Camp Hoover

I had done hike to Camp Hoover on 12th December 2015. It is located in Virginia State in Shenandoah National Park on Skyline Drive.
Hike Location
Name: Camp Hoover
Distance: 100 miles from Richmond(approx)
Total hiking distance: 7.6 miles.
Altitude: 3200 ft.
Hike Team: Gnaneshwar, Rajesh, Shubham, Sujay, Thiruppathi and me
Hiking Experience: Started around 7:20 am from Honey Tree in two cars(Sujay's and Gnaneshwar's). Halted at Mc Donalds around 7:55 am and had morning coffee. Left for destination around 8:15 am. Reached Milan Gap Parking around 9:40 am. Crossed the skyline drive and started the hike on Appalachian Trial(A.T.) around 9:52 am. It was a bright sunny day today. Very fortunate to have such a wonderful climate in December.

We descended down the hill through a narrow trail. The path is filled with fallen leaves of the large trees which surrounded the trail on either side. Took right onto blue blazed trail from A.T. in 0.4 miles. There was not much shade along the trail as the leaves of the trees have fallen. We have seen a small snake on the trail. We crossed various streams along the path. The trail lead us to the middle of the jungle. There was a  water stream alongside of the trail. Also there were couple of waterfalls We took right on yellow blazed trail and continued hiking. The path was broader and we traversed the hill under hot sun. The steepness of the trail increased gradually. The hike became bit difficult with slope and hot sun showering heat on us.

We hiked further and the slope increased and we reached an altitude of 3200 ft. Have not had much shade along the path. we met few fellow hikers along the way. Soon we reached the highest point of the mountain around 12:45 pm. We had our lunch at the highest point. Had a great experience having lunch on the hill among huge trees and sitting on mud. Again started hike around 1:15 pm. We were at an elevation of 3200 ft and need to reach our parking around 2200 ft. The trail descended down the hill. The path narrowed and surrounded by small trees on both sides and covered with small grass. We descended down the hill with faster pace and reached the parking around 1:58 pm. Started around 2:10 pm from the parking and reached home around 3:50 pm. Had a Wonderful experience after long time. All is Well.

                      

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Red Velvet Cake

Ingredients
1) All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
2) Cocoa Powder - 2 table spoons
3) Condensed Milk - 1 can
4) Baking Powder - 1 tea spoon
5) Baking Soda - 1 tea spoon
6) Unsalted butter - 8 tea spoons or 1 slice
7) Buttermilk - 3 cups
8) Whipped Cream - 1 cup
9) Sweetened Sugar - 1 table spoon
10) Red Food colour - 2 medium spoons
11) Vanilla Extract - 2 tea spoons
12) Corn Starch - 1/4 cup
13) Green Icing Gel - 1 small tube

Procedure
1. Take butter in small pan and heat it until it becomes liquid.
2. Take condensed milk in a bowl, add liquid butter, stir thoroughly and keep it aside.
3. Take all purpose Flour into a bowl, add cocoa powder, add starch, sweetened sugar(1/2 table spoon), baking soda, baking powder to it and mix the ingredients well and ensure there are no lumps.
4. Take buttermilk into another bowl add red food colour to it and miz thoroughly and keep it aside.
5. Add powdered mix(step 3) and buttermilk(step 4) to liquid mix(step 1). Do not add all at once. Follow below method.
6. Add some amount of powdered mix and stir well. Then add bulttermilk mix.
7. Repeat step 6 until all the powdered mix is used.
8. Once all the mixes are mixed and stirred thoroughly add Vanilla extract and again stir well until thick uniform textured liquid is formed.
9. Preheat the Oven for 350 degrees.
10. Take a cake pan and grease it with butter or cooking oil spray. Fill half the cake pan with above liquid and bake it for 25 mins.
11. Take out the cake once baked(insert a toothpick or small sharp thing to check. If the toothpick is clean without any liquid sticking to it, cake is baked). Cool the cake by keeping it in refrigerator for 2 hours.
12. Take Whipped Cream in a bowl, add sweetened sugar to it and mix them well.
13. Once cake is cooled, cut the cake into two halves and apply the Whipped cream(step 12) on one half of the cake and then place the other half to form the full cake.
14. Again apply the cream on top and sides of the cake as well and spread uniformly. Cover the entire cake with the cream.
14. Can decorate the front portion of the cake with any green gel.
15. Red Velvet Cake is Ready.

                           

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Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
1) All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups
2) Cocoa Powder - 1 1/2 cups
3) Condensed Milk - 1 can
4) Baking Powder - 1 tea spoon
5) Baking Soda - 1 tea spoon
6) Unsalted butter - 8 tea spoons or 1 slice
7) Chocolate Fudge - 1/2 cup
8) Whipped Cream - 1/4 cup
9) Sweetened Sugar - 1/2 cup
10) Soda(coke) - 150 ml
11) Vanilla Extract - 2 tea spoons
12) Corn Starch - 1/4 cup

Procedure
1. Take butter in small pan and heat it until it becomes liquid.
2. Take condensed milk in a bowl, add liquid butter, stir thoroughly and keep it aside.
3. Take cocoa powder into a bowl add water to it and prepare a thick viscous chocolate liquid and       keep it aside.
4. Take all purpose Flour in another bowl, add starch, sweetened sugar(1/4 cup), baking soda, baking powder to it and mix the ingredients well and ensure there are no lumps.
5. Add powdered mix(step 4) and liquid cocoa(step 3) to liquid mix(step 1). Do not add all at once. Follow below method.
6. Add some amount of powdered mix and stir well. Then add cocoa mix and add little soda for better stirring.
7. Repeat step 6 until all the powdered mix is used.
8. Once all the mixes are mixed and stirred thoroughly add Vanilla extract and again stir well until thick uniform textured liquid is formed.
9. Preheat the Oven for 350 degrees.
10. Take a cake pan and grease it with butter or cooking oil spray. Fill half the cake pan with above liquid and bake it for 25 mins.
11. Take out the cake once baked(insert a toothpick or small sharp thing to check. If the toothpick is clean without any liquid sticking to it, cake is baked). Cool the cake by keeping it in refrigerator for 2 hours.
12. Take Chocolate Fudge in a bowl, add sweetened sugar to it and mix them well.
13. Once cake is cooled, apply the chocolate cream(step 12) on the cake and spread uniformly. cover the entire cake with the cream.
14. Can decorate the fron portion of the cake with whipped cream.
15. Chocolate Cake is Ready.

