Naga Chokkanathan

Avoid this agent, even if he gives you a trip for free: “Felix Feria”, Earlier known as “Happy holidays”:

I took a 4 day trip to andaman through this agent and that’s the worst travel, business or personal, I ever took. He booked us only on cheap hotels, he sent us only small vehicles causing tonnes of inconvenience, his people didn’t know how to handle luggages right, the hotels which he booked only offered us basic food which was also not very tasty, never served on time, sometimes we had to run behind them for food. Some of the rooms he gave us were full of cockroaches, and the only solution they had was spray some chemical and make it difficult for you to breathe, nothing happens to those cockroaches, of course.

Almost after every meal, I could see that members staying in our hotel going out for a real meal. I have a feeling nearby restaurants are paying these hotels to serve horrible food, so that they can do good business.

In one of the hotels we stayed, a friend was treated in an unprofessional, rude manner for some simple matter. They charged him a premium for something and refused to give him a bill, any one can guess where all that money goes.

The trip experience was so horrible (with some nice beach visits in between), i thought of escaping from the island. That’s when I realized why the British rulers used this island as a jail, it’s not easy to escape from here, especially when the person who brought you here charges premium, but gives you a below average service.

This agent was so unprofessional, I would strongly recommend everyone to avoid him at any cost. He is a directory of cheap services and use him at your own risk.

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Naga Chokkanathan

Ever heard of a delicious sabji with greens and nuts together? No? Well, let me tell you about it. This nutty, green sabji contains methi leaves, drumstick leaves, almonds and also crunchy groundnuts. Don’t these healthy ingredients make our sabji the best? Let me mention a few of their advantages.

Methi leaves and drumstick leaves contain a huge amount of iron. Drumstick leaves even contain vitamin C. This is excellent as vitamin C aids our body to absorb iron effortlessly. Not to mention, this sabji is very yummy because the almonds and groundnuts provide a nice aroma and scrumptious taste to the mixture.

Elderly people who can’t chew nuts easily can eat this sabji instead. Greens can be put into a stubborn child’s stomach if they eat this sabji. Even if the child hates green vegetables, this sabji will be too difficult for him/her to resist!!!

So, let’s pull up our sleeves and get on with the cooking, shall we?

Given below are your magnificent, magical ingredients :
1. 50g of Methi leaves
2. 100g of Drumstick leaves
3. 4 big onions (finely chopped )
4. 1 tomato (finely chopped )
5. 2 teaspoons of coconut oil
6. Half teaspoon of mustard seeds
7. One teaspoon of Urad dal
8. 30 g of roasted almonds
9. 50g of groundnuts
10. 5 to 6 red chillis

Here is how you can make this dish:

1. Put your urad dal and mustard seeds onto a kadai and wait for them to turn golden brown in color.
2. Add your onion and tomato to the mixture.
3. Now, add the methi leaves and drumstick leaves. Allow the mixture to cook.
4. Meanwhile, grind your roasted almonds, groundnuts and red chillis to get a coarse-grained powder.
5. Add the powder to the mixture in the kadai, mix well and allow it to cook for a few more minutes.

Mmmm…by now your sabji would have become ready to eat! Go on and enjoy this iron-rich, healthy and lip-smacking treat! Yum!

(Written for a contest organized by http://www.livogen.in/iron-chef )

Everyone wishes for one luscious yet nutritious snack to gorge on. But sometimes our wishes are never fulfilled and we only turn to junk food! Well, you know what? It is time for you to get your wish. Yes, these energy bars that I am going to talk about are your solution. This is because these bars are filled with iron, they have no sugar, no jaggery, no ghee and no artificial colors. As a brilliant bonus, you can make them easily and they only contain natural ingredients.

These remarkable energy bars which are too good to be true can be given as a snack for children who go to school, a reward after a workout, an easily chewable, sugar-free treat for grandparents and so on. So, what are you waiting for? I know you are drooling badly so, hurry up and continue reading to know the recipe for these delicious energy-rich bars!!!

Our yummy, lip-smacking, super healthy ingredients would include the following:

* 1 cup of almonds
* Half cup of pumpkin seeds
* Half cup of groundnuts
* Half cup of seedless dates
* One fourth cup of walnuts
* Half cup of raisins
* One fourth cup of chopped fig

Here is how you must do it…..just follow the procedure! :

1. On a medium flame, dry roast your almonds, pumpkin seeds and groundnuts. Let them cool after roasting.
2. Powder this roasted mixture using your mixer.
3. Add your raisins, walnuts, dates and chopped fig to the powdered mixture one by one.
4. Mix them together in your mixer one more time to combine them well.
5. After that, put this sticky mixture on a tray and flatten it. Place the tray in your refrigerator for about half an hour.
6. After refrigerating the mixture, cut out energy bars from the flat layer of goodness on your tray. Store your bars carefully and munch on them whenever you feel like it!

Alternatively, you could cut out shapes from the bar mixture using cookie cutters, for children. You could even roll them up and eat them as though they are nutritious balls of goodness. As a creative idea, you could make energy lollipops and serve them at your birthday party along with other goodies!

So, the next time you really need to treat yourself but also be healthy, remember your superhero energy bars that will certainly save you!!!

(Written for a contest organized by http://www.livogen.in/iron-chef )