Offsite at Jain Irrigation Jalgaon

 We went for an offsite with colleagues from the Prestige group. Destination was a 6 hour ride by bus to Jain Hills, Jalgaon, where the pioneers of drip irrrigation and other agriprocessing methods are located. Very fruitful -literally. They process fruits, and spices too. Pics from the outing and plant visits..

Gandhi Teerth on the campus is a tribute to the Mahatma..

Morning walk..

Breakfast..

Tour-fruity!

Plant tissue culture..

Bhavarlal Jain the founder, in pic behind us

We also found our Spice Girls in the process! Last pic, above!

Spices Make Us

We are Indians, and our country is spice country. They make us what we are. Here are a few common ones.

Ginger-from tea to a curry, it spices everything up. Cough cure too, in the right form.

Garlic adds a different kind of taste to cooking. Pickles get extra zest from it.

Cinnamon (dalchini) is a great-smelling additive to many a dish. Also tea. Saw a plant/tree from whose bark we get this.

Elaichi (cardamom)-Mom used this in every non-veg curry.

Clove- Promise used this in a toothpaste ad- and rightly so. It's grandma's cure for a toothache.

Pepper- History is peppered with wars and colonisation, over this spice. Vasco Da Gama went around in (large) circles, and found it in Kerala.

Cumin and coriander seeds (dhania) are like a staple in any curried concoction. Green coriander and Pudina (mint) also add spice to anything they get into.

Indus Pride Beers

I got to taste a newly relaunched beer in four different flavours recently. The brand is called Indus Pride, and is produced by SAB-Miller in India. It is flavoured with spices such as cardamom, coriander, cinnamon and so on. There are more variants, which are seasonal and available only at certain times. It was at the house of a friend who works there, so it was a great experience learning first-hand about the relaunch at a premium price. A first for an India-based brand? Maybe, at least for a product such as this.

But I also had the opportunity to taste an Indian Single Malt that has made waves internationally. The Jagdale group makes it near Bangalore. It is called Amrut single malt, and one of their creations has been ranked among the top ten malts by a respected critic/ranker. I liked it, and it is 'duty-free' to Indians, and therefore significantly cheaper than the malts from Scotland. A good option to have, apart from the Laphroaigs and the Ardbegs and the like, which one can pick up at the duty free shops. Also found some imported (read French) brandy that is of high quality and sold in Goa, during a recent survey.