Weekend Musings - Morgon Hill Cricket Ground

I think i have spoken to most of my Friends about the best cricket ground in bay area and probably in the USA.. this weekend i captured some pics.. Posting them for you..

this ground is located in Krigin Cellers Vinayard, in morgon hills. there are 2 cricket grounds and 2 soccer fields.. very immaculately maintained..

There is a wine tasting room where you can pick the kergen cellars wine .you can get your own stuff and organise a picnic and BBQ with a great view of cricket games going on the 2 grounds..In case you want to have knock you self you can head to the permanent cricket nets.. but do get your own kit..

perfect place for Friends gathering over a weekend with BBQ, wine and good game of cricket..

My Recipes - Spicy Shrimp Fry

This goes very well as starter or with rice.

Large Shrimps - 10-12 ( this will be enjoyed best with large shrimps)
Tomato's - 2 medium
Green Chile : 3-4
Ginger : 1 inch
Green Coriander : 1/2 cup chopped
Onion : 1/2 cup , fine chopped along the length
Red Chile powder : 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder : 1 tsp
Salt per taste

Oil for cooking

Make paste of tomato's , ginger , coriander, green Chile.

Clean the shrimps , remove the shells and cut in two pieces each.

Marinate the shrimps with the above paste, salt, red Chile powder, coriander powder and keep aside for 1 hour

In fry pan , add oil, put the marinated shrimps and fry till they are red on all side( 7-8 mins on medium heat) , pour the remaining marination masala stir and let it cook for 5 mins.. add chopped onion and stir fry for 5 -6 mins..

when cooked it will be semi dry..Enjoy as starters..

My Recipes - Dum ke Daal

This is a really Delicious dal recipe made in the dum pukht way.. i love it and make it for Jyoti once in a while :)

Ingredients
5 kinds of dal : 2 Cups .. .. Chana , Arhar , masoor, urad,split moong ( You can try with less number of combination, but more the better,, they combine together well )
Tomato : 4 medium , puree
Ginger : 1/2 Inch
Garlic : 5 big cloves
Garam Masala : 1/4 tsp (No black pepper)
Green chille : 1-2 split , length wise, 4 pieces
Green Coriander: fine chopped
Onion : 1/2 medium, finally chopped
turmeric : per taste
Red Chile : Whole , 1-2
Oil/Ghee for cooking and tadka.

Soak the dal's for 10 mins and drain out the water..

In a cooker pour oil/ghee , put whole red chille , chopped onion, and fry till brown. . now put the dal's and fry for 3-4 mins , pour tomato puree, turmeric, salt and continue frying till dry.. pour 4 cups of water and pressure cook for 4 whistle.. Let it cool down

To prepare for tadka , In a fry pan , pour 1 tsp of oil, whole jeera 1/4 tsp, ginger garlic paste and fry till dark brown.

In a preheated deep vessel coat thin layer of ghee, pour the cooked dal , the tadka fry , slit chilles , green chopped coriander , garam masala.. seal the container with aluminum foil , tie it tight so that steam remains inside.. put the vessel in a preheated oven at 400 degree for 20 -25 mins.

take out and mix well before serving with naan, roti, parathas..

My Recipes - Dahi Bhindi in Mustard

Awesome Recipes to go with Paratha's /Roti.

Bhindi - 1 pound (chop off the head an tail and make deep scar in the bhindi's )

Dahi : 1 Cup
Mustard Paste : 2 tsp
green Chile : 3-4
Ginger : 1/2 inch , paste
Mustard Seeds : 1/2 tsp
Curry Leaves : 4-5
Onion : 1/2 Half cup final chopped along the length
Turmeric : per taste
salt : per taste
Oil for cooking

Rub Salt , turmeric on Bhindi's and put aside.

Make a paste of ginger , green Chile and mustard paste.

Heat the pan , fry the bhindies till brown, keep them aside. In the same pan , put some more oil, put mustard seeds and curry leaves . after 30 seconds add ginger , green chill, mustard paste stir fry for 1 min , put dahi and let it simmer . Put the fried bhindi's , and stir till try, put the chopped onion and stir till dry and dahi is coated on bhindis . Add salt per taste.

Enjoy with paratha's , roti's :)

Weekend Musings - Future of cricket in US?

