Coconut Chutney 2

This is a second version of coconut chutney that works really well with dosas, but would probably work well with other Indian snacks like idlis as well. This recipe calls for peanuts, so if you are allergic, STAY AWAY!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - Roasted, unsalted peanuts
½-Cup - Grated Coconut – fresh or frozen (thawed), NOT dry
3 or 4 - Green chilies
2 Tbl Spoons - Peanut or vegetable oil
1 Tsp Spoon - Urad Dal
1 Tsp Spoon - Mustard seeds
¼-Tps Spoon - Asofoetida or Heeng/Hing
1-inch Ball - Tamarind
5 or 6 - Curry leaves (optional)
Salt to taste


METHOD

Place the tamarind in about 1 cup of water and nuke in the microwave on high for about 1 minute. Remove and allow to soak. When the water is sufficiently cool, use your fingers to gently knead the tamarind in the water. Remove and discard the solids, and retain the “tamarind liquid”.

Slightly roast the peanuts until they release their flavor. Make sure that they are not burnt.
Place the coconut, green chilies, and peanuts in a blender or food processor. Add half the tamarind extract. Add just enough water to get the mass moving, and process to a medium smooth paste.

Remove from the blender. Add salt to taste, and add more tamarind extract if you want it a bit more sour.

In a small fry pan, heat the peanut or vegetable oil on medium high. Add the urad dal and mustard seeds. Heat until the urad dal turns golden and the mustard seeds start to sputter. Add the asofoetida, and immediately add the curry leaves. CAUTION: The hot oil will splash when you add the curry leaves.

Add the oil mixture to the peanut coconut paste. Mix thoroughly. Allow to stand for an hour before serving.


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From the phonograph to the MP3 player - a history of audio recordings

Inexpensive MP3 players are quite popular today. Everyone on a plane or in the gym seems to be plugged into one of these digital music players. Try as we may, it is impossible to get away from audio recordings in our daily lives. It starts perhaps with your alarm waking you up in the morning, all the voice mails that you receive and leave during your work day, or till you fall asleep listening to some soothing sounds of nature on the CD player on your nightstand. This is a brief history of the audio recording – from the phonograh to today’s MP3 music.

In 1877, the phonograph was invented by Thomas Alva Edison. He did this a result of his work on two other projects – the telegraph and the telephone. The first phonograph had a tin foil wrapped around a rapidly rotating cylinder. When Edison spoke, his words were converted into indentations on the tin foil. Later, when the actual prototype was built, Edison famously recorded and played back the nursery rhyme “Mary had a little lamb”, which became the first audio recording in the history of man!

In 1878, Oberlin Smith, an American mechanical engineer found a way to convert the electrical signals from a microphone to indentations on a flat disc, and the first version of the “record” was born! Jules Levy’s recording of Yankee Doodle is widely believed to be the first music recording in history.

In 1888, Emile Berliner, a German-born American came up with a way to record sounds on a flat disc. Later, in 1995, he managed to collect $25,000 in investments and set up the Berliner Gramophone Company. In 1898, he put out the first recordings on shellac discs.

In 1925, Bell Labs developed the first system with a moving armature to cut flat record discs. The armature was an electromagnetic device that controlled the movement of the cutting stylus. Joseph Maxfield and Henry Harrison lead the team that developed the armature. The first discs were designed to be played at 78 rotations per minute (rpm).

In 1935, BASF developed the first plastic-tape based magnetic tapes. The tape consisted of a foil of cellulose acetate as carrier material, coated with a lacquer of iron oxide as magnetic pigment and cellulose acetate as binder.
In 1949, the first microgroove 33-1/3 rpm long-play vinyl record (LP) records were introduced by Columbia Records. Acetate-based tapes are introduced.
In 1954, Sony produced the first pocket transistor radios, and Ampex produced its portable tape recorder. The first commercial 2-track stereo tapes are released.
In 1963, Philips introduced the Compact Cassette tape format. Mass production of cassette tapes started in Hanover, Germany in 1964, and music cassettes were first manufactured and distributed in 1965. The popularity of cassettes grew tremendously in the 1970s and 1980s, especially after portable cassette players such as the Walkman were introduced to the market.
In 1980, EMT introduced the first hard-disk digital recorder, and Sony introduced a palm-sized stereo cassette tape player called a "Walkman."
In 1981, Philips demonstrated the Compact Disc (CD), and in 1982, Sony released the first CD player
In 1993, the first MP3 Players appear on the market. The big breakthrough in MP3 technology was a result of psychoacoustics, and the ability to compress a typical audio file from a 50 MB size, to a typical MP3 file of 3 to 5 MB. More on this compression process in a different article.
This is by no means a complete history of audio. Several other important milestones in the field of audio production, transmission, and recording could not be included here, but can be readily found on the world wide web using any of the standard search engines.


