Brand value

It is very intriguing to know that we become slaves of a particular brand and do not even give a second thought to try something new.  In the 60's and 70's there was the 'Det' and 'Sway' brand of washing detergents and have seen only these in almost everyone's house.   Sometimes, just to rejuvenate the customers, they used to give something free alongwith the purchase of the product . I still have a teaspoon with 'Sway' on it, duly passed on to me by my mother :):)Again, there was 'Horlicks', and 'Ovaltine' etc etc.

The advantage of sticking to a product is that we can blindly pick it up  without having to go through the details and the reviews it is attached with.  Sometimes, even a slight change in the packing would bring in a small quantum of doubt, we normally would prefer to stick to the original one.  We can hardly see these products being advertised often,  as they have a dedicated fleet of followers who, no matter what, would not ditch them.  Colgate, Lux and Nescafe are a few popular brands which have very loyal followings and they too live up to our expectations.  When customers are satisfied with a brand, it is very difficult to erase the loyalty and bring in a new item.  Nowadays, the trend is to give small satchet samples alongwith leading magazines to lure the customers and introduce their product.  This is very effective advertising.

Here, in the UAE, I have a set of products which appears in my 'To do' list every month.  I do not have the patience or preference to even look at any new ones which may arrive in the market.  Only when any relatives or friends drop in, we pick up any recommended items which they had used and thus enters one or two new ones to my household.

The following apply only to those people who settle down in a place without the hassle of transfers and newfound jobs.  I can still recall the faces of vegetable vendors who used to come home and supply them and according to seasons this would vary.   We had the luxury of having farm fresh vegetables daily and never stored any as now.  No questions asked, no bargains, just the supply and a final tip of some coriander, curry leaves, adrak and green chillies free !!!!  Even the vendors are confident that they would be able to sell  whatever they get from the main market.   During the mango season, she used to come with a big knife to chop the mangoes for pickles, free service for the purchase of her mangoes.  Everyone had a name to be referred to with a suffix like 'akka (big sister) or 'amma' (referring madam in that situation).  It was not just selling vegetables, she would enquire about each and everyone in the family and would genuinely participate in the 'sukh-dukh' of our family, these people can also be called as their own brand ambassadors, if I may say so.

I would love to know if you stick to a brand or free to try new ones, unlike me :):):):)

" Brand value is very much like an onion.  It has layers and a core.  The core is the user who will stick with you until the very end" - Edwin Artzt

First sun rise of 2011

Wishing my blogger friends and their family a very Prosperous, Happy and Healthy 2011 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hurray Indigo

I returned after an hectic and  joyful trip to India last week. We flew to Chennai and had to visit Vadodara to meet our friends.  We had confirmed bookings by the Indigo airlines from Chennai to Vadodara via Mumbai.  When the booking was made online through "Make my trip", the transit period in Mumbai was only 45 minutes.  Thinking that the job of shifting gates to the connecting flight in the same terminal should not be a problem, we went ahead with the plan. 

While boarding from Chennai, we were greeted by the friendly young staff of Indigo airlines.  After securing the boarding pass from Chennai to Mumbai, when questioned about the boarding pass of the second leg, we were told that we need to get it only in Mumbai.  On hearing this, a sort of uncomfortable feeling spread on us.  While arguing about the time factor in Mumbai etc etc, came the next shock.  The staff told us that we have to collect our baggages and then do another check-in with a new boarding pass which will be issued only in Mumbai.  45 minutes is all you have and having to do such jobs would be impossible.  Off ran my husband to meet the Manager of Indigo.  After considerable discussion and spelling out the impracticability of the situation, they came with a positive reply that one of their staff would be ready with our boarding pass at the disembarking gate in Mumbai. This seemed to be a tension-relieving solution. Now, the question of baggage!!!! After many calls to Mumbai, again the Manager came positive feedback of transfering our baggage immediately on landing in Mumbai.  He also promised that they would load the baggage directly to the Vadodara flight and we need not be bothered about it.  We both heaved a sigh of relief, but everything should fall in place as told to us.  Easily said than done !!!!!

