HOME
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IN DEPTH
THE ORIGINAL ANTHONY GONSALVES
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IN DEPTH 2 

A TRUE ‘SADHAKA’ OF MUSIC
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IN DEPTH 3
 K VAIKUNTH: THE MAN BEHIND THE CAMERA
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IN DEPTH 4
ALEESHA TO FEATURE AT IFFI
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STRAY THOUGHTS
 UMA BHARATI TYPE REVOLT GROWING IN GOA

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IN THE NEWS
 INOX PANAJI ALL SET TO ROLL

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ISSUES
 STRUCK AT THE ROOTS
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LEGAL
HC CRACKS WHIP ON ERRING BUILDERS

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HOME & HEARTH
‘STEVIA IS NOW OFFICIAL IN JAPAN’

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REEL LIFE
NEVER BEEN KISSED

EATING IS FUN
 THE TEMPTATION OF LEONORAS

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TIATR
 UZVADDANT KALLOK

PRESENT-DAY FAMILY TALE

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VIEWPOINT
 GOA – CRUCIBLE OF CREATIVITY

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GLOBAL GOAN
 MACAO: PEARL OF THE ORIENT

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TONGUE-IN-CHEEK

ANOTHER ILLEGALITY IS…

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HEALTH
 FREE TREATMENT ‘KILLING’ GMC?

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FIRST PERSON

WHY I WROTE GOENCHO SAIB

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SPORTS
 WHAT’S AILING FOOTBALL IN GOA?

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GOENKARANCHO AVAZ
 Readers write...
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ARCHIVES
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HOME
REQUIEM FOR TREES
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IN DEPTH
THE GREAT LAND GRAB
By Rajan Narayan
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AMBEDKAR AAWAS YOJANA
YET ANOTHER DECEITFUL BLUEPRINT!
By Diana Pinto
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STRAY THOUGHTS
By Rajan Narayan
 PARRIKAR WOOING KINGFISHER TO SPONSOR IFFI
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BEHIND THE NEWS
VANDALS HAVE THEIR WAY?
By Jonquil Sudhir
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IN THE NEWS
GOA GETS SET FOR EXPOSITION
By Agnelo Rodrigues
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WORLD POLITICS
 US ELECTIONS
A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE
By Ben Antao
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MARKETING
THE VIRTUAL WORLD
By C. S Mirchandani
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FESTIVALS
DEEPAVALI-
INDIA'S FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
 A Goan Observer special.
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PARRITLER'S TRAVAILS
 By Aravind Bhatikar
SHOCKINGLY INSANE!
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EATING IS FUN
A variety food column
By Tara Narayan
CATCH THE 'MANDOVI BLUE' ONE OF THESE DAYS!

HOME & HEARTH
NEVER MISS A KHADI SALE!
By A Shopaholic
Plus, Cheesecake, by Sidney Libano
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IFFI
 FESTIVAL SANS HOLLYWOOD STARS
By A Goan Observer Correspondent
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HEALTH
 DOCTORS ILL-EQUIPPED
IN COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS
By Dr. V. N. Jindal
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ONE MAN’S VIEW
 By Philip Knightly
UPHILL TASK
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GLOBAL GOAN
 By Constantino Hermanns Xavier
TIMOR RE-EMERGING FROM THE ASHES
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SHORT STORY
 NICOLE AND OTHER WOMEN
 By George Menezes
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BOOK REVIEW
 ‘Five Point Someone—What Not To Do At IIT' by Chetan Bhagat
 ‘The Old Devils' by Kingsley Amis
 By Manohar Shetty
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TIATR SCOPE
 TONY – A SENIOR TIATR LEGEND
 By John Gomes
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SPORTSTRACK
By Irineu Gonsalves
 SANTOSH TROPHY DEBACLE PROBE COULD UNRAVEL ‘MYSTERY’
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GOENKARANCHO AVAZ
Readers write...
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ARCHIVES
--------------------------------------------------
HOME
REQUIEM FOR TREES
 --------------------------------------------------