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Tomato Base Curry Gravy

This is a recipe for a tomato-based curry gravy. What’s unusual about this recipe is that it contains typical Southeast Asian ingredients like soy sauce, fish sauce, and lemongrass, but not the ubiquitous coconut milk.

INGREDIENTS
1-inch ball - Tamarind
2 tblspns - Tomato paste
3 stalks - Lemongrass, white part, chopped fine
1 large or 2 medium - Red or yellow onions, diced medium
3 to 6 red chilies - Fresh or dry ok. If using dry, soak in warm water for 1 hr
4 cloves - Fresh garlic, chopped medium
1 inch piece - Fresh ginger, copped medium
1 tspn - Cumin Powder
6 to 8 - Curry leaves
2 inch piece - Turmeric root chopped fine, or ¼-tspn turmeric powder
2 tblspns - Peanut or vegetable oil
Salt to taste

2 cups - Water
1 tspn - Light soy sauce
1 tspn - Fish sauce or ½-tspn shrimp paste
2 tblspns - Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped fine



PREPARATION

Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water and microwave for 30 secs. Remove and allow to soak and cool for an hour. Use fingers to knead and break down the tamarind. Strain and collect tamarind liquid (extract). Discard solids.

Grind to fine paste: Onions, chopped lemongrass, red chilies, garlic, ginger, turmeric or turmeric root, cumin powder.

Add oil to a pan and heat over medium high. Add curry leaves (CAREFUL – the hot oil will sputter and splash!). Immediately add the finely-ground spice paste from above. Stir constantly and continue to cook till paste reduces in volume to nearly half. This will take 15 to 20 minutes. Make sure not to burn the paste.

Add half the tamarind extract and continue to cook for about 60 seconds, stirring constantly.

Add soy sauce and fish sauce (or shrimp paste) and continue to stir and cook for 60 seconds.

Add tomato paste. Stir well to mix and cook until the raw flavor disappears. This should take 5 to 10 minutes. Again, make sure not to burn the mixture.

Add 2 cups of water and simmer over low heat. Add salt to suit your taste. Taste, and add more tamarind extract to suit your taste. The curry gravy is ready.

NOTE 1
You can use this gravy with veggies, chicken, beef, or hard boiled eggs. The spices are too mild for lamb, and lamb is therefore not recommended. To add vegetables, boil the veggies in lightly salted water until they are about 80 percent cooked; then add to curry gravy and simmer till fully cooked. If using chicken or beef, cut into bite size pieces and cook in broth. I use plan water with a couple of cubes of bullion, or add a couple of tablespoons of old curry powder that has lost its flavor and will likely be tossed! Boil till fully cooked. Then add to the gravy and simmer for 15 minutes over low heat. If using hard boiled eggs, shell the eggs and cut in half length-wise. Add to gravy and simmer for 10 minutes over low heat. In all cases, garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.

NOTE 2
You can find tamarind in Asian or Indian grocery store. I prefer the Thai or Indian brands which come in the form of a 4 in by 5 in by 1 in slab, wrapped in plastic. I do not recommend the tamarind paste that you can buy in a little plastic can/tub. If you cannot find tamarind, replace with 3 medium sized ripe tomatoes. Boil in water for a couple of minutes and immediately dunk into iced water. Remove skin and puree. Add the tomato puree immediately after the tomato paste step described above. Cook till the raw flavor disappears. Add 1 cup of water instead of 2, and simmer.

