Batata Pauva

This one is an old and trusted snack that can be adapted with varied ingredients once you get the basic idea of making this recipe. My mother used to make it a long time back and while I really enjoyed it, I rarely made it when I started cooking. I am not sure why, maybe I mistakenly thought this was a time consuming recipe. The flaked rice / pauva, central to the recipe was sold in the local Asian food store so I cannot cite lack of ingredient as an excuse. No matter, I have finally got around to making it and finding it an easy and quick recipe that can be a snack or a full one dish meal.

Ingredients:

•  A medium onion (brown or white) or large shallot
• 2 small chillies
• An inch of ginger
• 1 -2 cloves of garlic (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of oil (I used olive oil but you can use any cooking oil)
• 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds.
• 1 dry chilli and 3 cloves and a small piece of cinnamon stick (optional)
• A medium sized potato
• 1 cup of flaked rice (my cup is 225ml in size)
•  Half teaspoon of chilli powder
•   Half teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 and half teaspoon of coriander powder
• Half teaspoon of cumin powder
•  Half teaspoon of sugar
•  Salt to taste
•  Juice of a quarter lime
• 1 table spoon of chopped fresh coriander

Method:

Place the flaked rice in a colander and wash them under flowing water. Make sure all the flaked rice has been soaked. Let the water drain out and leave to one side for the flakes to get soft. This can be done half hour prior to adding them to the cooking potatoes. I tend to do this before I start chopping up the ingredients.

Chop the onions, ginger and chillies finely.  If adding garlic that too has to be finely chopped.

Chop potato in small cubes for the speed of cooking and leave in a bowl with water.

In a medium sized pan (I use non-stick ones to avoid sticking of the ingredients for alternatively I would have to use more oil) add the oil and mustard seeds (you can add 1 dry chilli and 3 cloves and a small piece of cinnamon stick in the tempering for added spice).

When the mustard seeds start popping add the onions and chillies cook for a few minutes till the onions are soft and translucent. Stir as necessary to avoid burning the onions. Then add the chopped ginger (and garlic) and stir for another minute.

The drain the chopped potato and add to the pan. Add salt, chilli, cumin, coriander and turmeric powder along with the sugar. Stir and leave to cook. You can close the lid to create steam to speed up the cooking.

Once the potato is cooked add the flaked rice that has been softening to the pan. Reduce the heat and stir the mix together.  It does not take long for the flaked rice to warm up and since it is softened it cooks within those few minutes.

Add the lime juice and stir.

Serve in a plate and sprinkle some chopped fresh coriander on it to garnish.

This recipe makes a couple of decent platefuls.

Tips -

• You can add a cup of frozen peas when the potatoes are half cooked and increase the veg content. I tend to do that almost always.
•  You can add some walnuts or cashew nuts when the onion is softening to add a crunch and different flavour.  
• The dish can be had by itself or else with some plain yogurt.
• I have also served it occasionally with raita - plain yogurt with grated cucumber and / or finely chopped tomatoes and a pinch of salt and black pepper.

I hope now you can enjoy this dish as much as I do and try variations by adding vegetables or playing with the spices.

“Death in” series by JD Robb

JD Robb is the pseudonym for Nora Roberts. This is a detective / murder mystery series set in the late 2050s – early 2060s. I found it by chance in the local library. I was browsing for authors and books in the same genre. I had not heard of this series and the synopsis looked good so I borrowed the book. It was a while back and so I cannot remember that first one I read. I started buying the books as I saw them in the book shops. More recently I found the whole series as e-books and so I have actually read then right from the first one all over again in the correct sequence. You will wonder why I say that but this is a series which shows a progression in the lives of the characters of the book. I also chose to review the series; there are 44 books now; instead of book at a time for this reason.

First aspect that is worth looking at is the futuristic view of the world. There are fancy cars that fly. There is a mention and often referred to something called the Urban Wars which seems some kind of revolution to overthrow the oppressing inequality in the society. Most of the early books have some reference to it and some information about it with how it affected the lives of various characters. There seems to be a fairly divided society with the haves and the have-nots. There seems a lot of emphasis on body beautiful and many ways to ensure it and live longer with more ways to entertain and please self. There is the usual balance of the good and bad seen in any society.

The lead figure of this story is LT. Eve Dallas who leads the team of detectives investigating murders in New York City. We start the series with the murder of the granddaughter of a prominent figure in politics. This appears to be her first lead in a major crime investigation where she must be diplomatic with all the highly placed persons. The investigation brings her in contact with Roarke who is her chief suspect. He is an extremely rich business man who ‘owns half the known universe’. And so starts a romance and love story that sees their relationship developing throughout the series. Both characters are a foil for each other, with tragic pasts and reaching their present status through hard work and ingenuity, with parts being revealed and personalities explored as we read through the series.

Then, of course, we have the detective’s side kick / partner Delia Peabody, who she finds as a uniform at the crime scene, sees her potential and gets her transferred to her division. She hero worships Dallas and again her character develops both as a person and as a police detective. She is a mixture of her Free- Age upbringing and a city dweller with law enforcement. Now this being the future the technology is much more sophisticated and so of course there is an electronic division to help with the forensics. The head of it, Captain Feeney, is the old partner, mentor and father figure, of Dallas. As the life of the character gets woven Peabody’s love life brings in the smart and expert IT guy Detective Ian MacNab.

There are a team of good detectives we get to know well over the series, Commander Jack Whitney her immediate superior, a police psychologist and profiler Dr Mira (we also know her family eventually), the Medical Examiner Morris, APA Reo are the characters regularly seen.

