mango pickle / aam ka achaar (achar)

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Hey,

Sydney it all set to witness warmer temperatures of around 28 degrees and the weather's perfect to set mango pickle. I have set chilli, garlic, and lime pickles before but always heard that mango pickles are tricky so never tried them ... until now :)

went to the markets are 06:00 only to find that fridays are wholesale days. so i couldn't pick up a couple of kgs of raw mangoes. So my brain is going "that's it, quit!" but despite all my instincts asking me to drive back home quitely, I go to this HUGE wholesaler and query, "what's the minimum amount i can buy?". "10 kgs", comes the stern and dismissive reply. ok, then, 10 kgs it is...



so - enough small talk. here's the recipe

lauki ke kofte

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holy moly, i was writing the title of this post and as usual, i was about to write its english translation when i realized it is "balls of long gaurd". LMAO! But I hope that it doesn't put you off your appetite since this is a healthy version of one truly delicious dish. "Healthy" because instead of frying the balls (ahm...), you can steam them followed by pan frying to hold the shape when put in the gravy.

Ingredients:

For the Koftas:
Long Guard/ Lauki - 1.5 kgs
Ajwain - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - 1/2 teaspoon
Finely Chopped Chilli - 6-10
Finely Chopped Garlic - 3-4 cloves
Finely Chopped Ginger - Finger-size
Lemon Juice - 2 tablespoon
(Besan 4 tablespoon and 1/2 tablespoon Baking Powder)
OR
(4 tablespoon self raising flour)
Jeera (Cumin) powder - 1 teaspoon

bairagi baadal bairagi (this post might only be of interest for hindi speakers)

i was frantically searching the depths of Internet for this one song from the album "Boodhe Pahadon Par", titled "Bairagi Baadal Bairagi". The album is a work from Vishal (music), Gulzar (lyrics), and Suresh Wadker (singer). The song in discussion is a particularly beautiful poem and the music is fantastic. It touches classical music in a way (though I am by no means, a student of classical music, I enjoy it nevertheless).

Ultimately when I found the song, I started thinking about all the other nice songs that are unfortunately not popular and hence not available readily. Wouldn't it be a great idea to have a platform that contains a repository of these gems.

Few of my favorite rare pieces are -

- yaad piya ki aaye (prahaar)
- aaja ri nindiya (nidaan) even this national-award winning movie - based on HIV infection - is rare to find
- suno re bhaina (godmother)
- phul-gendwa na maaro (dooj ka chaand)
- gham diye mustakil (shaahjahaan) apologies to sajal for pulling his leg on this one during undergrad :D
- o des se aane waale bataa (aap ki abida)
- saanware ai jaiyo (laal salaam) music was given by hridaynath mangeshkar)
- yaar julaahe (boodhe pahadon par) same album as bairagi baadal bairagi
- nikla, neem ke tale se nikla (hu tu tu) marathi themed song
- kaali ghodi dwaar khadi (chashm-e-baddoor)
- kahaan se aaye badra (chashm-e-baddoor)
- thirakti kyun hawa (yeh yaarana by renoo nathan)
- more saiyyan to hein pardes (bandit queen - nusrat)
- jeevan kya hai (is raat ki subah nahin)
- aaina mujhse meri (daddy (?) )

let me know if you have some songs that you have been searching for. maybe I can be of some help

cheers
gaurav

Decisions decisions

Some decisions can be made with a coin toss. This one ain't one of them :(

sony w290 @ 200USD? super compact (3.9 x 2.4 x 0.9"), super sleek, good enough resolution and ISO sensitivity, zoom but no zooming in while recording video :(
or,

panasonic TZ7/ZS3 @ 300USD? super zoom (12x), and zoom in while recording video :p
but not so compact (4.1 x 2.4 x 1.3" or 50% bigger than w290)
or,

both?

(P.S. I am getting the Canon 500D which also has HD video but not zoomable while recording - ARGH!)

Help me choose! (rationale behind your choice would greatly be appreciated, if not rewarded :D)