My Bucket list!

not too long, before i'm gonna kick the bucket.... here's the list of things which i intend to do before the 'D' day! or maybe the 'A' day (admission into the hospital day) or 'T' day (turning into a vegetable day)!

• I want to see my own wikipedia page on my own computer (of course, created and maintained by someone else and it should be all active and visited by millions everyday - hope u understand where i'm getting at)
• At least for once, i want to run on the beach, wearing just shorts, with a super hot chiseled body. I should look like David hasselhoff. (If I do that now, trust me, there wont be anybody in the 5 km radius of that beach)
• I want to rent a room in the top most floor of Burj Al Arab hotel, Dubai, sit in the balcony (facing the sea) and taste the most expensive caviar along with the most expensive wine.
• I want to drive a speed boat (with tank full of fuel), all by myself, and I should take it deep inside the sea (at least 50 kms inside), without supervision.
• Something similar to the above wish - I want to ride a horse (not any ordinary lame horse - an Italian stallion) :)... really fast and furious, with me wearing all kinds of Armour wear (troy style). (I hope there are some carnivals in some parts of the world which has such arrangements)
• I want 'Mutton biriyani' from Dawat, adyar, 'Raan' from copper chimney, 'Tava kalamaari' and 'red snapper fry (shankara) from moon rakers, mahabalipuram, 'chicken wings medium spicy' from eatalica, R A puram, 'death by chocolate' from Tangarine, alwarpet ------ all at once, in the same place, at one go I should have them all! (normally there's at least a week gap between having any 2 of the mentioned)
• I want to meet johny depp, in person. it will be Captain jack sparrow meeting his biggest fan!
• I want to win big in the stock market, at least once. and the best part is, my friends, broker and everyone should strongly suggest me to not do a certain thing, but I would go ahead do it anyways and that will probably pay me off really well. nothing will make you feel more happier I say!
• I want to sit in the cockpit along with the captain of an Airplane! (probably with a couple of stewardess too)
• I want to see my name in someone else's presentation, made in front of atleast a 100 people. And it should be a proud moment for me. :)
• I want to go to Texas and take that 72oz steak challenge (refer previous post)
• Soon after my retirement, on the 1st Monday, I want to get up really early in the morning, and knowing that I don't have to go to work, I should fall flat on the bed with full satisfaction/laziness and no guilt!
• I want to see snow (yes, I live in Chennai)
• Name one of my kids Achilles.

Now the 'cliche' items from the list:

• I want to set foot in all the continents.
• I want to eat Durian fruit.
• I want to address a gathering with more than 1000 people.
• I want to slap an Aussie (seriously)
• I want to do sky diving.
• I want to visit Taj Mahal
• I want to honeymoon in Jamaica
• I want to see '1000 hits per month' in my blog stats
• I want to see '1500 hits per month' in my blog stats 
• I want to see '3000 hits per month' in my blog stats
• I want 'Indiblog' rank 85
• I want to drink have 15 drinks and still be conscious
• Drive a BMW M6 (just drive!)
• I want to slap a really hot girl and have no regrets about it.
• Appear on TV
• I want to go on a minimum 5 day cruise (no land - just water). 
• I want to swim for atleast 100 m without a life jacket.
• I want to sit and do a 'Lord of the Rings' Marathon (with no breaks - not even for 10 mins)
• I want to go Scuba diving
• I want to go snorkeling
• I want to buy a really expensive and awesome personal camera
• I want to visit Amsterdam
• I want to pat a Lion (and come back home alive)
• I want to own a house with a indoor swimming pool
• I want to get my ear pierced (the non gay ear)
• VEGAS
• I want to eat King Crab

I will continuously update this. As and when I complete current items and come across new ones.

Man vs Food.

The two kinds of people in the world... the ones who work really very hard to even have 1 square meal a day, and the ones who work extremely hard to reduce that extra 5kgs of body fat. Both of them sweat, sizzle everyday and are not happy with their current state. This post is for the latter type! 

but this is neither about inequality, nor about weight reduction/health etc... 

While American restaurants have often been called out for their sometimes gluttonous serving sizes, some are proud of their over sized portions. so proud, in fact, that a few food purveyors have made them into official eating challenges. Thats this TV series is all about. Sometimes it makes you wonder why the Americans have this much of luxury, while the rest of the world does not!

The host Adam Richman, a witty and cheerful guy, goes from place to place all over America in search for exotic food challenges, attempts to win them. Makes you wonder "what a life this guy has got". All he has to do is to go around and eat awesome stuff and somebody pays him to do that...!

If you haven't watched this show yet, please start watching. let me give a little motivation: The different food stuff that they show in this programme look so delicious that your mouth starts drooling, like immediately. And by the end of the episode, you mouth would've generated at least 1 liter of saliva. And if you ever make the mistake of running a marathon (5 plus episodes in a row), then god save you. You get so tempted, you'll eat anything edible that you find (once I drank plain tomato ketchup :))


Every episode, The host Richman, explores the major food points of the particular city before attempting the main challenge. That means more visual treats for the viewer. 