                            

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Rajma Masala

Ingredients
1) Rajma(red Kidney beans) - 1 cup
2) Tomato - 4
3) Onion - 1 large
4) Green Chillies - 4
5) Ginger - 10 gms
6) Garlic - 3 cloves
7) Garam Masala - 1 table spoon
8) Coriander powder - 2 tea spoons
9) Cumin seeds - 3 gms
10) Coriander leaves - 10 gms
11) Butter - 1 small chunk
12) Oil - 1 table spoon
13)Turmeric powder - 1 tea spoon
14) Salt - as per taste

Procedure
1. Soak Rajma beans overnight in water.
2. Drain the water and then boil the beans in pressure cooker with fresh water(3 whistles)
3. Finely chop tomato and onion.
4. Chop green chillies, garlic, ginger and then smash them in hand grinder(dhink chik)
5. Take oil in pan and heat it.
6. Add cumin seeds to it and once they splutter add onions and fry them.
7. Add the smashed green chillies, ginger, garlic to heat and fry them.
8. Add garam masala, coriander powder, turmeric powder and mix the ingredients thoroughly.
9. Take the water from the boiled rajma and pour into the pan and can keep flame high and boil.
10. Add Tomatoes to it and close the pan with lid. Keep the flame medium and let it cook for 5- 10mins.
11. Keep stirring in between and soften the tomatoes.
12. Once the mixture gets thicker add butter and heat it for a min.
13. Add boiled rajma, salt and mix all the ingredient thoroughly.
14. Keep the flame in medium and let it cook for 10-15 mins.
15. If needed you can add water as per the consistency needed.
16. Once rajma is cooked , finely chop coriander leaves and mix it well.
17. Rajma Masala is ready and server hot.

                    

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Mt. Washington

I had done Mt. Washington Summit on 6th Sep 2015 . It is located in New Hampshire.
Hike Location
Name: Mt. Washington
Total hiking distance: 9.5 miles(approx).
Altitude: 6288 ft.
States Crossed : Virginia, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts.
Hiking Experience: I started around 7:30 pm on 4th Sep from Richmond. Reached New York penn station around 2:30 am. Picked up one friend and went to Edison, NJ around 4:00 am. Woke up around 7:30 am, got ready, had breakfast and started around 10:25 am from NJ. Reached another friend's place in Connecticut around 12:30 pm. Had lunch at Connecticut and three of us left for our campsite(KOA) in New Hampshire around 1:50 pm. Reached campsite around 7:33 pm. We saw a small bear crossing the road while we are 20 mins from our destination. It was a clean campsite with no electric hookup, but had a fire pit for campfire and a wooden table to have food. Pitched our tent by 7:53 pm. The campground authorities ran out of firewood so we couldn't had campfire on that night. Went to Subway around 8:25 pm, had dinner . Collected water and other essentials for hike and started for campsite around 9:05 pm. Reached our tent around 9:25 pm. It was pitch dark near the campsite and surrounded by huge trees. We played cards and then slept around 12:30 am. On Sunday morning woke up around 5:30 am, got ready and started to Pinkham Notch Visitor(base of Mt Washington) around 6:25 am. Reached the base around 7:14 am. It as a very bright day with little cool breeze at the breeze. Took the map from the visitor center and then started the Summit around 7:28 pm.

The trail was wide, full of small pebbles and surrounded by huge Mountain terrain trees. It was steep all along the hike and the  slope increased as we hiked further. It was very sunny that day and due to shade of the trees had not felt the full heat. At one point the slope was around 55 degrees. We reached shelter after hiking for 2 miles, where we had light breakfast around 9:20 am. Started from shelter around 9:36 am. As we started we could see the top of the mountain through the tree gaps. It was splendid view and motivated us to hike with much enthusiasm. The trail was much steeper from here and has big rocks all along the path. Slowly trees started disappearing and exposed to the hot sun. At first we felt it was normal day when co hikers kept saying today weather is so good(whats good in this, it is pretty normal and sunny day). As we hiked further the rocks are very big and steep. It was almost 70 degrees and with hot sunshine the hike turned out tougher than expected.As we hiked further we came to a point which appeared to be the Summit from the shelter.Here comes the twist, once we reached the point we saw the sign board which says that Summit is another 0.6 miles to the right and that is when we could see the Summit point. It was very steep with huge rocks. At first it looked like a single huge rock with the highest point staring at us. Slowly we hiked towards the Summit and reached the top of the Mountain by 11:22 am. We have done it. Summit of Mt. Washington. Felt relief after the summit and all the hike. Being sunny day there were so many tourists on the top of the mountain. One can reach the mountain top by hike, road and rail route. Explored the mountain top. It has the top house, oldest building built on top of the mountain and it is bounded by chains so that it does not flew off during the gusty winds. It has Observatory Center. Had lunch at the top around 2:15 pm. Then decided to go by shuttle service to explore the road route as well. Started around 5:15 pm he shuttle. The road route was amazing. the view of the mountain valley was spectacular. Reached the Pinkham Notch(base) around 5:54 pm. Had snacks at Dunkin Donuts around 6:45 pm. We bought firewood on the way and reached our tent by 8:15 pm. We took the fire starter from the campsite officials and had campfire and cooked food for dinner. Had dinner around 10:10 pm and then went to tent, played cards until 12:30 am and slept.

Woke up around 5:30 am on Monday morning, decided to go to the mountain by road route in our car. We winded up tent and cleared everything at campsite and set off for Pinkham Notch around 7:00 am. We reached by 7:38 am.the gate to the road route opens around 8:00 am. The day was similar to sunday's with little cool breeze at the base. The route was very steep and lot of curves and could see the entire valley of the mountain on one side. As we drove further we could see fog and visibility was reducing. We could hardly see few meters ahead of us. We reached the top, parked the car in the dark windy fog. As soon as we stepped out of the car we could feel the fierce winds(60 miles per hour) and barely could see anything except for the fog. The wind was very chilly. Then we realized why people kept on saying weather was good on sunday. Had it been like this on Sunday it would have been much difficult to do the summit. We took few snaps at the top and then returned around 9:56 am. we reached Connecticut around 5:56 pm due to heavy traffic. Then left for NJ and reached friend's place around 8:41 pm. Had dinner and left for home around 9:40 pm. Reached home around 4:00 am. Overall it was fantastic experience the summit, the camping, the gusty winds. This was the first mountain summit and felt happy. All is well.

