The Importance of Spices in Indian Cooking

 

Indian Cooking pic

Indian Cooking
Image: allrecipes.com

A La Salle University alumnus, Shreenivas Shah served as an engineer for several companies based in New Jersey and New York before taking the helm of a business. For nearly two decades, he has been the president and chief executive officer of BabyVision, Inc., a New York-based baby care company that he revived from the ground up. Born and raised in India, Shreenivas Shah remains connected with his culture through Indian cuisine.

Praised for its wide variety and its use of the whole palate of tastes, Indian cuisine is known all over the world for its complex and exotic flavors. This rich conflation of flavor has become the hallmark of food from India.

The key to successfully recreating Indian cooking is knowing how to use the right spices. Contrary to the pervasive belief that all Indian dishes are curry-based, the spectrum of Indian spices is much wider in range. In fact, as many as 30 basic spices are needed just to create common dishes. They can be used in combination with each other, making the flavor possibilities endless.

For those who are attempting to cook Indian dishes for the first time, it is essential to remember that blooming the spices is the most important step. Basically, blooming entails gently cooking the spices in fat to bring out the flavor. This is done before adding any other ingredients.

Four Storytelling Podcasts That Are Worth a Listen

 

This American Life pic

This American Life
Image: thisamericanlife.org

Shreenivas Shah serves as the president and CEO of BabyVision, Inc., a major baby clothing producer. Outside of work, Shreenivas Shah enjoys storytelling. In recent years, storytelling podcasts have gained a great deal of momentum with a number of options for a variety of different types of stories.

Perhaps the best way to start with storytelling is This American Life, a weekly podcast that focuses on different themes each week and presents three nonfiction stories related to the themes. Occasionally, the episodes will be devoted to one long story.

Listeners who want some fiction and don’t mind a scary story should check out Welcome to Night Vale. The podcast is presented as broadcasts from a fictional town full of oddities and mysteries.

A more colorful option is RISK!, which involves some very strange and perhaps even upsetting nonfiction stories told by the people who experienced them. The podcast is completely uncensored, but the stories can prove extremely moving–and somewhat shocking.

Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People is a rather unique podcast. Each week, an anonymous caller gets one hour to share anything as long as no names are included. The podcast has a comedy focus.

How to Make Paneer in Your Own Home

 

Paneer pic

Paneer
Image: allrecipes.com

The president and CEO of BabyVision, Inc., Shreenivas Shah has developed four recognizable baby product brands. Born and raised in India, Shreenivas Shah enjoys Indian cuisine and counts palak paneer among his favorite dishes. Paneer is a type of cheese that often replaces animal proteins in Indian cuisine. You can easily make paneer at home.

To start, you will need fresh whole milk and something to curdle the dairy, such as lemon juice, yogurt, or vinegar depending on personal preference and what is available. For every six cups of milk, 1.5-2 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar is needed, or a quarter of a cup of yogurt.

The process begins by bringing the milk to a boil over gentle heat, then adding the curdling agent while stirring in slow, controlled motions. The milk should curdle immediately, which is the signal to take it off the heat. Sometimes, it is necessary to add some additional curdling agent.

After sitting for about a minute, the milk is strained through cheesecloth and then rinsed in cold water. If you used yogurt, you can skip the rinsing. Next, you should make a knot in the cloth and squeeze out any extra water. The product should hang in the air for about 30 minutes and then be placed under a heavy object to compress for about an hour. At that point, the cheese can be cut into cubes and added to the dish.

The Top Stargazing Spots in New York State

Long Point State Park pic

Long Point State Park
Image: parks.ny.gov

After working for several years as an industrial engineer, Shreenivas Shah purchased BabyVision, Inc., and now serves as the company’s president and CEO. Outside of work, Shreenivas Shah enjoys hiking, traveling, and stargazing.

