Ingredients: Eggplants/Brinjals - 380gms Tomatoes - 500gms Green Chilies 9 Red Chilies 3 Tamarind Little Fenugreek Seeds - 1/4tsp Black

ack Gram - 3tsps Mustard Seeds - 1 1/2tsps Turmeric Powder - 1/4tsp Asafoetida - 1/8tsp Salt to Taste Coriander for Garnishing Oil - 8tsps

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Preparations:

Wash and clean brinjals. Take water in a bowl, add salt and mix well. Cut brinjals into small cubes and add them to the salt water. Wash them well in the salt solution and take them into a microwave safe bowl. Add one-third of the salt taken and mix well. Place this bowl in a microwave oven and cover it partially. Cook the brinjals on high power for 5 minutes. Stir once and again microwave on 30% power for 7 minutes. Allow 3 minutes standing time before removing the bowl from the oven.

Wash and clean the tomatoes. Chop the tomatoes finely. Here I have used a V-slicer to chop the tomatoes. Take the chopped tomatoes into a microwave safe bowl and place it in the oven. Cover the bowl partially and cook on high power for 3 minutes. Stir once and again cook on high power for 2 minutes. Keep this bowl aside.

Wash, clean and cut the green chilies into small pieces.

De-stem the red chilies and break them into small pieces.

Wash, clean and chop the coriander leaves.

Method:

Heat a pan and add oil to it. When the oil is hot add the fenugreek seeds and black gram. Fry till the seeds start changing color. Then add the mustard seeds and fry till they crackle. Then add the cut green chilies and fry well. Add the red chili pieces and asafoetida. Fry well and enjoy the aroma of the seasoning. Take the fried seasoning into a plate and add the tamarind. To the remaining oil add the cooked brinjal pieces. Add turmeric powder and half of the salt left to the brinjal pieces and mix well. Add the remaining salt to the cooked tomato pieces and keep it aside. Fry the brinjals till dry. Take them into a plate and add the cooked tomatoes. Fry for few minutes till some water is reduced. Take these cooked tomatoes into a plate and let it cool.

For Grinding:

If using a Mixie for grinding:

Take a mixie jar and add the fried seasonings to it. Grind them to a paste by adding some cooked tomatoes. Do not grind it to a fine paste. It should be somewhat coarse. Take this ground mixture into a bowl and add the brinjal pieces. Whip them to get a coarse paste. Remove this paste and grind the tomatoes coarsely. Mix all these pastes along with some chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and serve garnished with the remaining coriander leaves.

If using a Mortar and Pestle:

Take the seasoning ingredients in a mortar and crush them with a pestle. The paste will be coarse. Remove the paste and add brinjal pieces little by little and crush. Similarly crush the tomatoes. Add some chopped coriander leaves to the crushed pastes and mix well with fingers. Transfer the Pachhadi to a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining coriander leaves.

Points to Notice:

Add the cut brinjals to the salt solution and wash them to remove the bitterness.

Finely chop the tomatoes so that while grinding if we just whip them that will be sufficient to get the right texture. It will be easy also while grinding in a mortar and pestle.

Fry the green chilies in the oil till they change color so that they wont be hot.

I have used an Iron pan for preparing this chutney. Brinjal pieces when added to the iron pan, gets changed to a dark color. Nothing to worryit is the reaction of iron which is anyhow good for health. After that when you add the tomato pieces the pan changes its color to whiteonce again the iron reaction. So do not worry about the color of the chutney. Just enjoy the taste and get added benefits of iron. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHcqN-Xe9YY&feature=player_embedded

While cooking and also while grinding do not mix brinjals with tomatoes. Cook them separately and also grind them separately. Otherwise the taste differs.

While grinding in a mortar and pestle take care so that the seeds of the chilies do not land into your eyes.

The texture and taste of the dish differs when prepared in a mixer grinder and a mortar and pestle. Both taste good.

Serve this Pachhadi with plain rice and hot ghee.