                           

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Poha Kachori

Ingredients
1) Poha - 2 cups
2) Bread - 8 Loafs
3) Potatoes - 3
4) Green Chillies - 1
5) Peanuts - 15gms
6) Curry Leaves- 6
7) Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 spoon
8) Lemon water - 1 spoon
9) Salt - as per taste
10) oil - as needed for deep fry

Procedure
1. Boil the potatoes(peel off the skin) and smash them.
2. Soak Poha in water for 2 mins and then drain the water and keep it aside.
3. Roast peanuts and keep them aside.
4. Cut the bread into small pieces and mix them with smashed potatoes.
5. Add 1/4th red chilli powder, salt to the mixture and mix the ingredients well and knead them like dough until it
becomes like a thick flour.
6. Take poha in a bowl, add roasted peanuts, green chillies, curry leaves, lemon water, salt and red chilli powder to it
and mix all the ingredients well.
7. Make the above mixture into small lumps.
8. Now, wet your hands with oil and then take small chunk of mixture made in 5th step and press it, make it like a small
bowl and place the lump(made in step 7) in it.
9. Cover the lump with the mixture and hold it tight with both hands and press it to get the shape of a Kachori.
10. Repeat Steps 8 and 9 until the entire mixture is used.
11. Take oil in a pan and heat it. Once the oil is heated - fry the Kachoris until they turn into golden brown colour. In
between turn the Kachori upside down for consistent fry.
12. Take the fried Kachories and drain the oil from them using tissue.
13. Poha Kachori is ready and serve them hot.

  

                      

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Mysore Bonda

Ingredients
1) All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
2) Rice Flour - 1/2 cup
3) Baking soda - 1/2 tea spoon
4) Buttermilk - 3/4 glass
5) Green Chillies - 1
6) Ginger - 5gms
7) Cummin Seeds - 3 gms
8) Salt - as per taste
9) oil - as needed for deep fry

Procedure
1. Take All purpose flour in a bowl. Add Rice flour, baking soda and salt to it and mix the ingredients thoroughly.
2. Add buttermilk to the above mixture. Not all of it once, add in small  portions stir the mixture well and then add again until the batter is fluffy and entire batter is well soaked with Buttermilk.
3. Keep aside the batter for 10 mins.
4. Meanwhile finely chop green chillies and ginger.
5. Add the chopped green chillies , ginger and cummmin seeds to the batter and mix the ingredients well.
6. Take oil in a pan and heat it.
7. Once oil is heated , wet your hands take small lumps of batter with hand and pour into the heated oil.
8. Keep pouring the lumps into the oil until there is space in the pan.
9. Keep the flame in medium and let the lumps get heated.
10. Once the colour of the lumps changes to golden brown, remove them from the oil. Drain the oil from them using tissue.
11. Mysore Bondas are ready and serve hot.

                       

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Jones Run/Doyles River

I had done hike on Jones Run/Doyles River on 25th July 2015 . It is located in Virginia State near Shenandoah National Park on Skyline Drive.
Hike Location
Name: Jones Run/Doyles River
Distance: 104 miles from Richmond(approx)
Total hiking distance: 6.6 miles(approx).
Altitude: 2800 ft.
Hike Team: Gnaneshwar, Rajtilak, Shubhendu, Sujay, Vaibhav and me.
Hiking Experience: We (Gnaneshwar, Vaibhav and me) started from our place around 6:15 am. Reached Sujay's place, picked him and started for our destination around 6:35 am. Rajtilak picked Shubhendu and started for destination in another car. We stopped at Starbucks for morning coffee around 7:40 am. Had coffee and left for destination around 8:03 am. We reached Browns Gap Parking spot, from where we need to start our hike, around 8:47 am. We waited for other two at the parking spot. There was no other car at the parking apart from ours. We had breakfast. In sometime the other two arrived and we started our hike around 9:43 am. We did a thorough analysis to decide from which side to start the hike using the maps we had taken before the start of the hike. We started our hike on Appalachian Trail(A.T.) North, white blazed.The trail was on other side of Skyline Drive from parking. Climate was very hot and no breeze.

We started hiking. The trail was narrow and covered by huge trees on both sides providing shade and have not felt the sun heat initially. It was downhill. we were a very enthusiastic team and kept on going down the hill with great excitement. The trail lead us to the middle of the jungle and it was passing along the side of the river stream. There was not much water in the stream and there were no signs of rainfall on the previous day. We kept on climbing down the hill and there were many small waterfalls along the way. There was little sunshine through the gap of trees, no breeze and climate is very hot and could feel the heat as we hiked further. There were stones, roots of huge trees along the path. We soon reached an intersection where we took left onto Jones river trail, blue blazed. The trail was narrow and lead us much deeper in the jungle. As we hikes further we saw large waterfalls on the other side of the trail. They were the largest waterfalls in the Shenandoah region. But with less water they did not seem attractive. The steep of the trail increased gradually.

At the first waterfall where we crossed the stream, the uphill started. The trail was very steep and  and filled with big stones. Soon we reached other set of waterfalls. The steep increased abruptly from the waterfalls until we reached the top of the waterfalls. Once we reached the last view of waterfalls the slope was gradual and continued our hike. We crossed two footbridges along the way and soon reached an intersection where we took left onto Yellow blazed fire road trail. The trail was very wide and seems like a pathway to the waterfalls for vehicles. We walked on the trail for an hour with little shade by the trees  alongside of the trail. On the way we met many people who were coming to visit the waterfalls. We reached our parking spot around 12:25 pm and it was full of cars. We had our lunch in the shade of trees near to parking area and left for home around 1:15 pm. Reached home around 3:00 pm. It was very nice memorable hike and had great company. All is Well.

                      

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Lake George

We went to Lake George from 3rd July to 6th Julylocated at North of New York

Brief Summary
Place : Lake George
Location : New York
Distance : 250 miles from Jersey City and 600 miles from Richmond approx
Group: 4 members.
Transport : BMW (black)
Duration: 3 days.