New York State is home to several spots that offer great views of the night sky. Near the village of Bemus Point in the southeastern corner of the state, stargazers can visit Long Point State Park to enjoy excellent nighttime sky conditions. Although overnight camping is not allowed, the park is open past dark and is welcoming to those visiting for star views.

Approximately 35 minutes south of Long Point State Park is the Martz Observatory. There, amateur astronomers can get excellent views of starry skies during the public observatory events each Wednesday.

Other great stargazing spots in New York State include Long Lake in the Adirondacks, Nanticoke in south-central New York, and Long Island’s North Fork. Even residents of brightly lit New York City can take in star views. Notable spots in the Big Apple include Inwood Hill Park and the High Line in Manhattan.

Becoming a Better Storyteller

Better Storyteller pic

Better Storyteller
Image: inc.ccom

As the president and CEO of BabyVision, Inc., Shreenivas Shah strives to create a cohesive company culture of shared goals, values, and attitudes in an effort to increase both employee work ethic and customer satisfaction. When Shreenivas Shah is not working, he enjoys partaking in the art of storytelling.

While storytelling is most definitely an art, it is also a skill that can be honed over time. These three simple tips will help improve your next story, and your overall storytelling technique, whether your story is written or spoken.

1. Start Strong – Good stories often have one thing in common, they all set out to immediately grab the audience’s attention. Aside from demanding your audience’s attention, your opening should lay out the story’s stakes. Tell your readers what is at risk if the story’s protagonist fails, whether it is something as simple as embarrassment or something as severe as death.

2. Trim the Fat – Novice storytellers often make the mistake of including too much information. Unless it advances the story, your audience does not need to know what your hero had for breakfast that morning or their thoughts on modern art. Trimming the story’s fat helps keep your audience interested while keeping your plot concise.

3. Ensure Relatability – A good story has some aspect your audience can relate to, whether it is the protagonist, the situation, or the setting. If your audience can relate to your story, chances are they will show more interest in it. Even if your story is about a time-traveling space alien or mythical beast, there should be something there to tether the story to reality so the audience has something to identify with.

Three Significant Mental Health Benefits That Stem from Playing Chess

Chess pic

Chess
Image: Chess.com

Based in New York, Shreenivas Shah leverages his background in industrial engineering, business, and the baby care market to provide executive leadership at BabyVision, Inc., a baby products offer company founded by him in 1998. Away from the office, Shreenivas Shah likes to read and play chess.

Most people recognize the cognitive demands of the game of chess, but they might not realize how many mental benefits it can bring. Here is a small sampling of the cerebral rewards that come from playing chess:

1. Increased creativity

Chess undoubtedly engages the analytic portion of the brain, but it also exercises the side commonly associated with creativity. In fact, players in various studies have demonstrated a rise in their capacity for originality.

2. Improved literacy

The cognitive gains from playing chess extend into other areas of activity, such as reading. One researcher found that elementary school students who play chess scored much higher on the literacy metric than those who did not play.

3. Reduced risk of dementia

Chess, which is categorized as a brain game, has proven effective in reducing the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The more exercise brain tissue receives the less likely it is to lose its cognitive abilities.

The Origins of Chess

 

Origins of Chess pic

Origins of Chess
Image: chess.com

After earning his master of business administration from La Salle University in 1982, Shreenivas Shah later became the president and CEO of BabyVision, Inc., in Poughkeepsie, New York. Under his leadership, the company developed four globally recognized brands and currently offers one of the most extensive product lines in the baby care industry. Away from his professional responsibilities, Shreenivas Shah enjoys playing chess.

While some scholars contend that the Egyptians played a form of chess, the evidence shows that their board game was distinctly different. Though it is impossible to know for certain the location of the first game or who created it, a very similar game was played in the Gupta Empire of India around 600 CE.

