Baking Pizzas in the Electric Tandoor

As you all know, I love to cook. In the past two weeks, I have been struggling to discover oil-free and salt-less cooking. Having to spend less time and create wonderful vegetarian cooking made me to explore the desi Pizzas on an electric cooker. All you need is the pizza base which is nowadays available in most Indian metros for Rs. 7.5, the sauce, and vegetables to embellish it. I love using onion, tomatos, bell-peppers, american corn (frozen variety), and topping it with oregano and parsley, and final layer of vegetarian Pizza Cheese. Bake for 10 minutes flat, and a crispy medium sized pizza is ready. The cost comes to about 30 rupees for a pizza, all inclusive. I brought two of them to work yesterday, and it turned out to be a great hit! I hope to share other recipes with you folks in future.

Crazy things are happening in NOIDA

The last week of December is often ending up bizarre. A couple of years ago, the Tsunami hit like anything, snuffing away millions of lives in Asia. The recent serial killing in NOIDA - where I have been living since May 2004 seems to be horrendous. Poor migrant workers, trying to eke out a living were losing kids, often any from the age of 3 to 20. The story has unfolded and two persons have been arrested. Police apathy, and system failure to give any hearing to the woes of the poor and disempowered parents is something that shocks most of us, but this story has really jolted me out.

I am deeply saddened by the happenings.

When will we be humanitarian?

The Travel Bug

The Travel Bug



Works on Coral Reefs protection in Spain. Looks great. I fully support this. Its a dream to be part of this magnificant rainforest of the seas. Last year, in May 2005, I had a chance to spend time learning diving to study the flora and fauna diversity in Langkawi islands in Malaysia. We also spent time in Penang, which is another beautiful but slightly larger island that Langkawi. The best holiday I had so far.

Madhukar's recovery was miraculous

Since the last 9 days its been a daily visit to the hospital at Holy Angels in New Delhi. Getting a feel of what it is to face the rock bottom with one's health. Madhukar, my friend has been in Intensive Care Unit, battling a severe attack of pancreatis. But Dr. Mahajan and Dr. Joseph, besides the nursing care staff have all toiled hard to help Madhukar pull through this. He is likely to be shifted to the general ward today. I would hope with another lease of life for him. Hope its a turnaround time for all of his family, and time to bounce back to normalcy. Everytime I drive down to the hospital and come back, I have bouts of anxiety, tension, and this gives me lots of introspection opportunities. Wondering why we are so fragile, and how fine the human body functions, as long as it functions.

Jaya, Delhi, 22 March 2006

Free Airconditioning for North India

This was a magical change to a hot and sultry Delhi. Trying to get a grasp of what the global warming can do. Bring rain, and actually cool down the city. Its been five months since I returned from Ottawa and have been painfully re-adjusting to the heat and dust of the city that gave me the education, and sort of hanging roots.

Looks like yesterday's rains are the signals for winters to come by, nothing like the the Polar winters in Canada. No snows really but cool fall.

My plans to visit the city of Chennai was cancelled at the last minute since the hosts did not have enough chairs (read seats) for a Partner's meeting. With two days of time freed up, I decided to go ahead and do all the small nick-knack tasks that have become pending in the last two weeks.