and hence forfeits’ the rights to become a prime minister of our country.
Hillary Clinton- the moment she walked in, the entire room gave her a standing ovation. We all know how great she is as a person and how good an orator she is. Again, seeing her in person and listening to her talk is a great experience in itself. After the democrat primary last year, media would not get away from the fact that she did not win the primary and continued to say that she was not 100% behind Obama. I thought the media was being crazy. After listening to her today, I think she still regrets not being elected in the primary. At one point she said – India had great leaders like Indira Gandhi and that US has learnt from them but US still has more to do.. now you can read in between the lines here. If you were present at the convention, there would be no need for you to read in between lines – her expressions would say everything.
Azim Premji – A great speaker, Orator, visionary and Leader. He got the award for Global vision. There are few people in India who have taken advantage of the right opportunity at the right time and Premji ranks on the top. He used the occasion to give a stern message. His message was sharp and clear. 3 points that I cannot forget in his speech 1) he called what we are going through right now as a global reset and not a global recession. He thought a lot of things will change after this – the way we live, the way we work, the way governments function and the way countries build relationships. 2) He said the way things are going in the US, one of these days there will not be anything Government will not own and we thought India was backwards in this area. Finally, when there was talk of protectionist policies around the world, Premji gave a classic example and I paraphrase – a subject went to Lord and said – Lord show me Heaven and Hell. Lord took the subject to a room and showed him a group of people who were all unhappy. They had stew in front of them, really long spoons to reach the stew from the pot but the spoons were no good to feed them (they were too big). Then he took the subject to the second room – the same set of people, same stew, same spoons but everyone was happy. The subject asked the Lord – how is this possible and the Lord said they had learnt to feed each other.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Eggplant - Punjabi Style
Baingan Bharta (Eggplant curry)
You will find a lot of recipes on the net for this dish. This however as usual is my version of the Punjabi special.
Ingredients
1 large Eggplant (Baingan) (3-4 long brinjals if you are in India)
2 Large tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 small piece of Ginger
½ Large White Onion (2 Indian onions)
2 Teaspoons Cumin powder
2 Teaspoons Corriander powder
3-4 Tablespoons of Canola or Vegetable Oil
4 Green Chilies
½ bunch of corrainder
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder (optional)
1 cup of green peas (soaked overnight and cooked. Adding frozen peas really spoils the taste. Avoid this ingredient if you cannot find fresh peas.)
Process:
Preheat the oven to 450 Degrees. Oil the tomatoes and the Baingan. Pierce the Baingan at random in various places with a fork (Do not pierce it too much or too hard otherwise the eggplant will break part). Bake the eggplant for about 35- 40 mins till it is really soft. Bake the Tomatoes as well (for 20 mins).
Take a pan and put the oil in it. Add the onions and the chilies and fry the onions till they are golden brown. Whisk the tomatoes slightly for about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes to the onions and continue to fry them over a low heat.
Now take the eggplant out of the oven, wash it under water (to reduce the heat) peel the skin and cut it into small pieces. Add the eggplant to the onions, chilies and tomato and mash the eggplant, stir in the peas. Add salt to taste, Cumin and coriander powder and let it be on the pan for 4 mins. Now add the coriander leaves (cut into small pieces) and serve with Naan or Chapati.
Coming up next: Baingan Dosa – a fusion between North and South Indian cuisines
You will find a lot of recipes on the net for this dish. This however as usual is my version of the Punjabi special.
Ingredients
1 large Eggplant (Baingan) (3-4 long brinjals if you are in India)
2 Large tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
1 small piece of Ginger
½ Large White Onion (2 Indian onions)
2 Teaspoons Cumin powder
2 Teaspoons Corriander powder
3-4 Tablespoons of Canola or Vegetable Oil
4 Green Chilies
½ bunch of corrainder
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon Turmeric Powder (optional)
1 cup of green peas (soaked overnight and cooked. Adding frozen peas really spoils the taste. Avoid this ingredient if you cannot find fresh peas.)
