Sunday, September 6, 2020

Kareel - The Edible Bamboo Shoots

Kareel (Bamboo shoot vegetable) in market
Photo: Ravi Kumar


        Bamboo is a very useful tree. Scientifically it is not a tree but a herb though it looks like a shrub. Mature bamboos are used for making huts, furniture, and art objects. Some of the things made from bamboo are Verandah curtains, mattresses, and sticks. Sticks are made from smaller varieties of bamboo and are very useful for old persons, shepherds, and farmers (for separating grains from paddy). The most common uses of the bamboo-made objects are different sizes of baskets. These baskets are known in Hindi as Tokari or Dala. And there is bamboo Soop. Soop is a shallow basket with high rims on three sides and flat at one side. Dalas and Soops are widely used in rural India for storing grains and vegetables. Both are used as a strainer during parboiling rice. Due to its strength, bamboos are used in fencing the fields, in centering & scaffolding (while making a pucca building), in roofs & columns of huts, in temporary small bridges of Nallah (streams), and as pipes also. In some places, bamboo has also been tried as a replacement for steel in RCC for minor works.
Different stages of cutting of Kareel for Bhaja

 

     For Hindus, bamboo is an auspicious tree. It is used in making a Mandap in Hindu marriages, in Palki (palanquin), and in religious flags as a post eg. Ramnavmi flags, Dala (baskets) and Soop in the famous festival of Chhath. Even the last journey of a Hindu from house to burning ghat is essentially on a bamboo made bed. 

       Such a useful tree is also used in the kitchen as a recipe in India and East Asian countries and it is a delicacy here. But the bamboos used as vegetables are the soft shoots of a new bamboo tree which is known as Kareel in Bihar-Bengal areas. In the rainy season during monsoons, new bamboo grows adjacent to the existing old bamboo trees. New bamboo growth is in the shape of a soft conical shoot which grows rapidly. Shoots up to ten inches long are cut and dressed for vegetables. 

Fermented bamboo shoot slices (Karil)
on sale at a vegetable market in Ranchi.

         The Kareel (or Karil) is known by different names in different regions. In Assam, it is called Khorisa, Karadi in Odissa while in South India it is known as Kanile. The radish shaped Karil has a very intense smell. Some people find the smell of raw Karil very repulsive. Like Cassava, Karil also contains natural toxins (cyanogenic glycosides). That is why it can not be consumed fresh. Before cooking Kareel vegetables, these natural toxins must be destroyed. It is done by leaving sliced/cut Kareel in water for at least 15 hours and then boiling. Fermented Karil is also used to keep away its acrid taste. Fermented Kareel is called Tama in Nepal where it has been used for centuries. They cook Tama with potatoes and beans. 

Kareel & Arabi mix vegetable
Photo: Ravi Kumar


   In Jharkhand, it is cooked by frying (Bhaja, Bhujiya) or as a mixed vegetable with Arabi (Taro roots). Since it is available in the rainy season during monsoon, people enjoy it like other seasonal vegetables like mushrooms, Kantola, and Rugda. In Orisa its curry is made which is called Ambila. In Nagaland, fermented Kareel known as Bas Tenga is cooked with pork and it is very popular here. It is cooked with fish also in Meghalaya and Chittagong area.
Kareel-fry, Photo: Ravi Kumar

 

        Not only in Indian Subcontinent, but it is also a sought after vegetable in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Myanmar. They cook the fermented bamboo shoots with locally available items like coconut milk or rice powder. Bamboo shoots are also preserved as Murabba (like Petha).

Kareel Achaar (Bamboo shoot pickles), Photo: Ravi Kumar

   Apart from Bhaja, mixed vegetables and curries, Kareel is also used in making pickles. Pickled Kareel is preserved for a long time. Mostly salted pickles are made but in the Philippines sweet pickles are also made. For salted pickles, the fermented thinly sliced bamboo shoots are sun-dried for a few hours so that residual water is evaporated. It is then mixed with mustard oil (heated then cooled), red chilly powder, and spices. It is kept in direct sun for a few days. Salted bamboo shoot pickles are known as "Kareel Achaar". This Kareel Achaar is recommended in Ayurveda as anti-acidic, anti-cough, and blood purifying. They also say that it heals the body wounds, removes swellings, and cures leucoderma (Safed-Daag). 

