Some Tickle for our Funny Bone!

Though laughter as a formula for health is not a sole idea, for centuries jokes have been served and people have had good hearty laugh over them. But somewhere down the line of this fast paced world, we seem to lost in touch with our very own funny bone. People are now recultivating the ability to laugh over things and moments in order to fight the stress. So here I would like to share some of the best jokes I have come across so far. If you find it funny laugh it out and share with your friends too, If not, blame it on your “funny bone”.


ANNOYANCE
Raja, Ravi and Suresh were drunk and at 1.30am had a heated discussion on the definition of the terms irritation, aggravation and frustration. Raja, however, said he could demonstrate.

Going to the phone, he picked a number at random and dialed. When a sleepy voice answered, he said, “Hello is raja there?”

“No, raja isn’t here and this is hell of a time to get a wrong number!” said the voice, and bang went the phone. Raja turned to his friends and said, “That was irritation.”

After a few minutes he dialed the same number and, when the same voice answered, repeated. “Hello, is raja there?” This time he was told off in no uncertain terms. At the conclusion he said to his friends, “That was aggravation. Now I’ll demonstrate frustration.”

He dialed the same number again. When the same voice answered, he said, “Hello, this is Raja. Have you had any calls for me?”


QUEUES
There was a long queue for kerosene in front of a newly opened ration shop.

A short thin man walking past everyone rushed to the head of the line. The people in the queue yelled in protest and pushed him back to the end.

The fellow grumbled and again started for the front. Again he was manhandled and sent back.

He tried a third time, but was bodily lifted and flung on the road. He got up, dusted himself and thundered, “Just push me back once more and I wont open the shop!”

QUIZZES

The Prime Minister was angry with his ministers since they did not have any general knowledge. He called three of his colleagues and told them that he would ask general knowledge questions after a week and if they didn’t give the correct answers, he would sack them from his cabinet. They agreed and went away.

All of them were afraid of the prime minister. Two of them prepared the answers for the probable questions, hid them in their trouser waistband and went to the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister asked the first minister, “Which is the biggest river in India?” The minister immediately bent down, saw the answer from his ‘bit’ and said, “The Ganges.”

The Prime Minister, happy, turned to the second minister and said, “Name the capital of France.” The second Minister also repeated the same action and replied, “Paris.”

The third minister, who had not prepared in this manner, kept observing the other two. The Prime Minister said to him, “I’m going to ask you a simple question. What is Agra famous for?” Immediately the minister looked under his waistband and said
“VIP Frenchie.”



FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Have you ever hit the inside of your elbow in just the right spot and felt a tingling or prickly kind of dull pain? That's your funny bone! It doesn't really hurt as much as it feels weird. The "funny bone" got its nickname because of that funny feeling you get after you hit it.

But your funny bone isn't actually a bone at all. Running down the inside part of your elbow is a nerve called the ulnar nerve. The ulnar nerve lets your brain know about feelings in your fourth and fifth fingers. It's also one of the nerves that controls some movement of your hand.

You get that funny feeling when the ulnar nerve is bumped against the humerus (say: hyoo-muh-rus), the long bone that starts at your elbow and goes up to your shoulder. Tapping your funny bone doesn't do any damage to your elbow, arm, or ulnar nerve. But it sure feels strange!

Scrumptious Paneer Masala

Everybody Loves paneer (cottage cheese) for its mushy and soft meaty texture. It is a high protein food; it is often substituted for meat in many vegetarian entrees of Indian cuisine. It is commonly used in curried dishes. 100 gms of paneer made from cow milk provides 18.3 gms of protein, 20.8 gms of fat, 2.6 gms of minerals, 1.2 gms of carbohydrates, 265 kcal of energy, 208 mgs of calcium, 138 mg of phosphorous. It contains reasonably good amounts of fat and cholesterol. It would be better to avoid it for those with hypertension and diabetes due to its high fat content. It can however be used in small quantities for such patients one or twice a week. It is suitable for all age groups. Being one of my all time favorite, tried out quite number of experiments, but so far I’m notified best for this simple paneer masala, which goes well with all Indian breads.

