Kairas - Peanut and Capsicum curry Saraswat style

This is a fantastic Masol(Coconut gravy based) curry traditional cooked by Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins (Bhanaps).

Its mildly sweet and savoury tasteis kind of like a thai curry but with a very Indian flavour.

Masala to grind:
1/2 Coconut
1 teaspoon Coriander seeds
1/3 teaspoon Methi (Fenugrek) seeds
1 Pinch mustard seeds
3/4 Teaspoon Hing(Asofoetida)
3/4 Tablespoon Chanadaal
3/4 Tablespoon Til(Sesame)
8 red chilies Dried (Bedgi Variety if poosible)
1/2 Inch ball of Tamarind or 1 teaspoon of readymade tamarind syrup
1 small 1/2 inch size piece of Jaggery or Molasses or 2/3 teaspoon of brown sugar
2/3 cup Peanuts-Soak for 8 hours in water and cook (In a pressure cooker if possible) until tender.
3 Medium sized capsicum diced into 1 inch size pieces
Temper (Phann)with 1 tsp Mustard;1/4 teaspoon Hing;Kadipatta(curry leaves)and 1 red chili in 2 tablespoons of hot oil.
Grind the paste. Add the peanuts and Capsicum, let cook for a few minutes(Not too long or the capsicum gets squishy). Temper with the oil and the above ingredients and add salt to taste.
Really tastes fantastic hot with steamed rice....

Mother's recipe Fresh Mushroom Curry

Ingredients
250 gms Fresh Mushrooms
2 Cardomoms
2 Bay Leaves
3 Cloves
1/2 Tsp Garam Masala
1/2 Tsp Chili Powder
1 Tsp Finely Chopped Ginger
2 Chopped Green Chilies
1 Teacup Beaten Curds(Yogurt)
1/2 teacup chopped Coriander leaves
4 Tbsp Ghee(or Olive Oil)
Salt to taste
Paste
2 Onions
6 Cloves Garlic
1/2 Inch Piece Ginger
3 Tbsp Cashewnuts
For the Paste
Boil the onions in 1 cup water until soft.Add the Ginger, garlicand cashewnuts and make a paste.
For the curry
Slice the Mushrooms, blanche them in hot water for 2 minutes and drain.
Heat the Ghee/Olive Oil -fry the cardomom, bay leaves, Cloves for a few seconds and then add the paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the Garam Masala, ginger green chilies and fry again for 1 minute.
Take the vessel off the flame and add the curds(Yogurt).Mix well. Put the vessel on a slow flame and keep mixing. Add the mushroom, coriander leaves and cook for a few minutes
Serve Hot.

Australian Pound

Hey, I never knew the Aussies used pounds till I found this!!!!!

More Quotes Galileo Galilei, Stephen Roberts, Voltaire, Gandhi etc

I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, intellect has intended us to forego their use - Galileo Galilei

I contend that we are both Atheists. I just belive in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours- Stephen Roberts

Which is more dangerous Fanaticiss or Atheism? Fanaticism is a thousand times more deadly; for Atheism inspires no bloody passion whereas fanaticism does; Atheism is opposed to crime and and fanaticism causes crimes to be committed. - Voltaire

I really don't think this is the time to be making new enemies- Voltaire on his deathbed, after a priest asked him to renounce Satan.

Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.- Gandhi

We must respect other religions, even as we respect our own. Mere tolerance thereof is not enough.- Gandhi.

Francis Xavier - Mixed Blessings....

Francis Xavier was a missionary who came to Goa. He was unhappy that the local populace were not christians as he thought this was the only correct way to salvation.