Process:
Preheat the oven to 450 Degrees. Oil the tomatoes and the Baingan. Pierce the Baingan at random in various places with a fork (Do not pierce it too much or too hard otherwise the eggplant will break part). Bake the eggplant for about 35- 40 mins till it is really soft. Bake the Tomatoes as well (for 20 mins).
Take a pan and put the oil in it. Add the onions and the chilies and fry the onions till they are golden brown. Whisk the tomatoes slightly for about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes to the onions and continue to fry them over a low heat.
Now take the eggplant out of the oven, wash it under water (to reduce the heat) peel the skin and cut it into small pieces. Add the eggplant to the onions, chilies and tomato and mash the eggplant, stir in the peas. Add salt to taste, Cumin and coriander powder and let it be on the pan for 4 mins. Now add the coriander leaves (cut into small pieces) and serve with Naan or Chapati.
Coming up next: Baingan Dosa – a fusion between North and South Indian cuisines
Monday, June 15, 2009
My one wish for T20 World Cup and India's loss
There have been many reasons given and the opinions continue to flow on why India lost to England. While I am no authority on cricket, I follow the game with a lot of passion and I feel like I have the right comment what I feel – does not matter if it is right or wrong.
Here is a link to the article on Cricinfo and the comments from various people
Cricinfo
Here is the article from BBC which has the comments from the rival captains
Dhoni’s Comments
Collingwood View’s
Before I express my views on this issue, a disclaimer – it is always easy to comment on these issues as an outsider but one really has to be part of the team and experience it firsthand.
There are 3 main reasons why India lost the 2 matches
1) We were very defensive – the tag of defending champions probably put additional pressure on us and we were trying to be cautious in our approach. Several examples to depict the same 1) Dhoni did not want to send Yuvraj out in a pressure situation and sent RA Jadeja to bat 2) we should have batted first and setup a big target to chase for England. However, we opted to bat second. As such this was a pressure game. To bat second and try to achieve a target in a pressure game is never easy. We strengthened our batting line up by adding Jadeja but we still opted to bat second?
2) Dhoni the “uber cool” captain? - I guess he is now a very conscious captain and wants to live up to the expectations. For ex again take the match against India and WI. When Pragyan Ohja was bowling. Suresh Raina threw the ball to Ohja in an attempt to effect a run out of Simmons. Ohja missed it and Raina yelled at Ohja. Right at the end of the over, Dhoni called Raina and had a word with him. Roll back 2 years in 2007 and Dhoni would have probably let it go and let Raina and Ohja sort it out themselves. A simple example but goes a long way to show how small details show the mood of the side, the captain and everyone else in the team.
3) Fans of Indian cricket – To some extent all of us (millions of fans of Indian cricket) are also responsible for the defeat. We have high expectations of the team, if the team loses we analyze the situation to death, we play the scenes of last ball 100 times in our channels. We take Yusuf Pathan’s sit down before the last over out of context and portray that as if he was brooding over the loss. We even ask if Dhoni is the right captain just based on loss in one tournament. Last but not the least people like me also start blogging about this.
Having said all this, there is only one desire left for me. I do not want Pakistan to win the T20 world cup. If Pakistan happen to win the T20 cup – that will be the saddest day in my life so far…
Here is a link to the article on Cricinfo and the comments from various people
Cricinfo
Here is the article from BBC which has the comments from the rival captains
Dhoni’s Comments
Collingwood View’s
Before I express my views on this issue, a disclaimer – it is always easy to comment on these issues as an outsider but one really has to be part of the team and experience it firsthand.
There are 3 main reasons why India lost the 2 matches
1) We were very defensive – the tag of defending champions probably put additional pressure on us and we were trying to be cautious in our approach. Several examples to depict the same 1) Dhoni did not want to send Yuvraj out in a pressure situation and sent RA Jadeja to bat 2) we should have batted first and setup a big target to chase for England. However, we opted to bat second. As such this was a pressure game. To bat second and try to achieve a target in a pressure game is never easy. We strengthened our batting line up by adding Jadeja but we still opted to bat second?
