I simply adore the recipes of Heidi.
Inspired by her pineapple rice, I made my own version of it today.
Boiled rice(serves 4)
Pineapple juice and chunks(fresh or canned)
Shallots thinly sliced
Ginger crushed
Garlic thinly sliced
Green chilli chopped
Green onion chopped
Coconut oil
Soya sauce - 2 tbsp
Chilli flakes
Salt to taste
Fry chillies, ginger and garlic less than a minute. Add shallots. Mix in soya sauce and pineapple crushed and juice(dont use very sweet pineapples). Mix in the rice.
Garnish with green onions, coriander, sliced thin egg omlette.
I served it with crunchy chick pea salad and prawns pickle!
Filed under: Recipes on September 16th, 2009 | No Comments »
Have sore throat, fever, cold, breathing trouble etc? Don’t panic!
Go to the nearest hospital, get an influenza screening done. The most common is a nasal swab test. You will get the result in 4 hrs.
If test is positive, you have a minor chance of getting any of the strains under the influenza A from H1N1 to H10N7. You need to do a PCR test to be 100% sure of H1N1.
If you live in UAE, PCR is done only in government hospitals and only Al Wasl for children.
However, they dont do PCR test for all. They do PCR test only for children under 5 years, pregnant women, geriartric patients and people with any underlying medical conditions.
Since the most common influenzas right now are normal human influenza and H1N1, doctors immediately start you on Tamiflu.
People strongly need to use their common sense here, than starting on Tamiflu. Tamiflu is said to have renal and hepatic toxicity, especially for babies.
I heard the other day from an ex-colleague of mine, a peadeatrician in NMC started tamiflu for his 1 year old baby, inspite of influenza A test coming out negative.
If you live in Dubai and children are small, Al Wasl Hospital is the best place to go.
Filed under: Life in Dubai on September 15th, 2009 | No Comments »
Interesting conversation with a scammer!
Call from # +971503631421
Me: Hello
Scammer(in Hindi, with thick Pakistani accent): Hello, I am calling from Etisalat. You have just won a million Dirhams in lottery. We will need your bank details. After disconnecting this phone, please call back and give us the bank details.
Me(in Hindi): So you want me to call and give my bank details? Havent you been reading newspapers about scam callers?
Scammer: Which “muluk”(area) are you from?
Me: What difference does it make?
Scammer: ok, atleast tell me your name!
Me: Arent you ashamed to cheat like this?
Scammer: No! Havent met anyone telling me not to cheat people.
Me: …
Filed under: Life in Dubai on August 24th, 2009 | No Comments »
Like everybody else in Dubai, I am so eagerly waiting for the launch.
Public transport is something, I have always missed in Dubai. An advantage and disadvantage of living in Dubai is to have a car is not a luxury.
Parking problems are something that goes with the above.
With the metro construction every where, its all the more worse. Roads have been blocked, rerouted, new traffic lights have been added.
I just hope its worth the wait and reduce the carbon foot print.
Trains will be driverless and include 3 classes: the Golden Class (VIP), the Women and Children’s Class and the Silver Class (economy).
Stations will offer taxi depots and park-and-ride facilities.
Filed under: Life in Dubai on August 11th, 2009 | No Comments »
This is one of my evertime favourites
Ingredients
1 chicken, skinned
3 onions, chopped
1 or 2 tomatoes medium sized
1 tbsp ginger-garlic, chopped
green chilli to taste
4 whole red chillies
1tsp turmeric powder
1tbsp coriander powder
curry leaves a few
1/2 coconut grated and roasted
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp mustard seeds
Stir-fry the mustard seeds till they pop. Add the onions and fry until they turn golden brown. Add the ginger-garlic and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Add the sliced tomatoes and fry till the oil separates.
Make a paste of roasted coconut, whole red chillies, cinnamon. Add this to the pan and cook for a minute.
Add the chicken and add some water or coconut milk, salt to taste and cover and cook.
Once cooked, garnish it with curry leaves and serve with rice or rotis.