Ingredients:
Paneer -250gms





Wash the paneer and cube it. Deep fry the paneer cubes till slightly golden brown, and immediately plunge it in hot water for 5 minutes. Then drain off the water and keep aside.
Onion Paste -1cup
Tomato Puree -3/4cup
Cashew Paste -2tbsp
Gin & Gar Paste -1tbsp
Kashmiri Chilli powder -1tsp
Turmeric Powder -1/4tsp
Kasoori methi powder -1tsp
Garam Masala Powder -1/2tsp
Salt -as per taste
Coriander leaves -for garnishing
Fresh cream (optional) -2tbsp
Butter -1tbsp
Shah Jeera -1/2tsp

Method:
1.To make 1 cup of onion paste, slice 3 onions and sauté in a pan adding little oil till slightly brown and grind to a paste.
2.Likewise to make a tomato puree, blanch 2 big tomatoes in boiling water, for 4 minutes, then peel off the skin and puree it in a food processor.
3.For the cashew paste, soak 10 nos of cashews in luke warm water and grind it to a paste.
4.In a pan, add butter, season with shah jeera before the butter melts down completely. Add the onion paste, followed by ginger and garlic paste. Fry well till the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes off. Then add the dry ingredients like chilli powder, turmeric powder, Kasoori methi powder, garam masala powder and salt.
5.After 2 minutes add the tomato puree, fry well till the oil separates from the curry. Add ½ cup of water and allow the gravy to cook for 5 minutes. Then add the cashew paste and the prepared paneer cubes mix well and cook for jus 3 minutes on heat. Remove from stove and garnish with fresh cream and chopped coriander.
6.Serve with rotis.





Variation: Fresh peas can also be added.

Sensational Shreya Goshal!!!!

I dedicate this post to the most versatile Indian playback singer, Shreya Goshal who has the most talented voice, which she never fails to flaunt it in all her songs. Be in tamil, hindi or anyother language, she simply rules with the most sensational voice. Today when I try to look back, when was the first time I started to like her voice, it was her song “gundu malli” from the movie “solla marandha kadhai” which was composed by legend music director Ilayaraja.The song melodiously starts off with her cute delicate voice, and soon makes the listener to get into the groove while she dominates the song. And as far as I have noticed she is the only singer who never fails to pronounce the tamil lyrics properly.

Shreya Ghoshal, born March 12, 1984 in Rawatbhata, Rajasthan performed several songs in Bollywood, regional films and, she has also sung songs in Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu.

From the age of four Ghoshal accompanied her mother on the harmonium. Her parents enrolled her for formal training in Hindustani classical music in Kota with Maheshchandra Sharma. As a child she won the children's special episode of the Sa Re Ga Ma contest on Zee TV. Kalyanji, who also judged the competition, convinced her parents to move to Mumbai. She trained with him for 18 months and continued her classical music training with Mukta Bhide in Mumbai. She studied at Atomic Energy Central Schools (AECS) at Kota and Anushaktinagar (Mumbai). For Graduation she had enrolled herself at SIES College in their Arts Stream.

This National Award winner caught the attention of film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali when she participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa for a second time, this time competing against adults. In 2000, He offered her the opportunity to be the voice of Paro, the lead female character of his film Devdas, who was to be portrayed by Aishwarya Rai. Shreya sang five songs in the film Her First song record with king of playback singer Udit Narayan for ‘Bari Piya’. Moviegoers from across the world heard Ghoshal’s singing voice pictured on Aishwarya Rai, and she quickly became one of the top female playback singers in Bollywood, alongside Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sadhana Sargam and Kavita Krishnamurthy. Since Devdas, she has gone on to sing for many more actresses under the baton of various music directors, including M.M. Kreem, for whom she sang “Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai”, a sensuous number pictured on Bipasha Basu in Jism. She won many awards (8 Awards in a single year including a National Award)
She has since gone on to sing for various music directors including Ilayaraja, A.R. Rahman, Yuvan Shankar Raja, Harris Jayaraj, Anu Malik, Himesh Reshammiya, M.M. Kreem, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Pritam, Vishal-Shekhar and Mano Murthy. Today Ghoshal is an established industry singer and has recorded in various regional languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Meitei, Marathi, and Bhojpuri.
Some of her Rocking Tracks:
Tamil:
Unnai vida -virumaandi
Munbe va -Jillunu oru kadhal
Ninaithu ninaithu -7G rainbow colony
Maja Maja -Jillunu oru kadhal
Uruguthey -veyil
Venmegam -Guru
Ayaiyaoo -Paruthiveeran
Ilangaathu -Pithamagan

