The following is one of the ways to prepare Vegetable stock for Soups. You will see recipes talking about using Vegetable stock, while I have found the taste can be good even by using plain water. But using Vegetable stock will give you richer taste

The following method will give you stock that serves 4

Ingredients

1. Peel, wash and chop 1 onion, 1/2 medium carrot, 1 3-inch celery stalk
2. 1 Bay leaf, 5-6 pepper corns, 2-3 cloves
3. Five cups of water

Procedure

1. Bring the water to boil with all the above ingredients
2. Lower the heat and simmer for fifteen minutes
3. Strain the stock
4. Store the stock in the refrigerator for future use

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3. Tomato Soup by Sanjeev Kapoor

I happened to pick up this recipe from one of Sanjeev Kapoor’s Egg Recipe books. Tried it out and it was yummy. Thought of writing it up for the benefit of the online users.

This recipe will serve 4

Ingredients:

3-4 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
2 eggs
2 tbsp cornflour
5 cups vegetable stock (see end of this article for the procedure to make this)
2 tbsp Cooking Oil
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 inch ginger (preferably paste)
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
4 tbsp tomato sauce
salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp white pepper powder (OK to use black pepper also)
2 tbsp Vinegar
3-4 coriander sprigs (hara dhania) finely chopped

Method

1. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk lightly.
2. Start the process of preparing the vegetable stock if you dont have it ready already. See here for more details
3. Heat the oil in a Wok or a pan; add the chopped garlic and ginger paste and stir-fry for a few seconds
4. Add the chopped onion and continue to cook for a minute longer
5. Add the tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes and cook over high heat for about 3-4 minutes (tomato should be well cooked)
6. Mix this with the vegetable stock and bring to a boil
7. Add Salt, sugar and pepper powder
8. Mix Cornflour in a 2-3 tbsp of water and pour this mixture into the soup and cook until soup thickens
9. Add the vinegar now
10. Pour the whisked eggs in a steady stream (in circles), stirring gently to form threads
11. The egg will coagulate and float at the top

Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander

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Following is the step-by-step simple procedure if you are applying for a renewal of your LMV (Light Motor Vehicle) Driving License. This is my experience from doing this from the Indiranagar, Bangalore (East) RTO.

Procedure

1. Go to the 2nd floor of the RTO building
2. At the help desk, pick up the forms
3. You will need to collect Form 9 (CMV9), Form 1A (CMV 1A)

Fill up all your details in Form9. Use form 1A which is actually a medical certificate. You need to get it certified from a Government Hospital. The Epidemic Diseases Hospital (Isolation Hospital) is quite close by, it is there near the Vivekananda Road Metro Station on Old Madras Road. Its a simple procedure, the doctor will ask a few questions and put the signature. You can pay whatever you wish, no specific fees. I paid 50 rupees

4. Go to Room no. 6 (driving license counter) to get the Fees amount noted on your form
5. Now go to Room no.1 to pay the fees. I had to pay 300 rupees
6. You need to buy an envelope (with stamps), the License will be posted to your address
7. Paste photographs in the appropriate areas. Buy a small polythene cover (envelope, cover available at one of the shops in the G.floor) and put the photos in that along with the ORIGINAL driving license
8. Attach Address Proof and all other documents as indicated above
9. Now go back to Room No.6
a. Get your photo clicked and fingerprints taken in the Photography & Biometric section
b. Once this is done, go to the Inward Counter and submit the forms. You will be given an acknowledgement

Your renewed license should reach you within a month at the address provided.

It is a simple & easy procedure. No need to give any bribe or hire an agent to get this done

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This is one of the best recipes I have seen for a chutney. Found it originally here which is well written. I feel the original recipe is for very large quantity, I had to make some changes to make it for a quantity which would be sufficient for 4-5 people when you have starters like Panneer Tikka or Pakoras.

Ingredients

1 cup curd
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves/pudina
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves/dhania
1 small green chili, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp chopped ginger
3 garlic cloves, chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp cumin powder/jeera powder
1/2 tsp chaat masala
1/2 tsp dry mango powder/amchur
Pinch of black salt

Method

take the curd in a bowl and make it smooth with a spoon or egg beater
mix the spice powders and salt with the curd
grind the mint leaves, coriander leaves, ginger, onion and green chili with little water to a smooth paste
mix the freshly ground green chutney with the curd
blend (beating with a spoon should do) both of these till they become uniform and one in color
serve the mint chutney with any tandoori snack or starter

The chutney should look light green in color. If you find it dark green, then its possible that you added more mint leaves OR if it looks more whitish, you probably added too much curd. Adjust accordingly and as per taste

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Its always a hard decision to choose a good picnic spot. It shouldn’t be too far, but should be a thoroughly enjoyable place. It shouldn’t be too expensive, but should have all the amenities that will make it a memorable outing. Not to miss – the food should be good; afterall we plan to take the kids!

