Udipi Charlotte

Archive for October, 2010

Weddings are a once in a lifetime event. A memorable experience and everyone wants this memorable experience to be perfect. You have guests that you want to handle; there must not be anything wrong with your wedding day. There is transportation need in every event but for a wedding transportation for a bride must be special. A limo of course and a limo by Charlotte Limo what a treat! A limo is a perfect ride for a newly couple to be riding on. When the party is finished its time for going home and rest is all you need, a limo offers comfy seating and that’s all you want.

In Charlotte and everywhere around US limos are the wedding rides and for many other events also. Limos add some extra class to any event but specially a wedding. We at Charlotte Limo offer the best limo transportation around Charlotte. So whenever you have a wedding remember us. Our fleet of limo includes the very fabulous Stretch Limousines that comes in Black and white both.

When you look over the internet there a lot of limo companies offering limos for many events but you have to look for the best for your special event. A limo has to be maintained not just looking good, it has to be in a good condition and well maintained. We at Charlotte Limo maintain our limos and have our mechanics check them regularly. All this is for safety. Limos are luxury cars driving you through the town, after you have attended your wedding. It starts with a red carpet laid down for you to walk on a it and with style and class enter the car.

The most classic looking cars are used in weddings; we at Charlotte Limo have the best of the cars. Our drivers are courteous and you won’t find any other limo rental company better than us around Charlotte.

As the technology grows so is Charlotte Limo, we have the state of the art limos having all the modern amenities in them including, TV screens, CD/DVD players, Sound systems and many more.

To make your wedding journey more comfortable a stretch limo by Charlotte Limo is just the perfect ride for a bride and a groom.

You may think that is kind of odd that the Marine Coprs would be making a change in a tattoo policy. Mainly because way back in the day men who were in the service were one of the only people besides criminals and dirt bags that had tattoos. Well the Marine Corps are not making a positive change in their tattoo policy, unfortunately it is a bad one if you have tattoos.

The policy that is being changed is in regards to tattoo sleeves. As of September 4, 2008, Marines who have tattoo sleeves are no longer authorized to serve as a recruiter or Marine Security Guard. The Marine Corp defines a tattoo sleeve as the following:a large tattoo or collection of smaller tattoos that covers or almost covers a person’s arm or leg. This new policy also includes half and quarter sleeves if they are visible in green-on-green, physical training gear.

The reason behind this new polciy change is that Marine recruiter or Marine Security Guard have a huge impact on public perception as they routinely interact with civilians, both at home and aboard, in the daily performance of their duties.

This is what staff Sgt. Aaron McMullen a canvassing recruiter, Recruiting Substation Clarksville, Ind., Recruiting Station Louisville, Ky. had to say about the tattoos. “Sleeve tattoos degrade our professional Marine image,”   “We keep our uniforms pressed, our brass shiny and our shoes polished.  Sleeve tattoos don’t fit with that image.”

However, this policy does not pertain to all positions available. All Marines who have been grandfathered as they call it can still apply for the following jobs. Marine combat instructor, drill instructor or Marine Corps security forces guard.

This just goes to show that even the place where tattoos originated from still considered them taboo.

Your Tattoo Friend

Ashley

HOW TO “COOK” AMRUT TULYA CHAHA



By

VIKRAM KARVE

Pune is a Tea Town.

Yes, when I was a small boy, Pune [or Poona as it was known then] was a “TEATOWN“.

During those days, in Pune, everyone drank tea, except some quirky upaas type aunts who always insisted on sweet milky jaiphal spiced coffee and were “fasting” most of the time on yummy delicacies like Sabudana Khichadi and Wade, Rajgire, waryache tandul, healthy fruits, nourishing milk, calorie-rich pure ghee sweets and similar lip-smacking upasasache padartha.

By the way DALDA, quite popular in those days, made from hydrogenated oils was quite mysteriously “permitted” for upaas as it was considered to be “ghee”.

At home, tea was made in typical Puneri manner as described in my previous article on how to prepare a cup of delicious Tea.



Outside your home, there were chiefly two types of tea for the laidback discerning gourmet Punekar to relish – AMRUT TULYA CHAHA at the ubiquitous Amruttulya Tea Shops at every nook and corner of Pune, and the peerless IRANI CHAI served by the numerous Irani Restaurants all over Pune city and camp like Café Naaz, Lucky, Good Luck, Volga etc. Indeed Amrut tulya Chaha and Irani Chai are an important aspect of the culinary heritage of Pune.

Irani Chai is the most rejuvenating beverage I have ever had. They keep the steaming rich tea brew and hot milk in separate containers and mix it in just the right proportion to get the terrific inimitable gulabi Irani Chai.