IN DEPTH
THE GREAT LAND GRAB
By Rajan Narayan
--------------------------------------------------

AMBEDKAR AAWAS YOJANA
YET ANOTHER DECEITFUL BLUEPRINT!
By Diana Pinto
--------------------------------------------------
STRAY THOUGHTS
By Rajan Narayan
 PARRIKAR WOOING KINGFISHER TO SPONSOR IFFI
 --------------------------------------------------

BEHIND THE NEWS
VANDALS HAVE THEIR WAY?
By Jonquil Sudhir
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IN THE NEWS
GOA GETS SET FOR EXPOSITION
By Agnelo Rodrigues
--------------------------------------------------
WORLD POLITICS
 US ELECTIONS
A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE
By Ben Antao
 --------------------------------------------------

MARKETING
THE VIRTUAL WORLD
By C. S Mirchandani
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FESTIVALS
DEEPAVALI-
INDIA'S FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
A Goan Observer special.
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PARRITLER'S TRAVAILS
 By Aravind Bhatikar
SHOCKINGLY INSANE!
 --------------------------------------------------

EATING IS FUN
A variety food column
By Tara Narayan
CATCH THE 'MANDOVI BLUE' ONE OF THESE DAYS!

HOME & HEARTH
NEVER MISS A KHADI SALE!
By A Shopaholic
Plus, Cheesecake, by Sidney Libano
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IFFI
 FESTIVAL SANS HOLLYWOOD STARS
By A Goan Observer Correspondent
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HEALTH
 DOCTORS ILL-EQUIPPED
IN COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS
By Dr. V. N. Jindal
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ONE MAN’S VIEW
 By Philip Knightly
UPHILL TASK
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GLOBAL GOAN
By Constantino Hermanns Xavier
TIMOR RE-EMERGING FROM THE ASHES
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SHORT STORY
 NICOLE AND OTHER WOMEN
By George Menezes
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BOOK REVIEW
 ‘Five Point Someone—What Not To Do At IIT' by Chetan Bhagat
 ‘The Old Devils' by Kingsley Amis
By Manohar Shetty
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TIATR SCOPE
 TONY – A SENIOR TIATR LEGEND
 By John Gomes
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SPORTSTRACK
By Irineu Gonsalves
 SANTOSH TROPHY DEBACLE PROBE COULD UNRAVEL ‘MYSTERY’
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GOENKARANCHO AVAZ
Readers write...
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ARCHIVES
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‘STEVIA IS NOW OFFICIAL IN JAPAN’

 NILKUMAR DHILLO of Jamno Biotech, Pune, was retailing dry stevia leaves (30g packet, Rs.50) and stevia plants at recent exhibition in Panaji. But he was trying hard, almost beating his chest, for he was getting only a few takers despite all the curious folk who kept enquiring about stevia and the plants! So why are Goans afraid of this wonderful alternate sweetener called “stevia ambrosia” or the wholesome sweet-tasting plant Stevioside glycoside?

 Pure refined white sugar, a chemical poison, is being dumped the world over but in India! It just goes to go how much the Central and State governments are updated about changing drinking and eating habits and the need to support them. In Japan, said stevia plant grower Anilkumar Dhillo, it is the government which has banned the use of conventional sugar or any other synthetic sweetener in commercial drinks and no less a mega company than the Coca Cola has been asked to use stevia as a sweeter in their aerated drinks sold in Japan! Likewise the Wrigleys chewing gum people have been asked to switch over to stevia! In health-conscious Japan the government is very active in leading the people in switching over to qualitatively better drinking and eating habits. While in India poor Anilkumar Dhillo discovered what a uphill task it was to sell Goans something new!

