DIY: PERSONAL COOLER

It's that time of the year again, when its too hot to be home or be outside. If you live in a large space, using your AC all day is not very economical nor is it practical to cool every room unless of course you are using those rooms. So to stay cool in these soaring temperatures and save on electrical bill, here is a quick and temporary solution. Surprisingly, it works better than I anticipated.

Materials:

• Large foam cooler 
• mini fan
• 1 or 2 pipes
• large empty bottles
• Pen Knife
• Pencil or marker

Cost: approximately $15

How to:

Take the cap of the foam cooler and draw an outline of the fan on one end and the 2 pipes on the other. Using the pen knife cut out the shapes.

Place the mini fan and the pipe vents into their designated space. In the cooler place 2 large water bottles that have been frozen. As the fan forces in hot air the frozen bottles will act as coolers. The air will then pass through the pipes cooling that area of the room.

This works really well, especially if you only want to cool down one room at a fraction the price. Stay cool efficiently, save money and enjoy your summer. 

HOW TO : MAKE GHEE (Clarified Butter)

Post by Sneha

I have been living in the USA for over a year now. This is a very versatile country which has embraced so many different cultures. It is a melange of so many cultures from all over the world and everyone has contributed something to the society. And quite obviously the best part of this for a foodie like myself is that I get to taste a variety of cuisines.

But no matter how much I love it here and no matter how much I get to explore, there are certain things from home which I always crave. Even though almost everything you want is available here, somehow it can never be like ‘mom’-made. One such thing which is a quintessential part of Indian cooking and which we all must have seen our moms make from scratch in India is ghee or clarified butter.

In India, milk is boiled before being used. Mostly it’s full fat milk. Oh yeah, we squirm at the thought of that. But having skimmed milk is almost like a crime for most Indians (at least for most Indians from my mom’s generation). They feel cheated if they are given milk with its fat removed. Plus, if they get fat free milk in India, how are they supposed to make ghee!

I still remember how my mom made ghee. Once milk was boiled, my mom would take out the layer of cream on top and collect many such layers of cream over a period of time. Then she would have the cream curdled and then churn the butter out of it. This butter is basically unsalted butter. That she would heat up to remove the milk solids. Ta-da! Ghee was ready! Well it’s not as simple as it sounds. Believe me!

Now when I make ghee at home, I skip many steps and do the smart thing - buy unsalted butter! So all that I have to do is boil it till the right time and strain it. The aroma from the ghee transports me right back to my childhood.

Let me tell you the exact process of making ghee at home.

• Firstly you need unsalted butter. Salted butter will not work. I buy mine from ‘Ralphs’ grocery store. Normally I buy two packets of butter. Each contains 4 sticks of 4 oz each. I use 7 sticks for the ghee and keep 1 for other use. This ghee lasts me almost two months.

• Take a thick bottomed pot to make the ghee. I use this kadhai or Indian wok. This makes sure that the butter doesn't burn. 

• Place the unsalted butter sticks in the pot. On a medium flame, let the butter melt completely. On the scale of 1-10 for the burner, 10 being the hottest, I keep my burner on 5 for this process. It takes about 15 min for the butter to melt completely on this heat.

• Once the butter is completely melted, reduce the flame slightly. Let the butter boil till it becomes a clear liquid as shown in the pictures. This takes around 20 min. As you can see from the pictures, the milk solids separate from the butter to give you clarified butter. Do not boil it beyond this point or you might end up getting burnt ghee which is brownish in color. 

• Turn off the flame and let the ghee cool completely. Cooling down of the ghee before straining is very important. If you strain it before it's cooled, the steam from the hot ghee gets collected over the lid of the container and that moist environment is favorable for fungal growth over the ghee. I speak from experience! The container that you use to store ghee must be completely dry too. 

• Now strain the ghee. For straining, I use a regular strainer over which I put a layer of muslin cloth. This method for straining has worked best for me of all the tried and tested methods. It is pretty easy and hassle-free too. It is a foolproof way of straining out the milk solids.

There is something so satisfying about making your own ghee at home. It is a great way to save a lot of money on store bought ghee. You also know that what you are eating is adulteration-free. Ghee when made right is the pale yellow color as shown below. The color of ghee also depends on the kind of milk that was used to make the butter. So it's either pale yellow or white. 

I enjoy my ghee the most over daal and rice with some 'mom'-made mango pickle. What do you love it with the most? 

SNACK: PUFFED RICE/MURMURA

Murmura namkeen is a light Indian snack that goes well with evening tea or even just by itself at anytime. I first came across this snack while living in Mumbai. From the very first time that I had it, I loved it. Since then it has been my “go to’” snack, when I come home tired from work. It’s that interim snack before dinner while I’m putting myself together for cooking a full fledged Indian meal.

The best part is that it is low on calories, low on sodium, low on oil and fats and with little or no sugars (except from the besan sev and puffed rice) and it doesn’t do too much damage to dieters who are looking for a little binge.

In Mumbai, I found Murmura Namkeen (that is what I call it, I’m not sure what the exact name is) conveniently at most grocery stores. But when I came to Los Angeles, the closest snack similar to this was the ‘Haldiram’s Diet Bhel’. Even though Haldiram’s Diet Bhel served as a good alternative, I noticed it came in much smaller packs than what I got in Mumbai. I also noticed that the Indian grocery stores in Los Angeles carried plain murmura or puffed rice in gigantic packs. After a lot of contemplation I gave in to my temptation of trying to make murmura namkeen at home one day. I bought the huge murmura pack and made an attempt at murmura namkeen. To my surprise it came out well!! Well enough to mimic the taste of what I had in Mumbai.

For those of you murmura fans still contemplating about buying that huge bag of murmura and making it at home, fear not and give it a try!

Ingredients:

Puffed Rice/Plain Murmura – 6 cups
Roasted Peanuts – 2 cups
Plain Besan sev (regular in thickness) - 3 cups
Roasted chana dal – 2 tbsp
Oil – 4 tbsp
Curry Leaves – 8-10
Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
Salt as per your taste
Red chilli powder – 1 ¼ tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Method:

1. Work with a big wok for making the murmura namkeen
2. Add oil to the wok and heat it well
3. Add the mustard seeds and let them crackle a little
4. Add the curry leaves and fry them in the oil until they are crisp. This will take about a minute
5. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt to the oil. Give it a quick stir
6. Reduce the heat to the lowest and then add the puffed rice followed by roasted peanuts, roasted chana dal and besan sev. Mix all the ingredients well
7. Keep mixing till all the puffed rice are coated with the oil seasoning and are crisp. Turn off the heat but keep stirring to ensure that the puffed rice at the bottom of the wok does not burn or over roast in the residue heat
8. Allow the mixture to cool to room temperature and store in an airtight container

Serve as a snack anytime with tea or coffee.

You could also use this mixture to make bhel puri by adding a bit of chopped onions, tomatoes, coriander, green chilies and a finely cubed boiled potato.

Give this recipe a shot and let us know how it turns out! 

Any suggestions for variations and or improvements are most welcome.