Easy KFC chicken bucket clone - homemade KFC

Colonel Sanders needs no introduction and so do KFC chicken bucket.  People have been trying to crack the secret herbs and spices which is told to be stored in a very secure safe in a very secure location.  After dining at KFC, people would always want to clone their chicken at home.  I never wanted to try cloning it (I don't know why), but when I had a kinda KFC clone at my Chithi's place I wanted to give it a try.  Wow !! it was yummy and gave me a spark to try it with my own twist to make the only and the best KFC clone I have ever had a little more better.

Before getting into cloning, I asked myself a question first.  Why do I like KFC chicken?  Aside from KFC being a popular fast food chain (I believe brand name definitely has an impact) I really liked the chicken they served.  It was mainly because it was crispy and tasty outside and at the same time it was juicy and tasty inside.  I wanted to try my hand on cloning after my mom informed me there was a chicken waiting in the freezer (obviously not alive - without skin).

The process flow for my version of KFC is as follows:

• I am very confident that KFC uses chicken with skin (lot of people disagree with me on this), but only skinless chicken was available during the time of trial.
• I marinated the chicken using dark soy sauce, some salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, ginger garlic paste, and lemon juice.
• I let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.
• I lost some interest after this initial process as my day gotta little busy while the chicken was getting marinated.
• After I was happy with the marination process (a few hours), I took some all purpose flour (maida) in a bowl and added a few tablespoons of dark soy sauce, some MSG (avoid it if you believe it is carcinogenic - I believe MSG cannot create more damage than the smoke you inhale in thick traffic everyday), Italian seasoning again, some ground pepper, salt to taste, a little ginger garlic paste ++++ my favorite Maggi Magic Masala (it is high in sodium, so please HANDLE WITH CARE).  I have read in various blogs people using chicken soup cubes in their clones - I skipped because of Magic Masala.
• After adding the above contents to your flour, a few lumps would form because of soy sauce and the ginger garlic paste (they are not dry).  It would be very easy to break them.  Also I added some small amount of corn flour to the entire mix.
• I had a beaten egg ready in a saucer.
• Then it was time for the BIG TEST.
• I dipped the marinated pieces of chicken in the egg mixture, then coated it with my flour mixture, and shallow fried the pieces (half of the chicken pieced was dipped in the oil and half above the oil) in a slow flame.  I turned them a few times to make sure that they never got burnt.  I even tried frying them without the egg mix.  I personally liked the one without the egg, but my nephew and niece loved the one with egg+flour mix. 

KFC Clone Trial #1

Result:  I believe it turned out to be a good try and my efforts paid me back good.  I really had made a chicken fry which was crispy outside and juicy inside (the marination helped it to remain juicy and soft inside and the flour mix made it crispy and tasty outside).  It was not exactly a KFC clone (I called it Kanyakumari Fried Chicken - it's finger nakkin' good), but it is definitely something like KFC which my family enjoyed very much as we don't have an KFC outlet here.  They want me to give it an improvised shot again.  I will be updating about the improvisations in my future posts.

Technology Distraction

Distraction is something that takes you attention from what you are doing. Distractions can be interesting, amusing, relaxing – yeah definitely anyone would love that. But distractions are irritating when you don’t want your attention to be diverted. Just like passive smoking, sometimes a person addicted to electronic gadgets not only is distracted by own self but also wastes valuable time he is expected to spend with others (kids on video games, men hooked onto laptops, women chatting away on their mobiles are classic examples of the above – lot of passive damage involved).

