Friday, March 29, 2019

Know These Spices to Flavour Your Dishes

Without spices the dishes won't be as delicious as you would want them to be. Take for instance, a chicken soup or stew, you will rarely find the same taste from two different restaurants. The same reason why there are so many different versions of biryani because the biryani masala used is different everywhere. The khada masala might be the same but there are other spices that go into it, which vary from region to region and their method of preparation.

Knowing the spices helps you to create different flavours for your dishes. It's not just about taste but the aroma too, which in fact makes a lot of difference when you are having something. Here are a few masalas or spices that you should know about to flavour up your food-

Black pepper is a strong spice that lingers on your taste buds for a while. It also adds aroma to the dish. In addition to being an ingredient in garam masala, black pepper can be used to flavour soups, stews, curry, tea, meat dishes, dum aloo etc.

Bay Leaf is an aromatic spice that makes its presence known. It is an important ingredient in khada masala and is used in almost all the rice dishes such as biryani, pulaw, khichdi, kheer, upma, dal tadka, and chicken, mutton gravy, and mutton keema masala.  You can even used it in your tea. It is not used in seafood.

Cardamom is a flavoursome spice that has a slight cooling sensation and a strong fragrance. It is used coarse and ground in both sweet and spicy dishes. You can use it in almost all the Indian dishes both veg and non veg. Do not use it in seafood and soups.

Cayenne pepper is singularly used for its extremely spicy taste with no aroma at all. You can use it to spice up your curries and stews. Thai and Malaysian food uses Cayenne pepper in their dishes.

Cloves have strong flavour and aroma and used sparingly. Asian and Persian meat dishes, curries, and marriandes use them. They are used alongside cumin and cinnamon to balance the flavour. Meat gravies and rice dishes have them.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

Here is How Coding for Kids Is Changing the Way We Perceive Education


What do you think about when you think about your child's education? Is your child studying in the right school? Are they learning the right subjects? Are they performing well enough to succeed later on in life? These are all valid concerns and they plague us throughout our lives. But the world we live in these days isn't so simple. For your child to truly stand out from the crowd, there is a need to provide them with the kind of education that gives them an edge in life. Something that boosts them out of the mundane things that students learn and actually sets them apart from the pack. And this is exactly what something like coding for kids and robotics for kids achieves.

Coding for kids is nothing but teaching young kids how to code. This is achieved through a special programming language that has been developed just for kids. The idea here. Is to provide kids with an early headstart in life and give them an edge over the rest of the kids when they actually studying coding for vocational excellence later in life. But what many people fail to realize is that coding for children and robotics for kids aren't just about learning coding or robotics. Both these courses expose children to a very different kind of learning that in fact teaches children way more than just lessons. Every other subject that a child studies at school, barring a few science oriented topics, are focused heavily on the theoretical side of things. Coding on the other hand, teaches kids to actually apply their learning in real life. It simulates a real life situation for them by asking them to actually create a new program or software from scratch. It puts kids through the process of trial and error and hard work that goes into creating something truly unique. In this process, it also teaches them to be patient, diligent, focused and flexible in their thinking. In fact, coding for kids is the perfect example of STEM principles in action. As a result of the success of this course, more and more educational institutions are realizing the importance of a practical approach to education. On the other hand, it has also opened eyes and broadened outlooks when it comes to teaching methods and patterns. The aim is to ensure that more and more institutions focus on creating engaging learning experiences as opposed to passive learning processes.

If you live in a metropolitan city like Mumbai, you should have no trouble finding a school that teaches coding for children. And while you might not want your kid to switch schools for just a few courses, there are also a number of independent institutions that offer coding as an extra-curricular course. Most of these classes are flexible so that your child doesn't end up sacrificing on their usual school work and homework. If you are considering trying out coding or robotics for kids for your child, you could always sign them up for a trial class and see how they respond to it before committing to a full time course.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Unique Education Courses for This Summer

Summers are just around the corner and as soon as kids are done with their annual exams, you can be sure they will prepare for two long months of mischief. A common concern among parents at this time has to do with their children's education. In today's competitive environment, most parents want to push their kids to continue learning in some form or the other even during summer vacations. On the other hand, you want to make sure that it's not too much to the point where kids lose out on their precious play time. Hence, here are some great ways you can keep your kids engaged this summer while also providing them with a balanced and unique education experience.