This weekend the US National U-19 cricket tournament was organized in Morgon Hill's,CA. Teams from western conference participated in the tournament. The thing which was different compared to the senior team (100% immigrants !) , was all the players were born and brought up in USA and learned there cricket here. The passion for the game among these players was the same as what we played with in india . With 3-4 full fledged cricket academy running in bay area, its no surprise that northern California team got qualified for the National Finals .

Future looks at least promising for cricket in US .. its another thing its still being played by the kids of Immigrants. !

http://www.ncalcricket.org/2006news/2007U19WCC.htm

Looking into Future - The Next Dinosaur's?

Is the Indian IT Industry the next dinosaur? . Or unlike the dinosaurs they will be nimble and adoptive enough to adjust to new business scenario and will evolve in a efficient and long lasting companies ? Will the basic strength of the Indian IT companies will become there weakness .. i .e low cost human resources ? These are some of the thoughts which will be explored on this blog as i think indian IT industry is at a cross road and is going to go through a paradigm shift which will weed out the lead footed IT companies .

How is today's business scenario different from Year Y2 K when the real Indian IT boom started ?

Key per me are listed below .

1. Cost benefit on pure head count basis : This was 1:4 in 2000, now its close to 1:2 due to increase increase in salary in india and depreciation in $ value
2. IT was the only high paying area in 2000 : Now with a booming economy there are many other areas which are more high paying at lower stress.. Like mfg, telecoms, aviation. IT is not the only neither the first choice
3. "World is Flat " : It has become more flatter in last 7 years . Event in one part of globe directly affects another part. In other words if india becomes less beneficial to client , they will move to other countries.
4. Indian Companies in 2000 were small hence the pyramid was balanced, today the Base is very big, which means more people at less experience level, leading to inability to go up the value chain , hence not able to demand higher billing to overcome the increase in cost.
5. In 2000 IT industry hired from the Best and mostly engineers, in past 2-3 years to increase headcount they have added non -engineers from other colleges also. These resources will help increase the base of the pyramid , not help go up the value chain.
6. In 2000 the within India IT market was next to zero, now with economy booming , and increased IT'ization from within india, there is a requirement for IT industry to divert there resources. Otherwise some other outside companies will take this.

These are are key drivers which are driving the paradigm shift. Need of the hour for indian companies are

1. Increase in resource utilization efficiency so that they can demand better billing at lower head count
2. Rationalize the Hiring : In today's environment Head Count Increase does't directly add's to revenue
3. Retain the experience people even at higher cost : These people will drive the billing.
4. More focus on within India IT projects to reduce dependence on external projects.

There are few companies which have started thinking on above line , Infosys is one, otherwise this shakeout is going to wipe out a few companies.

My Recipes - Lamb/Goat Chops in Green Masala

This is a special, easy to cook , can be done in a pan or over a grill or in the oven.

Goat Chops - 500 gms ( 5-6 big chop pieces) - Best are available at halal meat - De Anza Blvd)
Garlic : 5-6 big cloves
Ginger : 1 Inch
Tomatoes : 3-4 medium
Green Chile : 2-3 (Per taste)
Green Coriander : Half Cup Chopped
Red Chile powder : 1 tsp
Salt : Per Taste

Make a puree of all masala's , it should be green - reddish colour . Wash the goat chops and dry them with paper. Put in a deep vessel and mix the puree . Put salt per taste and 1 tsp of cooking oil. Seal the container and keep aside for 1 hour.

Fire the grill and grill the chops till well done. Baste with cooking oil occasionally.

Alternately, put some oil in a fry pan, put the chops in the pan and cook at low heat till brown, when almost done pore the remaining masala puree, fry for another 2-3 minutes.

Enjoy as BBQ or with Naan .

Happy eating , let me know if you need any other info.

Resturant Reviews - Tasty Buds

Went to Tasty Buds on Grape and El Camino in sunnyvale. A small hole-in-the-wall kind of restaurant. checked out the fish curry.there are 2 varieties one in Tamarind Curry and other in tomato curry. The fish Curries home made and spicy in the Andhra way . It goes very well with Rice . One thing , you can ask for a thin gravy instead of a thick one, to go well with rice. So all the Indian Fish Curry Lover's Check it out !!!