 Stevia as a alternate sweetener was doing very well though in Pune, he said, one just has to powder the dry leaves and brew them in tea or in anything one is cooking for a sweet note, “and stevia is “zero calorie, has 15 minerals and two vitamins and upto 25 times sweeter than sugar!” It has been extensively researched all over the world and is now recommended as a 100 percaent natural sugar substitute. Several stevia combinations are out in the market but the best known “Stugar” which is retailed in pretty capsules and tablet form is laced with lactose and looks like powdery sugar, it also comes in tablet containers. It is far superior to get familiar with the natural stevia leaves and use stevia in its powdered form instead of  its refined, processed form.

 Here, taste a stevia leaf, he offered and one was amazed to realize how sweet  a leaf can be! In fact, Mr. Anilkumar Dhillo, is so convinced that the future belongs to stevia that three years ago he started growing the plant and today has a 15-acre farm devoted to cultivating stevia, “It is so popular that I supply to 10,000 people in Pune alone….” The people of Pune have taken to stevia in a big way, his own wife now uses it in the kitchen instead of sugar. White sugar, out! It is all a question of keeping an open mind, he concluded, and added, “Just add half a teaspoon for two or three cups of tea…and for diabetes I also recommend that eat one onion daily and two or three pinches of cinnamon powder with water…put cinnamon powder on the tongue, sip water. Do this twice or thrice a day and see your blood sugar improves. The efficacy of cinnamon has been proved in a study done at the Maryland University, U.S.A.” Stevia and cinnamon, it is high time Goans discovered them.

 

SAY CHEESE

 

 LEMONS are so pretty and full of sunshine that anything with lemon juice or zest in it automatically becomes refreshing and a big hit. On a particularly stressful day go shopping for lemons and look at them (before making lemonade to drink) and see how you cheer up. I find it so ironical that when we need a smile for a photograph we ask the person to say “Say cheese!” But give someone a teaspoon of neat lemon juice to drink and then watch the _expression on their face! It reminds me of that old song about   “Lemon tree, very pretty…but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat….” Someone once said that when life gifts you lemons, make lemonade! Don’t worry though, this lemon cheesecake recipe I’m giving you is magical blend of cheese and lemon juice and it will surely make you realize that life without pretty lemons would be impossible to live…

COLLECTOR’S RECIPE

 

 LEMON CHEESECAKE

 

 INGREDIENTS for the base: 150 g maida or refined flour; half tsp baking powder; 75 g powdered sugar; 1 tsp vanilla essence; 1 egg; 75 g butter; 1 tbs maida.

 METHOD: Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add all the ingredients except the 1 tbs maida and knead to a smooth dough. Roll out two-thirds of the dough on the base of an 11-inch buttered springform tin. Knead the tablespoon of maida into the remaining one-third of the dough and shape into a long roll and press it against the tin surrounding to get a one-inch high rim. Prick the dough all over with a fork and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees C for 15 minutes.  Put aside this baked base while you prepare the filling. DO NOT REMOVE FROM TIN.

 INGREDIENTS for the filling: 750 g cream cheese; 150 g powder sugar; 6 tbs lemon juice; 50 g cornflour; 3 egg yolks; 3 egg whites; 250 ml whipping cream.

 METHOD: Mix together the cheese, sugar, lemon jujice, cornflour and egg yolks till well combined. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the cheese mixture. Whip the cream and fold it in also. Pour this mixture into the baked base and bake further for an hour at 150 deg.C. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve warm.

 An apology: In last week’s recipe for the plain cheesecake, you need 10g of gelatine instead of 100g as published. Hope there were no disasters!