On reaching Mumbai, an announcement was made to offload us first. We ran to the gate and was greeted by a pleasant looking staff who was holding our boarding pass.  We were even escorted to the boarding gate by another staff who ran as much as we did.  Finally, on reaching the appropriate gate, we thanked him and the staffs of Indigo.  It was our maiden flight through this airlines and found them very helpful.  Indigo has a young fleet of ground staff who are on their toes all the time and they claim that their flights are on time or ahead of time.  I vouch for that as all the flights were 5 to 10 minutes ahead of the arrival time.

Thanks to Indigo for making our trip possible without any hassle. 

Moral of the incident: Transit time should always be more than 2 hours, be it domestic or International.

"Sometimes when we become angry/upset/disappointed at others for not reacting to our wants and needs as we would like, it may reflect something similar about ourselves that we may not like and challenge us to become more aware of our own shortcomings."     Jenny Jimenez

Lip smacking Creamy Malai Kofta

This recipe is one of my family favourite and if the procedure is followed in dedication, nothing can go wrong.  It is a treat to dig into the Koftas and enjoy the paneer, nuts and raisins.
 

Ingredients - Koftas:

Boiled and mashed potatoes - 2 cups

Finely chopped and boiled vegetables (beans,carrots,peas etc.) - 3/4 cup

Paneer - 1 cup

Red chilly powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 3/4 tsp

Cumin powder - 3/4 tsp 

Chopped nuts (Almonds,cashew nuts and raisins)

Salt

Ingredients - Gravy:

Onions - 3 med.size chopped

Tomato paste - 1 1/2 tsp

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 1/2 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

Cumin powder - 3/4 tsp

Red chilly powder - 3/4 tsp

Nuts (Almonds, cashew nuts) made into a fine paste -3 tbsp

Heavy cream - 2 tbsp

Finely chopped coriander leaves-1 tsp

Salt

To prepare koftas:
Combine the mashed potatoes, boiled vegetables, paneer together with all the spices and salt.  Make sure the dough is firm and can be made into balls.  While making balls, fill 1/2 tsp of nuts and raisins mix in the centre and seal it firm.  Pour little oil in the Kuzhipaniyaram pan and shallow fry the koftas by tossing them at regular intervals, so that they are evenly fried and gets the golden brown color.  Drain the oil and keep aside..

To prepare gravy:
Take oil in a kadai and add chopped onions till it becomes translucent.  Then, add the ginger-garlic paste, garam masala powder,cumin powder and the red chilly powder.  When the masalas are done, add the tomato paste and keep stirring till the raw smell disappears.  Then, add the nuts paste and keep stirring in low flame. Caution is needed at this point, as the nuts paste tends to stick to the base of the kadai, hence continuous stirring is advised.  Add enough water to make a thick gravy.  When it begins to boil, simmer the flame and add koftas to this gravy and cook for 5 minutes.  Garnish with finely chopped coriander.  Drizzle the heavy cream and then the sinful indulgence :):)

Yummy malai kofta is ready to devour.

'We are all dietetic sinners, only a small portion of what we eat nourishes us; the balance goes to waste and loss of energy' - Laiko Bahrs

Yummylicious tea time cup cakes

Cup cakes are always a delight to bake and instantly devour. I made some simple cup cakes without any frosting, not to add more calories.  But, added some choclate chips  and nuts to some. This is one of the perfect cup cake recipe which cannot go wrong and courtesy of joyofbaking.com .  I made some slight variation to the original recipe.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour  - 1 1/2 cups  
Sugar  - 2/3 cup granulated sugar
Eggs  - 3 large eggs
Butter  - 1/2 cup or 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
Milk - 1/4 cup
Nuts of your choice
Chocolate chips
Baking powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Vanilla extract -  1 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp

Preheat oven to 350 deg.

In a bowl, add butter and sugar and beat it until light and fluffy.  Once the mix is done, add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, add the flour,salt and the baking powder and blend well.

Add the flour mix and the milk alternatively to the butter sugar mix, beginning and ending with flour.Divide the mix and add chocolate to some and nuts to the rest.

Fill in the muffin cups and bake for 16-18 minutes.  Insert a toothpick to check if it is baked. Once done, remove it and keep in a rack to cool.

You can have it plain or top it with frosting. I preferred having it plain with tea.

'A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes that he has the biggest piece' - Ludwig Erhard