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Friday, August 14, 2009

Sudhanshu's Yumm Cabbage Koftas

Ingredients

For koftas (about 18 to 20 medium sized koftas)

  • 5 peels of a cabbage
  • 2 small bowls (katoris) of besan (chickpea flour)
  • 2 tsp of ajwaine
  • 1 tsp of turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp of red chilly powder
  • 1 tsp of coriander powder
  • Salt to taste
  • Oil to fry


For gravy

  • 1½ large onion finely chopped (preferably yellow onion)
  • Ginger-garlic paste made from 3 cloves of ginger and ½ inch piece of ginger
  • 2 tomatoes purée
  • 1 green chilly finely chopped
  • ½ tsp of mustard seed
  • A pinch of asafetida
  • ½ tsp of turmeric powder
  • ½ tsp of red chilly powder
  • 1 tsp of biryani masala
  • 2 tblsp of oil
  • Green coriander finely chopped and lemon wedges for garnish
  • Salt to taste


Method

For Koftas:

  • Shred the cabbage very fine.
  • Mix shredded cabbage, red chilly powder, ajwaine, turmeric powder, coriander powder, salt and besan in a bowl and add water.
  • Please make sure that you add water slowly and mix to a smooth paste (there should be no lumps in the paste). The paste must be neither too thick nor to runny. (40% more runnier than Fevicol :-) )
  • Take a handful of shredded cabbage at a time and mix it in the besan batter such that the cabbage gets coated with besan.
  • Ensure that the oil is piping hot.
  • Make small balls and deep fry.
  • Fry till golden and then drain on a paper tissue.


For the gravy:

  • Heat the oil in the pan and put mustard seeds, asafetida, chopped onions.
  • Fry till the onions are golden brown.
  • Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies. Fry for 1 minute.
  • Add tomato puree and red chilli powder, turmeric powder and biryani masala.
  • Cook and stir till the puree reduces to an even consistency.
  • Add ½ cup water and salt to taste.
  • Simmer for 3~4 minutes.


To Serve:

  • Add koftas to the gravy only when you are ready to plate else the koftas will soak up all the gravy.
  • Garnish with chopped coriander / lemon wedges.
  • Enjoy with rice or phulkas.


Bon Apetite!


Monday, February 16, 2009

Pink panties, pubbing and wo'man-handling'!

Every one of any standing (or no standing) in India's social fabric has made a hue and cry about the pink panties, pubbing and "woman"handling incident. Rightly so! I agree that whatever happened in Mangalore was downright disgusting! But, the question is whether all of this has impacted Ram Sene in any way what-so-ever? The answer is a resounding YES!

Organizations like Ram Sene which a majority of the India society least cares about, could forever remain under the radar. And it serves them very little by remaining in the shadows. Incidents, such as these, make them (in) famous and bring them into national reckoning. Well, MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! And more so as the elections are round the corner, it gives them a significant impetus!

 Acting in a cowardly manner against women, who were merely enjoying themselves, in a perfectly peaceful and law abiding manner, is a heinous crime! Well, the so called cultural police (Ram Sene) should first look inwards, do they even realize that being physically aggressive with women is NOT a part of the Indian culture? Or is it something that they would like to conveniently ignore for gaining notoriety and limelight? Who knew Muthalik before this incident and who cares? And by being totally irresponsible, and uncouth they have brought shame to India, leave aside the thought of upholding Indian values and culture!

Well, there are news columns after news columns that are being written about Taliban and how it is oppressing Muslim women in the name of religion. What Ram Sene has done in Mangalore is much the same. We as a society should ban such quasi-organizations that are completely rudderless and mere opportunists. I ask of Ram Sene, what have they done for the upliftment of the girl child in India, how many girl children have they educated, how many have been made financially independent? Indian culture and values speak very highly of women and give them the highest status in the social fabric and Ram Sene, could only think of robbing the same women of their honor!! If we do not act now, such organizations could fan the religious and cultural fanaticism that could eat away our social fabric forever!

Let’s all rise!