Friday, October 31, 2008

MARICH SAHASTRA NAMAVALI



Tribute To Chilli Peppers

Om Ganeshaaya Namah
Om Gurubhyo Namah
Om Anna Devatabhyo Namah



Friends,
For the first time ever in the history , I have composed and compiled one thousand names and attributes of the world's most loved spice which we know as "CHILLI'.
The compilation of the names has been done as in the same fashion as religious sanskrtit names of Gods and Goddesses have been compiled in Sanskrit Religious Literature.
I not only adore and love chilli peppers , I revear the wonderful spice. It is the greatest gift ever given by Latin American continent to India and the rest of the world.
I hope that people will appreciate my love for this wonderful spice.
Naga Jolokia Addict.........
Marich Gayatri Mantra


Om RaktavarNaaya Vidmahe,
TikshNa swadaaya Dhimahi
Tanno Mirchi Prachodayat
MEANING

We devote our thoughts to the blood red coloured chilli
we meditate upon Chilli which is fiery in taste
May the Chilli guide us(for health and taste) to the right path.

Atha: Hemant Trivedi Virachita Marich Sahastranamavali

Om Mariche Namah
Vaishwanaraya Namah
Raktavarnaya Namah
Agnaye Namah
Kshudhakaraye Namah
MEANING

I bow to Chilli pepper
which is igniter of fire in belly (hunger)
which is of blood red colour
which is Fire incarnate
which is Inducer of Hunger
Trisha vardhakaya namah
Raktashodhakaya Namah
Madhuprameha nashakaya Namah
Raktachap shaamakaya Namah
Udara Vrina Nashakaya Namah
MEANING

I bow to,

Increser of thirst
Purifier of blood
Destroyer of Diabetes
Reducer of blood pressure
Destroyer of stomach ulcers.
Basti Vrinaharaya Namah
Meda Nashakaya Namah
Kamapradiptakartre Namah
Tridosh haraye Namah
Ruchi vardhan kartre Namah
Meaning

I bow to,

Destroyer of prostrate cancer
Reducer of obesity
Enhancer of libido
Remover of three defects that are due to Gas, Bileand phlegm.
Enhancer of taste in food.
Suruchaye Namah
Diptaaya Namah
Pradiptaaya Namah
Dukh hartaaye Namah
Shiro vedana Haraye Namah
MEANING

I bow to

Enhancer of hunger
That which is burning
That which is in flames
That which removes pain.
That which removes headaches
Bahu Nama Dharine Namah
Bahuroopinye Namah
Raktamla Hartaye Namah
Jwalaye Namah.
Ayudhaaya Namah................................25
MEANING

I bow to,

That which has many names
That which has many shapes
That Which removes blood acidocys
That Which is like a flame
That Which serves as a weapon

Paataaldeshjaye Namah
Sarvatra priye Namah
Sarva priye Namah
Su Tamase Namah
Sarva Varnapriye Namah
MEANING

I bow to,
Chilli Which is born in American continent
Which is popular everywhere
Which is loved by all
which is HOT but good
which is loved by all classes of people
Sarvabhowma priye Namah
Rasottamaya Namah
Tikshna Rasakartre Namah
Ashrukartre Namah
Raktambaraya Namah
MEANING

I bow to,

One which is loved in any land
Which is best of the six tastes
Which is of hot taste
Which makes one cry
Which is adorned in red covering
Pitambaraya Namah
Garbhini priye Namah
Sukhadukha kartre Namah
Kimshuka priye Namah
Kantha mitraya Namah
MEANING

I bow to,

One which is adorned in orange covering
That Which is loved by pregnant women
That which gives happiness associated with pain
That Which is loved by Parrots
That which is a friend of singer's vocal cords
Keshakrishna kartre Namah
Roga Hartaye Namah
Asthishool shamakaya Namah
Udararoga haraye Namah
Kantha shuddhi kartre Namah
MEANING

I bow to,

One which blackens hair
Which removes diseases
which removes pains associated with bones (arthrities)
Which removes stomach ailments
which clears throat problems


Sukantha Datre Namah
Dirghayush Datre Namah
Sulabha Aushadhe Namah
Paramaushadhe Namah
Sarvakarshana Kartre Namah.......................50
MEANING

I bow to,

Giver of sweet voice
Giver of long life
That Which is cheap medicine
That which is supreme medicine
That Which attracts everyone by taste.
Sphoorti Daayakaya Namah
Aalasya Naashine Namah
Ashrudaayakaaya Namah
Kesha Mitraye Namah
Shramajeevi Mitraye Namah
MEANING