Hindi:
Mein agar kahoon -Om shanti Om
Koi tumsa nahin -krishh
Pal pal har pal -lage raho munnabhai
Dholna -hey baby
Tere naina -Chandi chowk to china
Khabar nahi -Dostana
U, me aur hum -U, me aur Hum
Bairi piya -Devdas
Ahista ahista -Bachna ae haseeno
Mere Dholna -Bhool Bulaiya
Jadoo hai nasha -Jism
Kaise mujhe -Ghajini
Yeh ishq kya hai -jab we met
Ishq hua -Aaja nachle

Egg Masala

Ingredients:

Eggs -3Nos (boiled)
Onion -1(finely chopped)
Tomato -1(finely chopped)
Oil -2tbsp
Mustard seeds -1/4tsp
Curry leaves -few
Gin &Gar paste -1tsp
Red chilli powder -1tsp
Dhania powder -1/2tsp
Cumin powder -1/2/tsp
Turmeric powder -1/2tsp
Salt -as per taste
Coriander leaves -a handful (for garnishing)

Method:

In a pan, add oil, temper it with mustard and curry leaves. Add chopped onion fry well till golden brown, followed by ginger and garlic paste. Then add the red chilli powder, dhania powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, a pinch of garam masala and salt. Saute for 2 minutes then add the tomatoes, cook until it gets mushy and when oil separates from the gravy, add ½ a cup of water, add the boiled eggs, and allow it to cook till the gravy gets thicken.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rice or rotis.

My Lazy Lunch!

My perfect meal on a lazy Saturday comprised of a curd curry which I adopted the kerala style, then a beetroot poriyal and finally my most favourite egg masala which goes yummy with the curd curry. Since I captured the exotic color combination in my dig cam, I’m now forced to post the recipe.


Curd Curry:
Ingredients:
Yam (karunaikizhangu) -250gms
(Chop in cubes and cook by adding salt and a pinch of turmeric in sufficient amount of water)


For the coconut paste:
Coconut -1/2 cup (shredded)
Green chillies -4nos
Fenugreek -1tsp
Cumin seeds -1/2tsp
Coconut Oil -1tsp


Curd -3 cups (Beat the curd in a blender to make the texture smooth)
Salt -as per requirement
Coconut Oil -for tempering.
Mustard seeds -1 teaspoon
Fenugreek -1/2teaspoon
Redchillies -3-4Nos
Curry leaves -a handful


Method:
In a pan, add a teaspoon of oil, when its hot enough add cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, and broken green chillies, sauté till the raw smell of the green chilies goes off. Then from stove and blend it to a smooth past by adding the coconut.

Combine the cooked yam, coconut paste, and beaten curd in a pan without adding salt.

Mix well and keep it in a stove and make sure the flame is very low. After 5 minutes the sides of the curd curry will start to rise as a froth. Immediately switch off the stove and keep the curry aside. Now add the required salt to the curry.


Finally temper the curry with coconut oil, mustard, cumin, fenugreek, broken red chilies and curry leaves and pour on top of the curry.

Serve with plain white rice.

Salute to the Musical Prodigy!