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ingredients: Brinjals 600gms Curry Leaves Handful (Wash curry leaves and dry them in shade to remove all the water) Vepudukaram 5-6tsps Oil to Deep Fry

(Online Conversion utility to convert Gms to Cups & Temperatures etc)

Method:

Wash brinjals and pat dry them with a dry cloth to remove water. Heat a pan and add oil to deep fry the brinjals. Cut the brinjals vertically into two pieces. When the oil is hot enough drop the cut brinjlas and fry them on medium heat. Fry the brinjals till they turn golden in color. Drain them on to a newspaper/paper napkin to remove excess oil. Fry all the brinjals in oil and drain them on to the newspaper/paper napkin.

Fry the curry leaves in hot oil till crisp. Drain them on to a newspaper/paper napkin to remove excess oil. When cool, crush the curry leaves with fingers. Add the crushed curry leaves to the vepudukaram and mix well with fingers. Now the mixture is ready to stuff the fried brinjals.

Take each brinjal piece and spread sufficient mixture and press lightly with fingers. Stuff each brinjal piece in the similar way and arrange them in a serving plate. Serve this stuffed brinjals with hot rice.

Points to Notice:

Select tender brinjals. The ones which have seeds do not taste good for this recipe.

Pat dry the brinjals with a dry cloth before adding them to hot oil, otherwise the water droplets splutter and make the place a mess.

Similarly dry the washed curry leaves before adding them to hot oil for the same reason.

Cut the brinjals just before adding them to hot oil. As the cut brinjals tend to change color and turn bitter (Which we call as KANARU in telugu) this precaution is necessary. This is an easy and tasty recipe which all age groups like.

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Recipe Text

Ingredients: Round Or Oval Shaped Small Brinjals 650gms Oil To Deep Fry Onion 1 Ginger 3/4 Piece Green Chilies 20(Or To Taste) Coriander 3/4 Bunch Cumin Seeds 2tsps Turmeric Powder 1/4 tsp Salt To Taste Soya Granules 1/2 Cup

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Preparations:

Wash brinjals and keep aside. Take a bowl of water and add little salt to it and mix. Cut brinjals when exposed to air becomes black and get a bitter taste. To avoid this we place the cut brinjals in salted water till use. Now take a brinjal and remove the stem. Slit length wise to 3/4th height. Now turn the brinjal and make a slit to 3/4th height in the opposite direction to the first slit you have made. Now you can see that there are 2 slits on the two sides with the brinjal intact. Similarly slit all the brinjals and dip them in the salt water and keep aside. Take soya granules in a bowl and add water to soak them. Clean and chop the coriander. Similarly chop finely the onion. Now you can see that the soya granules have absorbed water and have swollen a bit. So remove water from the soya granules by pressing. By doing this we are softening the soya granules so that they get mixed nicely when we make the paste.

Stuffing:

Now let us prepare the stuffing. Take a mixie jar and add ginger, green chilies, chopped onions, chopped coriander, pressed soya granules, salt, turmeric powder and cumin seeds. Grind this to a paste. Do not add water while grinding. The paste will be a coarse paste. Take this into a bowl and keep aside.

Method:

Heat a pan and add oil to it. The oil should be really hot. Drain the brinjals (eggplant) from salt water to a perforated bowl to drain excess water. Take a dry cloth and pat them dry. When the oil is hot add the brinjals to the hot oil and fry for 30 Seconds. We have to fry them for just 30 seconds only. By doing this we are ensuring that each brinjal is cooked evenly. Due to heat of the oil the brinjals get cooked up to 90%. The remaining gets cooked when we cook in microwave. Because we are removing it after just 30 seconds, the brinjals will not absorb any oil. Keep them aside to cool a bit. Now stuff the brinjals with the prepared paste. Arrange them in a microwave safe bowl. Do not put the brinjals one above the other. You can cook the remaining brinjals in a second batch. So arrange the brinjals in a flat microwave safe dish side by side. There is no need to add any oil as we have already fried them in oil. If required spray some water on these brinjals. Now cover the bowl with a cling film. Take a knife or a scissor and prick on the cling film at two three places to allow steam to escape while cooking. Now put this bowl in microwave.Cook the brinjals on high power for 5 minutes, then on low power for 5 more minutes. Allow standing time of 5 minutes and take them out. Tasty Gutti Vankayalu will be ready. Serve them hot.