Some of us know about technology distraction and some of us really are not aware of the same.  I wanted to write about technology distraction in this blog after a few instances which forced me to blog about this.  Sometime back the status message of my "Anni" got my attention, her facebook status message read like this "Bryan (her son) said to his DAD (my bro) you are like Scrat (Ice age - needs no introduction) and his NUT - Pappa and Laptop."  Most of the dads are hooked onto the laptops, me too, but my daughter is a toddler and just tries to distract me and grab attention and does not say statements like my nephew.  You may think I am cruising off topic, it is not.  I am keying here about technology as a distraction for quality family time.  Many years back laptops were not quite common but still everyone were doing their job.  When people came back home they spent valuable time with the family.  Nowadays with wi-fi enabled homes and laptops becoming cheap everyday, most of the homes have a laptop.  To be honest, people who use laptop at home should ask themselves a question first.  Is it really needed to use the laptop now?  I think most of them would say yes, but in reality it is not true.  Some people like to take home work (I am talking about people who spend time chatting in office versus people who like to work more, more, more, more even if they are assigned regular work).  The technology distraction in the family does not stop alone with the grown men alone.  Kids on the other hand are hooked onto gaming consoles or PC games.  Social media has made stay-at-home moms busy and they either tweet, scrap, post on the wall, or share photos, videos, among friends.  To make everything worse social media is available in most of the phones to bring in more distraction.  Okay let me stop talking about home.

Happy Life with no technology distraction

 In office many people like to show off their fancy ringtones, it is good if you like that particular ringtone, but think if you are in middle of a very important job or a business and you hear Black Eyed Peas "My Humps" on the next desk, to add more flavor to it MORE LOUD.  Not to mention the SMS we receive on our own phones (we have to check on it because it might be an important one from the spouse or family).  The same applies to the marketing calls also.  Even if it is in the vibration mode, it makes us to turn our heads to the phone and then realize that it is not the call for you.  I remember reading somewhere that it takes you 10 minutes to regain concentration if you are distracted.

I think I have keyed in enough for the day, would like to key in more regarding the same in the future.  To all GPS users, I have a question for you all, how you guys are able to concentrate on the road and also look at GPS (don't say you listen to the voice commands because I have seen people using GPS and having their car stereo on).  I would like to know how you could multitask the stereo, the GPS, the traffic, and in India (shift manual gears).

Hunger Strike - Behind the Scenes II

As said before in my previous post, I would like to share about another real example of hunger strike which was unfruitful even after he laid down his life.  It is about Cpt. Thileepan, member of LTTE political group.  This incident dates back to 1986 when LTTE was not a banned outfit in India and other countries.  The reason for Thileepan's fast was certain unwritten agreements between the Indian Government and the LTTE before signing the accord were not implemented.  There was no visible change even after the accord was signed.  Thileepan was one of the delegates who visited Delhi before signing the accord.  Thileepan started his fast on September 14, 1986 at the Nallur Kandasamy Temple. The main objectives of his fast were,

1) Tamils detained as terrorists should be released (even journalists who wrote about Sinhalese atrocities, family members of LTTE, and other people were arrested on suspicion).

2) He wanted the Sinhalese colonisation to be stopped until interim government was formed (The government was making Sinhalese to move into Tamil areas masking it as rehabilitation).

3) New military camps should not be opened in the Northeastern province until interim government was formed.

4) Srilankan army should move out of schools.

During this time, the LTTE was very much working on surrendering their arms and taking part in the peace talks.  Eelam Tamils felt a kind of backstabbed when the Indian government did not push on to support what it promised them.  J. N. Dixit is being blamed by most of the commanders in the IPKF for being a catalyst and igniting the fire between IPKF and LTTE.

Thileepan was very much focused on continuing his fast despite requests from his fellow Tamils (Jaffna people still adore him).  Thileepan firmly believed that Indian government and the IPKF would help in some political development for the Tamils, which unfortunately did not happen.  Thileepan grew weaker day by day.  During his early days of fast, he would make speeches in the podium.  His last days of his fast, he spent most of the time lying down hoping that a political change would happen for the suppressed Tamils.

On September 22, 1986, on the 8th day of Thileepan's fast, LTTE leader Prabhakaran met J. N. Dixit, Indian High Commisioner to Sri Lanka and told him to meet Thileepan.  J. N. Dixit called Thileepan's act provocative against the Indian government.  If J. N. Dixit would have met Thileepan and some political development would have been promised, Eelam Tamils would not be instigated against the IPKF and the Indian government.

Thileepan sacrificed his life for what he believed in and fought for on September 26, 2010.  His tragic death tumbled the peace process as Tamil people were infuriated by his death and blamed India for the same.

