Aloo Gobi with Garam Masala (Indian style)

India has an interesting mix of people eating vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. It's hard to tell the proportion but at the end of it we do come up with excellent variations on both veg and non-veg dishes. Two days back, when I posted one article on the good old 'garam masala', my friend from US was inquisitive about the recipes that should go well with the spice blend. Today, I will explore one of the age old, traditional recipes that's been a hit with our family since many generations now.

Read the article on Garam Masala by clicking here.

Aloo Gobi Curry


Aloo gobi is cooked in an Indian curry sauce. It's old but never outdated. Aloo means potato and gobi means cauliflower.

Ingredients


* oil/ ghee (clarified butter)
* cauliflower, broken into small florets
* potatoes, peeled and cubed
* cumin seeds
* turmeric powder
* coriander, cumin paste (the whole seeds are soaked and ground)
* red chili paste
* ginger paste
* garam masala (whole)
* bayleaf
* Salt to taste

Note: you can also use chopped onions.

Heat the oil mixed with ghee in a wok. Toss the cumin seeds, whole garam masala, bay leaf in the oil for a few seconds till they get a shade darker. Add the rest of the ginger, cumin, coriander, red chili paste and saute till the mix dries up. Add sugar (a pinch, for colour), salt and turmeric powder. Add the previously fried cauliflower florets and the fried potato cubes. Mix the vegetables with the curry paste. Allow it to cook till the potato gets tender and the cauliflower beautifully absorbs the spices. Add little amount of water, cover the wok till the ingredients absorb the remaining water. Season with garam masala powder, one tea spoon of ghee and garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

The vegetables should absorb all the flavour of the spices maintaining their individual integrity. And if you could strike a balance with the right amount of spices, water and the cooking - you are a great cook!

Accompaniment: freshly cooked white rice, fresh lime, whole green chili.

Chuck the High Heels now

High heels make you look sassy and elegant and make you feel fantastically beautiful. Having to wear, balance and walk comfortably in high heels, is an art in itself. Wearing them is at the discretion of the individuals, and being aware is another thing. The effects of wearing habitual high heels are slow but could be severe at some point and it varies from individual to individual.

1. Back, feet, legs ache: constant wearing could lead to chronic lower back pain and muscle sprains which could lead to severe injuries and bone shortening, ligament and cartilage tearing and knee injury.

2. Spine stress and posture defect: Wearing high heels regularly could deform the spine and affect the posture by dis-balancing body movements.

3. Bunions and severe feet condition: High heels lead to unhealthy feet and legs leading to conditions like bunions, in growing toe nails and other severe conditions that might require surgical intervention.

4. Restricted blood circulation: In some cases they may lead to constricted blood circulation leading to unhealthy nervous system.

6. Mental imbalance: In rare cases, it's been found that the mental health has been impaired to certain extent.

Downline building, getting referrals and mutually helping each other

Earning on the internet involves a lot of activity. We need to do a lot of tasking - networking, sharing, interacting in a way that benefits each other mutually. The major earning structure on the internet works on solid downline building and gathering referrals, as many as one can manage. More the better.

I receive numerous signup requests, as a downline, under various users who I have either known directly or indirectly. Some have become good friends and we have developed a beautiful understanding by now. Friends or just acquaintances, I try to sign up under their referral links. I feel, the mutual exchanges make the internet special. I have, so far, signed up in innumerable websites as a downline. Even though, haven’t been active in many, my signing up helped others to grow their network and business

When I started a discussion on downline building on a forum, some time back, most said that they would rather sign up as an independent user. Many, confessed that they get to the resources and go to the primary link and sign up, ignoring the referral link. One user, I remember, even frowned over being discovering that she is a downline.

I have a different viewpoint altogether. I would never mind being a downline, if I feel I should sign up with the website. I have a few friends who do that as well. What is there not to support each other in real or in virtual life!

Websites that really pay: My Top 5 pick of 2010

A Guide to Online Earning

Making money from your website: Too much work, little pay

2010 has been a year full of challenges, discoveries and learning. In an endeavor to launch my website and earn from it, I learned so many things. Now, I know the basics of online earning, even though, I am actually not earning from it. Not yet, so far. I need to gear up with some more tools and then may be I will capitalize on the resources. I have found that there are several sites that really pay and are NOT scams.

My top rated picks of the paying sites with referral links are as follows:

MyLot

SharedReviews

Neobux

Wordlinx

Paid2YouTube

Chili Fish: Mom's style to spice up the day!