He did not know the language of the people and perhaps truly believed he was doing good. His letters have sadly shown how he hated the customs of the Local Hindus. Idol worship was not his cup of tea whereas for Hindus it was quite normal to have a sagun (With form) aspect of the Paramatman (Supreme Soul=God) along with a Nirgun (Without attributes) paramatman for worship.
Hindus do not see Idol worship as negative in any way. Muslims use symbols, they go round the kabba, kiss the quran, Christians have statues, crosses, and elaborate icons as symbols of the almighty yet they are vehemently iconoclasts in principle.
Francis Xavier did some good charitable work for the Local people but his attitude towards Hindus and Hinduism was sad.
These very converts made idols of Francis xavier (Above right) which were worshipped just as Hindus do their Idols (Above Centre).
Catholics and their churches in Goa venerate Francis Xavier as a saint(Above left).
Hinduism thrives in Goa today and Hindus form the majority. The Goan christians practice a christian faithfar removed from the faith practiced in the dark ages when Hindus were banished and Hindu temples were knocked down as part of the christian state policy.
Hindus and christians overwhelmingly live in peace and take part in each others worship and feasts. Perhaps if Francis Xavier lived today and could speak our tongue he may have relished reading the Bhagvat Gita and its philosophy. Idol worship would not seem so abominable to him.
But those were dark days and he did think he was doing the right thing...
Are we, today, enlightened enough to understand the misadventures of the past and move on as friends??? I hope so!

The Konkan Coast - A Tourist's delight: Goa, Mumbai, the Canara coast and kerala

The Konkan coast is the narrow strip of Land to the west of the western Ghats, reclaimed by Lord Parshuram by asking Lord Varuna, God of the seas to receed to allow the Konkanis to settle.

Why Mythology is an integral part ofour culture, on a scientific note, the Konkan was perhaps inhabited by aboriginal tribes who migrated into India many thousands of years ago. The Aryans from central asia settled in the 2nd century BC. While the aboriginal peoples were aryanised the aryans themselves were enculturated in the aboriginal traditions.

The worship of Shiva, the worship of Santeri or Shantadurga forms an amalgamation of the aryan and the pre aryan traditions of the Konkan.

The Land was separated from the ghats and the Desh or inland by the mighty Western Ghats.

The whole of the western coast of India is now connected by the Konkan railway. From Thane in North Maharashtra to Kerala, the Konkan coast is extremely beautiful. The states of Goa and Kerala are major tourist destinations for Indians as well as foreign tourists.

A map of the western Indian coast in the 1880s is shown above. Then Goa was under portuguese rule, India was under the British and large princely states such as Hyderabad and Mysore had Maharajas and Nizams who earned millions.

Amchigela - an endonym for Konkani

Most communities have an endonym (A name they use for themselves) and an ectonym 9 a aname used by other to call the particular community) . Many places have these too.

Amongst konkanis specially saraswats the word amchigela/Amchigele is an endonym. Konknno is perhaps an ectonym. I have put in the emblem of the amchigele UAE samaj as an example :)

Amchi means 'ours' and gela means language. Therefore all konkanis call themselves 'people speaking our language' or amchigela/amchigelo!!! Konkani itself is also known as amchigela or our tongue!!!

Bharat is an endonym whereas Indos, India, Inde are all ecotnyms.

Cymru is an Endonym and Wales is an ectonym.

Eire an Endonym and Ireland an ectonym.

Goem is an endonym whereas Goa is an ectonym.

Mumbai is an endonym whereas Bombay was an ectonym for many'
Some of the aimiable names for other indian communities include... All ectonyms... Gujju for gujrati, Mallu for Malayali, Bong for Bengali.

So next time you meat an amchi -i.e. Konkani chap, ask him/her do you speak amchigela? :)

Dalitoy - a fantastic accompaniment to steamed rice- Konkani style lentil curry.

Dalitoy and Xit (Sheath)- Rice and Dal
The perfect couple.

Most Konkanis would have dalitoy xit as their basic meal with accompaniments such as a cocount based curry.

