Book Review - "The Joy of Dreaming" By NR Panicker.

A couple of hours after I finished reading this autobiographical work of my former colleague and friend of last over three decades, I was listening to an HBR Ideacast (podcast) that had the Associate Dean of Yale School of Management, Kyle Jensen as guest, with the title " when entrepreneurs distort the truth". The title of the podcast said all about the discussion that were to follow. The expert who had vast experience on the subject was saying that every successful (and not successful too) entrepreneur lies his way out to build an enterprise.. he lies to investors to get funding, he lies to professionals who he wants to work with/for him, he lies to customers by selling them an untrue dream. Everyone he lies to also knows this but still work with him and help him build a "successful" enterprise, because they all feel that no matter what he says or does should he succeed, they all will achieve their goals.

In my opinion, Kyle didn't know NR Panicker. Having known him for a long time, I can assure you that Panicker may never have lied to push his way to become a successful entrepreneur. I am not sure had he done that whether he would have been even a bigger entrepreneur or had just remained a professional in a corporate as an employee and long retired by now. He may never have succeeded, as by lying he would have presented himself as someone that he was not and when you do that, you fail.. perhaps, only people who succeed with that 'feku' personality are politicians.

I first met Panicker when we both went to attend a colleague's wedding in Tambaram a suburb of Chennai in Dec 1988. We worked in different offices of HCL and the colleague who was getting married was working with me at the time and had worked earlier with Panicker. Having recently come in HCL fold from Bombay I took PanicKAR for any other Maharashtrian like GavasKAR, TendulKAR etc and struck a  conversation in Marathi.. he kept responding in mono syllables and in hmmms, haans. After about five minutes when I asked him something, this decent fellow who never wanted to hurt me, apologetically said, "I haven't understood a word of what you said" and said although his last name ends with KAR, he is Malayalee and to educate me, he further said "it's a common surname in Kerala, haven't you heard of the famous poet Panicker?" .. I hadn't.

We reamined friends till date. But having come to Delhi office soon afterwards. Our interactions in those days when Internet was not around, remained far and few. However, I kept myself abreast of his entrepreneurial journey. Reading his autobiography had shown a far deeper and sincere person who I knew will succeed in whatever he did, but never thought that he will reach to this level. Humility, that I have seen as most important andcommon factor in most successful entrepreneurs (with exceptions like Steve Jobs) never left him.

The book talks about the difficult and poverty stricken childhood that he had and normally such circumstances will consume a person and they will never be known outside their immediate neighborhood. How he fought that and managed to graduate with fanfare, not just in academics but also as a singer that could have been his alternate career and which helped him make his success in initial life easier. An engineering degree, a dare venturing in far flung Delhi and later to trouble-torn Nigeria and eventually starting on his own putting aside all doubts and risking a well established job, even going against the advice of legendary Shiv Nadar (the founder and then CEO) who initially got annoyed with his decision, but as a matter of chance supported him after he shown the unstoppable will to succeed.

The book is inspiring, actually Panicker is inspiring and the book makes an interesting dreamworld like story that's a testimony of humilty, hardwork, ambition, risk taking ability, ability to fast forget failures and quickly learn to bounce back. But a person who has a good heart often is taken advantage of and inspite of being cautious, falls into the same trap and loses all he builds.. but a bit of luck and all that is needed to succeed kept putting him back on track.

Now on his second innings, after losing his dream to some "fraudsters", whom the world calls agressive professionals, he is on a different path to help build another world, that often times people his age would give up and relax on the Kovalam beach or in Mahabalipur or even in Ibiza. 

Overall the book makes a great reading and pumps up your adrenaline and fills you to have an ambitious journey for yourself.. for youngsters in their first innings and for people his or my age in their second or third or whichever game you want to start playing. 

Today in the kitchen - potato wedges. Aug 05, 2021

This simple and easy to cook all time snack is so dear to kids across the world that young ones often end up having this as the only thing for their meals. This one especially got popular after fast food companies set their foot across the country..nirula's to begin with followed by McD, KFC many of their clones and last of the big name that stepped in India, Burger King. But parents are always wary of this item since it is deep fried  and large quantities could upset their stomachs.

So here is a recipe that I followed, that doesn't add as much fat as the deep fried potato wedges of the restaurant. One could cook it in OTG or an airfrier and it retains the taste, I would say it tastes better than the deep fried version. Thanks to Borosil that provided a recipe book alongwith the OTG (oven, toaster and grill) that made my task easier.

