Atukula Pulihora(Aval Puliyodharai)

Even though the recipe may sound very simple, it is very easy to mess up. For a great tasting dish, soak aval/poha with the right amount of tamarind extract so that the flakes are fluffy and separate and not soggy. My mom makes the best Aval upma! We make it frequently at home. Aval puliyodharai is slightly different from Aval upma. I came across this recipe in some blog and tried it. It's a super quick brunch or tiffin item that can be made in 10 minutes flat!

Ingredients:
Aval/Poha/Atukula/Beaten Rice-2 cups
Tamarind-small lime size ball
Salt
Hing-1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp

Seasoning:
Oil-2 tbsp
Curry leaves-a few
Broken Red Chillis-3-4
Mustard Seeds-1 tsp
Urud dal-1/2 tsp



Method:
Soak tamarind in 3/4 cup warm water for 10 minutes and extract thick juice. Discard the tamarind.
Now soak aval in tamarind extract for 10 minutes or until it absorbs all the liquid and the flakes become soft, fluffy and separate.
Meanwhile heat oil in a wide pan. Add mustard seeds, curry leaves, hing, red chillies, urud dal, turmeric powder. When mustard seeds crackle, add poha. Sprinkle salt.
Gently toss everything together without mashing poha. Fry for 2-3 minutes and serve hot.

Note: Any dish made using poha should be consumed when hot. 

This recipe being so simple and easy, let me add it to my own event-Cooking Basics! For details, click the logo on the side bar.

Due to time constraints, I have not been regularly commenting on some of your blogs these days. I apologize for the same. I will try to catch up with your recipes whenever I can.

Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers :)

New LED Replacement for PAR38 Halogen Lights

Cree has designed a replacement lightbulb for the ubiquitous little halogen bulbs that so many homeowners covet.

I have avoided using halogen recessed lighting because of my abiding concerns with overheating. Those days are over with the LRP-38.

The Cree LRP-38 comes as a screw-in replacement for existing halogen lightbulbs; or with a 2-pin GU24 connector for use in California, conforming with Title 24 (California's energy code).


























Save Energy

* 500 Lumens (Light Output)
* 12 Watt input power
* 41.6 Lumens per Watt (Efficacy)

* Equivalent to 50 to 90W Halogen

Sacrifice Nothing

* 92 CRI (Color Rendering Index)at 2700K (Warm)
* 4000 CBCP (Center Beam Candlepower) with 20° beam angle

Reduce Maintenance Costs

* Designed to last up-to 50,000 hours

Protect the Environment

* Long life, energy savings
* No mercury

Now you, and I, can truly have our cake and eat it too.

Peggy

Choose LED Lighting the Easy Way

There is a big discussion among kitchen designers on Linked-In today about LED tape lights used as undercabinet lighting.

Many designers seem to be using such products for their wow-factor without considering whether they produce adequate light for countertop tasks.

I get a picture of somebody working in their kitchen with a coal miner's lamp on their head.

Instead of using products that will not meet our clients' needs for proper task lighting, why not adhere to the US DOE (Department of Energy) standards for LED lighting?

Their engineers have run the tests and they have labeled tested products with an easy to understand label detailing the quality of the light output by the fixture and lamp(s) in four critical areas, with test results right on the label (kind of like the mileage labels we have seen on cars for years).

It's as easy as this: Look for the label. Don't buy or specify anything that doesn't have the label. Learn to understand the label. Buy the product that most closely meets the needs of the application.

















Anatomy of the Lighting Facts Label

Light Output/Lumens
Measures light output.
The higher the number, the more light is emitted.

Watts
Measures energy required to light the product.
The lower the wattage, the less energy used.

Lumens per Watt/Efficacy
Measures efficiency.
The higher the number, the more efficient the product.

Color Rendering Index (CRI)
Measures color accuracy.
Color rendition is the effect of the lamp's light spectrum on the color appearance of objects.

Correlated Color Temperature (CCT)
Measures light color.
“Cool” colors have higher Kelvin temperatures (3600–5500 K);
“Warm” colors have lower color temperatures (2700–3500 K).

IESNA LM-79-2008
Industry standardized test procedure that measures performance qualities of LED luminaires and integral lamps.
It allows for a true comparison of luminaires regardless of the light source.

Registration Number
Unique number given to each manufacturer and product once they have been registered, verified, and approved.
Only products with valid registration numbers may display the Lighting Facts label.

Model Number
Unique manufacturer's model number for the product.

Type
Specific type of solid-state lighting fixture.

Brand
The brand the product is available under.

There is even a DOE web site listing all of the products that have been tested and approved so far: LightingFacts.com, as well as the judging criteria for each application (so you can understand the label) in their Residential Product Performance Scale.

I have taken their pledge to:

* Evaluate LED product quality by using the Lighting Facts label, which reports performance testing data that measures:

o Lumen output
o Luminaire efficacy
o Power input
o Correlated Color Temperature
o Color Rendering Index

* Use and promote products from manufacturers who participate in the SSL Quality Advocates program.

Therefore I will check all lighting products I post about, from now on, to make sure they have been tested and approved.

Buying LED lighting has just gotten a whole lot easier.

Peggy

07/16/2010
An addendum to this post:

Apparently, the Lighting Facts label is so successful it is now being COUNTERFEITED!


Verify that the Lighting Facts label presented by the manufacturer is a legitimate label
“Buyer (and specifier) beware” – not all labels are legitimate Lighting Facts labels!
Never assume that a label presented to you is accurate. Always refer to the product list on the program web site, www.lightingfacts.com/products, to verify whether: 

o   Items are registered with the program
o   Performance values provided match values listed and verified by the program


04/08/11
A second addendum to this post:


The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will extend the deadline for the new consumer Lighting Facts product label from July 2011 to January 1, 2012. This decision was made after reviewing public comments. The new deadline will allow manufacturers more time to incorporate the label on their bulb packages. However, the FTC encourages manufacturers to incorporate the new labels on their packaging as soon as possible.

The new FTC Lighting Facts label emphasizes lumen output, estimated yearly energy cost, life, light appearance, and wattage. This information will help consumers choose the right bulb for their lighting needs, while shifting the focus from wattage to lumens. This effort is especially important with the Energy Independence and Security Act legislation which impacts light bulbs beginning in 2012.