 

IT’S CRAB SEASON

 

 By the GO News Desk

 ROCK CRABS are the flavour of the season for Goans! And seizing the opportunity Hotel Delmon has come up with its “Crab Carnival” from Nov.10 to 19, 2004. The special menu put up at their Royal Salute restaurant features such crab piece de resistance as crab and corn soup, crab bisque, crab seafood soup, starters like crab-stuffed papad, crab cocktails, stuffed crabs, crab and prawn balls, crab lollipops. The main menu has such temptations as xec xec, kurlyo sukhe and talliyo kurlyo, also continental baked crab, a few Chinese-style crab preparations, not to forget chinbori kalvam of Mumbai fame and crab ghassi of Mangalorean origins (but check on which days these are going to feature on the menu! If do not worry about having to crack your own crab – the service is provided for and most of the dishes feature crab meat, already extracted from shell. Says Anjali Walawalkar, crab connoisseur par excellence apart from being the hotel’s PRO, “You know these mud crabs are interesting. They’re hard nuts to crack but the meat is soft upon cooking, soft and sweet…they actually come mud coloured but turn red upon cooking.” And yes, for some reason mud crabs are packed with meat only during full moon season, with the new moon they turn watery and hollow! Can anyone explain this behaviour in the sea animal kingdom? But first, go to the crab festival if you’re a crab afficianado!

 

TIDBITS

 

 A word on menopause

 DURING menopause, the level of oestrogen in a woman’s body begins to decrease. T help alleviate the unpleasant symptoms of menopause it’s important to eat foods containing plant oestrogen such as soy products, alfalfa, bean shoots, parsely, basil and sage.

 Itchy ears?

 ITCHY ears are often caused by a mild fungus. Keep your ears dry and cut down on your yeast and sugar intake. A drop of tea tree oil on a cotton bud applied only to the outside of your ear can help to relieve some of the itching.

 Simple snack ideas

 IF you’re looking for quick, healthy snack ideas, consider a crunchy wholemeal or multigrain bread roll, fruit, a handful of nuts, rye and wholemeal biscuits, sushi, yoghurt, wholemeal scones or soup

 

 

Elsewhere there is potteryware (pretty decent mugs selling at Rs.10 and Rs.20), incense products like quality agarbattis and dhoop cones, traditional gold-plated jewellery, at the Belgaum stalls towels, hankies, durries, chaddars of austere yet pleasing spun unbleached cotton thread, also disinfectants and neem soaps…some real bargain buys here. There are wonderful kurtas for men and women and sumptuous 100 percent pure silk sarees (Rs.2,400 and Rs.1,680 after the rebate and very exquisitely beautiful) as also a new silk-look-alike fabric called “Polykhadi” made from a mix of 65 percent polyester and 35 percent cotton, but pure silk is an all natural material and unbeatable.

According to Manager, Khadi Gramodyog, Goa, Mr. D. Mukherjee, “Goa as such does not have a popular Khadi culture as in Bihar or Uttar Pradesh but in the last 10 years exhibition sales like this one at district level have been introducing Goans to Khadi products and the results are good…” It is high time Goans discovered khadi (as in cottage industry context) culture and lifestyle for hand-made products have their charm and economical utility value. Most of the products are innovative and amazingly tempting and in fact have acquired such a sophisticated upmarket status abroad that maybe soon exports will exceed domestic consumption and that would be a pity!

HOW ABOUT A CHEESECAKE?

BY SIDNEY LIBANO

HOLLAND is known as the cheese country of the world and the Dutch are often described as “cheeseheads”! Holland is also the largest exporter of cheese. The English translation of the Dutch word for he wooden cheesemould is “cheese head”. In the Middle Ages, farmers in North Holland used these wooden cheese moulds as helmets and this is how the enemycould identify an army of “cheeseheads” approaching. Well, that's just to make you smile. Generally cream cheese such as mascarpone, quark and Philadelphia are used to make cheesecakes. My cheesecake recipe has cottage cheese in it, paneer to you and me. Cream cheeses are not to be found easily so try out your first cheesecake with paneer and see what an excellent cheesecake you can turn ou.everybody will surely smile and say cheesecake!

COLLECTOR'S RECIPE

CHEESECAKE

INGREDIENTS : 250 g cottage cheese or paneer ; 50 g butter; 75 g crushed cornflakes; 100 g powdered sugar; 100 g gelatine; rind and juice of one lemon; 2 eggs and 150 ml whipping cream.

