About Me
- Suman
- Suman has spent all of his career in the Healthcare industry. He has grown up in Africa, Europe, India and America. In the past he founded a socially conscious startup called Jootstrap
Tuesday, June 09, 2020
A podcast on my journey spanning 4 continents and 35+ years
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Classic Indian chicken curry
This is the easiest and tastiest chicken curry you'll ever make. It's a staple in most North Indian kitchens and every state has a variant of this. I won't go into the variants today but keep it to the core.
Ingredients:
Bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom,
coriander, turmeric, garam masala (optional), Kashmiri Mirch, salt
Garlic and ginger
Onions and tomatoes
Chicken - bone-in or boneless (your choice)
Yogurt
Olive oil/mustard oil/safflower oil/Other oil with medium to high smoke point
Steps:
1. Heat the oil and add the following: Bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, cloves, cardamom. Let them sizzle and release their flavor.
2. Add onions and saute them till they turn pink/brown
3. Add garlic and ginger (smash them up in a mixer-grinder beforehand) and cook them till you smell their aroma
4. Add pureed tomatoes and cook till you see some water evaporate
5. Add coriander, turmeric, garam masala (optional), Kashmiri Mirch, salt (according to taste) and let them release their flavors for a minute or two
6. Now add the final items - the yogurt, some hot water and the chicken
7. If you're using an instant pot, set it to "poultry" and let it pressure cook for 15 minutes. Otherwise, cover your pan with a lid and simmer and cook for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked thoroughl.
That's it!
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Special Chicken Soup for Colds and Flu
This is one of my new creations which is a simple yet powerful and nutritious food that you can make while nursing a cold/flu. When you're under the weather, you're not in a position to do much so this recipe helps you modulate your efforts.
DEVICES:
Best done with an Instant Pot or pressure cooker but you can use a regular pot as well.
INGREDIENTS:
Vegetables: Carrot, celery, red onion
Chicken: Boneless or with bone. Cut into small pieces. 1 KG/2 Lb
Herbs: As many as you can get - rosemary, thyme, oregano, dill, parsley, store-bought - herbs du Provence, Kashmiri Mirch/Hot sauce
Sauce: Soy Sauce
Garlic and Ginger: chopped or pureed
Bone broth - 3 to 6 cups
Egg - 3 or 4
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Rice/Noodles
STEPS:
Chop vegetables and chicken into small pieces
Use the saute option in an Instant Pot or saute in a regular pot in the following sequence:
Olive oil, Bay leaves, onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook 3 min.
All the veggies. Cook 3 min.
Add the eggs. Cook 1 min.
Add all the herbs, chicken, bone broth and soy sauce. Cook 3 min.
Add salt and pepper.
Add 1 cup rice/noodle + 2 times the amount of water
Close the Instant Pot and set to "Soup" or "Pressure Cook" setting for 15 minutes.
Done!
Wednesday, January 29, 2020
Notes on my reading: The five love languages of children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell
The key concept in this book is that each of us gives and receives love in five primary ways AND that each of us values one or two of these five ways more than others. Being able to mimic the language that is most valued by our children even though that might not be our primary love language, can help the process of emotional development. It does not mean we cannot use the other love languages, as a matter of fact, we should use all modalities, but it helps to know which ones are more valued by an individual. Because, as numerous studies and documentaries have shown (including the Grant Study and the Up series), Love is all we need. So why not personalize it further and be more in tune.
So what are the five love languages?
Physical Touch - This is obvious in how this is expressed. It's likely boys get this more but girls should also be given this more in a healthy way if this is their primary love language.
Quality Time - This really is as simple as it sounds. A lot of childhood misbehavior is an attempt to get more attention from Mom and Dad, even if it is negative attention.
Words of Affirmation - More than general praise, it is specifically pointing out characteristics and abilities that make them one-of-a-kind. Finding opportunities to affirm kids multiple times a day gives them the courage to keep going and attempt even more.