Set Off
We have planned to go to New Jersey for the long weekend but have not finalized where to go from there. We took BMW rental Car from Enterprise around 2:30 pm on 3rd July. It was 3 series black BMW. Ravi, Rohit and me started to New Jersey(Jersey City) around 6:30 pm. It was drizzling by the time we left and there was not much traffic on the I-95. We have not packed any food or water with us. It started raining heavily as we drove further. We halted at Maryland Plaza for restroom and food break around 9:20 pm. Had some burrito and resumed our journey around 9:52 pm. We reached Jersey City (Indian Street) around 12:20 am. Had dinner at Paratha Junction. Around 1:30 am we dropped Rohit and then picked Venkatesh and from Bhimesh's place and went to Venkatesh house and took rest for the night. We reached his place by 2:10 am. We then decided to go to Lake George and regarding booking of hotel will do on Saturday morning and slept by 2:30 am. On Saturday morning around 8:00 am we have booked room at Conways Motel around 27 miles from Lake George. We have booked the room, but we know nothing about the place and if there are any activities to do there. We started from home around 9:30 am after having milk and bread. Picked up Bhimesh and left. The climate was sunny and there was not much traffic on the road. As we are approaching Lake George, it was raining heavily. we were exploring all the options on what to do like to eat first or check in the motel first or go to Lake George first.

Finally we have decided to go Motel first and look for food options over there. By the time we reached the motel around 2:20 pm climate was very pleasant and no rain. It was one of the best climate we had ever experienced. The area is so calm and quiet with nice beautiful Loona lake and motel is adjacent to the lake and covered with huge trees on one side. The room was very decent and big enough for 4 persons and the owner of the Motel took good care of us. We then went in search of food and found one Chinese restaurant and had food there at around 2:50 pm. Food was ok and cant expect better than that in such area. We returned to Motel, got freshen up and went to nearby Loona Marina around 4:55 pm to see if we can do any water sport activities. All the sports were closed for that day and they informed that only Kayaks were available for Sunday Morning. We then left to Lake George. It was 25 mins distance from our Motel. Reached Lake George around 5:30 pm and parked our BMW very near to the lake. Lake George has a beach and there were large Cruises on the shore taking the passengers for rides and there were other water sports like para sailing. We boarded one of the cruise and had a ride for 1 hour. We were done with the ride around 7:20 pm. We then roamed around the beach. Decided to have dinner and there was one Indian restaurant on the beach. The food was very disappointing. After dinner we waited there to watch the fireworks. We stood on the shore for half an hour watching the preparation for the fireworks.

Around 9:30 the fireworks started. They were spectacular and huge crowd gathered to watch the fireworks. Around 9:55 pm the fireworks were done and we returned to car. We then left to our Motel amidst huge crowd. Reached our motel by 10:30 pm. We then played cards until 12:10 am and then slept. Sunday morning got up around 7:00 am , went for a walk around the lake. It was very pleasant in the morning with fresh grass and plants along the side of the lake. We then got ready had breakfast(donuts and home made cake by Motel Owner) and left for Kayaking around 9:10 am. We took one Kayak for each and started Kayaking around 9:30 am. We booked them for 4 hours. It was a very huge lake and we kayaked all through the lake and had few races as well. They were other people doing various sports like jetsky, boating, tubing, water skewing. It was amazing watching other boats and doing Kayaking at same time. The depth of lake is around 20 feet all along except few areas where it is 30 feet. We reached the harbour where we started Kayaking around 1:10 pm. We then had our lunch at Subway around 1:30 pm and then started our way back to Jersey City. This time there was lot of traffic and we reached Jersey City(Indian Street) around 8:00 pm. Had our dinner at Dosa House(Thali). Felt very nice, after two days had some good food. We dropped Bhimesh, Venkatesh and around 10:10 pm we started to Richmond. We have got traffic only during one of the toll gate and reached Richmond around 3:20 am. Overall the trip was amazing and wonderful. All is Well.

                         

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Dum Aloo

Ingredients
1) Potato(Small size) - 6
2) Coriander Pwder -  1 full spoon
3) Fennel Powder - 1 full spoon
4) Curd - 1/2 cup
5) Ginger Powder - 1/4 tea spon
6) Red Chilli Powder - 3/4 tea spoon
7) Gharam Masala Whole - 10 gms
8) Garlic - 2 cloves
9) Cummin seeds(Jeera) - 10 gms
10) Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tea spoon
11) Oil - 3 spoons
12) Salt - as per taste
13) Coriander leaves for garnish

Procedure
1. Peel off the skin of the potatoes and boil them in pressure cooker or microwave for 12 mins.
2. Take coriander powder, fennel powder, ginger pwoder, red chilli powder and mix them well. Add water to it and mix them well.
3. Take oil in a pan and heat it.
4. Add Whole garam masala to it and heat.
5. Add cummin seeds to it and once the seeds splutter add garlic to it.
6. Add turmeric powder to it and saute the farlic well.
7. Add the masala liquid(prepared in step 2) to the pan and mix well.
8. heat the masala until the oil from the masalas oozes out.
9. Add curd to the mixture and mix thoroughly.
10. Once the mixtures comes to boiling add the boiled potatoes. Add salt to the mixture and mix well.
11. Add water to the mixture, mix well and close the pan and heat it for around 12 mins.
12. Remove the lid of the pan, the mixture gets little thick and add coriander and mix it well.
13. Dum Aloo is ready and server hot.

                   

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Riprap Hollow

I had done hike on Riprap Hollow on 6th June 2015 . It is located in Virginia State near Shenandoah National Park on Skyline Drive.
Hike Location
Name: Riprap Hollow
Distance: 105 miles from Richmond (approx)
Total hiking distance: 9.5 miles (approx).
Altitude: 3020 ft.
Hike Team: Amol and me.
Hiking Experience: We started around 6:30 am from our place. It was little bright by that time. Bought water bottles from Kroger near to our place and then set out for our destination. Reached the parking for Riprap hollow by 8:23 am. The drive was good along the interstate and then the outskirts of city with green farms alongside of the road was a beautiful scenery to watch. We had breakfast and started hike around 8:32 am. The climate was very good with not much sunlight and cool breeze. The trail was narrow and surrounded by small plants on both sides. Due to heavy rainfall on the previous day, the plants look fresh and much greener and gave feast to the eyes. We took right at first junction towards Appalachian Trail (A.T.). The path was narrow and there were small pebbles along the path. There was water stream flowing on the left side of the trail. We crossed the stream multiple times. The water was very cold. The trail lead us to the midst of the jungle having huge trees protecting us from sunlight. Cool breeze was flowing all the way. Soon we reached top of the mountain and view of the valley from the top is spectacular.

