Easy Eastern, Mid Eastern, Chinese and Hyderabadi food for this weekend.

In celebration of the onset of monsoon; we decided to have a sort of food festival this weekend. Today, Saturday it was Eastern, Chinese and Mid Eastern food. Tomorrow we have planned an outing to my nephew’s new house. We shall prepare typical Hyderabadi specialities here at home…Mutton Biryani, Chicken Curry and Onion-Tomato-Cucumber Raitha and have it there at the new house, amidst other entertainment.      

Today we had Korean Kimchi / Kimchee Fried Rice and Kimchi Salad, Chinese Egg Fried Rice and Shakshuka / Shakshouka a staple of Libyan, Tunisian, Algerian and Moroccan and Egyptian cuisines. The preparations are all simple, as simple as the Chinese Egg Fried Rice. Shakshuka is almost similar to the Tomato-Onion Curry of Telangana with eggs poached in it. Kimchi Salad and Kimchi Fried Rice are also simple but for the fact that the basic preparation took place a week ago and the Kimchi was allowed to ferment and develop a rich taste for the recipes of today. The Kimchi prepared by us consists of Indian Cabbage, Radish, Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Red Chilli flakes, Sugar and Vinegar. The attached colourful photographs of these preparations would give you an idea of these exotic delicacies.

Trying exotic food is always an interesting and lovely experience and the pictures here are to cherish such memories.  

Enjoying Sizzler Recipes At Home.

Nowadays Sizzlers are a favourite with many food lovers, of all ages, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Apart from the fact that it is a very hot (temperature), colourful and complete meal in itself, it is the dining experience that stands out more than the taste. The dramatic presentation of Sizzlers with sound, sparkle and smoke is delightful and brings about smiles even on the non-sizzler diners around.  To cater to the demand many restaurants in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad are serving Sizzlers.

We have enjoyed Sizzlers at few restaurants and are now making a variety of them, Indian, Chinese and Continental at home. Here are some pictures of our creation:

 

Monsoon has arrived in Hyderabad after a long wait.

Weather forecast for Hyderabad and the surroundings is going awry despite all the technological advancements in that field. Last month it was widely predicted that the rainy season would start early this year by 5th June and there would be copious rain. The prediction has gone wrong. After a long wait first Monsoon Rain arrived yesterday, late by 13 days from earlier prediction and 5 days later than last year. And it is to be seen now whether the forecast of a good rainy season will stand good. Hope it will, as most water resources including the perennial Rivers Krishna and Godavari have gone dry and there is severe drought in most districts of Telangana.

Accuracy of short-range weather forecasts is normally said to be more accurate than long-range weather forecasts. But in case of Hyderabad, weather forecast of any day and of any season may not always be correct. I do not blame the weatherman or the available forecast technology for this. As a layman who does not entirely understand this science I only feel that Earth’s atmosphere is getting chaotic and complicated and thus unpredictable. And as old timers claim could all this be because of several misdeeds and increase in sins...like deforestation, pollution, selfishness, cheating, hatred, wars and terrorism.

And here is a different weather forecast by me, especially for YOU, for every day of this year and every year:  

Is this testimony an honour or dishonour for Telangana State?

As per the statistics projected above, Telangana State tops the list of non-vegetarian States. It establishes that Telangana has the highest population of meat-eaters in India with almost 99 percent of its residents being non-vegetarians. To be very specific 98.8 percent of men are non-vegetarians and almost an equal percentage of women, 98.6 percent are non-vegetarians.  This is authentic, it is the latest report from the Central Government’s Sample Registration System Survey carried out in 21 big States of our country, of persons aged 15 years and above and the State-wise revelations are as projected in the chart at the top.

In the record of highest non-vegetarians Telangana is followed by West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala. And among States with largest percentage of vegetarians, Rajasthan stands first followed by Punjab and Haryana.

I wonder whether this proclamation has to be seen as an honour or dishonour for Telangana State. Ultimately, I think it entirely depends on who is reading this article, a vegetarian, a non-vegetarian or those involved in the business of non-vegetarian food. 

Brevity vs. verbosity.

In all my writings and speech I have always preferred brevity. As an engineer, communicating with colleagues and workmen requires speaking or writing in simple sentences using very common words to avoid inconvenience, confusion and unwanted results. And this has been my practice from the beginning, right from my school days perhaps due to the influence of précis writing.

This is my blog post No. 1020, and my blog followers would vouch that I have always kept my expression/sentences simple, following the adage: Keep it Simple and Short – KISS – Keep it Sweet and Straight. My aim has always been… clarity, brevity and precision. Thank GOD, this is the case with most people and our Newspapers and our News Channels. Everyone can easily and clearly understand them.