We were in a similar situation when we wanted to go for a day long picnic on ugadi holiday this year. Mysore was way too far, so we were looking for some place on the outskirts of Bangalore. We picked Nrityagram initially but later dropped it as we heard it was not the best for a day long outing, but good for a couple of hours.

From the corporate get-togethers, I had been to two resorts – Clarks Exotica & Olde Bangalore. I gave them a ring to find out about day packages and both of them did have a day package – slightly expensive but you wouldnt get such top class facilities for anything lesser. Clarks Exotica charges 850 rupees per person and 50% of that for children b/w 5-12 years. Olde Bangalore charges 1000 rupees (with 700 rupees worth food coupons), and 750 rupees (500 rupees worth food coupons) for children in the age group of 5-12 years. We picked Olde Bangalore as it was far better in terms of the quality of food from my previous corporate get-together experience.

Olde Bangalore is located on the way to Bangalore International Airport. You need to take the road that goes left immediately after the ITC Factory. The resort has very nice facilities for Sports – nice Badminton court, Swimming Pools, Billiards, Carrom, Shooting range (charged separately), Table Tennis and a lot of open space for children to run around. And of course there is a children’s play area. Good enough to have a fun filling day’s play.

The highlight I should say was definitely the Food & friendliness of the staff. Instead of a buffet where you dont get to choose items, Ala Carte gives you the flexibility to order what you want and pay with the food coupons. Worked very well for us as we enjoyed the starters and experimented on a few desserts. Very tasty food and great service. For evening snacks, dont miss to order the chocolate chip cookies from their own bakery. It was so yummmy that we kept ordering . The staff were so good that they reminded us that there was still some credit in our food coupons after the end of the day and asked us if we would like to take some parcel for the remaining credit! Quite impressed. So obviously, we took 1Kg of choco chip cookies

We took some photographs of the property, take a look.

Badminton Court at Olde Bangalore

Swimming Pool at Olde Bangalore

Kids Pool at Olde Bangalore

Shooting Range at Olde Bangalore

Childrens Play Area Olde bangalore

View of Cottages at Olde Bangalore

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Here is a quick write up of the Tomato Soup Recipe by Sanjeev Kapoor. If you want to see full video, see here

Serves 4-5

Ingredients
BayLeaf 1
Onions 1 (medium), finely cut
Carrots 1/2 (medium), cut into round pieces
Garlic 4 cloves
Tomatoes 7 to 9 (medium). Cut into quarters
Black pepper 4 to 6
Crushed Pepper 3 to 4

Method

1. Take oil or butter – 1 Tbsp a pan
2. Add Bay Leaf, Garlic and Onions and fry
3. Now Add the carrots and continue to Saute
4. Add celery, if you have
5. Add Tomatoes, add 1 Tsp salt
6. Add Black peppercorns (4 to 6)
7. Add about 2 cups of water. Close lid and cook or transfer to a cooker (with the weight) and wait for one whistle
8. Once tomatoes are cooked, strain the liquid from the mixture
9. Transfer the content to grind in a mixer to prepare Puree
Before you grind, make sure the tomato mixture is cold
10. Once you have ground, strain the liquid
11. Add this liquid to the pan, also add the liquid that you had strained earlier
12. Add Salt to taste, crushed pepper powder, Add some sugar to remove any sour taste
13. Cook for a few minutes
If you want to thicken the soup, you can add cornflour paste (2-3 Tbsp Cornflour mixed with 1-2Tsp of water) to the mix

Finally, to get a smooth texture you can add cream. Do not boil soup after adding cream

Preparing Bread Crumbs

1. Make square pieces of the bread after cutting off the edges
2. Deep/Shallow Fry Bread crumbs in oil (Preferably in Olive Oil) or in a microwave oven under low heat setting

Serve hot after adding the bread crumbs

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2. Cream of Mushroom Soup Indian Recipe
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Credits: Sanjeev Kapoor’s Khana Khazaana channel on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5FuXIEYKJI
Explained below is a simple & easy to follow steps of the same recipe:

