Food Stories: Bihari Kabab

Mazhur-ul-Haq is from Bihar, he came to Pakistan with my nani aged 10 during the great migration in 1947. Agha, as we lovingly call him, was hired to play with the children, he has a strong Bihari accent, but tragically does not know how to make Bihari kabab, all my teen years I assumed that the Bihari kababs we ate at my nani’s house were Agha’s genius cooking. They were actually from Café De Khan.

Hence this Eid, I decided to go down memory lane and make Agha’s (actually Café De Khan’s) Bihari kababs.

It is believed that the Turkish and Persian soldiers enjoyed grilling fresh meat on fire, while it hung wrapped around their swords. The meat chunks were cooked in animal fat and once ready, consumed immediately. The soldiers hunted for survival, while journeying land to land for conquests. The kabab is also mentioned in the Turkish language script of Qissa-e-Yousuf published in 1377.

Kabab, like most exotic South Asian foods, has a wonderful history. It has traveled far and wide through times and regions, evolving to suit the taste of the indigenous population and cities it passed through.

Playing tune to the taste of the local spices and cuisines, yet maintaining its distinct universal appeal through the times. Undoubtedly, today, it is the most recognised eastern food in the western part of the world.

Kababs have always been a rustic favourite; and while they were said to be a prominent part of the Moghul menu, the variation of the modern day Bihari Kabab is a purely Bihari and Bengali take on the meat.

And though the Bihari kabab is made with meat chunks like in the ancient times, it is nothing like the kababs that the Turks must have eaten. Instead it has upgraded to a delicious, melt-in-the mouth texture, infused with spices, yougurt and tenderising papaya. The word kabab is said to originate from the Arabic language, but the Persians, Turks and central Asians also lay claim to it. It literally means to fry, burn or cook on a skewer through grilling or open fire cooking.

The subcontinent hosts more than a dozen popular kabab recipes; shami, reshmi, dum, boti, seekh, chapli, galavati and tandoori, amongst many. However, the uniqueness of the Bihari kabab is in its texture, marinade and spice content.

The people of the subcontinent boast a diet rich in spice content, and traditionally cuisines across Pakistan and India include a wide range of kababs infused with garam masala, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, yogurt, black pepper, lemon juice, eggs, cornstarch, atta, coriander leaves, tomatoes and onions, unlike their middle eastern counter parts, which tend to be much milder.

Though cuisine from Bihar is traditionally vegetarian, the bihari kabab is a meat delight that has an infusion of mustard oil, largely used in India, and specifically Bengal and Bihar, and a liberal amount of masala. The use of kabab chini, poppy seeds, nutmeg, mace and papaya as meat tenderisers makes it remarkably tender. The secret ingredient is a generous addition of bihari kabab garam masala.

While writing this blog, and preparing the kababs, I was left with a generous portion of marinade, and needless to say it was too delightful to be thrown away, hence that’s when I noticed the recipe of ungushti on the overleaf of the recipe given to me by Shazli Auntie, who is authentically Bihari.

Ungushti is a delight that is made with leftover bihari kabab marinade mixed in with a generous helping of flour, and salt if needed, wrapped around the skewer tightly like grilling a seekh kabab.

Needless to say the kababs and ungushti both turned out fabulous. Here it is, a very happy Eid Mubarak from my kitchen to yours.

Ingredients

1 ½ kg. veal chunk/beef chunk, thinly sliced and pounded

¾ cup yogurt

6 tbsp. finely grated raw papaya with skin

¾ cups fried onions

4 tsp. freshly grated ginger

4 tsp. chopped garlic

1 tsp. nutmeg powder

1 tsp. cinnamon powder

1 ½ tsp. cumin powder roasted

2 tsp. paprika powder

2 tsp. red chillie powder, or to taste

2 tsp. poppy seeds

4 tsp. bihari kabab garam masala

¾ cup mustard oil (optional)

Salt to taste

(Mix in food processor and marinade meat) 

Bihari Kabab Garam Masala

(Use coffee grinder to make powder, and store unused portion in tightly sealed jar for future use)

2 tsp. kabab chini

2 tsp. fennel

2 star anise

4 tsp. whole back peppercorns

2 cloves

½ nutmeg

1 tsp. mace

10 green cardamom

6 black cardamom

2 tbsp. coriander, whole

2 tbsp. cumin seeds

12 dried red chillie

Method 1

Marinate the meat for at least 24 hours, grill meat on skewers, set a coal to heat on the grill.