I get into this nostalgic feeling when I listen to “china china asai”, from the movie “roja”which was rahman’s debut movie with the legend director Maniratnam. I should thank maniratnam sir for bringing in the great legend into this movie industry which helped him to serve so many smash hits to eager fans like me. Being a die hard fan of rahman,I still remember, recording even his BGM from the movie “thiruda thiruda” and “Pudhiya mugam” in a cassette and use to listen to it in my walkman all day long. That was back in my school days, use to be very crazy about his music, I end up noting down all his upcoming movies in my diary and make sure I buy the music on the first day of release itself. Very interesting part of me being his fan is, myself and my father use to have an argument with ilayaraja vs a.r.rahman,I know the hidden agenda of my father was he simply enjoy’s that kutti fight,but I use to be in high temper whenever he tries to put a.r.rahman’s music down. So like a true devotee, will keep on fighting for a.r.rahman’s music, as I never have let him down for his great music.

A.R.R started his journey with “roja” and still leading with his best of his composition. To top it all he has now got the “Golden Globe award” in 2009 for his original score in the movie “slum dog millionaire” which made each and every Indian to be proud of him and his music, and that’s because he is the first Indian to achieve this most prestigious award. And who knows he will be the first Indian to get an Oscar too!


Allah Rakha Rahman was born as Dileep Kumar on January 6, 1966, in Chennai, India, to a musically affluent family. Dileep started learning the piano at the age of 4, and at the age of 9, his father passed away. Since the pressure of supporting his family fell on him, he joined Ilayaraja's troupe as a keyboard player at the age of 11. He dropped out of school as a result of this and traveled all around the world with various orchestras.

He accompanied the great tabla maestro Zakir Hussain on a few world tours and also won a scholarship at the Trinity College of Music at Oxford University, where he studied Western classical music and obtained a degree in music. Due to some personal crisis, Dileep Kumar embraced Islam and came to be known as A.R. Rahman. In 1987, he moved to advertising, where he composed more than 300 jingles over 5 years. In 1989, he started a small studio called Panchathan Record Inn, which later developed into one of the most well-equipped and advanced sound recording studios in India.

At an advertising awards function, Rahman met one of India's most famous directors, Mani Ratnam. Rahman played him a few of his music samples. Mani loved them so much that he asked Rahman to compose the music for his next film, Roja (1992). The rest, as they say, is history. He went on to compose several great hits for Tamil-language films before composing the score and songs for his first Hindi-language film, Rangeela (1995). The enormous success of his first Hindi venture was followed by the chart-topping soundtrack albums of films such as Bombay (1995) , Dil Se.. (1998), Taal (1999), Zubeidaa (2001), and Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001), which was nominated for best foreign-language film at the 2002 Academy Awards.(Source:IMDB)



He worked with Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber and Shekhar Kapur (director of Elizabeth (1998)) on a musical called "Bombay Dreams." At 36 years old, A.R. Rahman has revolutionized Indian film music and one can only expect this musical genius to reach greater heights.



I would like to mention few of his awards he has achieved so far for his musical career:

National Film Awards (India)
1993 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Roja
1997 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Minsaara Kanavu
2002 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Lagaan
2003 - National Film Award for Best Music Direction - Kannathil Muthamittal



Filmfare Awards (India)
1995 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Rangeela
1998 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Dil Se
1999 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Taal
2001 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Lagaan
2002 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Saathiya
2002 - Filmfare Best Background Score - The Legend of Bhagat Singh
2004 - Filmfare Best Background Score - Swades
2007 - Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Rang de Basanti
2008 – Filmfare Best Music Director Award - Guru

Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
1993 - Best Music - Roja
1994 - Best Music - Gentleman
1995 - Best Music - Kadhalan
1996 - Best Music - Bombay
1997 - Best Music - Minsaara Kanavu
2000 - Best Music – Sangamam

IIFA Awards (India)
2007 - IIFA Best Music Direction - Rang De Basanti
2002 - IIFA Best Music Direction - Lagaan
2003 - IIFA Best Music Direction - Saathiya
2000 - IIFA Best Music Direction – Taal

MTV Awards MTV-VMA Award for Dil Se Re song from Dil Se.. 1999 MTV Asia Awards 2003 for Favourite Artist India MTV IMMIES 2003 - Best Music Composer - 'Saathiya' - Saathiya ( Hindi )

A. R. Rahman has been nominated for the following awards:
Laurence Olivier Awards (UK)
2003 - Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best New Musical - Bombay Dreams
Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Canada)
2006 - General Theatre Division - Outstanding Musical Direction - The Lord of the Rings musical.

