Clara and Chauncey

JWise Photo of the Day

Clara the Great Dane and Chauncey Smith

This is Clara the Great Dane, along with Chauncey Smith. Tonight was spent with the Smiths, friends we have known for nearly ten years. Chauncey is the youngest of the family, Korey is in the middle, and Kristoffer is the oldest. Clara here is probably the most demanding of attention, and when she throws her weight around, she easily commands it. With her paws on Darrell’s shoulders, she is a good half-foot taller than him. Her tail is a weapon that whips hard enough to leave welts. You get the idea that she is one really big dog, and she is so likable.

Pani Puri

JWise Food, Photo of the Day

Getting ready to dip a stuffed puri into the pani

This evening, we had dinner with Carolyn, the backpacker. Carolyn is currently on contract working with Caroline. With nothing going on this Labor Day weekend, we took some time to have a bite to eat and to talk about travel. For dinner, I prepared a dish popular on the beaches of Bombay – Pani puri. Pani Puri is part of the chaat family of foods and is also known as Golgappa and Foochka in other parts of India. This extraordinarily tasty food is a rarity in America; I was taught by Jay Patel how to make this particular version:

RECIPE:

Soak overnight 1 ½ cup Kala chana (available in Indian grocery stores, or use dried garbanzo beans – chickpeas)

Soak overnight 1 ½ cup moong bean (a.k.a. mung bean)

Early in the day, prepare the pani as follows:

5 bunches of mint

5 bunches of cilantro (you need equal amounts of mint and cilantro)

3-6 jalapenos

1 ½ tsp amchur powder (mango powder – available in Indian grocery stores)

3 tsp black salt (available in Indian grocery stores)

1 ½ tsp cumin seed

1 ½ tsp fennel seed

2 tsp salt

2-3 limes

8 – 10 cups of cold water

Tomato Relish:

2 Tomatoes

½ bunch of chopped cilantro

½ finely chopped red onion

Puri:

2 – 50 count bags of puris (available in Indian grocery stores)

Thoroughly rinse mint and cilantro and chop off stems.

You will have to mix the following in batches, as blenders are not large enough to mix all of this in one go. Place a handful of mint and a handful of cilantro in the blender. Add half the jalapenos, which should be chopped, leaving the seeds and veins intact. Add amchur powder, black salt, cumin seed, fennel seed, salt, juice from one lime, and enough water to almost fill the blender.

Blend varying between pulse and high until all ingredients are pureed, about a minute and a half.

Filter the contents of the blender through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, saving the contents of the sieve, which you will need to place back into the blender.

With the materials you just filtered back in the blender, add more mint and cilantro to nearly fill the blender; it’s ok to press these down into the blender and add the juice of another lime; you may add a third lime for a fruitier flavor, add the rest of the jalapeno, and add more water, to again nearly fill the blender, and pulse and mix on high again until thoroughly blended about one and a half minutes. As before, filter the contents, saving the very green water in the bowl, and place the material from the sieve back into the blender.

Repeat until you have used all of your cilantro and mint and the entire 8 cups of water. The green water you have created should have a sharp bite to it with a snap of tanginess. Do not worry too much about the spiciness, as it blends with the finished meal and seems to taper off as it chills. Place this green water (pani) into a sealable container and refrigerate.

Later in the day, about 1 hour before eating, it is time to prepare the rest of the ingredients. Rinse Kala chana, place in a pressure cooker, and cover with water; you should have approximately five times more water than Kala chana but please be aware of the manufacturer’s instructions. Cook the Kala chana for 11 minutes on high pressure, do a quick release, and set it to the side.

While the above is cooking, you can prepare the moong bean. Rinse the soaked beans and place them in 3qt. saucepan. Cover with water and boil until beans are just soft and starting to split. You must be careful here, as moong beans will dissolve if cooked too long. When beans are soft yet a bit firm, remove from heat, drain, and put to the side.

Peel six medium potatoes and chop them into small pieces, about ½ inch squares or smaller. In a medium saucepan, cover potatoes and bring to a boil; cook until soft, remove from heat, drain, and place in a bowl to the side.

