My flavor of Banarasi dahi vada

I used to see the chat and dahi vada vendors each evening on the enchanting ghats of Varanasi.
Here is my flavor of the Banarasi dahi vada.

1 cup urad dal without skin, soaked for 4 hours
2 pieces of grated ginger
4 green chillies finely chopped
salt to taste
dahi
jeera, dhania seeds, black pepper, sugar as per taste, dhania patta, curry patta, pinch of red chilli powder, chat masala

make the dal paste, mix finely chopped green chillies, and salt according to taste. pour oil in karhai and heat. Once the oil is hot, make small balls out of the paste, and put them in oil. fry until the outer layer turns golden. this should take 20-25 secs. Now ur vadas are made.

Lets rock the dahi: take some jeera, dhania and black pepper seeds and dry roast them on a flat frying pan for 10 15 secs. put them in the mixer and turn it into a powder like mixture. the aroma is super strong fresh, so be careful. put this mixture in the dahi and stir it. add some water to achieve right consistency. add a pinch of red chilli powder.add sugar only if you wish to make sweet dahi vada. Garnish with fresh dhania patta and curry patta, and mix well.

You may put the vadas in the dahi or seperate. i would prefer keep in seperate.

while serving sprinkle a pinch of chat masala (optional) with the vada and the dahi

Canned Mackerel

Canned Mackerel:

1 canned Mackerel in tomato sauce.
1 thinly sliced onion
5 big green chillies
a bunch of spring onions (it was just lying in the fridge)
salt to taste

pour oil in the deep frying pan. then add onions and the chillies and fry them. once the juice of the onions begins to disintegrate, add the spring onions. fry for about a minute. keep the heat on high. Add just the Mackerel to the pan. Dont add the tomato sauce from the can. Let a fish cook for 2 minutes or so, and then add the tomato sauce. Add salt to taste. Add half cup water and cook for 2 minutes. one or two fishes may disintegrate, but dont u worry, as it makes the gravy very tasty.

enjoy the yummy curry with rice. try it out and give ur feedback

Some unique bengali side dishes

Green bottlegourd(lauki) skin - cut them into small fine slices like paotato. wash and soak in boiling water for about 5 minutes. on the side soak some postodana (poppy seeds). drain water from the lauki skins. cut a small onion into fine slices. put cooking oil in the karhai and put the onions. throw in some green chillies. Add a pinch of turmeric powder, and some salt to taste. then add the laoki skins that have softened slightly and keep stirring. Then add the poppy seeds to the karhai. fry it for around 5 minutes till the lauki skins are fully cooked and crisp. Turn the heat off, and enjoy as a side dish with rice.

Raw Banana skin -
You'll need:

1. Raw green banana skin
2. Mustard Oil
3. Shukki Mirch
4. Kala Jira
5. Salt to taste
6. Fresh green chilli paste (Optional)
   

Steps: Boil the raw banana skins,and then make it into a paste.dont add water. Pour oil in the karhai, kala jira, shukki mirch, and the green chilli paste. Add the banana skin paste and add salt to taste. fry throughly. Have it as a side dish with rice.

Kudos to Nirmalya Bhattacharya for reminding me with this banana skin recipe in orkut: http://www.orkut.com/Community.aspx?cmm=15321345

remembering 9/11

Debu, Moi3, Me, Sajan, Bhaskar

Politicians have the same DNA, be it India or USA

Well, as I was returning home after a busy week on Friday Aug 18, I saw a small group gathered next to my apt. On enquiring, I got to know that Jun Choi, the mayor of Edison had come to discuss few community issues with the Indian American community there. Immediately the thoughts of alleged racial discrimination against the Indian community rang a bell in my mind, which took place on 4t July.
The mayor was greeting everyone Namaste Namaste, please come for a discussion about Edison. It looked really fishy, as I could see majority of the crowd on the other side of the road, boycotting the mayor.

After lots of hustling around, the mayor started the speech first by congratulating the Indian community on the Independence Day celebrations. Then he said it was very unfortunate that the July 4th incident took place.

Rajnikant Parikh's July 4 arrest at an illegal fireworks display at Hilltop Apartments led to much of the current discord between Edison and the Indian community. He was charged with hitting officer Michael Dotro and inciting others to join in the attack as the officer tried to disperse hundreds of people watching fireworks at a township apartment complex, police said. Parikh, though, counterclaimed he was assaulted by Dotro.

Once the pleasentaries were exchanged, the crowd started volleying questions to the Mayor and the police chief George Mieczkowski. When confronted with questions, Choi simply played ping pong. On being asked why no action was taken against Michael Dotro, the Edison police officer, the mayor said that there was no evidence against him. It seems that all twelve officers, witness from Hilltop, and the Hilltop apt mgmt said nothing against the police. Then some one from the crowd asked what about the video cameras that is there in the police cars. On hearing the video camera subject, the mayor Choi started acting as if he was a video camera salesman, explaining the characteristics of the cameras, and the intention of the administration to have all cars with video cameras very soon. Most of the people in the crowd were surprised when he kind-of said none of the cars in the July 4th incident had cameras.

He was adamant on the fact that the police officer had done the right thing, but at the same time he acknowledged that the Edison police dept has started some cross cultural courses for the force so that they have a better idea of the Indian community. He was not ready to apologize as the facts did not warrant any charge against the police officer, but at the same time he said it was very unfortunate, and going forward there should be more interactions between the different Asian communities and the administration. He repeated quite a number of times that the incident was very unfortunate. When the police chief was asked the same question, he directly at least replied that on his behalf he could not interpret who was right who was wrong, as all the facts were not present.

It is to be pondered why the mayor chose the Friday just after the Indian Independence Day just to discuss community issues. Why did he choose the Indian community first, and Hilltop as the location.

Then slowly the focus shifted to installation for a traffic light. It was truly amusing and pathetic at the same time to watch how the politicians play juggler with the public. The public was pleading for more than 10 yrs for a traffic light at one section of Oak Tree road in Edison, but till date only the plan has passed. Five yrs back the Indian business community invited the Edison politicians and did a small puja for the start of the construction of the traffic light, but nothing moved an inch after that.

It was kind of disgusting standing there and listening to the boring speech and see the confused look over the mayor's face. Hot samosas,and mirchi bajias were waiting for me at home, some we left the gatherign and walked back to my apartment.

It’s a shame on us citizens to elect the same sly people to the public office yr after yr. Times are changing, but still we are the same fickle minded general public in the eyes of the politicians.