Chicken tomato masala

Serves: 2 Persons

Ingredients:

500gms Boneless Chicken

Fresh tomato puree* of 5 medium tomatoes

2  Paste of two Medium raw  onions

oil

2 Tsp (Heaping) Red chili powder

1 Tsp (Not Heaping) Dhania Powder

1/4 Tsp Haldi Powder

1 Tsp Salt

3 heaping Table spoons Curd

2 Table Spoons Garlic Paste

2 Table spoon Ginger paste

3 Table spoon Cashew Nuts

Method:

* To make fresh tomato puree boil water in a pan and put 5 tomatoes in it after scooping their eyes out and making a plus sign with a knife on the bottom of the tomatoes. after 5 minutes throw out the hot water and rinse  the tomatoes in cold water. Now peel off the skins and blend the tomatoes in a mixer.

Heat some oil in a cooker and add the fresh tomato puree. Cook till oil separates. Add the onion paste cook till oil separates. Add all the dry masalas with some water and cook till oil separates. Add curd and mix it well in hi-flame till oil separates.

Add the chicken pieces and cook on low flame for about 30 minutes.

(Take the specified amount of ginger, garlic and cashew nuts and make a paste in a mixer. Add a little water so that there are no lumps.)

Add this paste to the masala in the cooker and fry well till oil separates and the white color of the cashew paste is gone.

By now the chicken should be done. Serve hot with fresh chapaties.

 

A home for the butterflies in Jaipur

Butterfly Valley

In an ambitious project, JDA has developed a 3800 Sq. Mts.( buffer area is 5 acres)  valley in Simriti Ban on JLN Marg, Jaipur as a habitat for 46 species of commonly found butterflies. The area, some 100 mts below JLN Marg,  has been planted with 80 varieties of big and small host plants. The area has some 900 trees and treated waste  water is regularly sprayed on them to keep the moisture in the area high.They have developed waterfalls and ponds decorated with stones brought in from Nathdwara and Haridwar. So come February you need to visit the Butterfly Valley with your camera for a date with the fast vanishing delicate creatures.

 

Butterfly valley in Simriti Ban,JLN Marg,Jaipur

Jaipuri Razai-A Quilt Like None Other

There are quilts and there are Jaipuri Razais.All sorts of quilts are made in Jaipur but the quilts which have earned the jaipuri razai sobriquet are around 700 to 800 gram in weight with  outer covering  made of very soft cotton cloth which is hand block printed in vegetable dyes in pastel colours and the filling is of finely carded cotton evenly spread in the covering and stitched by hand. The borders are sewen by machine to make them last longer.These quilts come in all sizes.They are filled with the best cotton money can buy brought  from Punjab,Haryana and Ganganagar. They are mostly manufactured in Chardarwaza,Idgah and Shastrinagar and sold mostly in the bazars of the walled city.In keeping with the demands and tastes of the customers the outer coverings are also made of silk and velvet.

Like every thing else in our lives making of the Jaipuri Razais has not remained untouched by the advent of technology.Instead of hand block printing  screens are also used to print the outer covering to keep the cost of the finished product down.That is why a single quilt can cost from couple of hundred rupees to more than a couple of thousand rupees.

These quilts are in demand all around the year by the local populace and domestic and foreign tourists alike.But in the winter months you can not miss these quilts as they are prominently displayed in most  of the walled city shops selling textile goods.These quilts are also exported to the developed world to the tune of  approximately 100 crore rupees.

A journalist from Sweden,Ms.Christina and Dr.Chandramani Dixit from  Jawahar Kala kendra are writing a scholarly work on Jaipuri Quilts.

Ravindra Manch And Jawahar Kala Kendra

Ravindra Manch, Jaipur located in the Ram Niwas Garden was one of the 17 cultural centers envisaged by Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1961.It was opened to public on 15th August 1963 by the then cultural minister Mr.H.Kabir. It has been newly refurbished by an expenditure of 90 lac rupees.It has all the facilities needed in a theater including an open air theater and ample parking and an art gallery.

On  8th November 2008 a three day cultural  festival was organized honoring the Nobel lauret Guru Rabindra Nath Tagore.It is proposed to hold this festival every year.

Jawahar Kala Kendra on JLN marg, designed by Charles Correa, was opened for public by the then President of India, Dr.Shankar Dayal Sharma, on 8th April 1993.It is located on a  parcel of land having an area of 9.5 acers and the building is surrounded by  lush green landscaped garden.On one side it has a Shilp Gram made in a replica of a cluster of village huts.When you look at the number of facilities it provides to the aspiring artists, artists and local residents alike it is not hard to understand why it is thronged by them everyday.It has an open air theater, art galleries, library,print making shop,audio visual department and an outlet of India Coffee House.Besides this there are cultural programs, exhibitions,plays etc held all the year round.

A Village For The Elephants Of Amber

Elephants have been around Jaipur even before the foundation stone of Jaipur was laid.They were being used in the Royal armies and in the Royal shikars.They also helped to build Jaipur.
Now a days they are a very popular mode of transport up the Amer hill. The ride is much in demand by the foreign and indian tourists alike.They are also used in the groom’s wedding procession and for playing elephant Polo and in Bollywood films.In a case of Indian ingenuity a local entrepreneur runs a thriving business making hand made paper from Elephant dung.
RTDC organizes an Elephant festival around Holi in which Elephant beauty pageants and Elephant Polo and other events related to elephants are organized for the tourists visiting Jaipur and local residents alike.

