Mee Telugu Ammayi

  Ingredients:  Chickpeas, soaked overnight and boiled - 1 cup  Oil - 2 tbsp  Rice - 2 cups  Onion, finely sliced - 1 big  Green chilies (slit) - 4 Bay leaves - 3  Fennel seeds - 1 tsp  Mustard seeds - 1 tsp  Kalonji seeds - 1 tsp  Cumin seeds - 1 tsp  Fenugreek seeds - ½ tsp  Garam masala, freshly ground - 2 tbsp  Hing - a pinch  Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp  Haldi powder - ¼ tsp  Mustard powder - 1 tsp  Chili powder - 2 tsp  Mango powder  - 2 tbsp  Salt - to taste  Mint leaves - few  Coriander leaves - few  Take a pan and add some ghee. When the ghee gets hot, add bay leaves, mustard seeds and when they crackle, add fennel seeds, kalonji, cumin , fenugreek seeds and fry till you get a nice aroma lingering around the room. Add coarsely crushed garam masala, sliced onions and sauté the onions are transparent.  Add salt, green chillies, hing, turmeric, ginger garlic pas...

  Once on a cold winter day, Akbar and Birbal were walking by a lake. Akbar stopped and put his finger into the freezing water and immediately took it out saying, “I don’t think anyone can sustain a night in this cold water”.  Birbal took that as a challenge and said that he would find someone who can do it. Akbar promised a sum of 1000 gold coins to whoever could spend a night standing in the cold water of the lake. Soon, Birbal found a poor man who agreed to undertake the challenge for the 1000 gold coins.  Guarded by two royal guards, the poor man spent the entire night standing in the freezing water. In the morning, the poor man was taken to court for the reward. On being asked by the king how he could stand in freezing water, the man replied, “My lord, I kept looking at a lamp that was burning at a distance, and spent my entire night looking at it”.  On learning this, the emperor said, “This man is not worthy of the reward as he could manage to stand in the lake...

On one fine sunny day, Akbar and Birbal were taking a leisurely walk in the palace gardens. Suddenly, Akbar thought of testing Birbal’s wits by asking him a tricky question.  Emperor asked Birbal, “How many crows are there in our kingdom?”  Birbal could sense the amusement in the king’s voice, and within a few minutes  Birbal replied, “My king, there are eighty thousand nine hundred and seventy-one crows in our kingdom”.  Surprised and amazed, Akbar further tested Birbal, “What if we have more crows?”  Birbal replied, “Oh, then the crows from the other kingdoms must be visiting us’’.  “ What if there are lesser crows?” asked Akbar.  “Well, then some of our crows must be visiting other kingdoms”, replied Birbal with a grin on his face.  Akbar smiled at Birbal’s great sense of humour and wit.

  King   Krishnadevaraya loved horses and had the best collection of horse breeds in the Kingdom. Well, one day, a trader came to the King and told him that he had brought with him a horse of the best breed in Arabia. He invited the King to inspect the horse. King Krishnadevaraya loved the horse; so the trader said that the King could buy this one and that he had two more like this one, back in Arabia that he would go back to get. The King loved the horse so much that he had to have the other two as well. He paid the trader 5000 gold coins in advance. The trader promised that he would return within two days with the other horses. Two days turned into two weeks, and still, there was no sign of the trader and the two horses. One evening, to ease his mind, the King went on a stroll in his garden. There he spotted Tenali Raman writing down something on a piece of paper. Curious, the King asked Tenali what he was jotting down. Tenali Raman was hesitant, but after further quest...

  The great king KrishnaDevaRaya had a lot of wise ministers in his court. The wisest of them was Tenali RamaKrishna. One day, a merchant came to the king’s court from a foreign kingdom. He saluted the king and then said, “Your Majesty, I have heard from many people that you have very wise ministers in your court. But with your permission, I would like to test the wisdom of your ministers.” This aroused the king’s interest and he gave the merchant his permission. The merchant gave the king three dolls that looked identical. He said, “Though these dolls look similar, they are different in some way. If your ministers can find out the difference, I will bow to their wisdom. But if they can’t, I will assume that there are no wise ministers in your court. I will be back in thirty days for the answer.” The king asked all of his ministers except Tenali RamaKrishna to assemble. He gave them the three dolls and told them to find the difference in them in three days’ time. But at the end of ...