METHOD : Melt the butter in a pan over low heat. Remove from fire and stir in the cornflakes and 25 g of the powdered sugar. Press this mixture into an 8-inch loose bottomed flan tin, refrigerate. Now put three tablespoons of cold water in a small pan and sprinkle the gelatine evenly over the surface. Soak for five minutes. Finely grate the cottage cheese. Also grate the lemon rind finely and mix together. Keep aside.Separate the eggs. In a bowl mix the egg yolks and 40 g of the sugar and beat it until creamy and light.Gently heat the soaked gelatine in a bain marie. Remove from the heat after the gelatine s dissolved and add the strained lemon juice. Stir well.

Very gradually keep beating this lemon mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Add this mixture now to the cottage cheese. Whisk the egg whites until very thick and add all the remaining sugar and beat it some more till very stiff, fold this into the cheese mixture. Whip the cream and also fold it in lightly. Pour into the prepared chilled cake base in the flan tin and refrigerate for three hours or until firm.When ready to serve, loosen the cheesecake sides with a knife and life cheesecake out of the mould and onto a dish. Decorate with fruit of your choice and say cheesecake!

NOTE: Next week: Lemon Cheesecake!

 

ASK-A-RECIPE

(If readers have a special recipe in mind write or e-mail Goan Observer and we will try and get it for you!)

MELINDA PEREIRA of Panaji eats out regularly and from the sound of it has acquired a special fondness for a number of dishes available in restaurants in Panjim. Can we get her the recipes? A tall order because some hotels and their chefs do not respond or are unwilling to part with recipes. Also, remember that even with the recipes in hand one may not get the exact flavour doing them at home! Hotel Delmon, however, got back promptly with their recipe for …

VEGETABLE PULAO

Ingredients: 800 g basmati rice; quarter kg respectively of carrots, French beans, green peas and three medium size onions; 100 g or two tsp ghee; five bit pieces cinnamon; 2 or 3 cardamoms; about 10 cloves; a leaf or two tej patta or bay leaves; half tsp turmeric powder; salt as per taste.

Method: Wash, drain and cook basmati rice till three-quarters cooked. Keep aside to cool. Chop and steam or cook veggies till three-quarters done. Now heat the ghee and add cinnamon bits, cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves, when these sizzle, pop, turn pink and release an aroma (no burning please) add the sliced onions and sauté them for a minute or two. Add turmeric powder and salt as per taste. Add the rice and stir so that everything is well mixed. Add in the three quarter cooked veggies (drained off their water if any) and stir. Lower the flame and cook a little more over low heat till the pulao is done to perfection.

NOTE: According to a note sent with the recipe Anjali Walawalkar (Public Relations Officer of Hotel Delmon) this pulao has been served at their restaurant Royal Salute for a longtime and every cook follows the same recipe and so the tradition goes on! If you'd like to cook a smaller portion of pulao you may reduce the quantity using your discretion.

 

TIDBITS

An old-fashioned pick-me-up
IF you want to avoid taking vitamin supplements but need a pick-me-up, try old-fashioned brewer's yeast. Use one teaspoon in a glass of water or milk daily. Full of vitamin B, brewer's yeast also assists digestion, and is particularly useful for the delicate digestive tracts of the elderly. (We don't know if brewer's yeast tablets are available at pharmacies in Goa but they're worth getting from U.K. or elsewhere abroad because they're an excellent nutritional supplement for senior citizens instead of taking vitamin B complex tablets which may be from an inorganic source and negligibly assimilated by the intelligent body.)

To soothe sunburn
IMMEDIATELY squeeze a vitamin E capsule (or several), depending on the extent of the burn) over the affected area. Aloe vera gel is also very helpful in relieving the discomfort of this and other burns. (It's also good moisturizer for the skin.)

 

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