One little, two little, three little Indians . . .

[SandraMort]

Not too surprisingly, my husband's computer job was moved overseas. Unlike most people, however, he was offered the position there. We seriously considered it -- 1,800 rupees / month sounded like enough to live very comfortably, if what we were hearing from locals. Unfortunately, the dealbreaker was that they were unwilling to pay for airfare. There was no way we could afford to *return* to the US from 1,800 a month and I was unwilling to be stuck there. KWIM?

How much do chickens there cost? Where do you purchase them?

 

[SandraMort]

A mortar and pestle may get them too fine. How about just smashing them up coarsely?

I'm getting hungry here, no good Indian restaurants around here. You send me indian food, I'll send you chicken food. How's that for a deal?

 

[Skyrider]

Quote:
The first two are gross mysteries. The last one was the runt. She seemed to run around and get as much to eat as she wanted, but her last day we had to force feed her and it didn't work. She was the one that looked most like her mother.

Parasites, however, seems to me should be affecting them all. I pray that they all stay healthy and we can get this "chicken ranch" going.

Thanks,

Sky~

 

[Skyrider]

Quote:
Hi Sandra,

Are you sure it was 1,800 RUPEES or dollars? There is no way you could have survived on rupees. Divide by 44.81 (today's rates) and that would only be $40. House maids only earn that much. So, I'm pretty sure it would have to have been in dollars. Dollars would have been about 80,000 rupees and, yes, you could live on that. That would be a fairly high Indian income.

Sorry, what does KWIM mean?

Broilers / fryers are about Rs.150 for a three pound bird. You get them from street vendors. There are no meats in any of the markets. Meat, as you may know, is still an up and coming thing in India. They don't want to eat their grandmother, if you know what I mean.

Two of our hens were rescued from the frying pan and have still not yet started laying. They were probably not fed all that great in the beginning of their lives, and were not really considered for laying. I sure hope they get busy pretty soon now. Our Laxmie that had the eleven chicks was a farmer's hen that we bought along with the roo. The roo only yesterday was seen mating for the first time so, apparently, he's figure it out. Now we're just waiting for some more eggs.

Sky~

 

[Skyrider]

Quote:

I wish it was that easy. Literally on the opposite side of the world costs a lot to send anything of any substantial weight. The most interesting foods that took me a long time to like could be made in the States, but with great difficulty. We use a lot of what we call "dal." You would call them lentils, and there are many, MANY more variety than you can imagine and of every possible color, including HOT PINK. They are delicious. We grind a white dal with white rice for a very long time with the right consistency of water until it makes a batter very much in appearance and consistency of pancake batter. Then you put a ladle full on a large skillet, spread it way out over the whole skillet, and roast it on both sides. This makes a "dosa." I have even put syrup on it, like for pancakes, but we prefer the Indian chutneys. The most delicious "gravy" for the dosa is what we call "samber." I truly love samber. And my favorite is "rava" which is really nothing more than cream of wheat with some cashews, mustard seed, and a few other ingredients and mixed with sour cream or curds (about the same thing) and then steamed in something very much like a egg poacher but with holes in the cups for the rising steam. Those idlis made with either the white or rava type with the samber is absolutely one of our favorite meals.

Your Indian restaurants in the States haven't come around to samber yet. I honestly don't know why. It's wonderful. One of the reasons may be that the States doesn't have a vegetable that grows on trees which we call "drum sticks" which we use as a vegetable in the samber. There are also squash pieces and maybe a few tiny chunks of carrot or something else. Drumsticks are roughly a foot or more long and about the diameter of real drum sticks and green. When cooked in the samber in short lengths they are habit forming.

They are so delicious.

The Indian restaurant food in the States is still preferable to me, because the State side Indians use a lot of cream and sour cream in their dishes which the country of India doesn't use much of. The sauces, therefore, in the States are much better in taste. And fattening too! Yes, I was addicted to Indian food as badly as Mexican food before I ever set foot in India.

Now if you're not wiping the slobber from your salivating mouth, you must be swallowing a lot to keep it inside. But Indian food is truly delicious when you don't have to call the fire department for every mouthful. Spices, like color, in India has gone way, way over the top. I tell my friends that they don't have a clue what the real food tastes like ... and they DON'T. They have grown such a pallet for spicy food that if it isn't as hot as a boiling pot they aren't happy with it. To us, however, it is very bitter when they use that much to say nothing of the heat!

But there is a happy balance which is truly tasty.

Best!

