Vindu

The Mughal Throne By Abraham Eraly.

Amazon link : http://www.amazon.com/Mughal-Throne-Indias-Great-Emperors/dp/0753817586/sr=8-1/qid=1163701802/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-7121390-2016812?ie=UTF8&s=books 

I got this book yesterday from the library and been captivated by it since then. I finished reading about Babur and now into Humayun’s age. Some truly valorous stuff this is. Babur ascended the throne of Fergana as a boy-king at the age of 12 and fought at least 10 wars by the time he was 22 when he became the king of Kabul. Then he turns his eye to the east to oust the reigning monarch Ibrahim Lodi and take the throne of ‘Hindustan’. A true saga this book.

A paragraph from the book…..

The noose was tightening around Humayun. He had to get out of Bengal. But by the time he got moving, the monsoon had once again burst over Bengal, turning the land into a quagmire. The imperial troops, especially the cavalry, suffered great hardship and losses trudging through the deep, viscous slush – it was as if the very soil of Bengal were clutching at Humayun’s feet and dragging him down to bury him. The Mughals were utterly dispirited and exhausted by the time they lurched back into Bihar to challenge Sher Shah.

The chapters so far cover Babur’s sacrifice of wine till the end of this life (offered to elicit divine grace) in his first war against a Hindu monarch – Rana Sanga, of the Rajputs, Humayun’s capriciousness, Sher Shah’s deceit and more interesting stuff.

Try to read the book if you get your hands on.

Without wax,
Mythili

Açaí (ah-sci-ee) is an amazonian fruit/berry. We discovered this fruit during the summer of 2005 and has been our favorite ever since. This wonder fruit is purple in color and is rich in anti-oxidants. Infact it is considered to be one of the top 10 superfoods. The first time we came across this fruit we were sceptical of it. The only information about the fruit that we found was that of a half-naked girl lifting a basket of these berries. But the fruit’s becoming more and more popular these days. Açaí berry does have an interesting profile though. 

There is this chain of smoothie stores and one here in KS too called Robeks. Absolutely amazing place with healthy smoothies. Here is where we had our first taste of Açaí. They have something called the energy bowl and we ordered the Açaí energy bowl (we get a more runny version unlike that in the above image). Sweet in taste and purplish in color – the bowl used to be wholesome lunch (fat free) and still is with organic granola and banana pieces topped.

The moment we find or see a Brazilian, the first thing we ask is if the fruit really exists or if this is all a big scam? Seems like its a credible fruit

So feel free to have a taste of this fruit when you come across. This brand Zola sells açaí  juices, so check them out.

Robeks -> http://www.robeks.com/

Without wax,
Mythili

 Image source : indiaheritage.com

What are the different styles of Indian Cuisine? Do you know all of them? The following site is an interesting read.

 http://www.indiaheritage.org/cuisine/cuisine.htm

It introduces the reader to the various styles viz. Mughlai, Awadh, Gujrati, etc etc of Indian Cuisine. It also lists some recipes in each of the category. I found it interesting. Thought you might like it too.

Without wax,
Mythili

They say Health is Wealth. So very true. I recently found this great website (USDA’s very own) which is a one-stop shop for nutrition and healthy diet. 

I urge each one of you to monitor your daily food intake to see if you meet your nutritional needs, with the help of this website. You can check and improve(if needed) your dietary habits with a variety of tools in this site. You can also find a wealth of wise choices for every cross-section of people.

My pyramid — http://www.mypyramid.gov/mypyramid/index.aspx

Without wax,
Mythili

The famous Indian candy ‘Chikki’ needs no introduction. I still remember buying a little 1″ x 1″ piece of chikki for 5 paise during my school days from the “out-of-bounds” vendor infront of the school gate. This action was usually followed by a bashing from mom and dad.

My grandmom makes the best of best chikki. I gave it a shot last week and it turned nearly like the one below. The image source is arsworldwide.com

–ingredients–

• Sesame seeds – 2 tbsp
• Peanuts – 1/2 lb
• Jaggery – 1lb
• Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
• Ghee – 1tbsp

–procedure–

• Dry roast the peanuts, deskin and keep aside. Crush the peanuts slightly by using hand mortar/pestle or by ’pulsing’ in the blender for 2 mins.
• Dry roast the sesame sees, cool and keep aside.
• In  a pan take some water and add crushed jaggery to it. Take about 1.5 times the amount of jaggery.
• Boil the solution to thicken. Test by taking a drop of this into a bowl of cold water. The drop should solidify immediately. The consistency if very important for the success of the chikki. Add the cardamom powder and stir well.
• Remove from heat and add crushed peanuts and sesame immediately. There should be more solution than the peanut-sesame combination. The more the better.
• Grease a plate with oil and spread over the above mixture. Cut into squares and let it cool.

Notes

~~ Nutrition info: Belongs to the meat and nuts food group. Savor this as a snack to meet your nurtition needs for the group.

~~ One can replace peanuts with any other nut in this recipe. (Cashews/skinned almonds etc)

~~ Keep the greased plate ready even before you start boiling the jaggery and water. The solution will solidify immediately so you need to get a head start by keeping everything ready.