It was very windy at the top and standing on the rock patches with huge valley before us was a great experience. As we moved further on the trail we reached another similar great view. We continued further and soon we reached waterfall which was small but force of water was high and made loud noise. The water was very pure and tasty. The trail was not much steep and great climate made the hike much pleasant. As we hiked further we saw a large, clean, beautiful pond. The water from the waterfall was accumulated here. The water was blue in colour reflecting its purity.  We reached the intersection of A.T. and Riprap trail. We took left towards Riprap trail. The trail was steep and path was covered with huge stones making it difficult to hike. The path was not completely covered with trees and could feel the heat of Sun as we hiked. The steep increased gradually as we conitnued to hike. There was not much cool breeze but shade of the trees on the path gave good relief and we kept on moving. We halted for lunch around 11:32 am.

Had delicious homemade food under the shade of the trees. We resumed our hike around 12:06 pm. The trail was down the hill for sometime which made us relieve after having lunch. The path was covered with shredded tree leaves and it was very soft to walk. The steep of the trail increased gradually. We came to the intersection of Riprap and A.T. We took left towards A.T. The path was covered with small stones giving us a soothing pain while walking on them. The trail was down the hill and we could move with little faster pace. We saw couple of fellow hikers along the trail. On the way we saw huge fallen trees obstructing the path. Finally we reached our parking spot around 1:20 pm. We stretched a bit and then started around 1:28 pm. Reached home by 3:10 pm. Overall it was an amazing trek with awesome experience at the pond and waterfalls and trails were very narrow and beautiful. Also it was an informative hike as we discussed many things about Shivaji Maharaj and the way he fought battles. All is well.

                        

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Cheswick-BBQ

We went to Cheswick park near Henrico Hospital, henrico VA for Barbecue on 25th May 2015.

Brief Summary
Place : Cheswick Park
Location : Henrico, VA
Distance : 0.5 miles from Henrico Hospital.
Group: 15 members.
Duration : 1day

Experience: On 24th evening we have decided to meet and discuss regarding plan for having a barbecue. We discussed couple of options for place like pool in our society, cheswick park and deep run park(little far off from where we stay) and for food we thought of options like barbecue, preparing on gas near pool and ordering from outside. Finally we decided the place to be pool and food will be prepared on the grill and will get backup food and will start around 11:00 am(as soon as the pool opens). So changed the name as well to pool party instead of barbecue. We have come up with list of all the items needed for the arrangement and decided to go next day morning before the pool party starts. On 25th morning around 9:15 am had a call with Hemant(Key person behind the event) and came to know that plan is changed and we are having barbecue at cheswick park. We both first went to Walmart and bought majority of the necessary items, then picked Vaibhav and went to Indian Store, Dollar Tree and Halal to buy the rest. We brought corn hole game as well as an activity to all during the barbecue. I boiled potatoes and then took few chopping boards and knives, picked up Hemant, Amol and Akshay(also brought chopping board and knives) and left for Cheswick park.

It was a bright sunny day. There were not much cars at the parking. We parked the car, collected all the items that we bought in the morning and headed towards our barbecue spot.It was few hundred meters walk from parking to the pot and fully covered with huge trees on both sides protecting from heat. With the shade of the trees and little sunshine all over the place it was a very good climate for having barbecue. We four were the first to reach. We then started preparation of food by chopping necessary items, mixing and marinating them with various masala and sauces. Soon Other members arrived along with their family and kids. There was a big ground near the barbecue spot where the kids were playing and having fun. Soon we were done with food preparation and decided to light up fire and prepare corn. The corn took longer than expected time to get heated. The Corn was ready, applied masala to it and they were very tasty. The nice aroma of the burnt charcoal in the midst of the jungle added to the corn flavour made it delicious.

While corn was getting ready few of us started preparing for the barbecue (sticking all the marinated vegetables to skewers). After corn is completed, we started the veg barbecue. All the vegetables are getting cooked on the barbecue grill very nicely. Soon first round of barbecue was ready and it was superb in taste. And the climate also made us feel very comfortable with nature and enhanced the taste of the food. After two rounds of Veg Barbecue, we had chicken on the grill for those who eat. It also turned out to be very delicious. After finishing with chicken also we started an activity Corn Hole. Made teams, comprising two, among ourselves and those with families one team and others were grouped to form one team. Rohit and Amol won in the game potting highest number of corn bags into the hole. Total three rounds were played and we had lot of fun while playing. We again had veg barbecue on the grill and called the day off. Had a wonderful and memorable time outside with great team and of course had amazing and wonderful food. All our efforts were really successful. All is Well.

                        

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Buck Hollow

I had done hike on Buck Hollow on 16th May 2015 . It is located in Virginia State near Shenandoah National Park.
Hike Location
Name: Buck Hollow
Distance: 105 miles from Richmond(approx)
Total hiking distance: 9.0 miles(approx).
Altitude: 3400 ft.
Hike Team: Ravi, Sujay and me.
Hiking Experience: Started around 6:10 am from our place and picked up Sujay from his place around 6:34 am and left for our destination (Buck Hollow Parking). We took a halt at 7-Eleven around 7:30 am and had coffee. Reached the parking area by 8:40 am. There were few other cars already parked at the parking area. Had home made breakfast and started the hike around 8:54 am. It was not so bright and there was ool breeze as we started the hike. The trail is narrow and there were small small stones on the path. It was a blue blazed trail. The trail was surrounded by huge trees and it lead us straight into the middle of the jungle. We crossed couple of streams. The slope was normal for initial few minutes of hike and gradually steep increased as we hiked further. Due to the tall dense trees surrounding us we didn't feel the fun heat and there was cool breeze throughout. The steep was very high but with cool breeze and not much heat we were able to hike without much difficulty. There were so many earth worms on the path and it looks as thought it had rained yesterday. There were beautiful flowers on the side of the trail. The trail path is covered with rocks for some part, then grass and leaves and then with some big rocks. Soon we reached Skyline Dr around 10:15 am.