Drop oil on the coal and cover with metal lid (if available) to infuse meat with smoke from the coal. Remove once the meat is tender.

Method 2

Heat a large pan with a heavy base, pour a little oil and heat, set meat chunks on pan, cover and cook for 10-20 minutes, flip and cook for another 10-20 minutes.

Transfer into an oven safe pan, broil for 15 minutes to dry moisture.

Heat coal, sprinkle with oil and set in oven for a few minutes to infuse kababs with smoke from the coal.

Serve with imli chutney, sliced onions, paratha or naan.

U.S. tells China cyber espionage is more than an irritant, must stop

U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice issued a stern warning to China on Monday before President Xi Jinping's visit that state-sponsored cyber espionage must stop, calling it a national security concern and a critical factor in U.S.-China relations.

"This isn't a mild irritation, it's an economic and national security concern to the United States," Rice said during remarks at George Washington University.

"It puts enormous strain on our bilateral relationship, and it is a critical factor in determining the future trajectory of U.S.-China ties," she said.

President Barack Obama and Xi are expected to have an intense back-and-forth about the issue when the Chinese leader visits the White House this week.

"Cyber-enabled espionage that targets personal and corporate information for the economic gain of businesses undermines our long-term economic cooperation and it needs to stop," Rice said.

Xi said in a written interview with the Wall Street Journal China's government does not engage in the theft of commercial secrets and does not support Chinese companies that do so.

"Cyber theft of commercial secrets and hacking attacks against government networks are both illegal; such acts are criminal offences and should be punished according to law and relevant international conventions," Xi said.

"China and the United States share common concerns on cyber security. We are ready to strengthen cooperation with the U.S. side on this issue," he said.

Rice also said the United States would insist on maintaining freedom of navigation and commerce through busy sea lanes in disputed areas of the South China Sea.

Xi told the Wall Street Journal that China's development of facilities on the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea do not impact upon or target any other country, and "should not be overinterpreted".

Rice said Obama would be direct with Xi on those issues and disagreements over human rights at their meetings.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Paul Tait)

COKE STUDIO SEASON 8 EPISODE 5

Coke Studio released the 5th episode of Season 8 featuring ‘Hina Ki ‘Khushbu’ by Samra Khan & Asim Azhar, ‘Khalis Makhan’ by Bakshi Brothers, ‘Kinarey’ by Mekaal Hasan Band and ‘Rangeela’ by  Ali Azmat.

‘Hina Ki Khushbu’ emerges as an old school classic melody, which soon transforms into a new age mix of a lounge track in this duet. Originally sung by Noor Jehan, the tune serves to be a great intro for Samra Khan’s debut performance with her soulful voice. The house band fuel the emotions with Aahad’s unique rhythm corralling into Imran Akhoond’s ambient notes while Omran Shafique gracefully marks his presence with his muted guitars. Asim Azhar appears on the track with his signature high-energy vocals, slicing through words penned by him in this flamboyantly memorable single.

It’s only within the first few seconds of ‘Khalis Makhan’; the Bakshi Brothers comprising – Shahryar, Anjum, Aafi and Yawar – set a premise that flourishes amidst the mesmeric rendition of the folk tune. The song is built for the quartet, floating with ease through Babar Khanna’s rhythmic ‘ghara’, and the ambient sound of Sajid’s flute.