Some of his movies in production are:
1.Delhi 6
2.Raavana
3.London dreams
4.Endhiran
5.Rockstar
6.Satyagrahi


My All time Favourite pick:
1.Munbe va(jillini oru kaadhal)
2.Netru ilatha maatram(pudhiya mugam)
3.Kadhal rojave(roja)
4.Anjali(duet)
5.kanava(rakshagan)
6.vennilave(minasara kanavu)
7.vellai pookal(kannathila muthamital)
8.Newyork(jillunu oru kadhal)
9.Uyire(Bombay)
10.En swasa katre(en swasa katre)



I Personally salute A.R.Rahman for he has achieved the first “Golden Globe award” for India. Wishing him all the best for his Oscar's too.

Crispy Nethili 65

Commersons Anchovy(Nethili Fish) is a type of very small fish but has a great taste of its own kind. My family members love this fish in any cooked form, especially my father,he loves it when its deep fried till golden colour.So we never fail to do this recipe whenever we get ample number of anchovies This recipe was discovered by me with a fusion method,again got clicked by one of my experiments, and there after its been named as “Crispy Nethili 65”


Ingredients:

Marination:
Nethili Fish(cleaned) -500gms
Ginger garlic paste -1tsp
Red chilli powder -1tsp
Coriander powder -2tsp
Turmeric powder -1/4tsp
Red colour powder -optional
Pepper powder -1tsp
Lime juice -a few drops
Salt -as per taste

Final coating:
Egg(beaten) -1no
Bread Crumbs -as per requirement
Oil -to deep fry

Method:
1.Marinade the fish with the given ingredients for 2 hours.
2.Dip each fish in the beaten egg and roll out with the bread crumbs.
3.Deep fry in oil till golden brown.
4.Its a great snack by itself. Goes well as a starter too.

My Playlist for this week!

1.Masakali -Delhi-6
2.Kaise Mujhe -Ghajini
3.Siruthoduthalile -Laadam
4.Marudhani -Chakkarakatti
5.Tere naina -Chandni chowk to china
6.Nenjukul -Varanam ayiram
7.Is pal -Aaja nachle
8.Viva la Vida -Coldplay
9.Jai ho -Slumdogmillionaire
10.Ringa ring -Slumdogmillionaire

Kariveppilai kozhi varuval(Curryleaves Flavoured Chicken Fry)

This is my grand mom's signature recipe which she has kept all the ingredients so secret for quite some time. Finally I somehow I managed to observe her in the kitchen and also her secret ingredients for this yummiest chicken fry, where no one can resist by eating jus one.



Ingredients:

Chicken-500gm

For the marination:
Dried and powdered curry leaves-2 tbsp
Ginger Garlic paste-1tbsp
Redchilli powder-1tbsp
Egg-1
Cornflour-3tbsp
Rice flour-1tbsp
Diced onion-1nos
Garam masala powder-1tsp
Fenugreek powder-1/2tsp
Curd-3tsp
Sprigs of curry leaves- a handful
Salt-as per taste

Method:
Mix the chicken with the ingredients given in the marination and soak it for 5 hours. It would b best if u marinade it overnight. Deep fry the chicken along with diced onions and curry leaves with enough oil. The Golden fried chicken will taste divine with the golden fried onions and curry leaves. A must try recipe.