  In the kingdom of Vijayanagara lived a man named Krishna. He was regarded inauspicious by the people of the town. They believed that if they saw him the first thing in the morning, their entire day would be cursed and they would not be able to eat anything throughout the day. This story reached the king’s ears too. He invited Krishna to his palace to know the truth. He ordered his attendants to make everything available for Krishna’s stay in the room just next to his room. The next morning, the king without meeting anyone, went to Krishna’s room first to see his face. In the afternoon, the king sat down for lunch, but could not eat anything since there was a fly sitting in his plate. He ordered the cook to prepare lunch for him again. By the time, lunch was prepared, Krishnadevaraya did not feel like eating anymore. Since he had not eaten anything, he could not concentrate on his work. He realised that whatever the people said was indeed true. Thus he decided that a jinxed man li...

Tenali RamaKrishna was once walking along a forest path when he was stopped by a merchant. “I’m looking for my camel which has strayed away. Did you see it passing by?” asked the merchant. “Had the camel hurt its leg?” asked RamaKrishna. “Oh yes! That means you have seen my camel!” said the merchant.  “Only its footprints. See, you can see footprints of an animal with three legs,” said Raman, pointing out the footprints on the ground. “It was dragging the other leg because it was hurt in that leg.” “Was it blind in one eye?” RamaKrishna asked the merchant. “Yes, yes,” said the merchant eagerly. “Was it loaded it with wheat on one side and sugar on the other side?” asked RamaKrishna. “Yes, you are right,” said the merchant.  “So you have seen my camel!”  exclaimed the merchant.  Raman looked upset. “Did I say I saw your camel?”  “You have given the exact description of my camel,” said the merchant. I saw no camel,” said RamaKrishna.  “Do you see those plants...

1)Humbly bowing down before the almighty Lord Sri Vishnu, the Lord of the three worlds, I recite maxims of the science of political ethics selected from the various satras. 2)That man who by the study of these maxims from the satras acquires a knowledge of the most celebrated principles of duty, and understands what ought and what ought not to be followed, and what is good and what is bad, is most excellent. 3)Therefore with an eye to the public good, I shall speak that which, when understood, will lead to an understanding of things in their proper perspective. 4)Even a pandit comes to grief by giving instruction to a foolish disciple, by maintaining a wicked wife, and by excessive familiarity with the miserable. 5)A wicked wife, a false friend, a saucy servant and living in a house with a serpent in it are nothing but death. 6)One should save his money against hard times, save his wife at the sacrifice of his riches, but invariably one should save his soul even at the sacrifice of his...

Ingredients:  1 cup basmati rice  1 cup coconut milk  1/2 red onion  1/4 cup hazelnuts  1 cup broccolini  1 tbsp coconut oil  1 cup canned chickpeas  1/2 tbsp garlic powder  1 tsp chili powder  1 tbsp smoked paprika  2 tsp turmeric generous pinch of salt  1/2 cup shredded coconut  Directions:  1. Place 1 cup of basmati rice into a small sauce pan. Wash and drain the rice a couple of times to get rid of the excess starch  2. Toast the rice for a couple of minutes on medium high heat. Then, add in 1 cup of coconut milk  3. When the milk starts to bubble, give the rice a good stir to make sure nothing is grabbing the bottom of the pan. Then, cover and cook on medium low for 15min 4. Dice the red onion, coarsely chop the hazelnuts, and chop the broccolini  5. After 15min, turn the heat off and let the rice steam further for 10min  6. Heat up a non stick pan on medium heat. Add the coconut oil  7. ...

Once when King Krishnadevaraya had gone to survey the jail, two burglars who were prisoners there, asked for his mercy. They told him that they were experts at burglary and could help the king in catching other thieves. The king being a kind ruler asked his guards to release them but with a condition. He told the burglars that he would release them and appoint them as his spies only if they could break into his advisor Tenali Raman’s house and steal valuables from there. The thieves agreed for the challenge. That same night the two thieves went to Tenali Raman’s house and hid behind some bushes. After dinner, when Tenali Raman came out for a stroll, he heard some rustling in the bushes. He at once perceived the existence of thieves in his garden. After some time he went in and told his wife loudly that they have to be careful about their valuables as two thieves were on the run. He asked her to put all the gold and silver coins and jewellery in a trunk. The thieves overheard the conver...

There was an old owl that lived in an oak. Everyday he saw incidents happening around him. Yesterday he saw a boy helping an old man to carry a heavy basket. Today he saw a girl shouting at her mother. The more he saw the less he spoke.  As he spoke less, he heard more. He heard people talking and telling stories. He heard a woman saying that an elephant jumped over a fence. He also heard a man saying that he had never made a mistake.  The old owl had seen and heard about what happened to people. Some became better and some became worse. But the old owl had become wiser each and every day.   Moral of the story :  You should be observant, talk less but listen more. This will make you a wise person.