I bow to,

That Which gives alertness
That Which removes lazyness
That Which makes one cry
That Which is a friend of hair
That Which is a friend of Labourers
Shadrasottamaya Namah
Bhootgana Shatru Roopaye Namah
Durdrishti Nashakaya Namah
Dehasoukhya Daayakaya Namah
Divya Aushadh roopaye Namah
MEANING

I bow to,

That Which is best among six tastes
Enemy of evil spirits
Remover of effects due to evil eye
Giver of healthy body
That Which is a Divine medicine


Pushtikaraaya Namaha
Tushti karaaya Namah
Kanti vardhakaaya Namah
Tvacha Mitraya Namah
Capsicumaya Namah
MEANING

I bow to,

That Which fills the body with muscles and flesh
That Which satisfies you
That Which improves complexion of skin
That which is a friend of skin
That Which is known as Capsicum
Brand rissie Namah
Filfil har Namne Namah
fulful harr Namne Namah
Dar feller Namne Namah
Felfelaya Namah
Jolokia Mariche Namah
HuaycaYe Namah
LakaYe Namah
Lanka mariche Namah
Moriche Namah........................................75
Lal mariche Namah
Nga yut theeye Namah
Nil theeYe Namah
La jiao Mariche Namah
Mi jiao Namne Namah
Ye la ziYe Namah
Ye jiao zi Ye Namah
Paprika ljuta Ye Namah
Spanskpebee Namah.
Bird pepperaye Namah
Chili pepperaye Namah
Goat pepper Mariche Namah
Spur pepper Phalaya Namah,
Chilli Ye Namah
Bird's-eye chilliye Namah
Cayenne pepperaya Namah
Chilipippuri Mariche Namah
Piment des oiseauxe Namah
Piment enragé Namah
ZiegenpfefferNamne Namah
Vogelpfefferaye Namah
Roter Pfeffere Namah,
Chili Pfeffere Namah
Kafstiki pipera ye Namah
Marchu we Namah
Mirchiye Namah
Adom Mariche Namah
Pilpel harife Namah
Mirche Namah
Peperone acre Namah
Peperone d'India we Namah
Peperone rabbioso we Namah
Pepe d'ucello we Namah....................................108
To be contd..........................................
The photograph is taken from
with thanks

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Marcha Na Bhajia
aka
Menasinakai Bajji







The flavor that excites me most (and to the most of the foodies and public at large) is Heavenly smell of frying Chili peppers.The wafting aroma tingles the tongue and excites a part of brain that widens the eyes and sends secretion message to the tongue ,which starts salivating. The feeling is almost the same in any person who loves food and lives in any corner of this earth.

When I was searching for the reasons that made chili peppers as the most sought after spice in the whole world, I looked at different reasons like smell, color,taste , cost and shelf life etc.Surprisingly chili peppers came out toppers in spite of their fiery burning taste.Red colour and nose burning, cough inducing fumes.What,then makes Chilies, the most sought after spice?Honestly speaking , I myself could not pinpoint any plausible single reason.But the fact remains that there is no corner of this world where people do not like, love and swear by their chilies.

I have talked to hundreds of people about the reason they like their food most, invariablythey pin pointed to the primary taste maker and taste enhancer as Fiery hot or mildly hot chili peppers.Among the methods of chili pepper consumption, two stood out as most popular ways of consumption.Fried and or Roasted and the second one was Powdered.

This, then calls for posting a very popular recipe from India , which falls in "Fried"catagory.In India, Chili fritters are known as Mirchi Ki Bhajji" or Marcha Na Bhajiya.This nomanclature varies from state to state. But the end product , basically remains the same.I am posting a very fine recipe of Marcha Na Bhajiya as eaten in Karnataka which is one of the southern states in India,


When we think of a fiery evening snack especially on a cold evening,, the first thing that comes to my mind is the "Mirchi Bajji" lovingingly called as "Menasinakai Bajji" in Karnataka..Especially in Bangalore, the vendors on hand-carts made delicious bajjis and it was my favourite indulging snack..My friend got me a bag full of the portugese peppers which are fiery hot fresh from her garden..She warned me about the degree of heat in these chillies..So I decided to make these stuffed bajjis to satisfy my snack craving:)..Here it is..

You need:

5-6 Long portugese peppers/banana peppers/any kind of peppers which can hold stuffing and Clean them, make a vertical slit on one side and remove the vein with the seeds if you do not like it very hot..


For the stuffing:


2 boiled potatoes
1 onion chopped finely
1/2 cup coriender leaves chopped
2tsps chat masala powder
1tsp peanut powder(optional)
juice of a lime
and salt to taste

Mix everything together..

