News flash

My floor…my home!

The floor of a house says a lot about the home and those who dwell in it. Although ignored in terms of interest given to other parts of the home, floor is a vital part of our living.

The concept of 'floor hygiene' is not very clear even to the urban household. It is a misconception that mopping the floor with water and conventional antiseptic is sufficient to get rid of germs.

'Chlorine Preparation' stands out as global choice of cleaning agents for floors. To cater for the needs of the Bangladeshi household, Opsonin has recently launched its line of cleaning agent. 'Bavilon' contains 5.28% sodium hypochlorite, which effortlessly destroys germs and removes floor stains, keeping your floor sparkling clean and well -protected.

A litre bottle of Bavilon costs Tk 100.

Find out a day when you can contribute the maximum and write down the things that you need to do for the whole day. You can clean up your own room, get rid of junk items and clothes that you don't wear quite often or have got torn. You also should clean up using the cleaners and make sure that you are mopping the floors thoroughly. After you clean the rooms make it a point that you don't allow others to enter the place until it dries up. You can help out your mother in cleaning up the kitchen and this will definitely put her at ease. Take care of any instruction given to you as you need to follow them accordingly. Try to find out what are the things that you need to discard permanently and this will help to make the house look cleaner.

Now that you know what things you should be doing in your house cleaning, don't hesitate to do so, because after all, it's your home. It will look just the way you will want it to. Keep a positive approach in helping and it will definitely make you feel better. At the end of the day when you'll see the satisfaction in your parents' face that would always make you comfortable and bring a realisation of how responsible you have become. So, keep your chin up and get ready with the broomstick!

By Yamin Tauseef Jahangir

Ingredients:
2 lb lamb chops
450ml yoghurt
salt
2.5 cm ginger, grated
8 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 tsp garam masala
1 tbsp poppy seeds, ground
2-3 green chillies, ground
2 tbsp oil

Method:
Remove excess fat from the chops. Wash and pat dry.
Lightly beat the yoghurt and mix in all the ingredients.
Add the lamb chops and marinate for at least 6 hours. You can marinate them for 24 hours, but the meat should be covered and refrigerated, then returned to room temperature before grilling.
Take the chops out of the marinade and place on a baking sheet.
Cook under a preheated grill for 8-10 minutes on each side.

Sweet and Sour Kebabs

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
8 oz pineapple chunks, undrained
1 green pepper, cut up
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
6 mushrooms, halved

Method:
Mix beef, 1/4 cup soy sauce, bread crumbs and eggs. Shape into meatballs. Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Mix remaining steak sauce with juice. Set aside. Thread meatballs, pineapple, green pepper, tomatoes, and mushrooms on skewers. Grill or boil for 10 to 15 minutes. Brush steak sauce over kebabs frequently. Serve on rice.

Afghani Sheekh Kebabs

Ingredients:
1/2 kg minced meat
1½ tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 onions, chopped
2 tomatoes, cubed
2 capsicums, cubed
oil, for brushing

Method:
Grind minced meat with salt, ginger, garlic, and onion.
Let it stand in a cool place for an hour. Place in a skewer one by one, a small ball of mince, then a cube of tomato, then capsicum. Repeat the same arrangement again, till the skewer is half filled.
Grill the meat while brushing the meat with oil.

For the love of food

By Kaniska Chakraborty

That warm feeling

Calcutta winter mornings are nice. They give you a very comfortable feeling.

Foggy and not sunny, these mornings are great for sleeping in. The bad boy that is my body clock keeps waking me up at seven without fail even on weekends. You know what I do? I smile and pull the warm blanket up to my ears and doze off again. Faint noises float towards me. The intrepid bus on the streets; maybe an election campaign or two; appeal from a local cricket match (what are those guys doing so early anyways?). The noise is very soporific. Sleep drifts down again blissfully on your not-yet-awake eyes.

Then the doorbell rings! You ignore it once. It is a most persistent customer. It rings again. It's the delivery man with the daily supply of bread and milk. You drag yourself out, put on the cold slippers and flip flop your way across the apartment to open the door, mumble something or the other to the culprit, fish inside the wallet to pay him off and then stumble back to the inviting bed.

And you stop in your tracks. The black machine on the sideboard has caught your eyes. The coffee machine. The only redeeming feature of waking up on a winter morning.

Kenyan, Ethiopian, French Roast, Italian Roast, Java. I am spoilt for choices. The larder is full of exciting options when it comes to coffee, courtesy of my generous friends and family who travel a lot and are kind enough to pick up a packet of coffee for me wherever they go.

Aah! The aroma of fresh brewed coffee. Wafting through the room amidst the still morning air! The very therapeutic sight of coffee gathering in the pot, drip by strong drip. The slight whoosh of the steam coming out of the machine.

I am not that much of a connoisseur to understand the hint of berries and the head of cinnamon or the aftertaste of chocolate in a coffee. All I know is that my mug should be steaming, dark, unsweetened and tastefully bitter.

The air in the apartment is full of the heady smell. The slight noise of the machine percolating is the perfect background music. Sunlight starts to filter through the closed windows. Family members are coming around, swathed in various layers of clothing.

I proceed to take out the fruit cake that we usually buy on a Saturday evening. Set the mugs on the table. A lazy Sunday morning is well and truly on its way.

There is nothing like a great mug, yes mug as opposed to cup, of well made strong coffee. The smell clears your head, the taste, your palate.

And I do hope my friends and family will continue to go to various parts of the wide world and keep picking up that one packet for me. For this, I am eternally grateful to them.

After all, it is courtesy to them that I get to enjoy the warm feeling on a winter morning. Goes great with a good piece of fruit cake. But that 's a story for another day.