Indo-British fusion food

It is Indo-British fusion food, not Anglo-Indian food, at Hilton Chennai (Foodie Trail-Chennai)

  By Venkatachari Jagannathan (11:14)  Chennai, Nov 16 (IANS) It is a simple fusion food festival sans confusion at the Ayna restaurant in Hilton Chennai that is hosting the Indo-British Fusion Fest till Nov 20, said a chef.

"We haven't tinkered with the core taste and philosophy of the food. But we have fused it with some British elements," Chef de Cuisine Paul Joe told IANS.

He added the plating was in the British style -- that is, all the items on a single plate and not served separately - as he served the appetiser: arbi tukde-colocasia fritters, coloured peppers, onions and a tangy spice mix.

While savouring the tasty arbi tukde, the khasta khumb -- layers of spiced morels and mushroom in a crisp sheet -- came to the table. Like its look, the dish also tasted nice. While mushroom lovers would go mad over this, others too can try this and they would not be disappointed.

It was soon followed by the ultra-soft orange-flavoured tandoori salmon with baby greens salad which went down in a jiffy. The orange is there in the colour and its flavour was very subtle. One can also go for the Malabari prawns. Each jumbo prawn would fill up your mouth.

The it was time for the seafood rassa -- Cochin prawns, mussels with scallops -- which was mild and flavourful. "The prawns and scallops were slow-cooked in seafood stock," Paul Joe informed.

The vegetarian bhune makai ka shorba -- roasted corn soup with turmeric popcorn -- is also worth trying as it was different and tasty.

Now, for the entree or the main course.

Except for the soup section that has only two options, the ala carte menu card has a multitude of choices -- vegetarian and non-vegetarian -- whether under appetisers, entree, dessert and not to mention the lassi.

The number of dishes in the menu only proves the wide variety of regional and traditional items of Indian cuisine.

The lobster hawa mahal -- Cochin lobster, tempered spinach and saffron rice, gratinated with egg -- was really nice and different. The fragrance of the saffron rice went off well with the lobster in a balanced way. The dish also has a subtle coconut taste thanks to the addition of coconut milk.

Fighting for tummy space and the taste buds was the prawn khichdi. The jumbo prawns and shrimps with saffron-flavoured rice and mixed sprouts was really yummy.

"One can call this as the Indian risotto. The khichdi is made with red rice," Paul Joe said.

For chicken lovers, there is murg sirka pyyaaz, kali mirch ka murg or the home style chicken curry nukkad ka kukkad.

There is also the atta raan (serves two) -- saffron dough enclosed with lamb leg with chef's secret spices that could be safely ordered.

If you are in a mood to go for Indian breads, then opt for mini olive naan-peri peri and olive crusted naan -- which is really good.

The chef also has given the options of various rice dishes that vegetarians can choose from. But for non-vegans the option is restricted to only chicken tikka khasta pulao.

For the sweet tooth there are options like khaas malpoi (stuffed pan cakes with carrot pudding), the dome (chikki kulfi with Baleys rabdi) and apple kheer (golden apple stewed with reduced milk and nuts), among others.

FAQs

What: Indo-British Fusion Fest

Where: Hilton Chennai at J.N.Salai, Guindy

When : 4th Nov to 20 Nov

Timings: Lunch 12 noon to 3 p.m.; Dinner 6.30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Price: Meal for two would cost around Rs.4,000.

Neyveli Lignite workers to continue strike

Neyveli Lignite workers to continue strike

Chennai, June 10 (IANS) The conciliation talks held here between Neyveli Lignite Corp Ltd (NLC) and its striking contract workers broke down Tuesday as the labourers were steadfast on their demands - absorption by NLC and pay parity with the permanent employees. According to company officials, NLC acting chairman and managing director J.N. Prasanna Kumar and personnel director P. Babu Rao has went to meet union Minister of State for Coal Santhosh Bagrodia after the talks failed.

On Monday Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into the NLC issue and find an amicable solution.

Officials, who did not want to be named, have said power generation at the 2,490 MW plant in NLC will shortly reach 60 percent capacity from the present 40 percent once the problems in the lignite conveyor belt are solved.

The 13,000-odd contract workers, who went on strike in March also, demand full absorption by NLC, citing a Madras High Court order.

However, the company moved the Supreme Court and got a stay order on the High Court judgement.

The first strike was called off in April following an assurance by state Power Minister Arcot N. Veeraswami that he would take up the matter with the central government. However, the workers went on strike again as the issue remained unresolved.

A meeting called by the chief labour commissioner in New Delhi June 6 did not deliver a solution. The commissioner has now asked the deputy labour commissioner in Chennai to look into the matter.

An NLC official said the company has paid minimum wages to all contract labourers. It has also paid an extra allowance of Rs.500 per head.