Children naturally love computers and everything to do with technology. In fact, they don't just love it but actively pursue it everyday and chances are a lot of your kids are going to spend a lot of time playing video games and browsing the Internet. So why not leverage this love for technology and use it for something productive in the form of computer programming for kids. Also known as coding for kids, this course involves teaching young children the basics of coding. What's more, it pushes kids to take those learning and apply it in real life by creating their own softwares, programmes and games. It is a fun process and one which can teach your children a lot of things. On the other hand, you also have something called the student entrepreneurs programme. This course too takes a practical approach and seeks to teach young kids how to form their own business from scratch and then run it successfully.  

Be it coding for kids or the student entrepreneurs programme, the key lies in finding something your child loves and then helping them do something constructive with it these summer vacations. 

Friday, March 22, 2019

Keep This in Mind While Choosing a School for Your Child


Choosing a school for your kid can be a massive task. You need to keep in mind so many things and also figure finances. Assuming, finances are something you are able to manage, one of the biggest issues is convenience. Is the school nearby? Will your child be able to travel on their own or will you need a school bus? Are you prepared to invest in a hostel set-up if needed? Beyond that, we come to the actual school itself. We would all want our kids to study at the top schools in Mumbai. If that's not possible, there are a number of other factors you would ideally look into. For example, what kind of board does the school subscribe to? What will the future prospects for your kid once they graduate from this school? What are the teaching methods adopted by the school? Do they abide by STEM values or not? In all this, one essential question often goes unanswered - will my child have a unique education? Let's dive deeper into this issue and explore what it means and why it is important for your kid.

These days, every second kid is a topper of some kind. Parents are doing everything that they can to ensure that their children get fantastic grades. In such a scenario, simply getting great marks is not enough. Once your child ventures out in the world after graduating from school, they will simply be a well-qualified clone. As a parent, you would naturally want your child to stand out and bring something new table. This is where the concept of computer programming for kids comes in. A course like computer programming for kids essentially focuses on preparing children for the future by taking them down an unconventional education path. Most common courses work very hard to teach children the theoretical aspects of any subject. Something like computer programming for kids works towards helping children learn the practical aspects of things. For instance, it not only pushes kids to learn the basics of coding but focuses strongly on getting them to actually create their own softwares, applications and websites from scratch. As a result, it is essential to ensure that kids get this kind of an education too. Besides, something like computer coding actually has a number of amazing real-world applications too. What this means is that even if your child doesn't plan on pursuing coding as a career in the days to come, they will still learn a lot more that will literally help them in every walk of life.

Coding for kids is not the only unique education opportunity out there. Top schools in Mumbai also have something known as the kidpreneurs programme - a course that encourages young kids to be entrepreneurs. Once again, kids are taught not just the basics of business but also encouraged to form their own business plans and execute it by actually setting up a company that they run. 

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Here’s How You Can Help Your Kids Be More Productive In 2019


When we as parents think about our children's future, we do our best to ensure their education is nothing short of the best we can afford. We get them admitted to the best schools, higher the best possible tuition teachers and take an active interest in their day to day studies. But what about their free time? A common concern among parents has to with the fact that many children while away their free time with frivolous activities like playing games and watching TV. On the other hand, you also don't want to take away their childhood from them by constantly burdening them with work. Hence, something like programming for kids finds a middle ground and ensures that kids are productively engaged even during their free time.

Let's understand the concept of computer courses for kids like coding. The idea here is to leverage on a topic naturally interests kids - technology. Kids these days are always busy either playing a game, surfing the web or playing with some sort of software or another. As a result, coding for kids takes this natural inclination towards technology and flips it into something productive. It pushes young children to get under the hood of softwares and learn how to make games and apps from scratch. All of this is done in a way that is extremely fun and interactive for kids and hence keeps them engaged throughout. What's more, these coding classes are flexible enough to ensure that they don't interfere with your child's school work or homework. 

These sort of courses are not just restricted to technology. Even something like a kidpreneurs programme is a fun and interactive way for children to understand the concept of entrepreneurship through the practical application of business concepts.