In an unabashedly nostalgic turn, the song soothes the senses as it builds up to Saeein Zahoor’s famed, ‘Peera Ho’, recreated by Khalid Anum in the 90s. As Arsalan Rabbani’s keen sensibility on the Harmonium serves as an envelope that holds the melody together, the track comes alive in this ‘Kinarey’ is an audibly purposeful return of Mekaal Hasan Band’s second appearance iat Coke Studio’s Season 8. A distinctive and instantly memorable Mekaal Hasan riff, Sharmistha Chatterjee’s iconic vocal range shines through with Ahsan Papu’s looping flute. Sheldon D’Silva provides ample groove on the bass while Gino Banks’ classic jazz-rock rhythm on the drums carries the audience.effortlessly swims through the ambient sound accompanied by the backing vocals, complemented by Sikandar Mufti’s delicacy on the chimes creating a low-toned soulful track with a signature MHB sound. Ali Azmat’s ‘Rangeela’ is packed with several layers of nostalgia – lyrics penned by Junoon-day companion Sabir Zafar, originally composed by Bilal Maqsood and armed with his distinct antics – the track is a testament to the old school pop/rock anthem of the bygone era. Omran Shafique with his blazing guitar strokes opens the track with Tanveer Tafu’s Mandolin filling the sound scape, as Ali Azmat sings his way into the song with a smoldering chorus. Aahad Nayani’s knocking drums add to the texture of this enchanting melody, making Ali Azmat’s third appearance on Coke Studio as rebellious as ever. 

Nation pays homage to Quaid today

ISLAMABAD: The nation pays homage to Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on the 67th anniversary of his passing away on Friday (today).

Special prayers will be offered and Quran Khawani will be held at the mausoleum of the founder of Pakistan in Karachi. A change of guards ceremony will be held at the mausoleum.

Television and radio stations will broadcast special programmes on the great leader who was the first governor general of the state he had founded for the Muslims of the subcontinent.

One of the most influential personalities in the history of the subcontinent, the Quaid died in Karachi on Sept 11, 1948.

He was laid to rest on Sept 12, 1948, amid official mourning in both Pakistan and India.

The nation will observe the Quaid’s death anniversary with renewed commitment to safeguarding it against any threat and rededicating itself to nation-building in accordance with his vision. —Agencies

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2015

Google: New Chrome is faster and will save your battery

Google has released a new version of Chrome that it claims will make your browser faster and give your laptop battery extra life.

Chrome is the world's most-used browser, but it ain't perfect. All those nifty Chrome extensions and useful background apps take up a tremendous amount of your computer or smartphone's memory, slowing them down in the process. And Chrome guzzles power from your laptop or phone battery. So Google sought to address both those gripes in its latest Chrome update this week.

To fix the speed issue, Chrome will now look for data no longer being used that's just sitting in your computer's memory. When the time is right, Chrome will take out the garbage (believe it or not, that's actually the computer science term for what the new version of Chrome is doing).

Google (GOOGL, Tech30) had already been doing some garbage collecting in previous versions of Chrome. But now, it will wait until Web pages are finished loading and completely idle -- then it will "aggressively clean up old, unused memory."

By waiting until a page is idle until it drops the hammer on unused memory, Google says that Web pages will perform faster. Previous versions of Chrome took out the garbage at random times, sometimes in the middle of an animation or video. (Ever notice an animation just stop for a second? Your browser might have been emptying the garbage.)

The new feature will reduce memory usage by 10% on average and up to 45% in some cases, Google said in a blog post.

Also, if you set Chrome to automatically restore the tabs you were using when you last closed your browser, Google will now check your system's memory before reloading all of your previously used tabs. That will save some of your system's memory too, Google said.

In addition to all the memory savings, Chrome will also spare your smartphone or laptop's battery consumption. By automatically pausing Flash animations that aren't crucial to a website's operations (basically anything that's not a video), Google believes it can save up to 15% of your battery life.

The 15% figure comes from Google's lab tests, but the company said your total battery savings will depend on a number of factors, including which operating system you use and how much Flash content is on the websites you visit.

Google says it will turn on that feature for all users over the next few weeks.

Chrome updates are typically not big news, since Google launches a new version of Chrome every six weeks or so (we're up to Chrome 45, for heaven's sake). But this particular update is chock-full of good news for customers.

Blaming Sunny Leone: When politicians give green signals to rape

On a TV show discussing if child marriages are kosher, I realised I should not have been there in the first place. It was like discussing if waterboarding, maiming or beheadings were a laudable method of bringing societal change.

There can be no discussion when one party justifies violence of any kind using any stretch of excuses or beliefs; child marriages are violence.