“At an average, a contract worker gets around Rs.4,500 per month. The demand of regularisation or equality in pay with that of permanent workers is almost impossible to meet,” said another official.

NLC has told the apex court that it cannot bear the financial burden of giving regular jobs to all contract workers.

NLC strike

Contract labour regularisation as per seniority

Chennai, April 10 (IANS) The lignite mining and power generation at Neyveli Lignite Corp Ltd (NLC) returned to normalcy as majority of the 12,000 contract labourers returned to work after a nine-day strike. “Only a small percentage of contract workers, who are deployed at our second thermal station, are continuing their agitation,” a top official, pleading anonymity, told IANS.

The continuation of the strike by one section seemed to be to pressurise the top management to take a quick decision as two senior executives - the chairman-cum-managing director and a director - are likely to retire soon.

The workers also enjoy the backing of the PMK, which has a good support in the area where the company is located.

The PMK-affiliated labour union Pattali Thozhil Sangam (PTS) represents a section of NLC workers.

The contract labourers, citing a recent Madras High Court judgement, demand they be taken on the rolls of the NLC.

Citing the same judgment, the NLC official said the absorption of contract labourers would be on the basis of seniority and on the company’s needs.

“The NLC has two types of contract workers - the members of Industrial Cooperative Society (ICS) and non-members,” he said.

According to him, the ICS was formed in 1990 to prevent exploitation of the contract labourers by the contractors.

“A majority of the society members is those from whom NLC acquired land or the sons of deceased NLC workers,” he said.

To prevent malpractices in the society, the enrolment of members to the ICS was stopped in May 1995.

He said regularisation of the ICS members did not happen at fast pace as NLC had to re-deploy its own workforce from its fertiliser units, which was closed down some years ago.

“Till date, around 4,000 labourers who were members of the society were absorbed and around 800 workers await absorption,” he added.

The contract workers, who are members of the society, had formed a new union and filed a case for absorption with the Madras High Court.

The court in its judgment said the NLC should not ignore any section of the contract workers. It should consider the entire contract workforce for absorption taking into account their seniority.

“We still have time to appeal against the court judgment,” he said.

Ends

NLC wants majority stake in Orissa power project

One of the PSUs which I like implicitly is Neyveli Lignite Corporation. In the recent past have been writing about NLC regularly. Wrote about the worker's strike couple of months back and the following report is about their plans and performance for 07-08.

NLC wants majority stake in Orissa power project
Chennai, May 27,2008 (IANS) Lignite mining-cum-power generation company Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) Limited favours holding 51 percent stake in the proposed 2,000 MW coal-based power project in Orissa, said a top company official.
S.Jayaraman, chairman and managing director, told reporters Tuesday: "The mining project will be in joint venture with Mahanadi Coal Fields and Hindalco, while the structure of power project is yet to be finalised."
He said if the power project is to come up as a joint venture, the NLC would like to hold 51 percent stake.
He added that the Orissa power project will have super critical boilers and technical bids are being evaluated.
With its 600 MW (6x50 MW and 3x100 MW) thermal station I nearing the end of its economic life, the Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited (NLC) decided to build a 1000 MW (2x500 MW) plant at the same location.
Jayaraman said: "The power plant under went renovation and modernisation programme nearly 15 years ago. The plant load factor (PLF) is slightly over 60 percent. It is time the plant is replaced with higher capacity equipment."
The work on de-commissioning the thermal station I and the setting up of new plant will start next year.
He said NLC will be adding 500 MW power generation capacity this fiscal - 250 MW each at Neyveli and Rajasthan - thereby taking the total capacity to 2990 MW by the end of this year.
In Rajasthan, NLC is in the process of setting up a lignite mine at an outlay of Rs.2.54 billion and 2x125 MW power project at an outlay of Rs.11.14 billion.
"Another 250 MW at Neyveli will be added next year," he added.
The other capital projects undertaken by the company include mine II expansion from 10.5 million tonnes per annum (tpa) to 15 million tpa, 500 MW (2x250 MW) thermal power station expansion and 1,000 MW coal-based power project at Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu partnering with Tamil Nadu Electricity Board.
Jayaraman said the company is doing a feasibility study on the Jayamkondan power project, which involves mining and power plant.
The NLC has budgeted a capital expenditure (capex) of Rs.17 billion this year and a similar amount was spent last fiscal.
The company has tied up for finance with a consortium of banks to the tune of Rs.25 billion and a further funding arrangement for Rs.18 billion is being planned to meet the capex needs.
Earlier, announcing the performance of the company for the fiscal FY08, he said the company closed the year with a total income of Rs.36.38 billion and a net profit of Rs.11.01 billion as against Rs.27.05 billion and Rs.5.66 billion posted the previous year.
The company board at its meeting recommended a final dividend of 10 percent taking the total dividend to 20 percent for the year under review.
The company had declared an interim dividend of 10 percent this February.
Ends