Make the relish now. Finely chop tomato, cilantro, and onion, mix thoroughly, and place in the refrigerator.

In a wok or large pan, place 3 tbsp oil; I use grapeseed oil. Heat on high and add 2 tsp cumin seed. Heat until cumin starts to pop and sizzle, add Kala chana and moong bean, and turn the heat down to medium-high. Add 1 to 2 tsp of salt to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often.

Bring everything to the table, pour the pani into individual bowls, and get ready for the tricky part. This dish is finger food and is a bit messy. First, take one of the puri in hand and tap on one side to poke a hole about half the size of the puri itself. One side of the puri should be thinner than the other, and after poking holes in a few, you should get the hang of this task.

With puri in hand, grab a pinch of the Kala chana/moong bean mixture and place it into the puri; fill to about half full. Add a potato or two, leaving enough room for a small pinch of the tomato relish. Now dip the filled puri into the bowl of pani, allowing the fluid to fill the rest of the nooks and crannies in the puri, and pop the entire thing in your mouth. If the dipping doesn’t work right away, spooning the pani into the puri is another option.

Mariachi Juvenil

JWise Photo of the Day

A local Mariachi band

This is Mariachi Juvenil Mexicanisimo from Phoenix, Arizona; they were playing in celebration of the remodeling of a local Food City grocery store. The guys not only play great, but they sing wonderfully, too and are good at handling a bit of dancing while they play. The trumpet player on the right was quick to hand me a card; contact Carlos Estrada at 602-465-8015 or 602-299-0495 for Spanish speakers.

It was a nice touch having live music in one of the grocery stores we visit, they should do this every weekend.

Sold Out!

JWise Photo of the Day

Local Phoenix gas stations are selling out of gasoline today

Going into Labor Day, four out of twelve local gas stations in our neighborhood are sold out. Three of the eight remaining were selling gas for $3.29 a gallon and were literally empty of customers. The five others were jammed full, and in a few instances, people were lining up for gasoline at $3.19 a gallon.

We were supposed to go away for the long weekend to Santa Barbara, but that has had the kibosh put on it, as running into soldout stations or lines out on the road just doesn’t sound like a great idea. This will be the first three-day weekend in years that we haven’t traveled. I hope I can handle the trauma.

Cheetos, Woods, Kinfolk

JWise Moments

Cpt Kirk, DJ and old friend in Phoenix, Arizona

This is a long-time friend, Kirk M., a.k.a. Capt. Kirk: part-time DJ, musician, odd jobber, and purveyor of other stuff. Kirk recently had the opportunity to spend some quality time with Sheriff Joe and his men at the infamous Tent City. After more than six months as a prisoner in our local jail, he was set free. Kirk failed to pay child support; truth be known, Kirk was unable to make enough money to pay the monthly payment from his pittance as DJ. So now he is to work odd jobs and forfeit most of whatever he makes so he can stay out of jail.

While in jail, Kirk learned the local Tent City hierarchy of prisoner politics and has shared with me what I am passing on to you today.

The jail is effectively divided into constituencies delineated by race, more or less, although the races are free to mix and befriend one another. The various ethnicities are as follows: Chicanos these are Mexican-Americans, who either by birth in America or by indoctrination are now Mexican-Americans, which are held to be in great contrast to the Piasas. Piasas are real Mexicans; they come from the homeland and are not Americanized like the Chicanos. Kinfolk are African Americans, and I am sure that true Africans would have their own grouping if there were, in fact, any held in the tents. Caucasians or whites are Woods, from the old term Peckerwood. Next, we have the Chiefs, who are Native Americans, and lastly, the Cheetos, who are the gays in jail.

These distinct groups are ruled by a Head, except the Cheetos, who are headless. The rules in jail between prisoners are very seriously enforced between those being incarcerated. Rules and regulations are important here as they keep peace in the yard, and more importantly, the guards keep their distance and would rather have the prisoners deal with infractions to make the guards’ jobs easier and to keep the jail population cool in dealing with the authorities. This can be a win/win situation.

