Saturday, August 29, 2009

Crocodiles, Mahabalipuram Revisited, Fisherman's Cove

Co-workers and I took a day trip south of Chennai. Our first stop was the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, an organization dedicated to conservation, research and education on crocodiles, snakes, tortoises and other reptiles. I had never seen crocodiles up this close before.

Some were just relaxing in the shade, either with their mouths closed ...



... or with their mouths wide open.



I've seen this behavior described as "gaping" or "basking." This may help the crocodile to keep cool, by increasing evaporation. The behavior has also been observed in the rain and at night, so it may also have another function. The Nile crocodile does it to allow a bird, the spurwing plover, to clean its teeth.

Some headed into the water to cool off even more.



Some were hanging out on land with other crocodiles.



Others were lurking, just barely visible above the surface of the water. Click on the photo below if you would like a better view of the lurking crocodile.



While we were there we met Nick, an American herpetologist working in India. He related some of the history of Crocodile Bank to us. If it weren't for Nick, we would have missed Jaws III - the largest crocodile in captivity in India, weighing over 1500 pounds. Jaws was underwater when we passed by the first time, so Nick brought us back to his pond, and with a variety of noises attempted to persuade the giant crocodile that it was lunch time.

Jaws lives in his pond enclosure alone, mainly because he eats any other living creature with which he comes into contact, including other crocodiles. Today he was only interested in getting out of the water if we could convince him there was a good chance he'd get a decent meal out of it.



Mmmmmmm ... tourists.



There were also some boring turtles, tortoises and snakes to see. I'm kidding! I'm sure their lives are fascinating, even if their charms are more ... subtle.







We then carried on to Mahabalipuram. I had been here once before so I acted as the tour guide to my co-workers. I'm sure there were times they felt like the Taj Mahal tourists in the movie Slum Dog Millionaire - wary of their guide's knowledge, but what choice did they have?

Looking below, one might think that I turned the trip into a photoshoot about me, but that is an exaggeration.

A bull behind one of the five rathas



A hilltop temple



Arjuna's Penance



The Shore Temple



The shots below don't include me, but I like them anyway.

Elephant among the five rathas



Shore Temple



In the early afternoon, we continued on to Fisherman's Cove, a beach resort run by the Taj group of hotels. The Taj Mount Road Hotel where we are staying organizes a free monthly excursion to Fisherman's Cove for long term guests.

The entire place is designed so that you can relax very deeply.

I enjoyed a lunch of fresh locally caught fish at their outdoor restaurant by the sea.



The resort includes regular hotel rooms plus private cottages. Each of the cottages has its own outdoor hammock.



The beach is clean and uncrowded. Waves make the only noise.



The large pool has both sunny and shaded areas, and a swim up bar serves refreshing mojitos, plus many other cool beverages.



I thought about getting a massage at the spa, but decided a nap by the pool would be more relaxing. Ahhh ...

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Indian Cooking Class ... Recipe Included!

I went back to cooking class today, this time at Beyond Indus, the restaurant at the Taj Mount Road Hotel that specializes in north Indian Cuisine. It is among the best restaurants that I have enjoyed anywhere. Executive Chef Easo Johnson and his assistants showed us how to make four different dishes.

Paneer Akhtari Kebab - firm cottage cheese cut into rounds, stuffed with mint chutney and fresh coriander, marinated in a yogurt sauce, skewered and cooked in a Tandoor oven.



Murgh Malai Kebab - boneless chicken marinated in a cheese and cream sauce and cooked in a Tandoor oven. The oven is cylindrical, clay-lined and heated with charcoal - you can see it glowing at the bottom between the chicken skewers.



Dal Tadka - a curried lentil dish, plus one other chicken curry dish. I thought I had the name and recipe for this last dish, but when I checked my handouts, I had one for another dish instead.

I enjoyed watching the preparation of the dal.



Chef Johnson also made us two kinds of bread. Here, he is preparing a very thin and soft bread, that he calls handkerchief bread, which he cooks on something that looks like a wok inverted over a gas flame. Behind him, you can see his assistant preparing naan, putting them on a holder and then sticking them to the inside wall of the Tandoor oven.



When the naan are done, he retrieves them with skewers.



We then enjoyed the results of the lesson!





And finally ... a recipe! I chose only one, because I felt I could describe the ingredients and preparation for this one the best of all of them. The tang of the marinade, sweetness of the dairy and heat of the chilies create a delicious combination.

Murgh Malai Kebab

Ingredients:

500 g boneless chicken
40 g ginger-garlic paste
40 g salt
150 g cheese, grated
3 egg yolks
60 g fresh cream
10 g small hot green chilies, chopped
15 g fresh coriander leaves, chopped

Comments on the ingredients:

Ginger-garlic paste: I didn't get a recipe for the paste, but I would suggest you combine peeled and roughly chopped fresh ginger and garlic in a proportion you find appealing then blenderize them with enough water to form a paste to coat the chicken.

Cheese: Chef Johnson used a firm white cheese that he described as Indian cheddar, although it did not have a cheddar flavour. A mild firm white cheese would probably work well.

Fresh Cream: This cream had a consistency similar to sour cream - it was not liquid cream but it was not sour cream either. I'll confirm later what it actually was. You'll want to create a sauce that is fluid enough to easily coat the chicken but still thick enough to adhere reasonably well to the meat while it is cooking.

Preparation:

1. Combine the chicken with the ginger-garlic paste and salt and let it marinate in the fridge for about 6 hours.
2. After the chicken has marinated, mix the cheese and egg yolks well, then add them to the chicken
3. Add chopped green chilies.
4. Mix well. Add cream and mix gradually.
5. Skewer the chicken pieces and cook in a hot Tandoor until done. Unfortunately, nobody I know has a Tandoor oven at home, so you'll have to experiment with a regular oven or maybe a barbecue with a lid, using the temperature you usually use for cooking boneless chicken.
6. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves.