For the batter:
1cup besan/chickpea flour
tbsp of rice flour
A pinch of turmeric
A pinch of red chilli powder
A pinch of Asafoetida
1/4 tsp coriander powder
water (little)
salt
oil to deep fry

mix everything together to a thick batter..

Stuff the vertically slit Chili peppers with potato mixture gently and keep them aside..Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the stuffed peppers dipped in batter till brown and crispy.
If you want to give special effect like what you get on streets, dip once agian into batter and refry the bhajjis in oil. This gives them a thick covering as in street bought Bhajjis.
Serve them with coffee or tea as the choice may be.
Bhajjis are best enjoyed as a rainy day evening snack or with spirits.

Receipe adopted with permission with small changes and photograph from
http://brindavanrecipes.blogspot.com/

Marcha Na Bhajiya

READY TO EAT...DELICIOUS ...BHAJJIS !!






Image taken with thanks from

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Naga Morich And The Dentist !!





A visit to the dentist involves more fear than pain
when you are a child.
A visit to the dentist involves no fear and bit of pain
when you are a youth.

A visit to the dentist involves no fear and a lot of pain
when you are old.

-Nagajolokiaaddict
Ist Posting 20th October evening
So what has this to do with Hot Chilli Peppers?

Well, this has given me a chance to try out action of Hot Chili peppers (Naga Jolokia) on pain.

I wanted to prove the point that my old Ayah was right when she used to apply paste of fiery hot chillies on her forehead for her migrain attacks. And this was about 55 years back.!!
My dentist asked me to take pain killers and anti biotics for post dental work pain.
But I had other ideas in my mind. So I will take antibiotics but no pain killers.

What I have done is, that I have applied Naga Morich juice from inner parts to my affected cheek parts to see how the capsaicin works. It is almost 45 minutes since I applied the Lava .

My cheek has turned red. The pain part has diminished and there is no discomfort as of now.

I plan to apply Red Hot Lava juice every three hours to my cheek and also eat my usual dose of Naga Morich pickle to attack the pain generators. I am sure it is going to work like magic.

While I am typing this report, I can literally feel pain slowly subsiding. The throbbing pain has started to become a nagging ache.

I am sure that I will be out of this misery earlier than expected due to Naga Morich .

..Now where is my Pepper fairy? Storm ...are you reading this?
UPDATE AT 10.40 pm 20th October 2008
It is almost 14 hours since my molar was
drilled and filled.
Pain is almost not there. Cheek is still red.
By tomorrow I should be much more at ease.
If I press the filling, the pain is there.This means
I have to continue application of Naga juice tomorrow.
But today, I have applied only once so far.
The hot tingling is still very much there.
But I am happy that I did not take 3 pain killers as prescribed.
UPDATE on 21st October 2008 , 8.40 am
I must say that people have underestimated virtues of Chili peppers .Believe me, I spent my first 24 hours only on strength of Naga Morich applied topically.My 80 percent pain has disappeared. Deep within the tooth , I have neural pain and I will have to take an analgesic now to get relief from that pain.In my opinion, muscular pains and pains associated with topical neuron sensitivity like Arthrities are best treated with capsaicin.I will update you with more info
Image of the Dentist visit taken from www.mickphoto.com/ with thanks.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Death By Chili peppers...Really?









Here Sleeps A Brave Heart

"He ate many chillies and paid the price
His heart stopped resulting in sad demise.
He tried to look macho and a strong man
He became,instead dead meat packed in can. "



-By Naga Jolokia Addict






A promising young cook died due to overdose of chili peppers that he took to prove a point about being a Macho Man....probably.

Read the whole story as under.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/article4842531.ece

From The TimesSeptember 29, 2008

Keen cook died after eating red-hot chilli sauce as a dare

Steve Bird An aspiring chef died after eating a super-hot chilli sauce as part of an endurance competition with a friend.

Andrew Lee, 33, challenged his girlfriend’s brother to a contest to see who could eat the spiciest sauce that he could create.

The fork-lift truck driver, who wanted to cook for a living, prepared a tomato sauce made with red chillies grown on his father’s allotment. After eating it, however, he suffered intense discomfort and itching. The following morning he was found dead, possibly after suffering a heart attack.

Toxicology tests are being conducted to try to establish if he suffered a reaction to the food.

An inquest was told that Mr Lee, from Edlington, West Yorkshire, was in perfect health and had just passed a medical examination at work. He was a keen cook and would often prepare meals for his parents. It is believed that Mr Lee had never prepared a dish as hot as the one he made the night before his death.

