My first destination - Bhilai

Arjuna's rath in Civic Center

Our ordeal with mosquitoes continues. We are still struggling with the jet lag…but with those precious long afternoon naps (after a sumptuous home made lunch), I do confess "I am loving it". Actually there are not many mosquitoes here inside the home but due to some odd reason those present get attracted to Rhea and me. Others at home including Jee are not even a bit bothered by these godforsaken terrible pest. Back in my college days one of my best friend used to be troubled a lot by the mosquito bites. I remember she used to say its all because she has "Royal blood" and that's why mosquitoes get attracted to her.

So I can also say that Me and Rhea have the "Royal blood" inside us too. Rhea, with lots of training tries real hard to keep herself from scratching the insect bite but at night she somehow scratches them and says "its real hard not to scratch". Back in Orlando we had picked a particular insect repellent spray which claims to be natural with an implied green bottle and also explicit notes on its effectiveness against a wide variety of insects. We have the leading Indian mosquito repellent "All-out" plugged in in every room, its effectiveness can be questioned as we still see and hear many stray mosquitoes in the room in good health enjoying their recon missions.

Last night after 2 days of struggle with the mosquitoes, we decided to give our very green Orlando bought mosquito repellent spray a try. Result: next morning Rhea was very happy and did mention that mosquitoes didn't bite her and her old boo-boos are not that itchy any more. Its also because of her trust factor for the American spray I guess. She has this strong trust on the pink calamine lotion that we usually use as anti-itch. Magically the itch goes away as soon as I apply the pink magic potion.

Murukku

Anyways, after fighting another bout of scratching and itching Rhea woke up from her afternoon nap two days back saying she wants to go back to America. Ammachi (Jee's mom) gave her a bowl full of some home made nibbles murukku and pakavada to cheer her up. Half an hour later she was back chirping, playing happily and enjoying the evening with her cousin.

Bhilai Steel Plant

PS :- There are scary stories of chicken-guniya and dengue fever making rounds around this small town of Bhilai. Actually I guess the medical world here have started labeling any ailment now as a viral variant of this new evil epidemic. I hope these things doesn't affect our rest of the vacation. Fingers crossed.

Mallu going green...

Being a mallu(Malayalee...people from the state of Kerala, India) we cannot live without fish curry. Nobody can put a price on fresh home made fish curry. In spite of living so close to the harbor we cannot see ourselves to go to the sea food wholesale shop near coast in a minivan with a humungous picnic icebox like some of our hard core Mallu Friends do. Our friends bring in their favorite fish in insanely huge quantities and savor it over the next few months with every meal.


Actually Jee and I would have even survived without fish curry but now our ABCD 6 year old has become an ardent fan of fish curry. Growing up I was not that big of a fish curry fan but yeah I used to be a big fan of fish fry. My all time favorite being sardine fry (mathi fry). The only link I could imagine with my daughter getting the fish curry liking is firstly the mallu genes. Secondly both her Grandpas are fish-in-any-form enthusiasts. Its amazing how she would not even look at a pizza and love anything that I cook. Most of our friend's kids prefer pizza or a lasagna over regular home cooked food.


Yeah believe it or not, she would rather eat at home than go out for dinner. I am the 'bestest cook' in the world if you ask her. In fact her enthusiasm for fish curry made us reinvent our interest in it. From buying fish once in a while to every week. From cooking in a regular steel kadhai (Indian wok) to using a chatti (earthen pot). Am I going green?  


Our fish shopping is mostly done in Costco which has a decent collection of fresh fish with a little higher price than a Chinese store perhaps, but unbeatable quality.

Last year we asked one of our friend to bring us a chatti when they were visiting Kerala. Luckily the chatti made its trip from Kerala to Orlando safely and ever since has been a precious part of my kitchen utensils. I don't know how but the fish curry does taste better when made in a chatti. Last time we visited India we saw a clay pot being used in a bakery to store yogurt. I had immediately decided to buy a few pots to make homemade yogurt. I do make yogurt at home but I knew the yogurt will be thicker and more creamier when made in clay pot.

Fiery fish curry.

Homemade creamy yogurt.

Earthen pots.

Somehow we couldn't get those pots when it was time to come back. When we visited Atlanta and our friends took us to Cherian's (A genuine Mallu super grocery store), we saw these cute small pots, that can be used to make yogurt. If you want to make Mishti Doi or Shrikhand (sweet yogurt dessert in Bengal and Gujarat respectively), I swear you can skip the step of getting rid of the excess water when you use the yogurt made in earthen pots. 


I heard this news about Indian railways, when Lalu Prasad Yadav was the minister, serving chai in kulhads (clay pots). Just image how this will boost our indigenous cottage industries. I hope it still exists and I get to drink chai in kulhads on my Rail journey this time during my vacation. BTW the vacation ticker says 7 more days to go...can't wait...

After introducing kulhads (earthen pots) for serving tea at railway stations, Union Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav has decided to promote indigenous beverage mathakola (butter milk) among the commuters. ‘‘The railway authorities should ensure that the mathakolas are also made available at the railway stations for the commuters as an alternative to soft drinks,’’ he said on Sunday night during a brief stopover at Allahabad on his way to Delhi. (Courtesy Times of India 2004) 

I think Indians can definitely show the westerners, who are so much dependent on paper plates, plastic spoon for easy life style, how to go green and save the planet. Frankly I feel very guilty if I waste even a small piece of paper. The creamy yogurt, and the fiery fish curry does reminds me that going green tastes good.


The other day I watched the IFFA awards and Priyanka Chopra received a special award as she is involved in the NDTV's Greenathon cause. I loved what she said while receiving the award 'Consider the whole planet your home and do your bit'. Those of you who are reading this blog are more than welcome to suggest me ways to be environmentally green in routine home activities. I have added a go green poll below the post, please participate.

* Mallu stands for Malayalee...people from the state of Kerala, India