Now coming to verbosity, it disturbs me at times when the words, the sentences, the paragraphs and the speeches are difficult to follow and strain my thinking process. The habit or show-off of grandiose through verbosity by anyone is a nuisance to me if I cannot follow and understand easily. The internet reinforces my view… if the information you’re looking for has complicated words and twists and does not fit on one screen, needing too much scrolling, you may lose track and interest.

Verbosity is also rightly called rambling, garrulity and logorrhoea!

Latest tourist attraction at Hyderabad – A large National Flag on a tall Flagpole.

On 2nd June 2016, on the occasion of second anniversary of Telangana State Formation Day, the State Chief Minister Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao unfurled our National Flag, a very large one measuring 72 by 108 feet on a 291 feet high flagpole! at Sanjeevaiah Park. Sanjeevaiah Park is a 92 acre beautiful park on the banks of Hussain Sagar lake, the lake being at the center of the Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This high-rise, huge Flag has become an attraction since then. People are flocking to see it at the Park and all along Necklace Road and Hussain Sagar, especially from the easily accessible Tank Bund from where the view is simply marvellous as you can see in the video below:

At 291 feet, this is the second highest flag post in our country, with the one at Ranchi at 293 feet being the highest by 2 feet. However the Flag is the largest hoisted so far. While the one at Ranchi is 66 by 99 feet, the one at Hyderabad as I mentioned above is 72 by 108 feet. Hyderabad has 3 such flags in stock for replacements and emergencies. The Flag shall remain hoisted forever. Once in a month it shall be lowered for inspection and hoisted back immediately.

This huge Flag, majestically visible to countless people every day has become the pride of Hyderabad. It instils nationalism immediately. With lighting around the Flag post, the Flag looks beautiful even in the nights.

The Flag post weighs about 100 tonnes and the Flag 65 kilograms. The Flag post is 1.8 metres wide at the bottom and tapers to about half a metre at the top. The Flag hoisting is motorized. It is said that this project cost the Government Rupees 3 Crores. It is money well spent for the love of our Nation and our Flag.

The legendary sweet of Hyderabad – Jouzi Halwa.

Jouzi Halwa is an extraordinary sweet that came to Hyderabad over a century ago. It was popular then and it is popular today, with the demand going up. The sweet has a Turkish origin. Mohammed Hussain a lad of Turkish lineage ventured into the business about 105 years ago at the age of 15 years by opening a Sweet Shop without a name, along a crude pathway which too had no name. The shop still stands at this place and this area is today a big business centre and a prominent place in Hyderabad popularly known as Mozam Jahi Market. All his sweets were good but one of them, the Jouzi Halwa / Nutmeg Halwa became popular as an extraordinary delicacy. News of this shop and the sweets reached His Highness Sir Mir Osman Ali Khan, the VII Asaf Jahi Nizam, the ruler of Hyderabad State. It is said that he visited this sweet shop to taste Jouzi Halwa and was very much impressed. As the shop did not have a name; he passed an order of naming the shop after one of his sons' nickname, as Hameedi Confectioners. The official decree signed by Nizam himself is displayed at the Shop (a blow-up). You can see this decree and other testimonials received by this sweet shop in the attached photographs.

Infused with well-chosen ingredients, this Turkish Jouzi Halwa tastes different from many other Halwas I have tasted.  The main ingredients in Jouzi Halwa are Milk (full fat), Sugar, Ghee, Saffron, Nutmeg and dry fruits like Almonds, Cashews and Pistachios. The Nutmeg flavour in Jouzi Halwa is predominant, but not overpowering. It is a very heavy sweet laden with loads of pure ghee but it is moderately sweet with a sensational taste. Obviously with such ingredients it is very nutritious.

If you are from Hyderabad or a visitor to Hyderabad, this is one sweet you must certainly taste, you will love it.

Happy Telangana State Formation Day!

It is two years since our State of Telangana is formed, after decades of struggle on various platforms sometimes with very tragic and serious consequences. Hundreds of persons have died in police firing and hundreds have died out of frustration and others have suffered as politicians failed to implement agreements and fooled people perennially by not keeping up their promises on formation of Telangana State. And ultimately on 2nd June 2014 Telangana Statehood became a reality due to unyielding struggle of Telangana people against many odds and villains. It was finally setting right the mistake of 1st November 1956 and the victory of a just demand.

On this happy occasion I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone alive and martyred who contributed to the creation of our Telangana State and to all those who are working for the development and prosperity of our State.

This day and this week are grand celebration times for all people of Telangana. There are a number of cultural programs and Telangana food festivals being organized in Twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and in all the 10 districts of our State. Please check out these events and enjoy in any way you like and of course even by watching the celebrations on TV.

Have A Nice Day! – Happy Telangana State Formation Day!!