Big Sur-Paradise on Earth

This weekend i spent a day and a half in Big Sur, the central coastline of California between Carmel and Hearst Castle. Fortunately it was a bright and sunny day and i started my Saturday with a delicious breakfast at River Inn. The Big Sur river just flows by River Inn Cafe. A very relaxing place to read or just sit and do nothing. Followed by that on highway 1 , i saw some of the most beautiful views on this planet ( from the little what i have seen so far). The huge Pacific is always seen on one side of the road, changing colors during the day and with the angles on the road. At one of the places near Henry Miller memorial library on the way to Pfeiffer beach, i saw a huge spread of white fog captured between the hills above the ocean. This was one of the most majestic sights. The water in the ocean sparkling in the sun was immersed in this spread of fog. It seemed like the land, sea and sky were blending into one another. Pfeiffer beach was a deserted and beautiful beach with hills on one side of the beach along with a few huge rocks. The ocean roaring through the rocks seemed eager to reach the hills, the tides were quite high. After Pfeiffer beach I saw some more scenic views on the historic highway including the Big Sur bridge on one side of a huge cliff above the ocean. Big Sur has a few state parks, but i didnt visit any of them this time. I havnt even explored one tenth of this beautiful expanse of land, ocean and sky, so have to go again soon!

Atlantis launch hopefully today

NASA is going to launch Atlantis (hopefully today , if everything goes fine) from Florida. The mission is to install the new European space lab 'Columbus' on the International Space Station. ISS is a joint project of 16 nations although US has been the major contributor so far. This is an astronaut mission today. It also reminds me of the Columbia disaster which happened on Feb 1, 2003 which had Kalpana Chawla among other 7 astronauts on board. Well how dangerous these things can get, but still man is constantly lured by the excitement of exploration irrespective of the accompanying dangers.

Space Tourism - Business or could mean something else?

Today morning i was listening to the news on CNN when they showed that Richard Branson of 'Virgin' along with some other business partner is going to launch a space tourism jet by the end of the year. The jet will carry 6 passengers to outer space along with 2 crew members. The price is targeted to be 200,000$ per passenger. Sounds like a great business plan for Virgin who are ready to invade the outer space. Well there are 2 sides to this. This program which will be a cup of tea for the affluent will enable people to travel to outer space. There are already 200 passengers from different countries who are signed up for the program. However the other side to this is that man has started putting his footsteps in space for commercial purposes. Where would it lead to? It has been seen in the past , that wherever man goes he brings with him pollution, acts which harm the nature and destroys peace. This is not too far if we dont stop our rapid invasion of space. I think space should be kept for research and exploration as much as possible and not for commercial use. This will help maintain the sanity and peace of space.

Tangy Honey Kissed Baked Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:
-Potatoes
-Honey
-Mustard Seeds
-Ginger
-Black Pepper
-Red Chillie Powder
-Turmeric Powder
-Salt
-Cooking Oil

RECIPE:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into small rectangles.

2. Take some cooking oil in a pan and heat. Once it is hot, put some mustard seeds in the oil.They will sputter. Now add some turmeric powder, ginger juice, black pepper and red chillie powder,salt to it. Mix them and heat for sometime. Now add one table spoon of honey to this and mix to form a glaze.

3. Coat the potato pieces with the glaze and spread them on an aluminium foil to bake.

4. Once baked, garnish them with coriander leaves. Serve hot. Enjoy the spicy and tangy flavor.

Movies I saw on Xmas

Yesterday night i saw 'Taare Zameen Par' directed by Aamir Khan. The movie was phenomenal and very realistic with respect to the Indian society. The child who acted was very natural and a perfect fit for the role. Aamir Khan's debut as a director is an amazing attempt. The movie portrays the emotions of a 9 year old child very effectively and a typical day to day life of the kid as well as his parents. An awesome movie with nice inspirational numbers.
Today evening was for another movie- 'I am Legend'. Well i didn't like the movie at all. the fiction plot was good but the movie lacked content and detail according to me...

Punjab De "Amritsari Chole"

I tried this recipe for the first time. Pure Punjabi delight- Amritsari Chole. Here I am sharing my recipe:

1. Soak Chole (Chick Peas) overnight. Next day morning put them in a pressure cooker with water, add half of white salt and half of black salt needed. Amritsari Chole are black in color after cooking. To give this black color, add a tea bag in the pressure cooker. Close the pressure cooker and boil for 15 minutes.

2. After opening the pressure cooker discard the tea bag. It would have left the chole black in color.

3. Now cut an onion in small slices and fry in oil in a pan. Also add a few bay leaves while frying the onions. The bay leaves will give a very distinctive smell to the masala. Now chop 2-3 tomatoes and add to the onions once they are golden brown. Add ginger to this masala and heat till a smooth paste of masala is formed.

4. On a separate tava roast the dry spices- black pepper, red chilli powder, jeera powder, mango powder( amchur powder) and coriander powder. Once the dry masala is roasted, add it to the paste of onions, tomatoes and ginger in the other pan. Right now the paste will be smelling very nice with the smell of the bay leaves.

5. Mix the Chole with this paste now. Boil 2 potatoes wrapped in plastic foil ( microwaveable) in a microwave. Cut them into small pieces and add to the chole. Garnish with coriander leaves.

6. Delicious Amritsari chole is ready to eat with bathure/ kulcha. Unfortunately in USA you dont get these things in grocery stores so I had it with garam chapatis.

Enjoy!

Seeing Rain

Unlike in Delhi where I have spent 22 years of my life and where it rains during Monsoon season every year, it rains in winters in Northern California. This area is surrounded by hills and I am seeing it rain for the first time here. The hills are typically taller than the elevation of the clouds.

Today morning while going to work, I saw the top portions of the hills immersed in the gray clouds. The sun was smearing the clouds to find its way out. The greens around were giving a different freshness to the air. I could admire the sun, clouds as well as the greens around me. It was a beautiful day.