        Though it is a popular vegetable during monsoon in the areas where bamboos are grown, people trying to taste it for the first time may be disappointed due to residual acrid taste and smell but after a few trials, taste-buds develop a taste for this vegetable.


Bamboo-shoot products are also available online at Flipkart and Amazon. Here are some links.

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Saturday, August 8, 2020

Cosmos Flowers Plants - Beautiful and easily grown throughout the year

Cosmos Flower; After the flower dries,
Seeds are formed like spikes (Bottom)
           It is a flowering plant of the sunflower family. There are many varieties and colors of these flowers, but the most popular of them is the yellow and orange colored flowers of the cosmos. Its scientific name is 'cosmos sulphureus'. 

      The flower color is very variable among the different species. There are many ornamental plants in this genus that are popular in gardens.

       For the flower-loving people - 1. Its seeds are cheap 2. Easy to grow 3. Beautiful and lovely to look at. Once you plant it, it grows fast, and after the flowers show their colorful radiating beauty, they mature and their single-layered petals fall. What remains at the place of flowers are the brown oats-like things, which are actually the seeds of cosmos. They fall and scatter on the ground and start growing new plants as soon as they get moisture or water. Thus, the next generation of cosmos flowers starts growing. Their maximum height is six to seven feet.

The second generation of
cosmos flower plant, Self-growing

        This flower is native to Mexico. From there, it spread to different parts of the world - at some places, deliberately, while at others by mistake. For example, in the eastern plains of South Africa, it was introduced by contaminated horse feed imported from Argentina during the Anglo-Boer War. In fact, it is like an invasive species. 

     If you are going to grow this flower first time, its seeds are easily available at the local stores. If you want to buy online, go to the link below↓.

Amazon

Flipkart.

To install the Flipkart app on mobile, Click here

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Wednesday, July 29, 2020

How to create "new post" in the new format of Blogger

      The new format of the "Blogger" has been activated in which the arrangements and views have been changed a little. Even if you revert to the old style, you will have to use the newer one after about a month. One important change I noticed in it that the "create new post" button has been removed from the top left corner. In fact, it has been moved to the right bottom corner with a '+' button on an orange disc.
Orange disc with '+' sign
      

It is similar to the compose button of Gmail. Please see the picture here. 
   To create a new post, hover the arrow over this button (On a laptop). You will see the pop-up information of the button as "create new post".
Create New Post
Now you have got it. Click this button, and a new blank post will be opened with editing tools.

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Sunday, July 19, 2020

How to type superscript and subscript in Blogger?

         Blogger is an excellent platform to express your views and explain something. For simple writing, it has many tools like Microsoft Word document, but not all of them. One of such lacking features is superscript and subscript. While in Microsoft Word, you can switch to these two styles with a simple click of a button in the upper toolbar, here in Blogger, you have limited choices. What do you do here? ----

 1. You click a button resembling an emoji-smiley.
Click this button to open a small window for special characters

 2. It opens a small window where you find a lot of special characters. You search for them either by typing or by drawing a shape.
A limited number of characters in the superscript/subscript

 3. For superscript - type "superscript" in the search box of this small window, and you will see a list of superscript characters. You will see digits and some letters. If the desired character is here, click it and it will appear on the "edit blog post" at the place where the cursor is.