Dal is lentil, usually toor dal and certainly toor or tori dali for dalitoy and toy or rather tauy is from the sanskrit word for water i.e. toyam. Therefore dalitoy is basically a thin dal soup. Most saraswats, especially gowd saraswats or dorkas (Because they follow the vaishnavite tradition or the dwarka tradition) would never eat patal or dilute dalitoy. They would rather enjoy a daat dalitoy or thick dalitoy= DDT !!!

Tori dal, Tuvar Dal- Soak in water for at tleast 2 hours.
Oil 2 tablespoons
Kadi pata/ curry leaves fresh a few.
Hing/ asofoetida powder 2 pinches.
Mustard seeds
Green chilies a few
Red chilies a few
Salt to taste

Method

Boil the tori dal. Some prefer to pressure cook it until it is a good mash.
Add the green chilies after they are split into half.
Add the salt.
Some people also add a bit of turmeric powder for some colour (Or the Dalitoy looks anemic!)
Heat the oil in a small vessel, add the mustard seeds, the asofoetida, the redchillies and the kadi patta to the hot oil.
Temper the boiling dal with this sputtering oil and spice mix (the tempering is Called Phann in Konkani)
Add salt to taste
Stir well and serve with Hot steamed rice.

Many Konkanis like to eat this with a spoonfull of warm ghee. Well - ghee is full of saturates so I wouldnt recommend it though it does add to the flavour.

Great Konkani Book - Konkani MahaBharat Adi Parv- Krishnadas Shama

These were the days when the portuguese had landed on the sacred shores of the Konkan Kashi or Goa. They were keen to caputire the land for the King of Portugal and capture the souls for their God. Many so called saints and priests came from portuguese shores to convert the Hindus to the new faith of Christianity. To convert Hindus they had to first understand their language and their mythology and literature. It was in their interest to do so.

The Portuguese Jesuits set about writing down the literature of the Konkani Hindus. This book is a modern transliteration by Dr P Naik of the Thomas Stevens Konkani Kendra in Goa. Krishnadas Shama was a konkani saraswat brahmin from Kushasthali, saxti(Salcette), Goa who was well versed with Konkani Hindu folklore. He was proficient in Konkani, Marathi and Sanskrit and perhaps even Kannada. He gave an oration of the Mahabharat Adi Parv in Chaste Saraswat Konkani and this was written down by the Jesuits in Roman script. This happened just before the Hindu Holocaust in Goa in the middle of the 16th century.

The transliterated konkani mahabharat was filed away in the libraries in portugal when some Goans discovered them. Dr Naik, himself a jesuit priest transliterated this in the common devnagri script used by many Konkanis today and the TSKK published the same.

The preface thanks the jesuit priests who saved this piece of literature! Shouldnt they be blamed for the almost complete annhilation of the Hindu Konkani culture, temples, literature from Goa??? Wouldn't this be a living tradition if it were not for the portuguese and Jesuits iconoclasts who destroyed all the Goan temples in the province of Saxti (salcette).

There also a mention of Konkani being only an oral language before the Jesuits began to write it in the roman script . Unfortunately the then konkani literature, temples and culture was almost completely annhilated in the 1540s to 1560s to make sure that the Hindu religion never recovers and all the people were forcibly converted to catholicism.

However the mentioned book is a beautiful read for all the lovers of Konkani and makes one comprehend and lament the insurrmountable loss , the Konkani literature, culture and religion has has to suffer under the portuguese and jesuits.

Hindus and Catholics live peacefully in Goa today with a great deal of understanding. We have learnt our lessons from the past (At least we hope so).

Hindus form a majority in Goa today. Hindu temples are booming. Beautiful churches have also been built (some unfortunately on the graves of previous temples). These portuguese religious fanatics who wanted Goa to be cleansed of the Hindu faith are unfortunately not here to see that the Hindus have built a temple in Lisbon.

Do read the book.

Solavya Shekdantle Konknni Mhabharat Adi Parv

Published by the TSKK

Goa- 1990

By a kind donation of Rs 20,000 by the Kuwait Konkani Kendra.