We then crossed the road and continued hike along the blue blazed trail.There were other hikers along the trail. This trail was very steep from the start itself and path is full of small rocks and fallen trees. And now the jungle is not much dense we could see little sunshine along the path. We slowly hiked further and gradually steep increased and there was no cool breeze. We soon reached an intersection with Appalachian Trail(A.T.) We followed the path of A.T.(white blazed trail). This trail was narrow and not much steep. We saw a huge fireplace structure made of bricks as we hiked on the A.T. We reached a huge patch of rocks from which the view was wonderful and cool breeze started flowing. We could see entire valley of Shenandoah National Park. We continued our hike and reached an intersection with blue blazed trail(Buck Hollow Trail). We followed the blue trail. This was a short but steep trail. we reached the top of the hill and there were huge rock patches. The view was spectacular from the top. Could see different colours of leaves of trees in the valley. We sat there and took snaps trying to capture nature's wonderful views. we then returned to our car parking area. We followed the same trail through which we came up until Skyline Drive. Since it was descent without much effort we could reach the Skyline Drive. While ascent we have not felt the steepness of the trail but while descent we could see that the trail was indeed very steep. We reached the road around 11:47 am. At this point we covered 6 miles of trek.

We decided the complete the hike and then have lunch. We then crossed the road continued our path on an yellow blazed trail(another route to reach our parking). The trail was narrow covered by huge trees and not much steep for initial few minutes. Soon we reached an intersection with blue blazed trail. We followed the blue trail and continue further. There were small beautiful flowers on the side of the trail. After sometime there were steps(having wood log at the end of each step) leading us down the hill. It was a direct descent and steps are very steep and there were small stones on the steps. We were having pain on toes due to the steep descent. As we approached the bottom the hill the steps are done and it was a gradual slope and path is covered with thick roots of the tall trees surrounding the path. We reached the parking around 12:59 pm thus completing the hike. We hiked 9:00 miles in 3 hours. We had lunch in the car and left for home around 1:22 pm. Reached home by 3:30 pm. Overall it was one of the very good hikes of the season with great weather and awesome views from the top. All is Well.

                     

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Turk Mountain

I had done hike on Turk Mountain on 2nd May March 2015 . It is located in Virginia State near Shenandoah National Park.
Hike Location
Name: Turk Mountain
Distance: 95 miles from Richmond(approx)
Total hiking distance: 10.3 miles(approx).
Altitude: 5440 ft.
Hike Team: Rajtilak, Rohit, Sujay, Vaibhav and me.
Hiking Experience: Started around 7:00 am from our place and picked up Sujay from his place around 7:18 am and left for our destination(Jarman Gap).  We took a halt at Starbucks around 8:12 am , had coffee and home made breakfast. Around 8:45 am we started from Starbucks. We reached the destination parking spot around 9:28 am. There were few cars parked and met group of 10-15 fellow hikers at the parking who were also ready for hike. It was a bright sunny day with cool breeze. we had map with us for the trail. We started along the yellow blazed trail down the hill. In 0.2 miles we came to an intersection with Appalachian Trail(A.T.),a white blazed Trail and continued our hike on yellow blazed trail. The trail is wider, wet and surrounded by huge trees. There was a river stream along the side of the trail which we crossed multiple times. It was a down trail. Soon in around 35 mins we reached an intersection with Turk Branch trail.

We followed the turk branch trail(yellow blazed). The trail is wide and gradually the steep of the trail increased. Due to tall trees surrounding the trail, we have not felt the intense sun heat. The slope started increasing more and more. We crossed small streams along the path. Due to hot summer the water level was low. There was no breeze while hiking along the trail. We reached turk branch parking where we saw few hikers cars being parked. We crossed the parking and followed A.T. The A.T. was downhill and soon we reached an intersection with Turk Mountain Trail. We followed the Turk Mountain Trail(blue blazed Trail) to enjoy the good scenic view of Shenandoah region. The trail is little narrow and was downhill initially. Slowly the steep increased and it was very steep towards the end with lot of stones on the trail and not much trees along the trail. With Sun almost above the head and scorching heat it became much more harder to continue along the trail. We reached the top of the turk Mountain and view of Shenandoah from the top is fabulous. Cool breeze was flowing and we sat at the rock patches on the top and enjoyed the view. We retraced the trail back to the intersection with A.T.

We continued our trail on A.T. and looked for a decent place to have lunch. Around 12:25 pm we sat for lunch. Had delicious home made food, brought and shared by all. We had lunch by 12:55 pm and continued for rest of the hike. It was downhill all along the trail and with huge tall trees on both sides of the trail, we had lots of shade. We reached main road after hiking around 1.4 miles. We continued on A.T. The trail was downhill initially, then the slope of the trail increased gradually. The trail was narrow and almost like we were passing through middle of the jungle. we traversed through the mountain along the trail. We reached the intersection which we have come across during start of the hike. we followed the yellow blazed trail(which was uphill) and reached our parking spot by 1:52 pm. We did some stretching and left for home. Reached home by 3:50 pm. Overall it was a very good hike and memorable one. All is well.

                      

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Miami-KeyWest

We went to Miami Beach and KeyWest from 2nd April to 6th April located in Florida.

Brief Summary
Place : Miami Beach and KeyWest
Location : Florida
Distance : 983 miles from Richmond
Group: 4 members.
Transport : Kia Sportage(Silver)
Duration: 4 days.
Team : Ajit, Amit, Deepak and me

Set Off
we have taken the rental car (KIA Sportage) from Budget at Richmond aiport on 2nd April around 6:30 pm. It is a mid size suv and was just driven 406 miles. We got ready and started our journey around 8:48 pm. Had dinner at Hyderabadi Biryani. Then went to Walmart to buy food supplies for our journey.Then set off to our destination Miami Beach around 10:06 pm. Total distance is around 983 miles and estimated time as per GPS is 14 hours and major part of the route is on I-95 South. The journey was good the route was bit boring with not much good views along the way. Around 7:15 am on friday(3rd april) while we are on way to Miami beach our car AC was having a problem and cool air was not blowing out of the AC vent. Climate was hot outside in florida and with no AC we started feeling suffocated and decided to change the car and dialed Budget Rental Car. It was few miles away from our location and they are ready to repair or provide another car. All of a sudden AC started to work normally and we felt releived and continued our journey. Climate is very hot as we were reaching Miami Beach. We reached finally Miami Beach around 1:40 pm.

