Last week i bought a Chakson thermal cooker for cooking rice. Until recently i was using white rice to prepare lunch dishes but as part of the new year resolution (one of the resolutions) to start brown rice for lunch instead of white rice. The cooking time of white rice is moderately less compared to brown rice. Usually i need two LPG cylinders in a year but after using brown rice it didn’t last for 45 days even and i was shocked also. Then my neighbor asked me to buy a Chakson thermal cooker since it saves lot of gas consumption and time. To my surprise it is 100% true.

Chakson thermal cooker is a product of Anna Group, in Kerala. It is available in different sizes but mine is the smallest size available ( 6 liters capacity, in which 750 gms of brown rice can be cooked). I paid Rs.988 (1098 is the MRP and they provided 10% discount on this price). I think there is a price difference in Bangalore and Kerala.

Boil brown rice for 5 mins (after the water is boiled) and keep it inside the Chakson for 1 hr with lid on. After 1 hr, drain the excess water and use it. Chakson helps to cook rice with the vacuum inside. It is an ideal kitchen ware for me since i can save lot of cooking time as well as energy.

Health benefits of brown rice:

The unpolished brown rice is a good source of complex carbohydrates providing starch and fibre. Brown rice is more nutritious than white rice since it is  richer in vitamin B’s, E and minerals like manganese and selenium. It needs more time to digest than any other kind of rice and  it is allowing the body to consume the energy released over an extended period of time.

You don’t feel like having anything in between since you have a full feeling. Try, you will also enjoy this rice.

Tree house in Wayanad

One of the views from the high range hair pin curves, Wayanad

Wayanad veterinary college compound entrance

One of the rivers, which is not having sufficient water, Wayanad

Aracanut plantation, Pookot, Wayanad

Mama monkey is feeding its baby

Pookot lake

One of the nurseries at Pookot

Coffee plant

Entrance to the Thirunelli temple, where no photography is permitted inside

One of the souvenir shop, where you get all the natural products

flowers at Wayanad

This snap is taken when I travelled to  Wayanad last December.

The Napier Museum is one of the tourist destinations in Trivandrum and  it is located in the heart of the city. It entertains both the local as well as foreign tourist since it comprises of the Zoo, Botanical Garden, Sri Chitra Art Gallery, Reptile house, and a children’s park with limited amenities. The vast compound provides ample space for the lovebirds to spend their time without interference.

It is named after the Governor General of Madras, John Napier. This museum provides a glance of the rich historical legacy of Kerala.Napier museum and art gallery of Kerala (Sri Chitra Art Gallery) are located in the same compound and the museum has a good collection of ancient archaeological artifacts. This museum was built in the 19th century.

Now the museum building under renovation and won’t be opened to the public till January, 2010.

Entrance to the Sri Chitra Art gallery as well as the Zoo.

Reptile house has many varieties of snakes

One of the trees in the compound with lot of branches and very few leaves

One of the variety flowers in the garden in front of the museum building

Children’s park in the museum compound

It is a destination in Trivandrum where you can spend weekends with your kids qualitatively.

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Check out this service if you are looking for any property or want to sell your property.

Crab is one of the favorites of my husband. I saw him enjoying crab when we went to Chennai in 2002 and it was quite surprising for me. Since then it was a real challenge for me to learn the recipe. This is my first attempt with crab and I think somehow it came out well.

Ingredients:

• Crab – 8 nos of medium size
• Onion – 2 nos, sliced (big)
• Tomato – 2 nos, cubed (medium, ripen well)
• Green chilies – 5-6 nos (slit)
• Ginger – 1″ piece (crushed)
• Garlic – 10-12 cloves (crushed)
• Kashmiri chilly powder – 2 tbsp
• Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
• Cooking oil – 2 tbsp
• Curry leaves – 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Whole spices:

• Cinnamon – 1″ piece
• Clove – 4-5 nos
• Green cardamom – 2 nos

Method of Preparation:

• Remove the shell and wash crab, keep aside
• Heat oil in a kadai or wok, fry whole spices
• Fry crushed ginger and garlic until the raw smell disappears
• Add onion and green chilies and saute well with a pinch of salt and turmeric powder until the oil separates
• Add chilly and coriander powder, saute well
• Add cubed tomatoes and curry leaves, fry until the oil separates
• Stir in crab and cover and cook for 2-3 mins
• Add 1/2 cup water and salt to taste, again cover and cook until the crab turns to pink in color
• Remove from stove and serve when it is cooled to room temperature

Note: You need both your hands to enjoy crab dishes. Blue crabs taste the best.