As trade flourished along the Silk Road, the game eventually found its way to Europe around 1200 CE. Upon arrival to Europe, the game began to mutate into its present form. The pawn was allowed to move two spaces on its first move, the bishops began to move diagonally, and the queen could move anywhere she liked. By the 18th century, Europe had become the center of the chess world, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that the first tournament took place in London in 1851.

MARC Offers Assistance in Addiction Recovery

Mid-Hudson Addiction Recovery Centers, Inc pic

Mid-Hudson Addiction Recovery Centers, Inc
Image: marc.us.com

Shreenivas Shah studied industrial chemistry at India’s Sardar Patel University before coming to the United States, where he completed his master’s in industrial engineering at Polytechnic Institute of New York. Now the president and CEO of BabyVision, Inc., Shreenivas Shah supports a variety of non-profit organizations, including Mid-Hudson Addiction Recovery Centers, Inc., or MARC.

Created in 1977 as a residential support service for people overcoming drug and alcohol addiction, MARC offers a crisis center and three housing complexes for its patients. After detoxing for a period of one to three weeks in the co-ed crisis center based in Poughkeepsie, New Jersey, patients are eligible to receive additional support and counseling at either the Bolger House, Dowling House, or Florence Manor.

The Bolger House is an Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services-licensed, male-only residence that can house up to 24 men. In addition to rent-free housing, recovering patients are offered various treatment programs, support networks, and training in life and job skills. The other houses provide similar services, but Florence Manor is for women only, while the Dowling House is a co-ed residence.

India’s Ladakh Region and Other Well-Known Stargazing Sites

Stargazing Sites pic

Stargazing Sites
Image: holidify.com

A La Salle University master of business administration graduate, Shreenivas Shah has over 30 years of experience as an executive for leading toy companies. When he isn’t focused on running BabyVision, Inc., a company he founded in 1998, Shreenivas Shah enjoys stargazing.

One of the best known locales for stargazing is in Ladakh, a sparsely-populated region of northernmost India. With Mars-like terrain in certain areas, Ladakh’s minimal light pollution, high altitude, and lack of water vapor combine to make the region a perfect dark-sky environment for stargazing enthusiasts.

Professional astronomers have also taken notice. One of the world’s largest and highest telescopes, the Indian Astronomical Observatory, is located in the Ladakh village of Hanle, and there are plans for another telescope in the region. Other highly regarded stargazing sites throughout the world include the Welsh National Park in Snowdonia, Wales; Exmoor National Park in England; Mont-Megantic in Quebec, Canada; and Aoraki Mackenzie, New Zealand, which is the world’s largest dark sky reserve.

New York City Wants Bookworms to All Read One Book at the Same Time

 

One Book, One New York pic

One Book, One New York
Image: nyc.gov

BabyVision, Inc., a distributor of baby products in Poughkeepsie, New York, is headed by president and CEO Shreenivas Shah. His job entails allocating resources, both capital and people, to ensure that business strategies are executed properly. When he is not working, Shreenivas Shah enjoys reading.

In an effort to raise awareness of books set in New York, the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment collaborated with BuzzFeed to form a public-awareness campaign called “One Book, One New York.” The initiative aims to encourage New York’s bookworms to read one book simultaneously.

The program launched with a series of videos, each focusing on one of the five titles nominated for the program. Celebrities such as William H. Macy, Danielle Brooks, and Larry Wilmore starred in these videos, sharing their testimonials about each book they read and represent. The nominated books were selected via a panel forum by representatives from New York’s public libraries, academic institutions, and publishers.

Throughout the campaign, residents can vote online and at kiosks placed in subways throughout the city. The books themselves are distributed among New York City’s 200 or so libraries. The list of nominees includes:

1. “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” by Betty Smith

2. “Americanah,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. “The Sellout,” by Paul Beatty

4. “Between the World and Me,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates

5. “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Diaz

“One Book, One New York” hopes to help the residents of the Big Apple rediscover the beauty of local libraries and bookstores, all while connecting with each other through stories set within the city.