Mr Lee’s sister, Claire Chadbourne, 29, said that he took a jar of the sauce to the home of his girlfriend, Samantha Bailey, and challenged her brother Michael, 29, to see who could eat it. “Andrew just ate the chillies with a plate of Dolmio sauce,” she added. “It was not a proper meal because he had already eaten lamb chops and potato mash after work.

“He apparently got into bed at 2.30am and started scratching all over. His girlfriend scratched his back until he fell asleep. She woke up and he had gone. It is incredible. Who would have thought he could have died from eating chilli sauce? We don’t know of anything else that could have caused his death. The postmortem showed no heart problems.

“He loved cooking for his friends. He always said he wanted to be a chef but didn’t want to start at the bottom.”

An inquest was opened and adjourned in Doncaster last week.



End Report...


Was this avoidable?
What led to his death which was so untimely?
Why he died?
Are chili peppers the cause of death?

I want to discuss these questions in my next posting.

RIP Picture taken from www with thanks to the unknown original poster.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Falling In Love With Naga Morich....For Ever


Falling in love with Naga as I wrote before, is an unique and once in life time experience that lasts your life time.

There is excitement, there is passion, there is longing, there are pangs of separation, There is bliss of meeting again and again and yet the warmth that you feel when you are one with Naga is indescribable.The feel of holding Naga in hand is something electric in nature.It is like holding a glass containing unknown potion. You feel like Socrates holding a glass of Hemlock.But Naga brings you a high after suffering and not death.

Its flaming red color and pointed tip holds you in a trance.Heady scent sends you in an elevated state of mind which I can only equate with Transcendental meditative state. You are on a sublime trip.

Very thought of the potent heat encased in soft pods that resemble hot lips of your beloved sends your blood rushing through veins.It is like holding a smoking volcano in your hands; or an eager,anticipative and quivering mouth of your beloved breathing passion on your chest while in embrace.

Your state of mind is just like the male spider approaching Black widow female.You know that the first bite itself will shoot daylights out of you.Once you take the first morsel it is tentative like kissing for the first time.At first there is tingling and within a matter of seconds, the leaping flames engulf you.You will be like a chicken on a grill except the fact that this "You" is alive,and the grill is within you.

The white heat will hit your mouth, the aroma coupled with unseen heat in vapours will hit your nostrils and eyes. The ears will start smoking, eyes and nose will start running and your throat will burn differently than the mouth.The stomach will send different heat messages than other parts.The breathing is faster, the blood pumped by heart is faster. Nerve ends all over your body are doing a Banshee dance.The whole effect is more exciting and overpowering than a hundred ORGASMS happening with you.

I have been on such trips twice a day after lunch and dinner.I never have enough of this excitement and I want more and more of it. At lunch I look forward to dinner and my lovely Naga Jolokia Chutney pickle or Red Naga Pickle.And at dinner I dream of next day lunch with my beloved Naga.You are in life long love. A love that Shakespeare has described as under.

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved."



I am in love with the cruelest beloved and yet, I want to suffer and enjoy my suffering.
"O God, I want to remain so.
So Help Me God!!"



Image taken from EROGLAMOUR.COM with thanks

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Falling In Love With Naga Jolokia




Exactly 36 years back, as a young man, I was looking after our glass bottle business in Madras. One day, I complained to my friend Jayant Kamdar (aka JK) that I was bored to death. He was a pioneer optometrist in Madras who was trained at Canada in fitting contact lenses.

He was an extremely intelligent person and he would often tell his friends, "There are only two Gujaratis who are brilliant. “One is myself and another is Hemant." He was the most incorrigible Jain I have ever known. He enjoyed chicken more than chickpeas. Eggs more than eggplants and, in short, prided himself in saying that "I eat all things that walk, fly and crawl.”

He used me as a guinea pig for demonstrating his contact lenses to people, particularly film stars. The late MGR and SHIVAJI GANESHAN were two stars who saw a color movie of me wearing cosmetic lenses which turned the color of my eyes blue, red, orange, and green. Later on both started wearing colored lenses as their movie roles demanded.

Coming back to my complaining to him that "I was bored to death,” he replied "Look Hemant, I had the same question in my mind when I was in Canada and a white Canadian friend gave a suggestion that "If you are bored to death in your life, either start drinking or start loving somebody's wife."The reason being that whenever you are with the wife of someone, there is always a fear and excitement about being discovered with your pants down and mentally you are always trying to figure out ways to escape from the bedroom at the drop of a hat.

I understood his logic and agreed that the second suggestion was most welcome. I told him so and asked "How about my falling in love with your wife? Because charity starts at home."