Things quickly got worse, as they inevitably do on talk shows. A political party representative, a man, brought up Pakistani film actor Meera, and said he didn’t want a country where women like Meera defined standards of morality.

The speed at which men of politics mudsling women in the entertainment industry on any topic easily beats the time between food announcements at Pakistani weddings and what happens to the trays of korma and biryaninanoseconds later.

This is an increasingly recurring phenomenon in South Asia. One that recently resonated in the statement of a Communist Party of India (CPI) leader, who has blamed a Bollywood actor, Sunny Leone and her new contraceptives advertisement for the rising rape cases in India.

This is also a kind of devouring, an indulgence; the repercussions of which are dire for women everywhere.

For a country with massive overpopulation and under-poverty line existence problem for millions, it could possibly not be the condom ad he wanted an end to. For Atul Kumar Anjan, the target was Sunny Leone. Let us examine why.

Also read: Pemra takes controversial contraceptives commercial off air

Women who have complete command over their sexuality horrify men who make it their business to govern the general construct of society. Where men call the shots, make decisions on political and familial scales that have no input from women.

A sexually liberated woman is the embodiment of a vulnerable heterosexual male – it undoes false machismo, masculinity and above all, power. In his attempt to keep a second-to-none facade, his empire tends to crumble at the sight of her. It becomes a threat to the concept of a state and its social order.

Rape signifies a mala fide attack on the very concept of women’s sexuality; a putting in place so to speak. A tool used by men over centuries to settle feuds, wars, disputes and petty grievances.

Also read: 'Rape the girl, blame the girl'

It is criminal, if not absurd, to say that with advertisements like the one Sunny Leone appeared in, there is no bar on how many rapes happen as a consequence. This is like blaming the gas pedal for head-on collisions.

This downright refusal to acknowledge that there is a space between a stimulus and a reaction is the very basis on which civilisation after civilisation has built bloody empires.

This war on women needs to stop. This attempt to single out a woman, be it Meera or Sunny Leone, needs to be rejected in its entirety.

It is the very essence of a woman’s choice that is under attack, today it is sexuality and tomorrow, under its garb, it will be child marriage, divorce, inheritance, education and mobility.

Oppression is oppression under any new or shortened name. Tempting as it is to strike at the softest target, it is not measured, only disgraceful.

Even more so because the horror of the Delhi bus rape case has not washed off our memory. Nor have we forgotten the sexism it exposed in South Asian society when victim-blaming poured in about how she was asking for it for staying out late.

One would think the brutality of that rape would unfreeze any putrid rot of sexism from society, instead it only refined it, through politicians who tell people how to think.

No amount of perceived or deliberate provocation from a woman can absolve a man for a breach of consent in the act of rape. None. Ever.

Also read: The trivialisation of rape in Pakistan

This concept is difficult for many in South Asia to wrap their heads around but we can and should start by calling out politicians that deliberately flame the rape culture and glorify the crime itself by shifting the blame from the perpetrator to the victim.

It is the very passivity against these reckless statements that trivialises the dehumanisation of women.

Every girl child is coached to slouch, hide under covers, ignore gropes and eve-teasers and beware of the passions of men, who will after all, be men.

Well, it is time to expect men to be more than just invertebrates. Let us demand those that are not, to grow a spine.

I don’t think I'm a feminist, says Katrina Kaif

If there is one actor in Bollywood who keeps to herself, it's got to be Katrina Kaif.

But with her latest film Phantom out, the actor talks about herself in a recent interview with Vogue India and also reveals that she doesn't necessarily consider herself a feminist.

Looking as hot as ever on the cover of Vogue's latest issue, Katrina made her point that it was high time that people stopped referring to her as Ranbir Kapoor's girlfriend: "People say I am not open, but is being open only talking about your relationships? I don’t think I am feminist but I don’t think an actress should be made to speak about the men in her life when there is so much more to her and what she has achieved. We need to respect that."

Talking about her own life and recent film Inside Out, the actress said: “It’s such an important film. I’ve never been in a room where there were so many men who were so touched and moved by a movie; I guess this is the way to explain things to guys. This movie just explained everything I’ve been trying to say—that we all start out happy and, as you go along, layers of experiences start covering you up, making you forget the person you really were.”