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Onyx in Fashion Jewelry

I recently came across some fashion jewlery made from sterling silver and onyx. This particular piece of jewlery was a copper pendant, and I was quite impressed with the quality of the copper pendants. So I started to do some research on onyx. Onyx is a naturally-occurring cryptocrystalline form of quartz. A cryptocrystalline rock texture is one where the crystals are so tiny that they cannot generally be seen with the naked eye, and can only be seen under a microscope using thin sheet specimens. Most onyx is banded, and the bands are a result of various secondary minerals. The bands can be of almost any color except blues and purples (I have no idea why!). Black onyx, such as the one used in the copper pendant I referred to, is quite common. However, the banded form of onyx is the most common variety of onyx. Onyx can be shaped as required, and then polished to a high shine, making it a perfect gemstone for fashion jewlery. Onyx is believed to remove negativity and negative energy. Onyx is the birthstone for February, and the 10 anniversary gemstone.
In the particular jewlery piece that I came across, black onyx was used as the focal bead in the pendant. The setting itself was superbly crafted from pure copper. The copper design was quite intricate, and overall the pendant was nearly 3 inches in length. With gold currently selling at around $800 an ounce, and copper priced at about $2 per pound, it’s not hard to understand the popularity of copper for fashion jewelry!



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Lentil Soup

Here is an easy recipe for making tomato daal, and Indian lentil soup. This recipe uses yellow mung/moong beans. Best served hot with rice or Indian breads.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup – yellow mung lentils, rinsed, and soaked for a couple of hours
3 medium tomatoes – diced to 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion – diced roughly
¼-tsp – turmeric
1 tbsp – peanut of vegetable oil
¼-tsp – asofoetida
1 tsp – urad daal
1 tsp – fenugreek seeds
1 tsp – mustard seeds
1 tsp – cumin seeds
2 dried red chilies
6 to 8 curry leaves (optional)
Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the soaked lentils, diced tomatoes, and 3 cups of water in a deep sauce pan. Add a drop of oil, and cook over medium high heat.
When the lentils are about half-done, add the roughly diced onion and continue to cook till the lentils are fully done. Add ¼-tsp turmeric and stir well. Continue to cook on low.
In a separate fry pan, add 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil. Add 1 tsp urad dal and 1 tsp fenugreek seeds. Heat over medium high heat till the grains are light brown.
Add 1-tsp mustard seeds and the dried red chilies.
When the mustard seeds start to sputter, add 1 tsp cumin seeds, and continue to cook for about 60 seconds.
Add ¼-tsp asofoetida, and immediately add the curry leaves (Careful – the hot oil will sputter and splash!).
Add this mixture to the lentils-tomato-onions mixture, and stir well.
Add salt to taste. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serve hot.

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The Final Elections Blog

I had crow for breakfast this morning. It was too late and past dinner time when the election was called last night. I was skeptical that the electorate would choose an African American to the White House. I was convinced that the “Bradley Effect” would rob the Democrats of a victory. I was convinced that the Democrats would find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I was convinced that we would wake up this morning and have another white male in the White House.

I had crow for breakfast this morning, and I’m glad I did!!!

I watched the election coverage on the CNN and FOX and passed up on Stewart and Colbert on the Comedy Channel. Hopefully, Stewart/Colbert do a re-run and I get to watch it sometime later this week. FOX’s coverage actually appeared to be fair and balanced, for a change. The highlight of their coverage was Fred Barnes’ rant about early voters. Turns out that Barnes himself voted early! The other panel members called him out on it and made him look like an idiot….not that he needed much help! CNN used a hologram of some of their reporters. It was cheesy….a throwback to Princess Lea in the first Start Wars…..but I still thought it was cool.

McCain looked like a beaten man last night, but his concession speech was class and dignity personified:
“In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving.”

Obama was equally gracious in his acceptance speech:
“Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.”

It’s the dawn of a new era in America.



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With supporters like these.......

