Queenslanders, Promotions, and a Note about Packaged Spices

Morning!  As you have probably heard, there's been a lot of flooding in Australia, mostly in Queensland.  The flood waters are receding, but there's been so much damage.  Today on my way to the MCG I'll stop in and make a donation for the relief effort.   Maybe you should as well if you can.  Australians are good people.  Queenslanders are good people.  Let's give them a hand.

Speaking of good Queenslanders, today let's focus on Mitchell Johnson.  On December 23, 2010, I got to meet all of the members of the Australia squad and all of the England players as well.  Mitchell Johnson was so gracious; when I asked him if I could take a photo, he took off his sunglasses and gave me one of the most sparkling, charming smiles EVER!  There was even a twinkle in his eye!  So good-natured! The guy is like a movie star...good looking on TV and good-looking in real life too! He even chatted for a bit with my sister and her boyfriend.  Such a nice guy!  Now I've already published and copyrighted my photos with SportPulse, but if you want to see the pics why don't you check them out on Facebook at this link:

http://www.facebook.com/SportPulse?v=photos&ref=ts#!/album.php?aid=22250&id=113457612054409

You'll also see my pics of day 2 of the 4th test at the MCG there. 

Now I'm also going to promote SportPulse.net, the sports website I write for.  You'll find my silly stuff there, but you'll also find hard-hitting sports stories by the well-known writers Faisal Caesar, Aziz Ul-Qadir, Kristopher Hinz, Karam Khan and Marcos Saints among others!  Here's the link:

http://sportpulse.net/

And finally, the cooking lesson for today.  Yesterday we had a look at Gulzilla Chapli Kebabs, where we had to roast and grind our own spices.  I may have mentioned this before; there is a shortcut to roasting and grinding spices.  This is the ONLY shortcut I will ever advocate, so listen well. 

Shan and National are two packaged spice mix brands from Pakistan.  These packages ONLY contain the spices necessary to make a dish; they are usually free from preservatives and chemicals.  I have found their mixes to be well balanced and are a good alternative to roasting and grinding your own masala.  So if you have time and the equipment, roast and grind your spices yourself; if  you don't, pick up a Shan or National mix appropriate for the dish you are making.  National makes an excellent chapli kebab spice mix!

Shan mixes are heavy on the lal mirch (red chili powder) so be careful if you're a first time cook.  National mixes tend to be on the milder side.  If you live in Canada, you'll find these at Superstore in the East Indian section.  If you're in Australia, you can usually find them at the Indian/Pakistani/Sri Lankan grocers.

And a last note; you've probably noticed that I don't use garam masala powder.  The stuff you get in the shops tastes really bitter to me because they use too much of the black cardamom pods in their mix.  It's better to use whole spices in the recipes until you've developed your seasoning reflexes, then learn how to make your own garam masala powder if you must have it!

Right!  Sorry today's lesson was just a lecture, but it was a necessary evil.  Tomorrow we're going to look at Shahid Afridi's Shami Kebabs, so try to stay calm until then!

Happy Cricket!  Happy Spice Packages!