Drench in a fresh soft bun-maska, place it on your tongue, and close your eyes – aren’t you in seventh heaven? Even a cup of piping hot Irani Tea by itself is sheer bliss.

Of my favourite Irani Restaurants, Naaz, Lucky and many others have disappeared, and only Good Luck remains.

Amrut Tulya Chaha tea shops too are fast vanishing too like the one nearest to where I lived on Tilak Road in Sadashiv Peth in the 1960′s next to Ashok Bakery which also disappeared a few years ago. Further down the road past SP College towards Maharashtra Mandal there still exist the legendary Ambika and New Ambika Amruttulyas — a friend of mine used to say that the morning tea was superb in one and the evening tea in the other.

It’s really sad. The culture of Pune is fast changing. The youngsters don’t drink tea anymore – it’s infra dig, isn’t it?

The young and the restless prefer Coffee. No, not the peaberry-plantation filter coffee served by the Udipi Restaurants which we used to love, but the expensive stylish international coffees served at posh Baristas, CCDs, and high-falutin coffee shops proliferating rapidly all over Pune.

Just imagine, the other day I couldn’t get a cup of decent tea in a multiplex, but there were plenty of varieties of coffee all around.

Hey, it seems I am rambling away and have gone off on a tangent, so let me not digress from our main topic – The Art of making Amrut Tulya Tea.

Amrut means Nectar, and Tulya means Comparable, so “Amrut Tulya” means “Comparable to Nectar” and indeed, true to its name, Amrut-Tulya Tea is comparable to nectar –  sweet, ambrosial, like the elixir of life!

I loved watching Amrut Tulya Chaha being prepared. Amrut Tulya Tea is not brewed in the traditional Tea service style. The Tea is “cooked” in front of you in a brass vessel and as the vessel ages it becomes “tastier” and tastier with time.

I love the “special” chaha.

Milk and water are boiled together, with plenty of sugar, masala [comprising crushed cardamom, ginger], and tea leaves, stirring continuously to make sure it doesn’t overflow.

Come, my dear Tea Lover, let me tell you how to make Amrut Tulya Chaha – The Art of making Tea – Pune Style.

Assemble the following Ingredients for Two Cups of Amrut Tulya Tea “Special Chaha”.

If you live in Pune, get the famous CTC+OP “Family Mixture” Tea Powder from your favourite “Tea Depot” in the heart of Pune City. Or you may use some good Assam CTC Tea.

By the way, the acronyms are: CTC – Crush, Tear, Curl; OP – Orange Pekoe; BOP – Broken Orange Pekoe.

Full Cream Buffalo Milk [I like Chitale or Sane dairy]

Fresh Water

Sugar

Fresh Ginger Crushed [Better still you can crush the juicy fresh ginger with the chimta directly in the water-milk concoction to let the ginger juices flow out and blend in smoothly]

Cardamom – peel, crush and powder the pods

Before you start, dear reader, here is a note of caution: Please remember that Amrut Tulya Tea is not your traditional Masala Chai so please don’t add any Tea Masalas or spices like clove, cinnamon, black peppercorns or herbs like gavati chaha (lemon grass), tulsi leaves etc. and neither is it the “khada chamach” or “cutting” Chai so please don’t boil away to glory – remember, you must achieve Amrut Tulya Chaha of just the right consistency…!

Now let us start “cooking” amrut tulya tea – we will make two cups, one for you and one for me.

In a brass vessel [or stainless steel, if you can't get a brass vessel] mix one cup of water and one cup of milk.

Add four teaspoons of sugar.

Put on the stove on medium heat.

Squeeze in a bit of fresh crushed ginger and add a pinch of cardamom powder and the freshly crushed peel.

Lightly and lovingly stir the concoction, let it warm, and bring to a boil.

Smartly add two teaspoons of tea powder and keep stirring gently to ensure the boiling concoction does not spill over.

Keep boiling till the tea attains beautiful bright golden-orange colour – the moment you see a reddish tinge, give the heavenly brew a loving last stir, twirl the vessel, and sieve the Amrut Tulya Nectar Tea, your Special Chaha, directly into the cups.

You can drink it from the cup, or better still the saucer sucking and pulling in the yummy liquid with your lips and let it deliciously emulsify on your tongue for that heavenly elevating feeling.

Sip the delicious tea slowly and mindfully, roll it on your tongue, let it mingle in your palate, close your eyes, absorb, discern the flavour, the rich taste, relish every sip lovingly.

Amrut Tulya Chaha is truly lip-smacking tasty and soul-refreshing – blissful ambrosia, an experience of nectar – you can take my word for it.

Now you know why they call this refreshingly delicious and nourishing tea Amrut Tulya “comparable to Nectar” Chaha.

Cheers…!!! Enjoy your cup of special Amrut Tulya Nectar Tea.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2010

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

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