Enjoy!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Independence Day

Today on August 15, 2009, India celebrated the 62nd anniversary of it's freedom from colonial rule. People took part in special events throughout the republic. For Friday, my colleagues at the office decorated their area with Indian flags and matching balloons in the colours saffron (orange), white and green.



Several staff members wore traditional Indian clothing. Some of the women wore saris.


(photo from http://www.history-of-india.net/history_of_the_Saree.htm)

Some of the men wore dhotis. A dhoti is a length of fabric wrapped around the waist and is worn with a regular shirt or a long style of shirt known as a kurta.


(Photo from http://www.elishams.org/Dhoti.html)

I chose to wear the shirt of India's national cricket team.



We also took time to have some Independence Day fun, with games and sweets.

What do people wear to the office on a regular day? The office where I work is business casual. For men, that means pants (not jeans) and a regular shirt or polo-style shirt. Most of the women in our area wear an outfit which I believe is known as a salwar kameez. (Knowledgeable friends, please correct me if I'm wrong. I am rather uninformed on women's fashion even in my own country, let alone in India.) The outfit consists of a salwar (light, loose-fitting pants), kameez (a long top) and a dupatta (scarf). The three parts are a matched set. Except for the woman on the left below, I believe that each of the others in this photo is wearing a salwar kameez.


Photo from http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2008/07/10/stories/2008071051040100.htm

If you are interested in learning more about India, I can recommend two websites that will help you become impressively well-informed. The first is the Indian government's "Know India" portal: http://india.gov.in/knowindia.php. This well-organized site has many photos and short articles on national symbols, geography, history, culture and many other topics. If you've ever wanted to travel to India, the second site I can recommend is http://www.incredibleindia.org/, from the Indian Ministry of Tourism. I would also encourage you to try to obtain their IncredibleIndia brochures on the topics that interest you most. They are beautiful and provide a wealth of interesting and useful detail.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram is a town approximately 60 kilometres south of Chennai, on the east coast of India. There is a group of monuments in the town that was built in the 7th and 8th centuries C.E. during the Pallava dynasty and which UNESCO has designated as a world heritage site. I visited this remarkable town on Sunday, July 26, 2009.

The first monuments we visited were the five Rathas, so named because they are in the form of chariots. They are considered models of temples and each was carved out of a single block of granite.









In the photo below I am standing next to a sculpture of Ardhanari, the hermaphroditic representation of Shiva and his consort Shakti, symbolizing the union of male and female in the divine.



We also visited some of the fourteen ancient mantapams, or shrines located in the town. These were carved out of the solid rock hill that dominates the landscape. Some are unfinished.







The bas relief below is from one of the mantapams. It depicts a battle between Durga, "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" and Mahishasur, an asura (demon) who was invincible even to the gods.



The gods, angered by Mahishasur and their inability to defeat him, emitted beams of fierce light and Durga emerged at their convergence.
However, she is not considered to be created by the gods, but to be dependent on the universe itself and not to any particular being or thing in it. Durga is depicted as brilliantly radiant, with several arms, each holding a different weapon, and riding a lion. In their first encounter, Mahishasur doubted Durga's powers until she laughed so powerfully that she caused an earthquake. They engaged in battle, with Mahishasur changing form several times, until once, mid-way through one of his transformations, Durga paralyzed him with the blinding light she emanated. She then let out a resounding laugh before cutting off his head.

I don't have a story to go with the bas relief below; I just like it.



The most famous bas relief in Mahabalipuram, and possibly India, is known as "Arjuna's Penance" or the "Descent of the Ganges". It is 96 feet long and 43 feet high.



In one interpretation, the work is about Arjuna, who performed a penance in order to receive from Shiva a powerful weapon that he could then use in battle. Arjuna is depicted below performing the penance.



In another interpretation, the figure above is not Arjuna, but Bhagiratha, who performed a penance to allow the Ganges river to flow over the ashes of his relatives and release them from their sins. There is a cleft in the rock over which water may have flowed at one time, and figures in it are thought to represent the Ganges



In another part of the work, one sees a cat, performing a similar penance! The cat is surrounded by mice or rats. The original meaning may be lost, but the effect today is comic.



The tradition and skill of stone carving is still very much alive in Mahabalipuram. Several artists are busy at work in the town, sculpting works that range in size from jewelry to monuments.



The red mound of earth you see below is an anthill or termite nest. Snakes sometimes move into them, and this one has holes through which snakes can pass. In Hindu belief, snake gods are associated with health and wealth. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will see a small round vessel on the rock in front of the hill, where the faithful may leave an offering for the snakes, such as eggs and milk.



One of the unique geological features of the area is a huge round boulder known as the butter ball. It is perched on a hillside, and looks as if it could roll down at any moment, although it has been there since time immemorial.



Of course, there always has to be someone who tries to push it over!



The last monument we visited was the Shore Temple, overlooking the Bay of Bengal. It was constructed in the 8th century C.E. out of blocks of granite and is considered one of the oldest "built" temples in South India, rather than being cut out of rock.







People flock to the adjacent beach to enjoy the cool breezes from the ocean.



Large rocks have been added to part of the beach to protect the Shore Temple from erosion and tidal waves.



For an arial view of the town, plus 360 tours of some of the monuments, visit www.world-heritage-tour.org.

Post script August 16, 2009: India's NDTV television network had a series on the "7 Wonders of India", where they visited several remarkable places and invited viewers to vote on which should become the 7 wonders of India. They included a segment on Mahabalipuram.