When a rule is transgressed, the victim must report the violation to the Head of the group to which the perpetrator belongs to, not to their own group Head. Punishment is typically handled within the offender’s race to keep racial tension as low as possible in such a volatile environment.

If two races were involved in the violation, the Heads of the two groups would come into “Council” to determine the fate of the accused. There are three levels of an infraction: minor, major, and serious. In the case of major or serious rule-breaking, all group Heads might come together in Council in order to administer punishment.

The Heads carry out punishment with the usage of “Torpedoes.” A Torpedo is an individual chosen for their ability to knock someone out with a single punch. Each group Head employs three Torpedoes to act as the group’s rule enforcers.

For a Minor Infraction, a “Chin Check” is issued. This is a single solid punch to the chin that is intended to knock out the offender. The Torpedo who delivers this blow is from the offender’s own race to avoid hostility from the appearance that could arise from someone suggesting that a Kinfolk punched unfairly a Wood or a Cheeto. Examples of minor infractions are someone urinating on a toilet as opposed to into the toilet, digging in the trash, making your group look bad, or disrespecting a Head or a Detention Officer (a.k.a. D.O.). Disrespecting a D.O. brings the wrath of the officers down on all groups without discrimination and so the inmates enforce a level of respect for their jailers.

A Major Infraction is even worse news for the offender. This is when a “Smashing” order is issued by the Council. A Smashing will bring all three Torpedoes from his group to have a free-for-all. The recipient of a Chin Check will get up after a few minutes, but a Smashing will cause serious hurt as a reminder of the mistake for days to come. A major infraction is stealing and fighting someone from another race. Interestingly, no fighting is allowed amongst the men who are doing time, but this does not apply to the area where people in temporary lock-up are housed.

The Serious Infraction is the highest violation of rules and decorum. Punishment is going to come down with radical brutality. The Council issues a “Rainbow”. A Rainbow is the attending of all Torpedoes to mete out punishment. Typically, this involves approximately 15 Torpedoes knocking on the offender’s door. This cannot be good, and I believe most readers’ imaginations will play out the conclusion of such an encounter.

A Serious Infraction is defined as snitching or stealing a drop. A drop is an in-camp airdrop from the outside world where a “Quarterback” does a drive-by on the other side of the fence and chucks a delivery over the two fences to a receiver. In an incredible show of sensibility, 20% of the drop material is divided between the Heads who use it to supply the poor and indigent amongst the prisoners – this keeps lips sealed and the less fortunate loyal to the overall population.

Under certain circumstances, the above rules, which only apply to the main yard, are cast aside. Using the term “Punk” or “Bitch” opens the floodgates, and it is man-on-man, but only within the same race or group. A question left unanswered for me here is, what if a Cheeto calls a Wood a Punk, is a Cheeto only allowed to fight other Cheetos?

If you are in the secondary yard where drunks, weekenders, work release, or the recently locked up are held, no rules are in effect. This is where you “Man-Up” or “Roll-Up” and a recent arrestee might find they need to fight or ask for protective custody. Protective custody has its own problems, as this is known as “Punk City.” As a citizen of Punk City, you are now an honorary punk, also known as a bitch; this is bad news.

So, what happens when the Council fails to correct a problem or the problem is so big that the authorities must get involved? This brings out the “Turtles”. The Turtles are the Special Response Team (SRT) and are the yard’s worst nightmare. Turtles are big, really big, over 250 pounds each kind of big. Wearing full battle gear, the Turtles arrive with shin protectors, knee pads, stab vests, elbow pads, jackboots, shields, and other weaponry.

Turtles typically try to use non-lethal weapons to corral and control the situation. The first weapon of choice is the “Devastator” followed by the “Mega-Devastator”; these are fire extinguisher-like devices under great pressure filled with pepper spray. Next in the arsenal is “Paintball Guns”. These are no ordinary paintball guns; these use over 800psi of air to shoot the target, compared to the consumer version that shoots with only 300psi of pressure. The paintballs themselves are filled with mace. To maintain a safe perimeter, the Turtles are carrying shields fortified with edges that are actually Tasers.

Let the games begin!