Ingredients

Button Mushrooms (halved) – 15 to 20 (200g)
Bay Leaf – 2
Onion finely chopped – 1
Whole wheat flour – 2 Tbsp
Salt to taste
Garlic finely chopped – 8 to 10
Black pepper corns – 5 to 6
Butter – 2 Tbsp
Fresh Cream – 2 Tbsp
Veg stock – 4 cups (can be plain water also)

Method

1. Heat butter in a pan and saute bay leaf
2. Add black pepper corn
3. Add garlic
4. Now saute the mix
5. Add onions as well and saute till onions turn golden
6. Add Wheat flour (aata) and Saute till aata turns brown
7. Now drop the mushrooms
8. Add salt
9. Now pour the veg stock/water
10. Cover and cook till mushrooms turn soft
11. Remove bay leaves & switch off flame
12. Blend the soup with a hand blender. Let the blender blade be submerged, else it will splash all over
If you don’t have a blender, you can transfer this mix into a mixer

If you like to have a few mushroom pieces, take some of the pieces out before you blend. And add them later to the mix

Once you have a thick mix, check salt taste else add accordingly. Add Fresh Cream and mix well. If the soup has turned cold, heat it for a minute or two on low flame. Serve hot after garnishing with a few more streaks of cream

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Are Sleeper Class Buses Comfortable?

I used to ask myself this question whenever I used to see these buses pass by. My family & I have always preferred to go by train if there is an overnight journey; no other journey can be more comfortable than a train journey – either the sleeper class or the AC tiers.

It so happened that there was an emergency in the family and my wife & I had to start our travel to Hyderabad in a few hours. Obviously we were not going to get tickets to travel by Train. The other option was to travel by Bus, but I was skeptical because I cannot sleep in the classic semi-sleeper buses. My wife looked for sleeper class buses in redbus.in and booked in one of them.

Interestingly, I found the berths were quite like the ones in train. We had a comfortable journey, I was able to sleep through the night. Each bay had 4 berths – Upper & lower on one side AND the same combination on the other side. Each bay has a small TV. Blankets and Pillows are provided, and they were neat. Wow, we have come a long way since the days where semi-sleeper buses themselves were considered luxury. I clicked a few snaps, see below. I wouldnt mind doing a bus journey as long it is one of these buses. But It does cost equivalent to a train AC ticket, we paid about 1200 rupees for Bangalore-Hyderabad; but was worth it I would say.

How berth looks in Sleeper Class Bus

How berth looks in Sleeper Class Bus

Passage for Walking Sleeper Class Bus

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Abad Whispering Palms Lake View Resort in Kumarakom

This was our first visit to Kumarakom, and could not have been a better experience than staying at this wonderful resort at the banks of the Vembanad Lake. The facilities within the room are equivalent to a 5-star property but still not very expensive. We drove down from Bangalore, it was a long drive but when we got to the resort all our tiredness was gone when we looked at the view of the Lake from the resort.

Quality of Food was good (avoid French Fries though), quality of room service was very satisfactory. Ask for Lake facing rooms. Its a great experience when you get up in the morning to see the House Boats on the Lake. There is a nice Lawn where kids can play. There are other standard things for Kids to play – Swing, Slide etc. You can talk at the Front office to get a overnight Houseboat ride arranged; we could not go because it coincided with the annual boat race in Kerala and there were no house boats available.

There are a lot of high end resorts in Kumarakom, but for the facilities & the cost — this resort is one of the best bets. We would go back to this resort again.

Some of the snaps clicked at the resort shown below:

Abad Whispering Palms Kumarakom Swimming Pool View

Abad Whispering Palms Kumarakom Room Lawn View

Abad Whispering Palms Kumarakom View From Cottage

Abad Whispering Palms Kumarakom Boat going to Boat Race

Abad Whispering Palms Kumarakom view of House Boat

Driving from Bangalore to Kumarakom

The route – Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Salem-Coimbatore-Palakkad-Thrissur-Kochi

We stayed at Indraprastha, Palakkad overnight. Avoid the Palakkad-Thrissur mountainous stretch, the roads are very bad and the traffic is mad. Take the deviation from Palakkad to head to Guruvayoor (Shoranur road) and then join back the highway to reach Thrissur and proceed as planned. The total distance is about 590kms.

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