Confessions

Some things you cannot relate to unless you actually do experience it. Over the last several weeks I have gone through a difficult time. It made me realize a lot about myself. Most importantly - to apologize for judging people. Things happen in peoples lives that we never expect or dream that we will have to confront or deal with. In those situation our morals and ethic - the fiber of who we are - are tested. I humbly apologize to those who I judged for being hypocrites. I have misunderstood that some things are bigger than our lives and our beliefs and often out of our control all together. Some things are sacrificed for a greater good. Whatever it may be - i solemnly vow to just be understanding and non-judgmental towards people. Compassion is difficult trait to master but it is very necessary for people. I am lucky to have a compassionate partner in life and friends. I hope I can re-pay their friendship in equal.

Whew!

I needed a new start.. a fresh look so, I revamped this blog! Its been 3 days in the making and C has been an active participant. He has taught me coding and I actually managed to re-design the site using only coding!! So, Tada!! Here it is! New stuff all over and there will be more stuff added - like cooking links (measurements/easy recipes), best seller lists and the latest books out, interesting places to travel to and simple musings that make everyday fun!

So, I am going to pledge to be more active on the blogging thing and try not to fall off the earth again!

Let me know what u think! Ciao!
(I am starving!)

Tomato Chicken with Bell Peppers and Raw Bananas

We had a serious surplus of small green raw bananas after C's aunt sent over 2 batches over 1 week! I had never cooked or had raw bananas and it sat for another week till I was forced to figure out what to do with it. Our cook/servant only knew of using them in fish curries and I am not fond of buying fish (a lil scared!) so - we had to get creative. So one night we cooked it with beef curry and replaced potatoes with the bananas. The next day we boiled it a bit and then cut them like fries and cooked them like fries as a snack - realized it can be cooked like potatoes! Apparently 1 raw banana is equivalent to 1 potato in starch/carbs.

We had a half a big bell pepper left over and before it spoiled I wanted to use it up. But when he went to cut it - it was already half spoiled! So we had only a few pieces of bell peppers - hardly enough for even 1/4 of a chicken! Looked around - and aha! the dang raw bananas!! Cut them into little pieces and added them to the pile - wallah! Enough base for a good curry.

So here goes me experiment - brahahaha! It started off as a recipe I saw online but by the time I was cooking it - it became something quite different!

You need...
Chicken - cut into bite size marinate in 1 tsp salt
Bell pepper - 1 is enough for 1/2 chicken
Raw Banana - I used about 4 - these are small
2 Tomatoes or canned tomato puree will work
Onion, Garlic, ginger pastes (mixed about 3-4 table spoons)
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Red Chili powder
Fresh green chili - split lengthwise on top
Sugar
Salt
Oil
Fresh Coriander leaves
Bay leaf
Cinnamon stick
Tomato Ketchup 1-2 tsp (optional for a sweet/sour taste)

Prep time: efficient kitchen and quick chopping will take no time at all =)
Cook time: 15-20mins

Heat some oil in pan. Fry the banana, green chili and bell pepper. Take out and put aside - try not to overcook it.

In a blender, make a tomato puree. Take tomato or tomato puree, 2-3 cloves of garlic, pinch of salt, red chili powder and ketchup. Put aside.

In same oil put the pastes (onion, garlic, ginger) and fry till the oil rises to top. Put in the cleaned chicken pieces and fry for a bit. Pour in the puree and toss. Add the garam masala, a bit of salt, sugar. Let it boil for a few minutes. Put in the bananas and let it simmer. In 5 minutes put in the peppers and green chili so its still a bit crunchy.

Taste to see if it needs more sugar or salt. If its strong taste - add sugar to tone down and even the taste. It should be spicy, little sour and a little sweet and will smell and taste like chinese =)

Serve with fresh coriander sprinkled on top. It will look a nice reddish curry with green peppers/coriander and white-ish chicken.

Its a crazy concoction but it tasted surprisingly good with some rice! Btw - it isn't necessary to add the bananas - I added them cause I had so much to get rid off!

Peanut Butter Balls

C wanted something sweet after dinner the other night and for once there was nothing in the house-- being it was 11pm - no stores to go buy smth either - so the next day i went hunting for some recipes and came across this easy yummy recipe and decided to make a batch and always have in the fridge for that sudden sweet tooth craving!

You need...
Peanut butter
Sugar
powdered milk (optional)
Cinnamon(Optional)
Chocolate shavings of ur choice (optional)

In a bowl mix all ingredients to form a firm dough ball of the peanut butter. Taste along the way for sweetness that you like. Then take tiny bits and form little balls - I make little bite size about size of malt balls. Then roll them in some powdered sugar and cinnamon mix to seal and stick them in a box and into the fridge. Pop one whenever you feel like one =)

Note of Caution: pop sparingly - unless you want to start looking like a ball!

Feeling Energetic...

...for a little while. I got all ready to go out in the afternoon and then decided to check email before stepping out... giving the sun a chance to cool down. Well, I got stuck. I ended up getting inspired to change my whole blog page! Before I knew it - 3 hours had passed and C had already come home from work! (Ramadaan working days are shorter so he comes home by 3.30-4.00 PM - Yipee!) We go out for a bit and check out a training center where they teach you cool things like Batik work and block and screen printing. Then we walked to Almas general store and picked up some chocolate for both our midnight sweet tooths - Cadbury milk chocolates and Snicker bars (more his then mine ;) Then we passed by the regular Iftaar stands and I had a craving for some Haleem (yuum!!!!) So we picked some up - crossed the road dodging speeding buses, manic cars and wobbly rickshaws and came home. The Haleem was the best I have had yet!! I was still feeling antsy so I decided to make some more peanut butter balls since we were running out. C fell asleep - so he has been taking a nap and I went back to work on updating my blog interface.