Batata Humman- A potato Curry Konkani style Recipe

Use Small New potatoes or dice potatoes into one inch cubes.
Fresh Coconut- grated
Tamarind paste
Red chili- Kashmiri and regular
Hing (Asofoetida)
Oil to temper.
Salt

The grated coconut, red chilies and tamarind paste may br ground to a pulp using a food processor.
Boil this paste.
Cook the potatoes until properly done (Boil or microwave)
Add the potatoes to the coconut chili tamarind paste
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and add the asoefoetida(Only a pinch)
Let it heat for 2 minutes and add this hot oil to the potato curry.
Add salt and allow to simmer for a few minutes

Batata humman

Wicked Women of the Raj - Coralie Younger : A review

Very Interesting book.

Coralie younger has given us true stories of White women who married Indian princes. Unfortunately it was the 19th and early 20th century and soceity was not ready for mixed race marriages. Money could never completely mask the lonliness that these women and their spuses faced.Great read.

Wicked women of the Raj- Coralie Younger

Publishers Harper Collins India in Joint venture with the India Today group
New Delhi

2003

ISBN 81-7223-454-6

NonFiction/History

Star of India

The Star of India was India's emblem in the days of the British Raj. The above picture is taken from a cigarette packet insert. The Star of India was added to the Union Jack in the centre and formed India's flag.

The Moto was "Heaven's Light Our Guide"

The star of India was also added on to the Red and Blue British Ensigns and were flown on Civilian and Naval occasions.

Hyderabadi Baghara Baingan - recipe

The Charminar

A very very good recipe from the southern Indian city of Hyderabad....

1kg brinjal( small Aubergines/egg plants)
Tamrind about 2 oz by weight
1/2 cup oil
2 tablespoons Til (Sesame) seeds
2 Tablespoons coconut
2 Tablespoons Raw Peanuts
1 teaspoon puree of ginger
1 teaspoon puree of garlic
1 onion
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon Chili powder (Cayenne)
1/4 teaspoon onion seeds (kalaunji/nigella)
1/4 teaspoon methi (Fenugreek)
1 teaspoon ground dhaniya (coriander seeds)
1 teaspoon ground Jeera (cumin)
1/4 teasppon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 stems of fresh Kadi patta (curry leaves)
3 green chilis
Green coriander one cup

Soak the tamarind in 3/4 cup warm water(Or use readly available tamarind paste juice appropriately) Roast the sesame seeds, coconut,peanuts and finely chopped onion, until brown but not too dark-stirring contantly to avoid burning.
Grind in a blender with some water and leave aside-(Masala Paste)
Slice the eggplants lengthwise and again side wise to for a cruciate cut about 2/3 rd the length of the eggplant.
Heat the oil in a pan, toss in the mustard seeds, fenugreek, nigella and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the egg plants to this and saute for a couple of minutes and save the oil.
Add the turmeric, chilli powder, curry leaves, ginger, garlic and salt to the previously ground masala paste. Slowly saute the masala in the oil over a medium heat until the uncooked smell goes away. Add the tamarind water,egg plant, sliced green chillies and a fistful of coriander leaves and simmer slowly. Coriander to garnish on the top.

Mahalakshmi

Mahalakshmi of Kolhapur

The Mahalakshmi temple of Kolhapur was built in the 7th Century AD by the Chalukyas.

A shakti peeth, the Amba-bai temple is very pretty.

The Goddess Lakshmi, the Goddess of prosperity is worshipedd and seen in her ful revelery here in the picture.

Ganapati

The Gowd Saraswat Brahmin Ganeshutsav in Mumbai is a mega event for the konkani community in Mumbai.





The huge pandal has a humungous murti of Ganpati and there are million Pujas and archanas going on. There is also a stall wherein Batata wadas, Biscut ambado , bajos and other modern stuff such as spring rolls are sold. Many come for the food :)