Gifts - Meaningful gifts are symbols of love and hold special memories.
Acts of Service - These are the big and little things we do that show our care.
Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Notes on my reading: The elements of story by Francis Flaherty
Writing is an art. The journalist an artist. Francis shared his experiences in this book. A few stuck with me and I share them below. I squeezed the lemon of the book and I try to share some of the juices here.
The human element: Bringing out the human element of the story is key to writing good non-fiction. Find a complete person to tell your story. Describe emotions - however hard that might be to do. The path to good writing for the human element is to have empathy.
The theme: Be loyal to your major theme. Study and even mention as much as possible the other facets but never allow them to diminish or distract from the major theme. Always have one theme. Use verbs that reflect the main theme. Look deeper into the theme and you can find interesting things among the mundane or overlooked. Always present the theme on the center stage, uncrowded.
Simplify, simplify, simplify: The fewer tidbits, the better, cut and prune assiduously to let the main story shine through.
Sounds: Using words that convey sounds and sound lyrical or poetic.
The other point of view: To write a balanced story, always present the other side and be generous.
Motion: Have you ever taken a photograph where the subject is in motion. It adds an immediate attractiveness to the photo. Similarly, think of how you can make brisk journies out of your stories so the reader can feel the breeze in their hair. Made-up-action with metaphors and similes, mental action, turbo verbs, to and fro (alternating between general and specific statements) all add to this sense of motion.
Group similar points together. They gain power from consolidation and lose power from interruption.
Two effects: Contrast and build-up. Contrast - White appears whitest against a black background. Build-up - A persuasive idea can be affected by the strength or weakness of the idea that went before.
Artfulness: The five senses are a writer's most formidable tool. Watch and describe a person in their element - it's more powerful than hearing their interview about it. Description begins in the writer's imagination but should end in the reader's. Describe something with metaphorical stories or similes. Quotations are found art - use them liberally. Use symbols, as they are powerful but be careful.
Other media: Sometimes words are not enough. Use other media.
Truth and fairness: Stick to the facts.
Leads, settings, endings, and subtitles - There is much here that matters and each of these requires careful attention as an artistic endeavor.
Saturday, January 25, 2020
Bengali Keto-Mediterranean Millennial Diet: Healthy Indian Chicken Baked Kabab Recipe
I've been adapting Indian recipes for my Bengali Keto-Mediterranean diet to tone down the spice, salt and unhealthiness levels, in general, to create recipes for the person who is looking to avoid metabolic disorders but still wants to have fun eating. Here's one that I use regularly for making chicken cube kababs:
Ingredients (quantities vary by the amount of chicken and your individual preferences - I have listed the minimum to keep it healthy and flavorful. You can ratchet it up to get more intensity but also likely make it unhealthy in some cases):
Meat:
Chicken cubes cut into 1-inch pieces
Raw spices:
Garlic - 2-3 cloves or more - make a paste or chop finely
Ginger - 1 5 cm piece or more - - make a paste or chop finely
Indian (Thai) Green chilies - 1 or more - chop finely
Lemon juice - 1-2 tablespoons
Powder spices:
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon Kashmiri Mirch
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Other stuff:
Half or more tomato purée
Greek or natural yogurt - 1 tablespoon or more
1 tablespoon salt or more
Oil:
Avocado/Safflower/High smoke point Olive oil - This allows the marinade to have a good consistency.
Process:
Mix all the above ingredients together and use your hands to massage the marinade into the chicken cubes. Cover this in a bowl with cling wrap and store in the fridge for 1 hour or more - the more the better.
After this put the chicken to bake at 425 (pre-heat oven to 425) for 25 minutes. This will ensure moisture retention at the higher heat. If you want it a little burnt - ramp up the temp. to 450 for 5 minutes in the beginning and then ratchet down to 425 for the rest of 20 minutes.
Efficiency Tip:
The marinade can be made and kept in the fridge overnight as well if you want to use it twice.