Backwater Media and Entertainment, a media company, makers of Kerala Cafe’ is coming up with a new project, which will have 10 short stories, directed by 10 different directors. The idea is not new, I have seen one in Hindi, which was something I enjoyed and its a good try from well know Malayalam film director Renjith who will not be directing any of these 10 stories, but will be co-ordinating this project.

The Malayalam film industry is not doing well currently and such kind of projects could help in bringing it back to a healthy position. We need to wait and see how this project goes as its still under production. The 10 directors has been been signed and most of the top stars are expected to be casted in this. Twenty Twenty a movie with a difference had done very well in the Box office and I feel something with some difference could do better than the regular ones.

This picture was taken by me from a hotel in Kerala (Alleppey) (Arrack Shop). This is tapioca, with live flies

Idiot Box, the pet name given once to our television. What we see today is most of us are seductively parading before the screen for one or the other reason. Agree it or not, you just cannot ignore the influence of television in our daily life either in the form of News hours, soap serials, movies, reality shows..

Welcome to the world of reality shows.. It is the place where the reality meets fiction. Reality shows made a big entry into the lives of the ordinary people since it helps them to get rid off the clutches of the monotonous soap serials. Reality shows are either in the form of talent hunts (like singing, dancing, acting etc..), game shows, celebrity shows, makeover shows, confessions (Sach ka Saamna), etc.. These shows are helping, to a certain extend, to bring the hidden talents. Reality shows give a good platform or an opening to the talented ones.

How much these reality shows have the “real” factor?

Reality shows seems to be a huge success on the television in India since it allows the audience to be a part of the show. The audiences are allowed to choose the winner through a voting (sms) system even though its credibility is questioned many times and still to be decided. Most of the time this voting right is used to select a wrong person rather than the talented. Reality shows are taking an ordinary person to the stardom in a matter of hours. These shows are helping the contestants to groom a lot. They are always getting a chance to see and mingle with their dream stars since most of the time these celebrities are part and parcel of the show either as a judge or as a guest. It is a golden opportunity to correct and learn from the experienced hands. Contestants are free to express their feelings in the elimination round.

Reality shows seems to bear a lot of criticisms and analysis frequently based on many factors. Reality shows are criticized basically that these shows are trading on human emotions for money. It is forcing the contestant to do certain stage performance where they are not good at. How far the selection and elimination process is credible? It is still to be found out.

The judges comments needed to be standardized. They are giving a lot of discouraging comments and the channel is not asking the judges to be kept quite. It would be welcoming if they give their comments in a very pleasant manner to avoid the emotional scenes of the participants.

Idea Star Singer Season 4:

One of the reality shows in the Asianet and it is a sequel to Idea Star Singer 2007 and 2008. My favorite musical reality show even though i don’t believe in sending sms to any of the contestants. The show is aired from 8.30 pm to 10.00 pm from Monday to Friday. The judges are K.S. Chithra (renowned playback singer), Sarath (My favorite music director) and M.G. Sreekumar (playback singer) and the show is anchored by Ranjini Haridas (a person who is an expert in speaking Manglish, confused? It is mixture of Malayalam and English). The show is helping its contestants to grow (not physically) a lot. The judges are really helping the participants to correct their mistakes but what is unbearable is their gimmicks. They are trying to rip off the participants (except K.S. Chithra, who is very polite and encouraging to the participants) by cheap comedy. This is really embarrassing to the contestants as well as the viewers. Very few participants openly expressed their embarrassment on stage. These kind of attitude should be changed.

Everything is business and the reality show industry has a huge potential market since it is traded on the emotions of the audience. The whole aspect of every reality show is about money and they survive as long as they are able to convert the human emotions into currency.