Before I knew it - it was 9.30 - yikes and no dinner ready yet!! Luckily C still sleeping - Alom (our servant) and I improvise in the kitchen with some leftovers and out comes a Chinesey chicken dish with green bell peppers, tomato sauce and raw bananas! (Don't worry - the recipes for both will be up soon!!)

So, now I am quite content and a bit tired - so going to go wake up C, eat dinner and pass out. Time now: 10:15 pm.

Fun stuff

After days of doing nothing - i finally found something fun to do. Cal hooked my laptop to download my videos so I have been using the editing software to edit my films! I just started few days ago - and so far worked on a short video for Ava Noor (my sister-in-law's niece who is the cutest lil baby) and then I started on my the footage of my students dancing at this years Lotus show. Currently I am working on Rang de Nila footage to put up for view. Rang de Nila stuff will have a professional working on it but i am working on just a simple version to have up while he finds time on his schedule to start the editing. Its a lot of fun! To cut and paste music, split images and sew them together! I will post them up on my website most likely once I find internet with speed enough to upload!

Other fun stuff has been the new apt. Today we took measurements and I went to some furniture stores to check out prices and window shopping. i totally miss US stuff - nothing here exactly fits my taste - but as they say - when in Rome... - so i picked out a color scheme to paint the walls with and Saturday will go out the blocks to imprint on the walls. I'll send pics as it progresses.

Mi Casa es...

Its been about a month and a half since being in dhaka now. The political unrest is a little bit under control.

From what I understand - the riots were started by the political parties taking an opportunity to bring down the military in the eyes of the people. The two ruling parties has been like a feuding family for the last 20 years or so. They were the sole causes on unrest in the city as they tried to one-up the other. So, it seems when the students stood up against the army to step off the campus grounds - the two parties paid off a few 100 students to star a city wide riot to demonstrate the ineptness of the current army government. But the reality is - the army not only complied but also took it further by calling a gearing so the students had a floor to speak about the situation. When curfew and city shutdown was announced to stop the riots - the parties went nuts. They played their old tricks of calling out to the "west" and asking for the return of democracy and save the country from military control. The military, meanwhile, has been working better for the people than ever before to maintain peace and bringing justice so the common people can feel safe. Granted - the military gv't has its own set of issues but politics isn't perfect. When the so called "democratic" parties were in place - Bangladesh was ranked the world's #1 corrupt country! Now, under military gov't there is voter registration - photo and thumb print ID - in place so the election being held in Dec 2008 will be a fair and just election. The leaders of the parties and families are in jail or in exile. People seriously hope that the 2008 election brings about a fair and just gov't in place and run it with the people in mind rather than for personal power and greed. Most people have lost hope - it is common to hear - "eh, nothings going to change" but there are few hopefuls that are holding out thankfully.

Recipe for Fried Eggplant

This eggplant dish is one of my favorites.

Spices needed

Salt
Turmeric
Oil

optional
onion/garlic/cumin/coriander paste

Cut the eggplant into thick slices about 1/2 in thick. Make paste with few drops of water, turmeric, salt (add the optional paste if you want) and mix. Take the eggplant slices and coat both sides well. Heat up the oil in a fry pan. Once hot, place the eggplant slices in the oil. Turn down the heat and let it cook. Turning over midway to cook the other side. Its done when the eggplant is soft and falling apart in the middle a bit.

serve warm with rice or roti. its delicious!

Recipe: Sweet, Spicy, Sour Chicken Curry

I saw this recipe on TV the other night and tried out last night. Cal loved it. It gives a really unique taste to chicken curry... here goes the recipe.

You will need
Chicken - cut into pieces
Oil - for deep frying
Onion - chopped
Garlic - chopped
Ginger - chopped
Sour yogurt
Salt
Black Pepper
Chili Powder - adjust to your taste
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 1 big
Cardamom - 2-3 pods
Cinnamon stick - half of 1
sugar
fresh chili and coriander

Clean chicken and cut to desired pieces. Marinate in salt and black pepper for abt 1/2 hr. Deep fry in oil just until it puffs up - it doesn't have to fully cook. Put aside for later. In the oil cook the onion, garlic and ginger till onions are transparent. Put in all the spices - adjust to your taste. Stir and cook the spices for a bit then put in the chicken and mix in with the spices. Pour water or chicken stock to cook the chicken in - cover and let simmer. Mix in sugar and salt into yogurt to your taste of how sour you want. Pour in the yogurt once the water is boiling. Stir well and cover and let simmer. Once the yogurt is cooked (it starts really soaked in the chicken) you have few options. You can adjust the sweet (add a bit more sugar), spicy (add a bit more chili powder) and sour (by adding sour yogurt).

option 1: mix in some green chili (split in half) and top it off with fresh coriander
option 2: mix in some almonds and cook for 2 more mins and serve with some almond slivers on top.
option 3: fry some onions till crispy and serve with it sprinkled on top.


Serve with fluffy white rice or parothas.