Monday, December 23, 2019
Notes on "Emotional First Aid" by Guy Winch
I read this book in 2014 and captured notes on rejection - the first chapter and how to deal with it.
Chapter 1: Rejection
* Rejection causes emotional pain similar to physical pain and causes loss of rational thinking
* Rejection triggers anger and aggressive impulses in us
* Rejection causes our self-esteem to be damaged and often causes us to become unnecessarily self-critical
* Rejection threatens our fundamental need to belong and feel accepted by others, causing damage to our physical and psychological health
Treatment
* Create counterarguments to the self-criticism
- In romantic rejections, it's not you
- In workplace rejections, understand what motivates them - again it's not you motivating them
- In social rejections, understand the reasons - again it's not you but changing circumstances
* Remind yourself of aspects of your character that others find attractive
- List out characteristics and write out why and how these are important in your life and for your self-image
* Engage with friends and family
- Spend time talking with them
- Do activities
- Make new friends
- Photographs of loved ones
- Mementos
* Desensitize yourself
- Increase exposure to the source of fear and keep it limited within a time-frame
- Ensure self-esteem can handle it
Tuesday, November 05, 2019
On Reviews and How to Read them in the era of Influencer Marketing
Today the average service/medical business has become savvy to consumer marketing techniques and some use social media including Yelp, Google. Facebook for managing their online business presence. Consumers also depend on these reviews a lot.
So the question is how do you assess whether a Dentist/Framing Shop/Other Service business is actually going to be trustworthy in the long term and treat you as a long-term customer from Day 1?
The old school way of getting a referral from your trusted contact is always the best but people move jobs, homes, cities. It's not always an option. I've got a few thoughts on what works and what doesn't that's grounded in reverse engineering marketing techniques I have seen.
Typically, the source of the reviews matters. How is the review company/website making money - look to understand this to understand whether you can trust the reviews?
Second, look for the number of reviews. If it's not over 20+ - either the business is new/doesn't care/hasn't modernized/not a place you want to go since people have avoided giving reviews.
Third, look for the quality of reviews. Typically, fake reviews are easy to spot since they look very similar, have users that seem to be reviewing a host of items and don't have a clear digital profile. Reviews also fall into two categories - the 1-2 star reviews or the 5-star reviews. They are both worth reading to understand what drove the low ratings and why someone took the time to write them. The business response, in this case, is also telling. For the five star reviews, there are three ways this could occur - paid, asked for by business owner from a happy customer, self-written. Try to find the self-written ones, the more there are, the more likely the ratings truly reflect the business. The happy customer requested reviews are also OK but should be a secondary source of confirmation.
Also, completely avoid influencer marketing - paid reviews/promotions are usually a red flag.
Finally, after you have shortlisted your business/company etc., give them a call and interact with them to get a sense of your own.
Putting all this together usually avoids bad experiences with businesses.
Saturday, December 08, 2018
How much good can a few dollars do?
Sharehouse Charitable Foundation is supporting a number of children in their pursuit of happiness. Please check out this video and the stories of the children.
You can support one kid for the whole year or donate for a specific item for them - books, stationery or lunch.
Donate now and while sending your donation, please indicate if you would like the donation to go to a specific recipient and/ or for a specific purpose (school books, food, laptop, general)
More information on Mary Ann:
Her profile
Coverage of her work
Use this email address to send money: sumandatta82@gmail.com
How to use Google Pay to donate.
How to use your bank account
How to use Paypal
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
One less number to call
Shirts on the hangers, shoes on the floor
Grandma's in the kitchen, vendors at the door
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you're missing
Pictures on the wall, the breeze blows in from the window
Your house is waiting, your house is waiting
For you to walk in, for you to walk in
But you're missing, you're missing
You're missing when I shut out the lights
You're missing when I close my eyes
You're missing when I see the sun rise
You're missing
Morning is morning, the evening falls I have
One less number to call, but too many phone calls
How's everything, everything?
Everything, everything
You're missing, you're missing....Dad.
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