Here 'challenge' means either finishing huge quantities or handling extremely spicy stuff! Being Indians, the spicy hot food stuff may not look really challenging, but the ridiculously huge quantities involved in some of the other challenges do make your head rotate! The one episode where he attempts and successfully finishes a 72oz steak, which looks like a pillow, in 1 hour (which a cheetah would normally finish in 2 days), makes you think if this guy is from mars or some other planet far far away!

On the other hand this show acts as an excellent platform for promoting the restaurants. Probably the restaurant owner sponsors the particular episode, inviting the crew to their city/state. For all we know, they may even create a new challenge just to feature in the show (although it's claimed that the challenges are traditional etc).

72oz steak, 6 pound sandwich, 8 pound ice cream (8 scoops of different flavors with all possible toppings), mammoth burger weighing 10 pounds, fiery hot chicken wings,  42 inch pizza etc are some of the challenges.

Before eating these things, Adam goes into the kitchen and takes us through the making of each recipe.

It's like take a of bun, put a 2 pound patty in it, load it with 4 slices of cheese, add 5 strips of bacon,  add another 2 slices of cheese, eat the burger and finally call the cardiologist!!!

On the whole this show is really awesome and is definitely recommended (not for vegetarians though. Watch the show then you'll know why:))

Any TV series producer reading this blog, if you are planning to make an Indian version of Man vs Food, please consider me for hosting the show. I look good, I am funny and I have a raging appetite for food. I promise I'll be as good as Adam Richman, if not better!!!

How would it be? an Indian version of Man vs Food:

• 30 idlis in 35 mins (winner gets his name on the wall of fame near the cash counter)
• 2 kgs of curd rice with only mango pickle - 2 sachets on the side in 1 hour (winner gets named curd king)
• Andra meals unlimited with Gongura pickle etc - keep eating continuous for 2 hours (even Adam Richman will hit the wall in 30 mins)
• Tandoori chicken - 2 full plates with 2 plates of rashmi kebab, 1 plate hariyali kabab and 2 glasses of lassi - in 1 hr (winner gets free tandoori in that restaurant for 3 months)
• 1 liter of payasam/kheer in 5 mins (loser has to pour the remaining stuff on his head)
• 10 plates of Chilly bajjis in marina beach - in 40mins (this one sounds quite achievable!!!)

Why is it called 'Chicken 65'...?

'Chicken 65' is one of the most popular chicken dishes in India (at least in South India). Every 4 out of 10 side dishes ordered every time, every day, at every hotel in Tamil nadu will be a 'chicken 65'. this form of chicken has really positioned itself as one of the best, amongst all other dishes.

Ever wondered why it is called 'Chicken 65'? I am sure you would have... at least 90% of the people at sometime or other would've wondered about the reason why it is called 'Chicken 65'. The remaining 10% of the junta who just like to hog food and dont care why it is called by such a name, they are 'god's own people'. lets not disturb them. this post is not meant for them!


Now, I have to tell you about what really inspired me to write a post like this! As I am on diet now, I am avoiding most of my favourite food items (mainly junk food, deep fried, with heavy fat content, milk products, sugar rich, oil rich stuff etc). So i thought, I'll give myself visual treats, instead of the actual treat (sorry my tongue). Off late I started watching a lot of cooking videos online. like 'BBQ pit boys' etc. While cooking these recipes, the chefs actually give a lot of tips, information about the food that they're preparing. extra information on this 'chicken 65' really interested me.


There are many theories, myths about how this dish got its name. some are ridiculously funny. a few versions are:

• the chicken is 65 days old (If the bird was given one wish, i think it would ask god that it should end up in a tandoori restaurant or a Chinese restaurant. That way it can live longer instead of dying in 2 months!)
• they add 65 different ingredients in this dish (this theory is 'super bogus' - C65 is one of the simplest dishes you can make)
• it was 1st made in the year 1965 (this is quiet possible. but again, what did they call it in 1965 - 'this year's chciken'?)
• they cut the whole bird into 65 pieces to make this dish (I say impossible, as it will be like a minced meat recipe if you are going to cut a 3 pound bird into 65 pieces)
• you have to marinate the chicken for 65 minutes (sounds pretty lame too. this is not a 'good enough reason' to name a dish)

but the most acceptable/believable/logical theory seems to be that "this dish originated in a military canteen in Chennai and as most of the soldiers, officers were from various parts of the country, to avoid language problems, they actually used a unique numbering system in the menu card/board. and this particular dish was the 65th item on that menu. so it became chicken 65..." (but i wonder what happened to 'Mutton 32', 'Egg 47', ' Idly 01' (idlies are most likely to be the 1st dish on any menu), 'sambar vada 69' etc. why dint those dishes survive?). but we should give the benefit of the doubt to the chicken, i also think this theory sounds much better compared to others.


Now i wanna share some of my own assumptions on how this dish got its name:

• the waiter delivers the dish exactly 65 minutes after the order is placed. (1hr lead time!!! by now the dish would've been extinct :-))
• the ideal cost for a dry chicken dish like that should be Rs. 65 (that means standardized price at all places, from a road side shop to a 5 star hotel - not possible)
• consider a poultry farm, where all the chickens have badges, more like a identity number. there every 65th chicken is used for the preparation of this particular dish!!! (i should get a Nobel price for coming up with such a theory)

another thing which really inspired me to write this post is the following video. this is a must watch!!!

have fun!!!