Miami Beach
We booked a hotel on wednesday itself at Best Western Atlantic Beach Hotel in Miami North for two days 3rd and 4th April and need to check out on 5th April before 11 am. The cehck in time was 4:00 pm on 3rd April. Eventhough we reached early to Miami but rooms were not available until 4:00 pm. We took the pass from the hotel to access the parking, pool and boardwalk at the hotel. We parked the car and decided to have lunch.  There is Subway just opposite to the hotel, had lunch over there and waited until room is available. Finally we got the room but it was not Ocean facing room though we can see a glimpse of it from the balcony. Room was ok with not much great features. We took rest in room until 6:00 pm. Then got ready and went to beach which is just on the backside of the hotel. By 6:30 pm we were on beach. The beach was very beautiful, clean and with Ocean waters having shades of green, blue it gave a wonderful view. we spent some time enjoying and relaxing on the beach with cool breeze blowing. Then walked until Guru Indian Cuisine 2 miles away from our hotel. On the way checked into local shops and bought sunscreen lotion to protect ourselves from the scorching heat. Miami roads were well crowded and flooded with flashing and expensive cars like Ferrari, Mustang, Camaroe etc and splendid bikes. Reached the hotel and had dinner around 8:40 pm. Overall the food was ok except for the starter. We took a taxi and reached home after dinner around 10:08 pm. Again went to the beach and walked on the boardwalk for sometime and returned to room around 11:28 pm.  We took rest for sometime and two of us went to explore the downtown. The downtown was very good to watch and it was still crowded during late night. The roads were looking amazing amidst the lakes and cruises and ships anchored on the lakes. we reached room around 2:00 am.
Next day(on 4th April - Saturday) we woke up around 9:00 am(some of us got ready and had one round at beach already by then) and then got ready and went to beach behind the hotel around 10:06 am. The beach was calm with not much crowd. We walked on the beach for an hour and then returned to room and left for Haulover beach which is 5 miles from our hotel. This was much bigger beach and huge crowd was there. Took sometime to find parking and then set out to the beach. It was a very long beach coast and I was walking on the path way observing various cooking styles, dishes made by people from various countries. We had lunch at Copper chimney restaurant around 3:10 pm and reached home by 5:00 pm. We took rest for half an hour and went to Disney beach which is 4 miles from our hotel. This beach was much crowded and has various volleyball courts along the side of the beach. We walked on the beach for couple of hours. We saw a huge spectacular cruise ship going to Bahamas. It was well lit ship. We reached home around 8:20 pm. Took rest for half an hour. I went to beach behind hotel and relaxed at the beach. Others went to the nearby hotel adjacent to boardwalk. Being full moon day, with reflection of moon on the ocean waters it was very scenic view. Then went to Subway to have dinner around 10:15 pm. Reached home around 11:10 pm and decided to go to KeyWest next day and slept.

KeyWest
On 5th April(Sunday) we got up around 5:00 am, got ready, checked out the hotel and started for Key West which is 168 miles from Miami Beach around 6:30 am. The road to Keywest was very good covered with green blue shade mix Ocean waters on both side. Around 10:10 am we reached KeyWest. We went to SunSet Water Sports and booked 11:00 am slot for JetSki. We reached the Hyatt hotel where the water sports are held by 10:40 am. we took two JetSki and total time for the ride is 1 and half hour. The JetSki were looking great and it was first time for all of us. I couldnt drive it for first time and JetSki was moving in zig zag way around the water but we didnt fell off it. In my second attempt was able to drive the JetSki and it was a great experience driving through the waters with full throttle and water splashing. By 1:oo pm we came to the shore. Had lunch at subway, 2 miles from Hyatt hotel. Started our retun Journey from KeyWest to richmond around 1:55 pm. On the way to return we just stopped for gas and reached home around 8:00 am on 6th April(Monday). Returned the Rental car at aiport around 6:00 pm. Overall had a wonderful and memorable trip. Glad to have such a good company. All is well !

                        

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Chester Gap

I had done hike from Chester Gap on 21st March 2015 . It is located in Virginia State near Shenandoah National Park.
Hike Location
Name: Chester Gap
Distance: 113 miles from Richmond(approx)
Total hiking distance: 7 miles(approx).
Altitude: 2000 ft.
Hike Team: Gnaneshwar, Krishna, Rajtilak, Sandeep, Shubhendu, Thiruapathi and me.
Hiking Experience: Started around 6:40 am in two cars and picked few from different location and left to destination chester gap. Reached the destination around 9:00 am. There was not much parking and parked the car on the side of the road. As per trek plan we were supposed to start from Chester gap and reach Jenkins gap(8.5 miles). However we found out that Jenkins gap is far from Chester gap and the road to Jenkins from the national park is closed. So we decided to trek around 4 miles from chester gap and then return to starting point. We stated to hike around 9:39 am. The climate is cold and we could feel the morning cool breeze.                                                              

                                              The trail is on Appalachian Trail and it is known as the last part of the Appalachian trail having white marks on trees. The trail is covered with ice on both sides and the path muddy and slippery. The trail is narrow. There is a wooden bridge at the start of the trail. After the bridge, the trail is surrounded with white fence on one side for around a mile. The slope gradually increased as we hiked further. Soon we reached a small creek. The temperature of the water is very cold. We crossed an intersection at 4H center and then at the next intersection we took right and it is a blue blazed trail. Actually we were supposed to continue on our trail but we have take right at intersection due to which we lost the route in half way. We still kept on hiking as we have decided to turn back once we are done around 4 miles.  