Today was one of those days when you get an unexpected off from work and like to spend me-time to the fullest. The holiday season is on and what could be a better day to celebrate it. With the rains still drizzling and the sky accentuated with the sun and cloud, lazing around was the only and unanimous option.

Mom sneaked into my room early in the morn as she usually do and waited for the nod over the menu she decided instantly when she came to know about the holiday. Chili fish and sparkling white rice - that was what she decided on. Anything Chinese and soya sauce is my favorite. She has her own recipe that takes her only 15 minutes at the most. It's the easiest, healthiest and the tastiest recipe on earth! I just added more to acidity and she poured heaveful teaspoon of chili flakes. Father out of station, just the two of us and our simple recipe to spice up the day. Have a look for yourself and decide!

You can envy me now!

Google Adsense: The best marketing tool!

Internet marketeers know how important it is to retain the Google Adsense account for once you lose it, you will have nothing more to regret. Even though, there are several other money making marketing tools available, the Yahoo publisher, Bidvetiser, Chikita, Adbrite to name a few, Google offers most authentic mode of earning and payment. Google Adsense has been, particularly, austere with their accounts these days, especially with the Asian countries. Several accounts been banned stating reasons like invalid clicks or impressions. Nothing could be more disheartening than that. However, having said this, the key lies in our hands and we can actually safeguard our accounts by adopting simple measures.

First and foremost: NO CLICKS from your IP address. False clicks to increase your earning will be caught immediately. Do not encourage others to click from your computer also. Adsense would not understand your alibi.

Plagiarism or duplicating from other sources is a cyber crime and recently Adsense is terminating accounts that consistently post plagiarized stuffs. Be original and be creative.

Generate more traffic. Content is the king so try to write good stuffs and promote your articles and write in installments so that the readers are bound to come back to visit your page. Showcase your visitors and commentators and keep reading their blogs as well. Cross traffic exchanges generate more traffic to your site - it's proven.

Things to keep in mind

Keep a note of your Adsense publisher ID. In case, google terminates your account, you will need it to fill in the request form.


Do not place more than 3 ads on your blog or website
Do not click randomly or encourage clicks on your website
Be creative, original
Read the rules and FAQs often
Do not lose hope. Keep trying with honest information.


Want to open a new account? Click here.

Had an account but now banned? Click here to appeal.

Before having one, read the terms and conditions thoroughly here.

Gmail does not recognize dots (.)!!

A few days back, I received one email from an unknown sender, which did not sound like a spam. It was from some investing company, where probably, the addressed has invested and the email confirmed that and had an attached contract note. The addressed shares the same name as mine but has an address very different. The mail details showed that the addressed has similar email ID as me, except for a DOT in between the user words.

Thinking that it was very important, I wrote one email to the supposed receiver and told her about the goof up. After a while when I checked back, I found that the mail has come back to me! I found it strange and tried to log into my google account with the same user name but with a DOT in between. I entered the same password and guess what! It worked! The inbox opened right in front of me!

I tried signing up with the same user name that I have but with a DOT in between and I was told that the user name was already taken. This increased my curiosity and after a little research I found that the DOTS in between the words are not recognised by google. You can see this if you try to sign in with your user name, but adding or removing a DOT from it. You'll still go to your account!


Google states that:

There are three common reasons why Gmail users think they're receiving someone else's mail. Please select the description that matches your situation below.

Your address is similar but has more or fewer dots (.) or different capitalization.

Sometimes you may receive a message sent to an address that looks like yours but has a different number or arrangement of periods. While we know it might be unnerving if you think someone else's mail is being routed to your account, don't worry: both of these addresses are yours.

Gmail doesn't recognize dots as characters within usernames, you can add or remove the dots from a Gmail address without changing the actual destination address; they'll all go to your inbox, and only yours. In short:

o homerjsimpson@gmail.com = hom.er.j.sim.ps.on@gmail.com
o homerjsimpson@gmail.com = HOMERJSIMPSON@gmail.com
o homerjsimpson@gmail.com = Homer.J.Simpson@gmail.com

All these addresses belong to the same person. You can see this if you try to sign in with your username, but adding or removing a dot from it. You'll still go to your account.

If you get mail that seems to be intended for someone else, it's likely that the sender entered the wrong address, just like if you've ever dialed a wrong phone number for someone. In these cases, we suggest contacting the original sender or website when possible to alert them to the mistake.

One last thing: Google Apps does recognize dots. If you'd like to have a dot in your username, please ask your domain administrator to add your preferred username as a nickname.


That was quite a revelation!