Through out this election cycle, the Right has questioned the Obama’s “friends” including Wright, Ayers, etc. etc. Those asking the questions included Right wing moderates like McCain (yeah – I think he is a moderate!), Right Wing nutbags like Hannity, and Right Wing Loons like Palin, and Dick Morris. As I watched coverage on Election Day, I watched an ad on TV sponsored by a group calling themselves Our Country Deserves Better. On their website, OCDB says “Join us for one of our 35 rallies supporting the McCain/Palin campaign and opposing the Obama/Biden ticket. Come out and join us in declaring in one loud voce: Our Country Deserves Better than Barack Obama and Joe Biden!” The chairman of this group is Howard Kaloogian. I Googled Howard Kaloogian and here’s what came up in wikiPedia:

• In February 2006, Kaloogian placed an ad in a Washington, D.C. newspaper that falsely claimed the California Pro-Life Council endorsed Kaloogian. They did not endorse any candidate for the race.
• Another claim for endorsement by the conservative Center for Reclaiming America also proved false — the organization stated they don't endorse candidates.
• In March, campaign literature and Kaloogian's website suggested State Senator Tom McClintock endorsed Kaloogian with the two-year old quote "Howard Kaloogian has distinguished himself as one of the most principled, courageous and steadfast conservative leaders in California." In a statement McClinctock stated "It has come to my attention that a campaign mailing on behalf of Howard Kaloogian includes a picture and quote from me that suggests that I have endorsed his candidacy for U. S. Congress. I have not."
• State Senator Bill Morrow, who was running against Kaloogian, challenged an implied endorsement by him of Kaloogian on the same webpage.
• Endorsements from social conservatives such as James Dobson who was appointed to the Commission on Pornography, 1985-86 during the Reagan administration and Concerned Women for America, a religious conservative women’s political organization, are at odds with an endorsement from Gabrielle Reilly - an adult website model and who also appeared on Kaloogian's web site. The Reilly endorsement on Kaloogian's web site was later removed.
• On March 28, 2006, Howard Kaloogian's campaign website displayed a street-level photograph which was claimed to have been recently taken in downtown Baghdad. It was later established that the picture was of a street corner in suburban Istanbul, Turkey!
• In addition to the false Baghdad photo, the Kaloogian website also posted a photo of Kaloogian with president George W. Bush, which was altered in such a way that the height discrepancy between the two men was reduced.
• In one photo which appeared on the campaign website home page, as well as in the photo gallery section of the web site, the location of where the photo was taken was misrepresented. The campaign website claimed the photo was taken in Iraq, whereas the same photo appeared on the Move America Forward blog with the caption that it was taken at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida.
  
  So if you can tell a lot about the friends a person keeps, then what does it say about John McCain????
  
  
  
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Calsilica in Fashion Jewelry

Calsilica is a brightly colored “stones” that first appeared in the world of fashion jewelry just over 10 years ago. With its bright, vivid, and varied colors, it is not hard to understand why calsilica captured the imagination of jewelry designer as well as jewelry wearers alike. It made quite a splash and gem and jewelry stores when it first showed up. Calsilica earrings, silver pendants, rings, and other items were often the stars at gem and jewelry shows.

Over the years, there has been a fair bit of speculation on the origin and nature of calsilica. The most persistent rumors were that calsilica was a natural material that was being mined in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, and that calsilica was essentially a form of calcite with minerals that caused the brightly-colored layers so characteristic of the “stone”. The mine would send you pictures of the mining process, and “experts” issued letters of authentication stating that the “stones” showed no evidence of being manmade. Gemologists in Europe debunked that theory in 2002. Gemologists at the Swiss Gemological Institute examined two specimens of calsilica purchased at a gem fair in France. They found that the particles were held together by a material that was very similar to paraffin. They even found traces of man-made coloring agents within the specimens. So the general consensus today is that calsilica is a man-made amalgamation of various minerals and stone fragments that are held together with resin. Often, the powder and fragments are deposited under water and compressed to form cake. The cake is dried and infused with resin. Once the resin hardens, varies pieces are cut from the block, and then polished to achieve the desired sheen.

There is little evidence to suggest that calsilica is a naturally occurring material. Nonetheless, good calsilica specimens are pretty, and can be used to make attractive, inexpensive fashion jewelry.