The other players of the story are Lawrence Summerset who manages Roarke’s home, Mavis a friend of Dallas who she has stopped from carrying on a life of crime and who has a talent for singing which eventually gets to shine and she becomes a big star, and families of the main characters come and go as the story demands. It is not easy to try and encapsulate a series but I am attempting to do so in the hope that I can express the essence of continuity of the lives of people involved. The central theme is usually the murder, uncovering of conspiracy, serial killers in varying scenarios and yes it can get to feel well known after a while but the continuity of characters and their lives and the social structure formed by all these lives interweaving is fascinating. The quick reminder of past aspects maybe even from way back in the earlier books is vital in helping the reader to see it all as one big story and each book more or less chapter of that mega story. 

Some things can be seen as clichés for example many of the stories are woven around one or other of the ‘good’  guys being under suspicion of the murder and Dallas has to work hard and by the book to ensure that the real criminal is found and her ‘friends’ kept safe. Again this does not detract from the pleasure of reading as when there is such a focus on one of the characters the author takes the time to explore this character and his / her relationships with others in the story. The basis of any good story - the triumph of good over evil and the victory of justice to keep the public safe is the same cliché that works well in this genre. Yes the individual stories can be read a stand-alone and one-off reads but as I found the pleasure was in reading the series and in the order of the publications as this is what keeps me reading and waiting for the next book. The characters become familiar like friends with their predictable quirks, shortcomings and passions. So anyone wanting the familiar murder mystery in a police detective variety will find the reading of this series with that little twist an enjoyable expericne.

Conundrum of Life

How preoccupied we are with the good and bad

That we forgot to live with what we had

Can we have some fun and live a full life

Or should we be busy in just avoiding strife

When is coffee in and when is alcohol out?

Is the dessert too sweet and we must do without?

Which tea should be a matter of taste

Rather than what latest ‘guru’ dictates

Have we lost our teeth so young

That praises of juices must be sung?

Which is a better juice, green or red?

Me! I rather be properly fed

In the latest news, fat is in and sugar is out

Blamed for obesity and soon to be taxed out

Eating fads come and go

According to which business is slow

People make money hand over fist

By picking our insecurities out of the mist

There is a pill for everything

And it is better for it packs more of everything!

Specialists come out of the woodwork

Telling me this, that and the other will work

Make you healthy, make you young

Make you pretty and less high strung

They tell you what to think and how to feel

Only you have to follow them is the deal

This herd mentality and mob behaviour

Being taught from childhood is not our saviour

We are divided by so much, caste, creed and religion

Not to mention the status, race and nation

Everyone is on social media hoping to get closer

But becoming more schadenfreude with every life’s loser

These is a loss of privacy at our own hands

When all our selfies and vids instantaneously hit the stands

The perspective of life has changed

Values and purposes have also changed

While progress is a must to evolve mankind

But when change is for sake of change, the word thoughtless comes to mind

Should technology rule our progress?

Will we evolve to higher beings through this progress?

Or are we losing the very qualities and skills that make us human?

And the eventual lack of these, making us subhuman

A worrying end if life is about survival of the fittest

Not many of us will pass the test

So let us reclaim out thoughts, values and individuality

Embrace our differences and love each other’s vitality

To live and let live should be our aim

So love laughter and joy all can claim

Sunday Morning

A lazy Sunday morning

A nice warm sunny morning

Reading bits of the Guardian when a title catches my eye

Even one on vibrators does not make me shy

Between thoughts of authors like Clive James and Joyce Carol Oats

Experiences and asking for help notes

Of people who live and think so differently from me

Trying to understand what makes then different from me

A joke or cartoon catches the eye now and then

Making me smile or even laugh again

A cup of tea to sip at hand

Crossword puzzle that I am attempting to understand

Pencil hovers over the puzzle while I frown in concentration

Then I think do I really enjoy this sensation

Of frustration and drop back to random thoughts

Flitting from one to another akin to unguided bots

Why is it that I forgive grievances of past?

Have I grown mellow at last?

Is it that life has thrown up alternate perspectives?

So why new hurts are not avoided by these changed perspectives?

As I grow older and maybe wiser

Just because my past experience is my advisor

I care a little less for conventions

Aiming only for joyous interactions

Occasional Sunday reflection is good

Stopping to smell the roses does my soul good

Eastern Water Dragon

I had been going to the Parramatta Park for nearly a year when I first came across this lizard like animal in a patch of trees just by the side of the Parramatta River.  Over the period of the next few months we kept a lookout for these lizards in the same patch. We took some photographs and searched the Internet to identify this animal – an Eastern Water Dragon a semi-aquatic lizard found along the east coast of Australia, around creeks, rivers or lakes.

 

 

The eastern water dragon is a medium to large sized lizard and can grow up to 80cm up to the tip of its long tail. They have large heads with a row of spines beginning on the head and leading down along their back. It is a grey to brownish-grey colour above with patterns of black stripes along the dorsal ridge going down the tail. The dragon can remain submerged for up to 30 minutes before it needs rise to the surface to breathe and check the area for danger before emerging back onto land. So every time we took a walk it became a ritual to search of these dragons and count the numbers. We think there were 2 adults and 2 young ones seen individually basking in the sunshine. Water Dragons are usually active from September to June and become inactive during the cooler months. To survive the low winter temperatures Water Dragons will enter established burrows or scrape their own between boulders and logs in or near riverbanks and pack dirt to seal the opening. Once entombed they will slow their metabolism hibernate until spring.  When we did not see the dragons from the middle of April actually we realised that they hibernate.

In early spring we went to the Parramatta Lake for a walk around the woods to see the emerging flowers and were delighted with numerous Eastern Water Dragons out basking in the sun and looking for food. 

 

 

 

 

 

Later in summer the ones in the Parramatta Park were back in action. In fact we saw a small one in a burrow further up the river bank. This was a young one and so maybe it had struck out on its own as an adult, to set up its own burrow.