NFCUK- No French Connection,U Know
This one is for the coffee freaks/connoisseurs. If one belongs to the southern part of India,There is lot higher a chance of you being a coffee lover..simply because,the north side has more like the "Chai pila do yaar!" ("I'd love some tea,buddy!") population. I only belong to the south in terms of genetics. I have spent all my life in the middle. So,quite logically,I like both,tea and coffee. But,I have a lot more of the bean-gene,if I may put it correctly.
Here's the 'chase'. Ever since I tasted coffee, I just lost my 'thing' for the Instant variety. Now,I am not technically abreast with professional jargon like 'Body','Overtone' and stuff that is used to define the taste of coffee,but I do have a basic layman's(maybe a teeny-weeny bittttt more) idea of things. And,yes! I would love to know those terms! But,for now....
Those fancy expensive coffee shops/cafeterias have always caught my attention. Not for their fancy offerings kept on display(or maybe sometimes),but the dark roasted beans in the transparent contraption of unnecessarily big machines(espresso machine..) that squirt out the coffee liquor. These machines,apart from being unnecessarily big and complicated,are also unnecessarily expensive....Anything big,clunky,complicated and most importantly...expensive beyond the requisite are....out of the wishlist. I feel rather proud to call myself a miser,in the worldly sense. Not that I hate spending money. I have this knack of getting stuff done,a lot cheaper than most folks would do. What people call misery, I call frugality... Maybe later on that.
Another thing that caught my attention,was the FRENCH PRESS. This is also a fancy machine that caught my attention when I was watching this show DEXTER...The machine comes in the starting theme song. I looked up for it's price....about Rs.5000... a more fancy way to put it, about $100(more like $90 now...if you know why..)
So I was like...Hmmm....(That was all that I was like...)
I am proud of being an Indian for more reasons than I can count. But the best part is the 'Jugaad' mindset. This word is best defined in a book called Jugaad Innovation, that I read recently. Jugaaad means- Figuring a makeshift/quick and solution to the problem,without compromising on it's integrity.
There is this thing called Filter Coffee,a specialty of south India. The coffee liquor used in these coffees is extracted from the coffee grounds(powdered beans) using this stainless steel contraption.
I came across this utensil(Okay...no rocket science here) when my mom bought it while returning form our holiday in Coorg,Karnataka,as we had bought a lot of roasted beans.
When I saw the working mechanism of the French press and the espresso machine,and then saw the Indian stainless steel contraption, the concept used was a combination of both the expensive machines.
In the ESPRESSO machine,there is this condensed puck of coffee grounds through which,pressurized steam is forced to produce the liquor.
In the FRENCH press, there's this big container. You gave the grounds placed over a movable sieve.Hot water is poured onto the grounds. There's this plunger you press,the hot water is forced through the sieve,extracting all the coffee-ish goodness...and woalah!
The Indian machine is a lot less complicated,lot less cheaper...annnd basically uses the same concept as it's overtly expensive cousins...and the best part,tastes just as good. Wow!! How Do We Do It? Discovery channel should start a new show,specially for Indian innovative stuff,after their already amazing show, going by 'How Do They Do It??'
It's pretty simple..
There are two compartments in the utensil....The top one...and....the bottom one.
The top part has holes on it's bottom side.
Fix the top and bottom,
Put the grounds into the top part. There will be a plunger sort of a thing to press down on the grounds to compact them up. Use the plunger. Make a puck out of the grounds and leave the plunger on the grounds,in the to compartment. Pour hot water...the kind left for 5 seconds after turning off the gas,post boiling.
Close the top compartment.
Do this at night. It takes like 2 minutes.
Wake up in the morning. Your liquor is ready!
The time it takes is worth waiting for. Besides, you wouldn't realize it pass by.
That's how we do it!!
Suggestions most welcome.
This one is for the coffee freaks/connoisseurs. If one belongs to the southern part of India,There is lot higher a chance of you being a coffee lover..simply because,the north side has more like the "Chai pila do yaar!" ("I'd love some tea,buddy!") population. I only belong to the south in terms of genetics. I have spent all my life in the middle. So,quite logically,I like both,tea and coffee. But,I have a lot more of the bean-gene,if I may put it correctly.
Here's the 'chase'. Ever since I tasted coffee, I just lost my 'thing' for the Instant variety. Now,I am not technically abreast with professional jargon like 'Body','Overtone' and stuff that is used to define the taste of coffee,but I do have a basic layman's(maybe a teeny-weeny bittttt more) idea of things. And,yes! I would love to know those terms! But,for now....
Those fancy expensive coffee shops/cafeterias have always caught my attention. Not for their fancy offerings kept on display(or maybe sometimes),but the dark roasted beans in the transparent contraption of unnecessarily big machines(espresso machine..) that squirt out the coffee liquor. These machines,apart from being unnecessarily big and complicated,are also unnecessarily expensive....Anything big,clunky,complicated and most importantly...expensive beyond the requisite are....out of the wishlist. I feel rather proud to call myself a miser,in the worldly sense. Not that I hate spending money. I have this knack of getting stuff done,a lot cheaper than most folks would do. What people call misery, I call frugality... Maybe later on that.
Another thing that caught my attention,was the FRENCH PRESS. This is also a fancy machine that caught my attention when I was watching this show DEXTER...The machine comes in the starting theme song. I looked up for it's price....about Rs.5000... a more fancy way to put it, about $100(more like $90 now...if you know why..)
So I was like...Hmmm....(That was all that I was like...)
I am proud of being an Indian for more reasons than I can count. But the best part is the 'Jugaad' mindset. This word is best defined in a book called Jugaad Innovation, that I read recently. Jugaaad means- Figuring a makeshift/quick and solution to the problem,without compromising on it's integrity.
There is this thing called Filter Coffee,a specialty of south India. The coffee liquor used in these coffees is extracted from the coffee grounds(powdered beans) using this stainless steel contraption.
I came across this utensil(Okay...no rocket science here) when my mom bought it while returning form our holiday in Coorg,Karnataka,as we had bought a lot of roasted beans.
When I saw the working mechanism of the French press and the espresso machine,and then saw the Indian stainless steel contraption, the concept used was a combination of both the expensive machines.
In the ESPRESSO machine,there is this condensed puck of coffee grounds through which,pressurized steam is forced to produce the liquor.
In the FRENCH press, there's this big container. You gave the grounds placed over a movable sieve.Hot water is poured onto the grounds. There's this plunger you press,the hot water is forced through the sieve,extracting all the coffee-ish goodness...and woalah!
The Indian machine is a lot less complicated,lot less cheaper...annnd basically uses the same concept as it's overtly expensive cousins...and the best part,tastes just as good. Wow!! How Do We Do It? Discovery channel should start a new show,specially for Indian innovative stuff,after their already amazing show, going by 'How Do They Do It??'
It's pretty simple..
There are two compartments in the utensil....The top one...and....the bottom one.
The top part has holes on it's bottom side.
Fix the top and bottom,
Put the grounds into the top part. There will be a plunger sort of a thing to press down on the grounds to compact them up. Use the plunger. Make a puck out of the grounds and leave the plunger on the grounds,in the to compartment. Pour hot water...the kind left for 5 seconds after turning off the gas,post boiling.
Close the top compartment.
Do this at night. It takes like 2 minutes.
Wake up in the morning. Your liquor is ready!
The time it takes is worth waiting for. Besides, you wouldn't realize it pass by.
That's how we do it!!
Suggestions most welcome.