Prawn Biriyani

People say change is the only constant in life and for me change comes in the form of experiments. I have always fancied that my experiments would one day make me as famous as Madam Curie. Ok, if not Madam Curie, at least a Madam Curry. So keeping my quest alive I am here donning the bloggers life. I must admit that all through my life I have been attempted to venture into different horizons but unfortunately every time my horizon seem to hit the dead ends. And these dead ends force me to explore new venture.Isn’t that a human mind is all about; it keeps wandering about something and ends up nowhere. But here I’m going to make sure that I keep my mind focused only on 3 things, which I’m so passionate about to talk, which is the food, music and a little bit of biased philosophy. Out of which “food” have always been so close to my heart, not alone with the eating part but also with the amount of effort involved with the making of it. For people who hate cooking, they jus refer this as a tedious,and boring job, but people who loves it, they consider this as the most passionate and a loving job. I’m one of those passionate people who love to put together all my senses towards the “food”, which off lately amuses me a lot.


To begin with, does anybody know why food is playing a major role in each and everyone’s life? Not only it satisfies our taste buds but it also serves a different principle, which is the survival of mankind. Hmm..that everybody knows, I know, but I have a different standpoint towards it, we human run behind so many thing through out the day, but at the end of the day what makes us complete is our daily meal, even if it is a glass of milk, it does count. Sit back, I’m definitely not going to post a recipe for a glass of milkJ. Let me start off with my most popular recipe, infact I can claim it as my signature dish, “Prawn Biriyani”. I remember trying this recipe for the first time when I was 14, was experimenting with some variations and to my surprise it came out so well for the first time and got pat on my shoulders for the effort I made. So me being an amateur blogger will have to perk up more on showcasing my recipes.

Prawn Biriyani, I would assertively classify it as the most comfort food, which is so light with the palette and at the same time sturdily satisfies the souls on a cozy afternoon.


Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:

Prawns (deveined and cleaned) -250gms
Onion (sliced) -2 Nos
Ginger -50gms
Garlic -50gms
Green chillies -4Nos
Red Chilli Powder -2tablespoons
Dhania Powder -1 ½ tablespoon
Turmeric powder -1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala powder -1teaspoon
Salt -as per requirement
Refined Oil -6tablespoon
Ghee -2tablespoon
Basmathi Rice - 4 cups
Water -8 cups
Coriander leaves(chopped) -1/2 bunch
Juice of lemon -1 No
Cloves -4Nos
Cardamom -2Nos
Cinnamon -1No
Bay leaf -1No

Method:

This recipe is a 4 step process. Before that grind ginger, garlic and greenchillies together as a paste



Step1:
Marinade the prawns with ¾ tbsp of chilli powder,1/4 of turmeric powder, and salt for one hour. In a pan pour 3 tablespoon of oil, and when its hot add the marinated prawns and fry till it becomes soft, make sure not to over cook as it tend to become hard.

Step2:
After draining he prawns once its done add chopped ¾ of all the onion in the same prawn friend oil along with the rest of the refined oil. Fry the onions till it becomes translucent. Then add the ginger, garlic, greenchilli paste. Sauté for another 10 minutes till the raw smell disappears. Now add the remaining chilli powder, dhania powder, turmeric powder and required amount of salt for the gravy alone. Add ½ cup of water and let the masala to cook till the oil separates from it. Finally add the fried prawns to it and cook for another 5 minutes, and add juice of lime, garam masala, and finely chopped coriander after switching off the stove.

Step3:
I used electric cooker to cook the rice, it can also be done in open or closed pan method.
Before cooking the rice, it has to be soaked for 10 minutes and drain it. In a pan, add the ghee, season with whole garam masala’s like cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, and bay leaf, add a handful of sliced onion, sauté till it becomes pink, then add the drained rice fry well for a while. Add the required amount of water along with salt. Cook for 20 minutes in low flame.

Step4- Wrap it all:
In a heavy bottomed flat vessel add few drops of ghee, and then layer half of the cooked rice. Add the prawn gravy on top of the bed of rice followed by the remaining cooked rice. Pour few drops of ghee on the sides of the rice, and close the lid tightly and cook on a very slow flame for 20-30 minutes. After which slightly fluff up the rice along with the gravy, carefully, and serve hot with cucumber salad.