There is no need to say that he literally fell off his stool laughing and told me that I was more intelligent than him.

But what possible connection does this story have with my love for Naga Jolokia?

Friends, there is a connection.

When you feel lethargic and are in a state of ennui, and when your body and mind slow down, when you no longer feel the bouncy spirits in you, when you feel that hunger has left your stomach, when you do not like to eat proper food, when your blood report says cholesterol at high levels, when the urine report says sugar over the permitted level meaning you are a diabetic, it is time you should go to your vegetable seller or a farmers’ market, and not to your doctor. You will do yourself a big favour by buying Hot chili peppers like Habanero or Thai chili or any Hot variety available. This is just to start with. Remember that you need to flirt with Naga at a later date.

If you are a novice, buy mildly hot chili peppers and start eating at least two per day to start with. If you are gutsy, buy habanero chiles and start with two per day. Continue this therapy for about fifteen days and then select chile peppers with higher heat. Repeat the same process till you are ready to kiss the Naga and suffer for the folly.

But in order to be successful, you will have to think Naga, feel Naga and physically caress Naga. Have about a pound of Habaneras or Red Savina or any other hot pepper always with you in the fridge. Get used to seeing them, feeling them, smelling them and occasionally taking a small bite from them.

Falling in love with Naga Jolokia is like falling in love with someone's wife or a rich man's daughter, or a possessive WWE lady wrestler. Generally it starts and remains a ONE SIDED AFFAIR which is life long. Your first encounter with hot chile peppers leaves you red in face, fire burning in your mouth, crying, and generally at your most uncomfortable state, with your whole being on fire. The effect of your initial encounters leaves a bad taste in your mouth and just as in love, leaves a heartburn followed by stomach burn and a red ass on fire. Faint hearted sissy people run away never to try and look Naga in face (let alone in the mouth).

But for others like me (incorrigible and written-off cases), instead of being a deterrent, it prompts them to "not get defeated" and goads them to try again and again. This is because Naga, once within your system makes you feel hyper or on a high. You feel as if you are driving an SUV in a DUI state. Your tongue longs for that tingling burning sensation. Your lips long for the hot burning kiss of death. It creates a state of challenge in your mind, mouth and stomach. All the three of them want to face the challenge again and again.

You once again reach for the forbidden fruit called Naga Jolokia and once again are floored in agony.

This state of affairs lasts just for an initial period of a couple months. Then, Naga seems to be impressed with your determination. Please remember that at this stage, you are just being tolerated and nothing more. Any layoffs from Naga and you have to start from square one. Naga Jolokia is very possessive in nature. You ignore Naga for a short while and you go one light year backward and away from Naga.

Naga needs to be caressed, smelt, kissed and enjoyed in bits and pieces. You can't just insult Naga by trying to devour whole fruit at a time. It would be like swallowing a red hot pinball. You will neither be able to swallow nor to spit it out. You will be in a catch 22 situation. Naga needs a lot of flirtation. Naga will never get used to you. You will have to get used to Naga.

Flirting with Naga is a long, drawn-out process and it requires determination, perseverance, and a willingness to suffer. For a spicy man like me, it took about 6 months to be accepted by Naga. For a novice like you, you may have to sweat it out for over a year depending on your determination.

You must always remember that you are flirting with the most coveted woman on earth who is beautiful like no other, who is delicate like no other, who is fiery like no other, and who is unforgiving like no other. You must also remember that you will never be able to master her and will always be a devoted servant to her. You will always bear her anger, fire, and kiss of death on a daily basis. You will also understand that being with your mistress Naga is a thing of Bliss or Nirvana.


To be continued……


picture of " LADY ON FIRE" from flickr.com with thanks

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Lady With Fire






Naga looks so quiet just a-hangin' there

But if you try it you better beware

She looks sedate but it's hard to tell

When she's awake she's gonna raise some hell!

She sets tongues on fire and she gives hot shocks

Kindles desire in you like a tinderbox

Her kiss is smokin' and I'm feelin' numb

It's just a token of what's to come

We love your fire, baby, let it flow

We know you have a fire down below

She's an inferno with some steam to let off

But you never know when she's gonna get off

She's a powder keg ready to blow

Well you can beg but she won't let you go

Explodes with a flash leaves you shakin' like mad

She's the best piece of chilli I've ever had



adapted with alteration with thanks from Songwriter - Jesse Lane's song "Volcano Woman" (Copyright 1999 Heart of Music Publishing) withchanges; you can hear the original song here:

Jesse Lane510-575-1500

http://www.heart-of-music.com/Songs/VolcanoWoman/VolcanoWoman.html