Snack Time | How to make Tepalantu

Tapelentu (a snack from Andhra Pradesh)

Ingredients ([X] I used ;-) | [O] Optional | [I] Innovate)

(approximate, please use your judgment based on your experience in cooking!)

[X] Rice Flour (250 g)
[X] Channa Dal (2 table spoons)
[X] Salt (to taste)
[X] Red Chilli powder (if you are used to eat a little spicy stuff)
[X] Green Chillies (4/5 finely chopped)
[X] Onion (1 large; finely chopped)
[O] Onion stems (½ bunch finely cut)
[O] Coriander leaves (few leaves; finely chopped)
[I] Green leaves (few leaves; in case kids do not like greens push them in!)
[I] Curry leaves (few leaves; finely chopped)

This is how I did!

I put all that marked [X] and put them in a plate to make the dough with warm water (I used normal water, but I remember my mother using warm water) just like what you would do to roll a roti.

Make them into 10-12 balls (these usually dry up very fast so cover it with a wet handkerchief).

Get a round bottom tava (the usual kadai). Heat it a little. Pour some oil along the sides so that the surface is greased and some oil settles at the bottom of the tava. Low flame.

Unlike roti, you will need to take a handkerchief and wet it and place it on a surface (I used the roti rolling surface) and place one of the ball on the wet handkerchief. Use your fingers to flatten it by tapping the ball uniformly. It should be a little thick (the dough is such that you can not make it thin!) Make small hole in the middle with your index finger.

Now slowly with your left hand lift the handkerchief and get the flattened stuff onto your right hand fingers (it should not break and should be one circular piece). Now slowly put it on the side of the tava (not in the center where there is oil but on the side surface). Usually you should be able to put 3 or 4 such flattened balls in single tava. Close the tava with a lid or a plate.

The oil in the middle heats up and steam is created, this falls on the visible side of the flattened stuff (this remains white / reddish if red chilli powder is added) and the other surface (not visible) gets brown because of the greased surface of the tava. You can put some oil between the flattened dough and the tava and also at the hole (in the middle) area.

Keep it on for a while keep checking if the visible side seems done | cooked. Low flame is better for control of the invisible side becoming brown. These things can be removed easily from the tava with the help of a spoon or whatever you use to stir vegetable or remove dosa from a pan (I used my figures – a little hot but manageable!)

If there is sufficient salt and chilli you can eat just that, else some pickle or ketchup will go along great.

If all goes well, your effort should look something like (or better than) this!

The usual mixing of dough. Make them into round (to the best of your ability!) balls

It is essential that you cover it with a wet cloth. The dough quickly dries up!

You place a wet cloth and then then ball on the cloth and give it a tap with your fingers. Should turn out something like this. The hole in the middle is a good idea because you can put some oil in this hole while cooking.

Cooking a combination of slow and high flame. Your judgement and you time at hand and if you are alright if some portion of the snack becomes dark especially on high flame.

As they rest on the tava. With good practice they become rounder and of the same size!

A final product!

Chairing a Session during a Virtual Conference - Some Adjustments!

"can you hear me",

"can you hear me now",

"your voice is breaking",

"can not see your presentation",

"can all of you who are not presenting mute yourselves",

"looks like he is having network issues",

"may be she should login again"

"network issues"

"server issues"

Several months ago when I was invited to chair one of the two tracks in an International conference, I readily agreed to be the Session Chair because of its relevance to the work I do additionally it was on a Saturday and it was a one day conference so a morning flight out of Mumbai and evening into Mumbai from Delhi so it suited me and was not going to interfere with my work work!

Then the entire world was more or less on its knees with extensive travel restrictions and stay at home directives. So the physical conference turned virtual. So now I was to chair a virtual session!

Google Meet was the virtual venue which I was using for the first time, so the best way to take help! was from my son who has been attending all his Engineering lectures on this same platform and I thought is a pro!

The virtual conference was a mixed feeling. Here are a couple of things that will help physicalize the virtual conference!

Sitting in the privacy of my home and chairing the conference did look odd .. so to get one level closer to the physical, I dressed formally (to the pleasant surprise of my family). This definitely gives one a formal feeling of attending a conference (in my case chairing!).

[Dress Formal; even though it sounds odd!]

Invariably the sessions stretch - there is a constant "can you hear me", "can you hear me now", "your voice is breaking", "can not see your presentation", "can all of you who are not presenting mute yourselves", "looks like he is having network issues", "may be he should login again", and a 15 minute presentation stretches by as many as 5 minutes. So as a session chair, be prepared to budget quite a bit of extra time.

[Budget 20% extra time; if all goes well you would have helped everyone slightly lessen the pain of staring at the screen!]

A formal conference lunch time is not sufficient - there is no ready-made food. So increase the lunch time break. Also staring at the screen requires some rest for your eyes. 90 minutes a good lunch break. Also introduce flex you joints break every hour

[Increase the lunch time break]

Do not feel shy to speak out during the presentation if the person is taking a lot of time introducing his topic. A strict reminder to wrap up is a good idea.

[Time strictness in virtual world]

Ask the presenters to email their presentation before the start of the conference. If they can not present but can talk on the audio, you can at the least run through the slides. Even better ask them to video record their presentations. You make sure they have stuck to their allotted time plus you have the luxury of playing the video just in case the presenter goes off line!

[Backup presentation | email | video presentation]

You do miss a couple of things ...

Missing a group photo opportunity.

Missing the reverberation, odor, the coldness of a conference room

Missing the face to face talk with your host

Missing the local cuisine at the venue

Missing the informal discussion with young researchers