 4. The same is the process for subscript.

         So far, so good, but there are many characters that you want to write as superscript or subscript, but can not find them here. It will be a problem if you want to explain something in mathematics or physics. Not only characters, but sometimes we need to write a word or a short sentence as superscript or subscript. For this, you have to know some hacks that I will explain to you here.
     See below the title of your blog on the desktop. There are two buttons, "compose" and "HTML," side by side. (Edit: in the new format of the blogger, you will see these two buttons on a dropdown list when clicked on a pencil icon on the leftmost side of the editing toolbar) By default, the edit page in the blog opens in Compose mode, where we compose our blog. It is easier to type here and see how our blog should be. But it is the simplified version for the users because the real language that the computer understands is something else that appears in the HTML button mode. Whatever we type is converted by some software into a language that the computer understands. It looks like junk to us. You can easily see this by clicking the HTML button. But this button, showing the HTML version, is very useful for doing things that are very difficult in Compose mode.
         As we need to write some letters, words, or sentences as superscript or subscript, first type it as usual in Compose mode. Now go to the HTML mode and search for those typed words. This searching is the most difficult part of our job because you will notice more special characters and parentheses than in your literature. But with some labor, you can search for it as the literature will be arranged in the same place. You mentally mark the portion that you want as superscript or subscript. For the superscript type <sup> just before that portion and type </sup> just after that portion. These are called tags. Similarly, for the subscript type <sub> just before that portion and type </sub> just after that portion. These should be done exactly as said because these words tell the computer where to start superscript/subscript and where to end. Any deviation or difference in typing these words will result in an error. Once you do it, click the Compose button. You will find the desired result appearing here in the post.
      For example, I type Pexternal. I want "external" as superscript. Under the HTML button, I search for Pexternal.↓
Search for the desired words
      Now type <sup> just before external in it and </sup> just after it.↓
Typing should be exact
Now click the Compose button, and your typing will get changed as desired, see below.
Pexternal

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Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Was the lockdown announced by PM necessary for checking COVID-19? क्या लॉकडाउन जरुरी था?

#PM #MODI
       Many people have doubts about the lockdown because it was imposed in the beginning when the cases were few, but now the cases have grown manyfold, and the lockdown is being withdrawn slowly. So they ask a question - "Was the lockdown necessary?" Let us discuss this. 
      The first thing is that the COVID-19 virus started in Wuhan, China. It was growing as a pandemic, and not much was known about it. China tried to hide it initially and did not share much about it. When it came to the knowledge of the world, we knew that it spreads through proximity to the affected person, and China controlled it through social distancing, masks, and lockdown. So it was the best measure to check the spread of disease geometrically. It also gave time to understand its nature through scientific research and happenings in other affected countries. 
         The second thing is that after a month-long lockdown the daily earning people and laborers lost the source of income. A huge number of these people began to return to their homes on foot from the cities. Due to the transport ban, factories shut down and a general lockdown, the economy was getting affected badly. So the lockdown was not to stay endless.  
           Third, the government had to keep the balance between lockdown and the economy. So, after keeping an eye on the occurrence of the cases and wide surveys, it was decided to loosen the unaffected areas and close the local containment zones. Thus, the economy could revive, and at the same time, COVID-19 cases could be contained.
          With time, it was found that the virus was getting weaker slowly in India, or we had a bit better immunity, as the recovery rates increased. Also, by boosting immunity, the virus could be kept away. To emphasize it PM himself talked to the nation and told the steps to be taken to boost immunity. After the WHO said that this virus was to stay for a few years and we will have to learn to live with it, there was no option but to "Unlock," that is lifting the bans of lockdown bans slowly. Major bans remain the places of mass gathering like movie halls, festivals, processions, public transport, schools, colleges, etc.
        The government has done a lot to make people aware of the dangers and prevention of the virus. To date, no vaccine is available, and no medicine is a 100% cure for it; the best way is prevention. The government has done its duty; now people have to play their part.
       So, what did the lockdown announced by the PM do? The answer is clear. The best thing it did is that it make people aware of the dangers of the COVID-19 virus and its prevention by social distancing, masks, handwashing, and sanitizers. PM himself addressing the nation about the virus and giving instructions is such a big thing that no amount of advertisement or awareness program could have achieved it. 
       So let us take the responsibility to check this disease as citizens and serve humanity.
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Giloy is said to improve immunity in a traditional ayurvedic way. 

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