Sky~

 

[chicknmania]

Here's something I thought I'd share....I don't know how long you're going to keep mom and babies inside, but here's what we did...we put mom and babies outside, (eventually) in a tractor during the day, so that she could teach them about bugs, etc, and so they could see the others. They had their own enclosed pen in the barn at night. When they finally got big enough not to be a convenient snack for predators, (about nine or ten weeks), we let them free range outside with mom. We were fascinated to watch her show them everything she could about predators, other chickens, and even showed them where the feeders and waters were. They still went in their own pen at night for another couple weeks. Now most of the babies are bigger than her, but she is still showing them around and trying to keep them under control! My point being, most mother hens will do an awesome job of teaching their chicks what they need to know to survive. I think they have a better survival rate when they have a chance to go out with mom and learn things. We had some other chicks who lost their mother and they lived in our basement for the first five months of their lives, through the winter. When they finally went out they were adults and had no one to show them anything, neither had they had a chance to learn anything much from hanging with the flock. Six out of the seven fell victim to predators in a very short time...a couple months. The last one, a handsome roo now, is still with us, and very savvy. Everyone's situation is different, I don't blame you for not wanting them to be out yet. I bet you have some interesting stories!

 

[mrsengeseth]

(just interjecting....KWIM means "Know What I Mean" )

 

[SandraMort]

Quote:
Give me a little credit here.

Dal was a major portion of my diet, too, at least until I had a picky kid. One of my old life's quick and cheap favorite meals was those pink lentils, rice, yoghurt and homemade pickle. And you can get the bright salmon ones here.

They are delicious. We grind a white dal with white rice for a very long time with the right consistency of water until it makes a batter very much in appearance and consistency of pancake batter. Then you put a ladle full on a large skillet, spread it way out over the whole skillet, and roast it on both sides. This makes a "dosa."

Dosai are one of my favorite foods in the world, of any culture (though is probably in first place. I'm waaaaay too lazy to make it but the mixes look scary. Will sourdough culture work? I tried making it once and it just got... foul.

The most delicious "gravy" for the dosa is what we call "samber." I truly love samber.

I've had that in restaurants. Very tasty.

And my favorite is "rava" which is really nothing more than cream of wheat with some cashews, mustard seed, and a few other ingredients and mixed with sour cream or curds (about the same thing) and then steamed in something very much like a egg poacher but with holes in the cups for the rising steam.

How is rava differend from idli, or is it a subset? I've had those, too. I don't like the texture so much.

Your Indian restaurants in the States haven't come around to samber yet. I honestly don't know why.

South Indian food doesn't seem as popular for some reason.

It's wonderful. One of the reasons may be that the States doesn't have a vegetable that grows on trees which we call "drum sticks" which we use as a vegetable in the samber. There are also squash pieces and maybe a few tiny chunks of carrot or something else. Drumsticks are roughly a foot or more long and about the diameter of real drum sticks and green. When cooked in the samber in short lengths they are habit forming. They are so delicious.

[URL][URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drumstick_(vegetable)​

-- interesting!​

[/url]

The Indian restaurant food in the States is still preferable to me, because the State side Indians use a lot of cream and sour cream in their dishes which the country of India doesn't use much of. The sauces, therefore, in the States are much better in taste. And fattening too! Yes, I was addicted to Indian food as badly as Mexican food before I ever set foot in India.

I like to cook, but don't use all the cream and sour cream. I don't even generally use ghee, I use oil.

But casq1Indian food is truly delicious when you don't have to call the fire department for every mouthful. Spices, like color, in India has gone way, way over the top. I tell my friends that they don't have a clue what the real food tastes like ... and they DON'T.

I like mild and I like call the fire department hot. When I was pregnant with my third, I went to a local Indian place and told them that an old wive's tale was to eat hot food to go into labor. I know we started with a vindaloo and got hotter from there, to the point where the owner and his wife were laughing because THEY couldn't eat it. He did show up eventually, but no thanks to the food

Oh, and no, I'm not Indian. I just like Indian food. I used to work with a large Indian company, I was one of the token Jews, and they were always surprised when I could cook the food. My husband got odd looks for making his own pickle, too.

For a real laugh, I like looking at the delivery pizza menus over there. They put some INTERESTING stuff on their pizza!!! (But those prices, aieeeee, clearly not for locals).​

 

[SandraMort]

I should look up my own darn answers and not bug other people, my apologies.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rava_idli

Rava Idli (Kannada: ರವೆ ಇಡ್ಲಿ) is a variation of the popular South Indian breakfast item, idli. It is a speciality of the state of Karnataka in India and was invented by the popular restaurant chain, Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) of Bangalore.[1] Rava-Idli translates to semolina-idli in the native Kannada language. It is also known as Rave Idli. During World War II, when rice which is the staple item used in idli was in short supply, Mavalli Tiffin Rooms experimented in making idli using semolina and hence Rava Idli was invented. It is usually found in restaurants that serve the Udupi cuisine. Rava idli is served hot and is to be eaten along with sambar and coconut chutney. A dash of ghee poured on the top of Rava Idli adds to the overall taste.

 

[SandraMort]

Quote:
Oh MY, clearly someone got more sleep than I did last night

Yes, dollars. My toddler was up coughing and the baby is teething. Sorry!