Old image of Thileepan Memorial (destroyed by the SLA after Eelam War IV)

I would just like to make a comparison between the FAKE HUNGER STRIKES we read in the newspapers and watch in the television every now and then.  This man laid down his life believing in 'Ahimsa' made popular by Mahatma Gandhi (Father of Indian Nation) which became unnoticed.

PLEASE COMPARE THIS HUNGER STRIKE WITH TODAY'S POLITICIANS.

I would like to wind off with a quote:
"It gives me great satisfaction and contentment that I am fulfilling a national responsibility to the nation." - Cpt. Thileepan

Note:  Lovecriminal wanted to share this information as he had been following this civil war for years.  He in no way supports/supported the activities of the organizations and governments described above.  Lovecriminal is an antiwar activist and hates war and never like people dying.  To know more about the civil war one could google and research (we live in an information era where we get every reliable information easy like a piece of cake).   

Hunger Strike – Behind the Scenes I

Who wants to write about hunger strike in the middle of the night? Definitely no one. I would love to key in a few things before I hit to bed. I would like to share a few things about hunger strike and its hidden agendas - both good and bad.

You may wonder why lovecriminal wants to write about this stuff while lovecriminal is munchin’ his favorite chocolate bar at the middle of the night. The reason is politicians never know the meaning of hunger strike. Hunger strikes are considered to be an peaceful way of opposing and fighting for a point. It isn’t true. In reality, most of the hunger strikes broadcasted in television and covered by the newspapers are faked realities (make a wild guess here). These politicians very well know that they won’t survive if they continue the hunger strike for long and would eventually end it at some point with some juice in a hospital (because the people wanted them to stop it). Lovecriminal is very much sure that it would be followed by a discreet cocktail party in a very discreet location based on the way they have shaken the present government (mostly hunger strike is all about getting attention).

I would like to share about 2 hunger strikes by 2 people I admire in this post. I hope most of the readers won’t know them. The first example I would like to share in this post is Sharmila Irom. Political followers who follow the happenings at Manipur would know her, but certainly not others (majority people). The government has been very successful in hiding this ‘Iron Lady' from the public. This woman is not like the above mentioned politicians, who screw people’s life for a living and then go on a hunger strike to cover that up. Sharmila is a political activist who is on fast demanding justice for her own Manipuri people. She wants the Indian Government to withdraw the AFSPA act from Manipur and its nearby regions. AFSPA Act provides the armed forces right to eliminate anyone in Manipur who is suspected as an insurgent (no judicial involvement and no appeals). The Armed Forces repeatedly had been, has been, and will be misusing this AFSPA Act (this is a proven fact). The Malom Massacre (to know more about it, you can google) forced Sharmila Irom to go on a political fast in demand of justice for the slain innocents of the Malom Massacre by the Armed Forces deliberately on November 4, 2000.

Sharmila Irom was subsequently arrested, hospitalized, and forcefully nasal fed by AIIMS under judicial orders. If Indian Government could do this to Sharmila Irom who is a citizen of India, why cannot it do the same to the famous Chandrasekhar Rao who will go on a hunger strike soon (Lovecriminal believes he will go on it for a strike and will stop it after sometime). They forced Chandrababu Naidu to quit fasting, but never tried anything like they tried with Sharmila Irom. Several police cases have been filed against Sharmila Irom like suicide attempt, working against the integrity of the nation, and so on. She is not allowed to speak to outsiders and is often taken into judicial custody every now and then.

Sharmila Irom being taken into judicial custody with nasal tube

Sharmila Irom still lives with a nasal tube and is losing weight gradually. She paid floral tributes to Gandhiji in 2006 hoping that her fight would have a meaning.

Her letter of request to lift AFSPA Act (A very harsh act which is supposed to be used temporarily, but is permanent in the North-East) still remains unanswered by the President, Prime Minister, Home Minister and a whole of people in power.

Sharmila Irom's 10-year long fast is not responded by the government while politicians are able to find easy solutions through hunger strike in a few days - a sad reality which proves the power of politics.

'Iron Lady' Sharmila Irom should indeed be a noble prize winner for peace in the eyes of all peace lovers.

The second example I would like to share in my future post laid down his life for freedom of a nation from genocide (which also became unfruitful)…..will be continued soon….