Paiox(Kheer)

Paiox is not only one of the most popular desserts of Assamese delicacy, but also commonly used as an offering to God.

A few Assamese terminologies: 

              Paiox: a delicious sweet dish made of milk and rice.

Joha Saool: a variety of tiny grained rice with a delicious aroma.

To make Paiox, you need :

2 fist full or 7 tblsps level Joha rice

1 and 1/2 ltr Milk

6 tblsps level Sugar

A few Bay leaves,

 few Cashew nuts

 few Cardamoms,

a small stick of Cinnamon,

a few Raisins,

a pinch of edible Camphor(optional).

Method :

Wash and soak rice for an hour.

Boil milk and put in the rice, cook stirring frequently over a medium flame. Do not cover while making Paiox.

 Add all the remaining ingredients, leaving aside sugar,  keep cooking, stirring in between. Add Sugar only after the rice is properly cooked. Gradually lower the heat and cook stirring, checking the consistency of the Paiox all the while. See that there is enough milk when you put the burner off as the remaining milk will evaporate once the Paiox is cooled.

I personally prefer the natural aroma of Joha Saool mixed with cardamom, hence, never put camphor. 

Delicious Paiox is ready ....

Sobai Jwng Oma Gwran Jwng

Sobai Jwng Oma Gwran Jwng, which means, Smoked Pork with Black Gram. The flavour is simply irresistible and once tasted, Its difficult to forget. One of the favourite main dishes of the Bodos.  
Some Bodo terminologies:
Sobai: Black Lentil
Jwng: with
Oma: Pork
Gwran: dry/smoked
Khaari : alkali, procedure of making : sun dry banana peels and trunks of the plant, burn to collect the ash. Pour water, keep over night, strain and store the clear brown liquid to use in curries. This is very common and used in a variety of dishes all over the North Eastern part of India.
A pinch of soda-bi-carb can be substituted to khaari. 


                To cook this delicacy you need: 

1/2 kg Oma Gwran. Pork is cut into bite size pieces, washed and dried in the sun for around an hour. 

Then kept over a fire on a big sieve made of bamboo which is suspended at a height with sticks over fire, stirring and turning the pieces occasionally so that the pieces are not burnt but evenly browned. A favourite delicacy of the Bodos, smoked pork is cooked with a variety of vegetables too.

 1/2 cup Sobai. Before cooking any dish, sobai is lightly roasted and crushed a little to take off the skin, although some of the skin remain. Roasting also gives a delicious aroma to the curry.

                       Paste of 1big Onion
                       Little Ginger
                       12pods of Garlic
                       Chopped Green Chilly, to taste
                       A few Bay leaves
                       A bunch of fresh Coriander, chopped(optional)

1tblsp Khaari

                      1to2 tsp Turmeric powder
                      1tsp Garam Masala(powdered Cardamom+Cinnamon+Clove)
                      Salt to taste

                      2 tblsps oil


                      Method: 

Wash Sobai and cook with 3 cups of water, salt and turmeric till half cooked. Can be pressure cooked. 

 Heat oil and saute paste, chilly and bay leaves for sometime .....

... add Oma Gwran, salt, turmeric and the garam masala powder. Stir and saute for some more time. 

Add the half cooked Sobai to the fried Oma Gwran and stir well. Add more water if necessary. 

Cook covered, best is to pressure cook till meat is properly cooked.

Add khaari. Make sure not to add khaari while pressure cooking. 

 Sobai Jwng Oma Gwran Jwng is ready to serve....

.....garnished with coriander and serve with a plate of steaming hot rice. 

Egypt : Nile cruise, Giza City, Cairo

At Dubai airport, on way to Cairo.

Marveling at one of the poshest, absolutely high tech and most well managed airports, the Dubai airport.

What I liked best in Dubai Airport is the sound system. I have travelled many countries and hence, had the opportunity to be at quite a large number of airports. The announcements are absolutely clear here at Dubai airport.

In the land of beautiful women, sand, camels .......

This is the famous Khan-Al-Khalili Market, Egypt. 

Ah how I loved shopping here !

Plenty of eateries outside the market. Kebabs were awesome!

On board the 'Nile Maxim', for that dream Cruise on Nile, in the night. Ah ...  a dream finally  came true....

  

On board Nile Maxim, enjoying a drink as well as the beautiful Cairo at night as we sail along the city.

A fantastic dinner and a traditional cultural show on board the ship, cruising on a moonlit night ........ the Nile really looked blue... deep blue !!

I was busy video shooting the belly dancers. Whoooaaa ... they're awesome dancers. 

Cairo city, from Nile .....

The bridge over Nile..... on way to Giza City.

Trying to feel like an Egyptian. But the heat was terrible, wish I wore a dress that covered the whole body well. Camel ride too was not so easy, some parts ached for the next 3 days !

The Great Pyramids ...

The Great Pyramid of Giza, also called the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

The entrance, the way down inside the pyramid where the mummy was kept.

The Sphinx and the Great Pyramid in the back ground.

Egyptian beauties

Cairo Tower in the heart of the city.

Nasr City, Cairo.