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't let your own thoughts stress you out!

Think about how often we all have conversations in the privacy of our own minds. It happens, practically nonstop, all day long, every day of our lives. Were in the car thinking about something a deadline, an argument, a potential conflict, a mistake, a worry, whatever. Or were at the office or in the shower, doing the very same thing and it all seems so real.

When we are thinking, however, its easy to lose sight of the fact that we think thoughts, not reality. Let me explain. It may seem strange, but most of us have a tendency to forget that were thinking because its something that were always doing like breathing. But until I mentioned breathing, you werent really consciously aware that you were breathingwere you?

Thinking works in a similar way. Because its such a part of us, we tend to give enormous significance and take very seriously most of the thoughts that drift through our minds. We begin to treat our thoughts as if they were the real thing, allowing them to stress us out.

If you reflect on this idea, youll probably be able to see the practical implications. When you have a thought, thats all it is a thought. Thoughts certainly dont have the power or authority to stress you out without your conscious or unconscious consent. Thoughts are just images and ideas in your mind. Count to 10 before u speak

If you react immediately to criticism then youll often react in a knee-jerk manner. And the words that come out may be overemotional, vicious and unnecessary. Count to at least 10 after someone has criticized you. Then respond.

This simple way of calming yourself down and regaining some perspective can save you a lot of trouble and help you avoid saying something you cant take back.

Its a good approach to avoid creating unnecessary problems.

Maybe youve heard this one before. Its a great and practical way to look at criticism. It might be extra useful when dealing with angry, destructive criticism and nasty personal attacks.

A man interrupted one of the Buddhas lectures with a flood of abuse. Buddha waited until he had finished and then asked him, If a man offered a gift to another but the gift was declined, to whom would the gift belong?

To the one who offered it, said the man.

Then, said the Buddha, I decline to accept your abuse and request you to keep it for yourself.

Simply dont accept the gift of a criticism. You dont have to. Then it still belongs to the person who offered it. Tamarind Big Gooseberry Sized Ginger 10gms Red Chillies 11 Fenugreek Seeds 1/2tsp

Mustard Seeds 1tsp Black Gram 2tsps

Jaggery 40gms Salt to Taste Turmeric Powder 1/4tsp Asafoetida 1/8tsp Curry Leaves Handful Oil 12tsps

(Online Conversion utility to convert Gms to Cups & Temperatures etc)

Preparations:

Take tamarind in a microwave safe bowl and add some water. Soak for few minutes and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Keep the cooked tamarind aside for cooling. Wash and clean the ginger and dry it completely. Chop the ginger to small pieces and keep it aside. Break the red chillies into small pieces.

Method:

Heat a pan and add oil to it. When oil is hot add fenugreek seeds and black gram. Fry till the seeds start changing color. Take a bowl and place a wire mesh above the bowl. When the seeds start changing color add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Now add asafoetida and red chilli pieces. Fry all the seasonings well. Take care of the Red chilli, it soon gets brunt if we are not alert. Finally add the curry leaves and fry till dry. Transfer

this seasoning to the bowl over which the wire mesh is placed. All the oil will be collected in the bowl. Grind the seasonings in a mixer grinder along with ginger pieces, turmeric powder, salt, jaggery and tamarind along with the water. Grind to a paste adding water if required. Finally add the oil and mix well. Transfer the pachhadi to a serving bowl.

Points to Notice:

Keep all the ingredients dry as far as possible for the pachhadi to last long. Avoid using black gram and curry leaves for long shelf life. However this pachhadi keeps well in refrigerator without getting spoiled.

Curry leaves have been added to get the dark brown color. It is purely optional to add curry leaves in the chutney preparation.