Filed under: Food, Recipes on August 7th, 2009 | No Comments »
I made this mango chutney the other day to go with “Aloo parattas”. This was something my grandmother used to make during the mango season.
Ingredients
Roasted long red chilly to taste
Mango
Yoghurt
Salt to taste
Mash a very ripe mango, making sure its pulpy and not frothy liquid. It need to have the small pieces in it. Mix it with yoghurt, broken red chilly and salt.
Yum!
I dont have a picture to put it up, but it really worth trying and goes well with parathas and rice.
Filed under: Recipes on August 2nd, 2009 | No Comments »
Spices play an important role in the “curries” of Kerala. Main ones are:
Cinnamon
Cloves
Cardamom
Pepper
Ginger
Garlic
Coriander
Turmeric
Chilly
A few fresh herbs are also used. Main ones are:
Curry leaves
Coriander
Mint
Tamarind, kodampuli (Garcinia Cambogia), and lime are used to make sour sauces.
Very popular sweet and sour dishes are - pulissery, puli inchy, inchy curry.
Filed under: General on June 5th, 2009 | No Comments »
You can easily dress up this recipe with a few more ingredients - chopped garlic added at the end of the onion cooking, chopped tomatoes and/or olives in with the tuna, lemon zest to serve, etc.
Ingredients
- Salt
- 4 ounces bow tie (farfalle), linguini, or spaghetti pasta
- 2 Tbsp olive oil (plus more)
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- Pinch chili pepper flakes
- 1 (6-ounce) can tuna packed in olive oil, drained
- 1 Tbsp capers
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 2 Tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt (1 teaspoon for every quart of water), return to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until cooked through, but still firm (al dente).
2. While the water is coming to a boil and the pasta is cooking, prepare the rest of the recipe. In a large, wide sauté pan, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil on medium heat. Add the chopped onion and chili pepper flakes and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes or so. Mix in the canned tuna, the capers, and the salt. Add the wine, bring to a simmer then lower the heat to low. Cook for 10 minutes or longer, while the pasta is cooking. If the mixture begins to dry out, add a little more wine.
3. When the pasta is ready, drain it and add it in to the pan with the tuna. Toss to mix. Drizzle on a bit more olive oil over it all, then add the chopped parsley and a few grinds of black pepper to taste.
Serves 2.
Filed under: Recipes on May 5th, 2009 | No Comments »
Started with stong winds from Thursday, 26th from noon. There was heavy downpour and some parts even saw hail stones. I am in no way complaining, as everybody enjoyed the sudden pour of rain.
Rain complicated the $6m race as well. Unlike the track 11 years ago was retrofitted for better drainage. Well Armed, a 6-year-old gelding claimed the richest price in horse racing. The Brazil-bred Gloria de Campeao was the distant runner-up, with the Saudi-owned Paris Perfect third.
Wet or dry, this will be the last race at Nad Al Sheba. It will be in the huge Meydan City from 2010. Meydan complex is huge and is a mammoth structure. The grandstand will house a 5-star Banyan Tree hotel.
Rain also complicated the Coldplay concert. People still braved the rain and wind to hear Chris Martin and gang who were wearing the “heroes of theuae” band.
Filed under: Life in Dubai on March 29th, 2009 | No Comments »
Govindas is a place where you can enjoy the vegetarian food - that too cooked without onion, garlic or garam masala! You need to wait in the queue to get a table.
Friendly and patient service staff.
The food is very tasty and has the very traditional taste. Rotis are very soft and rice can be eaten without any side dish.
Thali is very filling and balanced for taste, accompanied with a welcome drink - mint cooler.
The decor has a Krishna based theme. But the artificial tree looks out of place.
Another attraction is the 100% natural fruit icecream available outside. These are eggless, but very fruity and tasty. Overall the food tastes good and healthy. Highly recommended!
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Decor is traditional Indian
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For the positive energy!
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Thali and the mint cooler
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Tru Frut ice cream
Filed under: Food on March 28th, 2009 | No Comments »