                                The sun slowly started coming and the slope of the trail is very steep making it much hard to hike. Slowly with small steps we reached a Shelter point near the main road, from where there was no route to go further except for the main road. We went on main road for around 0.2 miles to see if we can connect to our trail but could not find any. We have decided to have lunch there. Around 11:45 we sat for lunch and then had tasty home made upma, fruits. Around 12:10 pm started the return journey to chester gap following the same route. The first mile was very steep and we could feel the hot sun light. By now we know the route so the return journey was done bit faster and slope slowly decreased and it was more like a flat walk downhill. By 1:38 pm we reached chester gap parking. Had some food on the wooden bridge and then left for home around 4:15 pm. Overall it was a very good trek for the start of the 2015. All is Well.

                        

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National Air and Space Museum

We went to Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum(also known as Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center) on 14th February located in Chantilly, Virginia near Dulles Airport(IAD).

Brief Summary
Place : Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
Location : Chantilly, VA
Distance : 100 miles(approx.) from Richmond, VA
Group: 4 members.
Transport : Audi A4 2015(black)
Duration: 1 day

Journey
We took the Audi rental around 10:30 am on 14th. Started to the museum around 12 noon. It was warm climate when we started and being Audi journey was more comfort and exciting. Event though we have so many comforts in the car one thing was missing, the auxiliary port. So we could not hear the songs of our choice(Indian Music) in the awesome speakers of Audi. We played some English music and drive through I-95, the busiest inter state highway in US. There was not much traffic to our surprise and were able to accelerate at  decent speed. The drive was very smooth and had not felt any jerks or turbulence all throughout the drive. Had Croissants, Chips on the way which we brought with us during the start. Reached the museum around 2:00 pm. It was bit cold by the time we reached.
                     

     The museum was so big covering vast area of space near the Dulles airport. We finished roaming in the museum and started return journey around 5:30 pm. Temperature was much worse and below zero . Had some photo sessions with Audi and started our journey. The car looked amazing in its dazzling lights. Soon we hit I-95 again and there was little traffic this time. The climate outside worsen with chill winds and light snow rain in some areas. The car was being shaken due toe the heavy winds. The car has automatic vipers system, which made the drive smoother. Reached Richmond around 7:37 pm and by that time there was heavy cold wind storms and snow rain with loud noise of winds. Overall we had a wonderful experience.

Museum
The museum was very big with huge building having various aircraft ( real and prototypes) used in various fields(space, war, passenger carriers). The main attractions of the museum were the blackbird, discovery, Air France airliner, Simulators, Observation Towers, Imax theater and interesting artifacts of space. This real blackbird(one of the 32 planes built) is the fastest and covered L.A to DC in 65 minutes. Highest speed is 2250 mph. The discovery here is a model with half the dimensions of the original one but has some pieces of the original one. The Air France has a very smooth finishing and very huge and was gifted by France authorities to the museum. The Simulator rides were not so fascinating as the planes but good for kids.
                              The observation tower is built to watch the landing and take off of various planes at Dulles airport. But being located far off from airport the planes were not clearly visible and its bit disappointing. There were so many other planes in the hangar showing the history of evolution of technology in air industry. There are various types and models of satellites and other equipment used in space technology explaining the life in space world. They were very fascinating. They have huge  collection of planes including some rare and old models. There was a McDonald's withing the museum, where we had food after the tour of museum is complete. Overall the museum was very nice and gave a space experience. Had a wonderful and memorable day.

                      

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kanda poha (onion poha)

kanda poha (onion poha)

Ingredients
1) poha - 2 cups.
2) oninon (kanda) - 1 large.
3) potato (aloo) - 1.
4) green chillies - 4.
5) curry leaves - 3.
6) tomatoes - 1/4  of large one.
7) ginger - 5gms.
8) turmeric powder - 2 spoons.
9) mustard seeds - 4gms.
10) cummin seeds - 4gms.
11) chana dal - 8gms.
12) urad dal - 5gms.
13) groundnuts - 25gms.
14) oil - 2 spoons.
15) salt - as per taste.
16) lemon - 1.
17) coriander leaves - as per garnish.

Procedure
1. wash the dry poha and soak them in water for 5 mins , drain the water and keep it aside
2. Cut oninon, potato, tomato, green chillies, ginger and keep them ready.
3. Boil the potatoes(microwave for 8 mins) and keep it aside.
3. Take oil in a pan and heat it.
4. Add groundnuts to it and heat it. once the groundnuts are half fried add mustard seeds and once they splutter add cummin seeds.
5. Add chana dal, urad dal, green chillies, curry leaves and ginger and mix them well.
6. Once chillies are fried add onions and fry them until they are white.
7. Add turmeric powder, mix the ingredients well and then add boiled potato slices.
9. Add tomatoes to the mixture and mix them properly.
10. Add salt to the mixture and stir well.
11. Once the tomatoes become soft add poha to the mixture, mix until all hte poha is well covered with the mixture and heat it for 2 minutes.
12. Add lemon juice from (1/2 the lemon) and mix it well.
13. Finely chop the coriander leaves and spread it across the mixture for garnish.
14. kanda poha(onion poha) is ready and serve hot.

Note: Serve it with sev or tomato ketchup for better taste.

                     

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jeera rice

jeera rice

Ingredients
1) rice - 3 cups.
2) cummin(Jeera) seeds- 10gms
3) cloves - 3.
4) bay leaves - 1.
5) cinnamon stick - 1.
6) coriander seeds - 2gms.
7) fennel clove - 1
8) ghee - 2 spoons.
9) salt - as per taste.

Procedure
1. Take rice in a bowl, clean and rinse it with water and then soak it for 20 mins.
2. Drain the water and keep the rice aside.
3. Take ghee in a pan and heat it.
4. Then add cummin seeds to it and let them splutter.
5. Add cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, fennel clove to it and saute it for a min.
6. Add rice to it and saute it for a min.
6. Add salt to it and mix thoroughly and saute it until colour of rice changes slightly.
7. Add 5 and half cups of water(generally 6- but to get rice as separate grains little less), close the pan and boil it for 10 mins.
8. Open the lid and mix it once and close the lid and simmer it for another 3-4 mins.
9. jeera rice is ready and serve hot.

Note: This is known as jeelakarra annam in telugu. It goes well with Dal fry and any curry.
Bay leaves, cinnamon stick, coriander seeds, fennel clove - all together are available as Gharam Masala Whole in market.

                     

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