This chutney goes well with Idli, Dosa, Pesarattu etc

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!! ingredients: Ladys Fingers (Okra) 750gms Cumin Seeds 1 1/2tsps Karapodi 3/4tsp Red Chili Powder 2tsps Turmeric Powder 1/4tsp Salt to Taste Oil 12tsps

(Online Conversion utility to convert Gms to Cups & Temperatures etc)

Preparations:

Wash and cut the ladys fingers into small pieces. While selecting the ladys fingers see that they are tender. Bend the tail end of the lady finger and if it breaks easily it is tenderif it doesnt break then they make crunchy sound while cutting and are not to be used. Even with just one piece of such un- tender piece of ladys finger the curry gets spoiled. So it is better to prepare the curry the same day when the vegetable is bought.

Method:

Heat a non-stick pan and add oil to it. When the oil is hot add the cumin seeds. When the cumin splutters add the cut vegetable pieces. Add turmeric powder, salt and mix well. Cook covered on medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the lid and stir the vegetable once and again cook covered for a minute. Repeat the process of cooking and frying till the vegetable is almost cooked. Now remove the lid and fry the vegetable for 2 to 3 minutes or till you feel it is dry. Add red chili powder, karapodi and mix gently. The chili powder absorbs the moisture the curry will become dry. Fry for some more time till the curry is totally dry and the vegetable is crunchy. Transfer the curry to a serving bowl and serve with hot rice.

Points to Remember:

Ladys fingers are too sticky when cut into pieces. While stirring they get mashed up easily by breaking. So stir them gently.

Do not cover the vessel while cooking continuously for a long time. Water oozes out of the vegetable and the curry will be gooey. Cover for 2 to 3 minutes then remove the lid and fry for few seconds. Again cover for 2 to 3 minutes then remove the lid and fry for few

seconds. When fried in this manner the vegetable gets dried and will not ooze out moisture. We have to cook the vegetable and at the same time fry it. So we cover it and cook and fry it after removing the lid. Once the vegetable is almost cooked remove the lid and fry till dry. Then add the red chili powder which absorbs the moisture and will make the curry dry faster.

Take care while adding salt. The ladys fingers after losing all moisture shrink a lot. So it is better to add little salt while cooking and add the remaining salt at the end of preparation.

For people who are not calorie conscious deep fry the ladys fingers till crunchy and then add the seasonings. However it is advisable to avoid deep frying as this vegetable absorbs lot of oil.

Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!Following a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of storyboarding, I explain how this exercise has been used in a diversity class and conclude with an examination of how it may be employed in other settings. The presentation of the activity will focus on the formation of students' self-identity across the life-course. However, the same basic exercise can be used to explore identity as related to gender, race/ethnicity, or class. Langham (1994:114) asserts that groups may also use storyboards to "get people to focus, to think, to be creative, and to be more productive." Following a discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of storyboarding, I explain how this exercise has been used in a diversity class and conclude with an examination of how it may be employed in other settings. The presentation of the activity will focus on the formation of students' self-identity across the life-course. However, the same basic exercise can be used to explore identity as related to gender, race/ethnicity, or class. Langham (1994:114) asserts that groups may also use storyboards to "get people to focus, to think, to be creative, and to be more productive." Theoretical Underpinnings And Literature Review "A primary tenet of all symbolic interaction theory holds that the self is established, maintained, and altered in and through communication" (Stone 1962:86). In his examination of communication, Stone demonstrates that all communication can be broken down into two parts; discourse and appearance. Discourse, as he uses the term, is auditory whereas appearance is visual. For Stone (1962), visual communication is that part of a social transaction which "sets the stage for, or establishes, the types of verbal discourse possible" (Huff-Corzine 1986:15).

Storyboards provide the visual component, the primary component, for communicating with one's self as well as with others. For this reason, they serve as powerful tools for learning more about one's self, as well as for organizing "stories" to be shared with larger audiences in auditory formats. Some will argue that "storyboarding originated with the Walt Disney Company in the early days of animated films" (Langham 1994:114) where it was, and still is, used to create the story line for a film by laying out the scenes in sequence. The concept of storyboarding has a much longer history, however, with it most likely being as old as the desire of persons to express themselves, perhaps evolving even before the ability to use verbal language for communication. From drawings in the caves of our early ancestors to the storyboards of Palau, these works which are usually labeled art forms rather communication forms, "were used to tell legends, to record events, and to teach social values" (Lockhart 1983:37).