The quantity is good for 2 people to relish that will be just enough to keep good space in your stomach for dinner if you are having it for tea time. Adjust it proportionately if you are more at home or if you invite people over tea time at your terrace or in the lawns( due to continuation of pandemic, I would highly recommend against entertaining people inside home).

Ingredients:

Potato - 4 medium size (300 gms)

Oil - 1 1/2 +1/2 tbsp ( recommend was 3 tbsp). I used olive oil that doesn't have any smell of its own.

Freshly ground pepper -1/2 tsp

Oregano - 1/2 tsp

Table salt - 1/2 tsp

Sesame seeds -1 tsp

Water - 1000 ml (for washing and soaking)

Icecubes - 2 cups

Process:

Peel potatoes and cut each of them in eight equal parts along length in the shape that you would like to eat.

Now wash them thoroughly, preferably in the drinking water instead of tap water. And place them in a bowl add water to the level they get dipped and add 2 cup (about 30) ice cubes. Put the bowl in the fridge for half an hour. Take out and drain water and dry the raw potato wedges on a paper towel or a clean cloth towel.

Take a bowl and add the spices, pepper, oregano, salt, sesame seeds and 1 1/2 tbsp (I prefer olive) oil. Mix all ingrediant well and add dried raw potato wedges, so that each wedge is covered with spices. Now take the baking tray (ensure it is clean, usually if you have not used the oven for sometime dust will settle on it, so wash it and dry). Usually you get one with OTGs, or pick any that you use for baking.. Borosil/Pyrex). Apply a little oil with brush and place wedges keeping uniform distance between them.

Preheat oven (set it to both upper and lower heating) at 230° C for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes place the tray with raw potato wedges in the middle section of the oven. BE CAREFUL OVEN IS HOT. Use proper gear (glove/s) to protect your hand/s. Now switch on the oven with same settings at 230°C for 20 minutes.

Run for another 5 minutes should you want extra crisp.

Remove the container and allow it to cool before you transfer the contents to a serving bowl. Your tasty, healthy snack is ready.. serve it with tomato sauce/ketchup, better with the one that has chilli or imli chutney and enjoy your tea. The joy gets doubled when it is drizzling outside.

 

Today in the kitchen - Khumani/khubani ka meetha. Aug 04, 2021

This was on the anvil for a long time but finally things do happen when they have to happen. Khumani (appricot) ka meetha is a dessert that is not very common or even popular across the country.. like kheer, halwa, laddu, icecream etc. Only in some pockets like Hyderabad this is a must have dessert at weddings and similar festivities.

History suggests that when Zahir ud din Muhammad Babur came to india in 1526 and founded Mughal empire, with him came Khumani that was not a native fruit back then and Khumani ka meetha was only a royal dessert. Gradually, we started producing Khumani in mountainous Himalayan region and it became popular wherever royal influence was most.. so you find this dessert in Hyderabad, Kashmir and likewise. 

First time I had Khumani ka meetha was in Hyderabad some 30+ years back, at Country Club Begumpet Hyderabad and I remained a loyal fan but got an opportunity to have it only on rare occasions. I had planned to make this on my birthday to celebrate my newfound interest in the kitchen, but missed it by a day.. nevertheless, it finally happened.

So let's see what we need to make this unique Mughal Royal dessert.

Ingredients:

To serve 6 people (earlier times this was good for 3 only)

Dry Khumani - 300 gms

Water to soak - 500 ml

Powdered sugar -200 gms (I used only 100gms).

Optional: (I would avoid)

raspberry food colour (1/4 tsp)

Vanila essence - 4-5 drops

Process:

Soak dry appricot/Khumani for 12 hours(overnight) and remove the seeds. Take the fruit out and keep in another plate. Break the seeds on a silbatta/stone and remove the apricot's almond. Soak them again and peel to get the soft white almond. 

Take a pan and put the water you removed from soaked Khumani and put it on low flame, once water warms up mix the khumani and let the mixture boil for about 15 minutes. Now add powdered sugar and keep mixing till it dissolves and the mixture becomes a bit sticky, this would take another 10 minutes. Should you want, at this stage put the raspberry colour and the vanilla essence. Now shut the flame and allow the mixture to cool. Add the almonds you removed from the khumani seeds and put them on the top for garnish. Put the dish in chill tray of your fridge for another 15-20 minutes and you are ready to serve the delicious dessert. You could store it in the fridge for another week or more, if you want to have it later.