2) Dhoni the “uber cool” captain? - I guess he is now a very conscious captain and wants to live up to the expectations. For ex again take the match against India and WI. When Pragyan Ohja was bowling. Suresh Raina threw the ball to Ohja in an attempt to effect a run out of Simmons. Ohja missed it and Raina yelled at Ohja. Right at the end of the over, Dhoni called Raina and had a word with him. Roll back 2 years in 2007 and Dhoni would have probably let it go and let Raina and Ohja sort it out themselves. A simple example but goes a long way to show how small details show the mood of the side, the captain and everyone else in the team.
3) Fans of Indian cricket – To some extent all of us (millions of fans of Indian cricket) are also responsible for the defeat. We have high expectations of the team, if the team loses we analyze the situation to death, we play the scenes of last ball 100 times in our channels. We take Yusuf Pathan’s sit down before the last over out of context and portray that as if he was brooding over the loss. We even ask if Dhoni is the right captain just based on loss in one tournament. Last but not the least people like me also start blogging about this.
Having said all this, there is only one desire left for me. I do not want Pakistan to win the T20 world cup. If Pakistan happen to win the T20 cup – that will be the saddest day in my life so far…
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Mango Cheesecake
I have been thinking about putting my thoughts out on the web and I guess it is time for me now to do so. My experience to share today is the Mango cheese cake. A touch of Indian taste to the all American cheese cake. Very similar to carrot cheese cake but a few ingredients changed to make the cake not as sweet as the mangoes add natural sweetness. So here are the ingredients.
For the cake
All Purpose Flour, 2 Cups
Eggs , 2 Large
Sugar, 1 Cup
Mangoes, 2 Large – peel and cut one into small cubes and make a puree of the other
Vanilla Extract, 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon Powder, 1 teaspoon
½ cup buttermilk
Baking powder, 1 teaspoon
Baking soda, 1 teaspoon
Pecans, 4OZ
For the Frosting
Cream cheese, 1 8OZ pack softened
1 Stick of Butter softened
1 cup of powder sugar
Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
Process
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat the pecans, cut them into small pieces. Whisk the eggs into the all purpose flour, add the sugar, mango juice, buttermilk, cinnamon powder and all the other ingredients and whisk them thoroughly. Add the cubed mangoes and the pecans into the batter. Flour the pans and butter the parchment sheet. Pour the batter into two equal parts into pans and bake it in the oven for about 1 hour at 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, with a electric beater, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract for about 5-7 minutes till it is really soft.
Take the 2 cakes out, let them cool for 30 minutes, peel off the parchment sheet. Apply frosting on the cake. Invert the second cake on top and apply the remaining frosting on both the cakes. Refrigerate it for an hour and then serve this summer dessert.
For the cake
All Purpose Flour, 2 Cups
Eggs , 2 Large
Sugar, 1 Cup
Mangoes, 2 Large – peel and cut one into small cubes and make a puree of the other
Vanilla Extract, 1 teaspoon
Cinnamon Powder, 1 teaspoon
½ cup buttermilk
Baking powder, 1 teaspoon
Baking soda, 1 teaspoon
Pecans, 4OZ
For the Frosting
Cream cheese, 1 8OZ pack softened
1 Stick of Butter softened
1 cup of powder sugar
Vanilla extract 1 teaspoon
Process
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat the pecans, cut them into small pieces. Whisk the eggs into the all purpose flour, add the sugar, mango juice, buttermilk, cinnamon powder and all the other ingredients and whisk them thoroughly. Add the cubed mangoes and the pecans into the batter. Flour the pans and butter the parchment sheet. Pour the batter into two equal parts into pans and bake it in the oven for about 1 hour at 325 degrees.
In a large bowl, with a electric beater, beat the cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract for about 5-7 minutes till it is really soft.
Take the 2 cakes out, let them cool for 30 minutes, peel off the parchment sheet. Apply frosting on the cake. Invert the second cake on top and apply the remaining frosting on both the cakes. Refrigerate it for an hour and then serve this summer dessert.
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