India’s first and the world’s third elephant village( Budget Rs.5 Crores)- the other two are in Kegalla, Sri Lanka and Pattya,Thailand- is almost ready for occupation by its residents. 2km from Amber in the village Kunda off Jaipur-Delhi highway 51 quarters for the elephants, mahawats and their families have been made.Provision has been kept to house all of the about 95 elephants in Amber here at a later date.An elephant veterinary hospital, a cafe,a riding track,large water bodies, a museum and a shilp gram are also proposed.RTDC proposes to develop the village in a tourist spot so that visitors can watch the elephants going about their daily lives.

In Remembrance

On 21 st October 1959 a unit of  Indian Police Force martyred itself defending the Indian soil against the Chinese in Ladhak.  Pt.Jawahar Lal Nehru,the then Prime Minister, decided to honour their ultimate sacrifice by declaring 21 st October as Indian Police Force’s Martyrs Day.  Smt.Usha Rani Hooja was commissioned with the task of casting a  sutiable bronze statue for the memorial. She did every body proud by casting the Trimurty sculpture  which was installed at the Narain Singh Circle on the Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg.This memorial was inagurated by the Prime Minister on 5th November 1963.This year also on Shaheed Diwas, a function was organised at the Rajasthan Police Academy and every police line in every district of Rajasthan. Homage was also paid at the Shaheed Samark on JLN Marg.

An Animal Fair With A Difference

Every year in the month of October, for the past 500 years, a four day animal fair  is held in Bhawgarh Bandhya, near jaipur, in the Looniyawas village. Held in honour of the Sri KhalKhani Mata-this fair showcases the best of Donkeys money can buy.There is sale and purchase of donkeys,race featuring donkeys,poem recitals in praise of donkeys, prizes for the best bred donkey of the marwari or kathiawari breed,beauty pageant to find the Ms. Donkey & Mr.Donkey among other events.The owners name their donkeys after the bollywood stars to enhance their charms in the eyes of the buyers.Even so the organisers have a difficult time every year to find VVIPs to do the honours at the fair.

As people are preferring to buy horses instead of donkeys or mules for their use these days  a lot of horses turn up at the fair every year also.For example this year there were only 300 donkeys and 50 mules but about 1200 horses at the mela.Also on display was a white colored Shyam Karan Horse  worth 31 lacs.According to the scriptures Lord Ram set loose a Shyam Karan horse when he performed the Ashwa medh yagh.

Legend has it that Sri Khalkhani mata performed a miracle for her devotee in distress by turning a bag of stones into gold coins.Since then this fair is held every year.

Chocolates-A Life Long Affair

In this post let us talk about where we can find this ‘food of the gods’ in Jaipur.The chocolate junkie & the Jaipur Romeo will already know where to go.For others-here goes.

Factory made mass produced chocolates by Cadbury India  and Nestle India are freely available. Cadbury India has been around since 1948 when they imported the delicacy for repacking and sale in India.They hold about 70% of the domestic chocolate market share.

Imported dark chocolates and chocolate bars are freely available in the better department stores  and in stores in the newly constructed Malls.They are more expensive than the domestic chocolates.But the new flavours and  the international brand and the sugar free option are the major attractions.

Chocolate is used in pastry, biscuits, cake,ice cream,toffee, indian sweets,desserts and even coffee shakes and hot chocolate ( Hot milk with sugar and Drinking Chocolate or Cocoa).

The Chocolate Boutique at 68,Gopal Bari(2370734) in C-Scheme offers 45 different types of egg less hand made chocolates in attractive packing  & brownies,cakes & pastries.

For baked goods with chocolate- Hot breads on Sarojni Marg and Bake Hut off M.I.Road and Sunrise in Crystal Palm all in the C-Scheme and Bakewell in Raja park.

Melting Moments in Crystal Palm,C-Scheme for chocolate brownie with hot chocolate sauce.

Barista,Mall 21 off  Panch Batti  for Chocolate brownie with hot coffee.

Cafe coffee Day for egg less chocolate chip cookies.

Chocolate ice cream in 1589 on Ashok Marg,Nirulla’s(3130100/200) at the Polo Victory complex Baskin Robins(2388688) at Ganpati Plaza and New Zealand Natural ice Cream at Crystal Palm, Sardar Patel Marg &Crown Plaza,Vaishali Nagar.

Karan’s Guest House

Karan’s Guest house,

D-76,Shiv Heera Path,Chomu House,C-scheme,Jaipur,302001,

Rajasthan ,India e.mail.  kgh@aol.in

M.91-9828284433 T.91-141-2363262 F.91-141-2372919

web. www.karans.info blog. www.karansguesthouse.wordpress.com

DELUXE COMFORTS AT BUDGET PRICES

Karan’s Guesthouse is a clean and comfortable guesthouse, centrally located in a Posh Colony of Jaipur just 2 kilometres from the main railway station,bus stand,Walled City,11km from the Jaipur Airport 1 km. from Major Conference Venue,Government Offices and The Statue Circle.The guesthouse has seven Spacious double bedrooms and one single bedroom, each room has a western style private bathroom. All rooms have a satellite colour TV, small fridge, cupboard, desk, chair, lamp, sofa, air-conditioning and a heater. Two rooms have private balconies.There is a guest dining/sitting room with colour satellite TV and a well equipped kitchen for breakfast. However for those guests that wish to eat out there are many shops and popular restaurants nearby offering good quality food at reasonable prices.There is a telephone, fax machine available for all guests. You are invited to enjoy the homely atmosphere at Karan’s Guesthouse.

Room

 

 

 

Hall

 

 

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