Happy Cranberry-Colored Holidays

Cranberry harvest. (British Columbia Cranberry Growers Association.)

As a fruit indigenous to North America, the cranberry was around long before Thanksgiving. It’s a berry that adds color and flavor to some of the holiday’s traditional foods. And to some not-so-traditional foods. My mother has been known to stockpile bags of the berries in the freezer this time of year in order to create some colorful dishes like her cranberry take on pulihara. (It was tangy enough to compete with the likes of gongura, in my opinion.)

You may already know about the many health benefits of the tiny berries “rich in antioxidants and phytonutrients. Research indicates they may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, urinary tract infections, gum disease and ulcers. They’re also high in vitamins A and C and in potassium.” (NPR.)

Further research into the “health-giving” properties of the cranberry will be made possible by a $2 million gift to the University of British Columbia from the heirs of cranberry farmer Rashpal Dhillon (half of the gift will be used to fund research into pulmonary fibrosis, the fatal lung disease he died of). Dhillon was B.C.’s first Sikh police officer in 1954 and pursued cranberry farming before Ocean Spray became a household name.

More information: The Vancouver Sun

Muhammad Yunus Makes the Rounds

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is in New York this week, and he’ll be making the rounds for various appearances. He’s going to be on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Thursday—soon after appearing at the Council on Foreign Relations that afternoon. I’m hoping to catch his speech at the CFR; my boss is a member and sneaks me in (legally) whenever he can. Though I’d probably rather trade it in for Daily Show tickets. Yunus and Stewart? Swoon.

Yunus will be promoting his book, Banker to the Poor, but if I get into see him, I’m planning on asking about his interest policies on micro-credit loans. I read somewhere it’s 20% for income generating loans, which, while lower than the government rate, still seems pretty steep to me. But it’s 8% for housing loans, 5% for student loans, and even interest-free for “struggling members” (read: beggars). I wonder what his take is on Islamic banking? Guess I should do my homework first and perhaps ask my dad.

Anyway, I will have a full report after Thursday!

BusinessWeek Names Kazi to Top 25 Under 25

Sumaya Kazi

In its second annual search for the best young entrepreneurs, BusinessWeek.com selected Sumaya Kazi, a Bangladeshi American woman from California, as one of its “Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25″ for 2006. At 24, she is the youngest manager in her marketing department at Sun Microsystems and co-founder of online media publishing company The Cultural Connect.

Sumaya is one of two women in the Top 25, for the magazine’s US, Europe and Asia lists combined.

Readers are encouraged to vote for their top entrepreneur — the top five will be published in the business magazine’s print edition. You can read about Sumaya and vote for her at BusinessWeek.com.

Over at The Cultural Connect, Sumaya recently shared an embarrassing job interview experience in “Lesson Learned: Don’t Forget to Check Your Ass.” You’ll hear more from this top young entrepreneur in Nirali‘s November issue!

This year’s “Top 25 Entrepreneurs Under 25″ for the U.S. features more young desis in its batch of fresh new faces, including Adnan Aziz, Karan Goel, Avichal Garg and Sudhin Shahani.

Bollywood Calling

Won’t you fly away to Bollywood with me?

Are you totally into Bollywood films? Do you love the action, melodrama, romance and music all jammed into one four-hour epic? Would you like to make your own masterpiece? Well, now you can! Air France is running a Fly to Bollywood Contest, and you can produce your very own short Bollywood film to enter. It’s simple—just add your own clever dialogue as subtitles for preselected pieces of film to create an instant classic. You could be the next … well, I don’t know the names of any Indian directors. But you’ll definitely be in the running for a free trip to India. Won’t Mom and Dad be proud? Please post the links to your creations in the comment section—we’d love to see what our Nirali readers come up with!

Good luck!

Thanks to Ranjit and Shilpa for the tip.

G(aram) Love and Special Sauce

Maya Kaimal’s delicious sauces.

When we first wrote about Maya Kaimal (award-winning cookbook author and culinary personality) last year, her gourmet sauce company was still a relative newcomer on the condiment scene.

Since then, Maya Kaimal Fine Indian Food has made it to the major league of marinades.

In July of 2005, Kaimal added a fourth product to her line, grabbing the attention of executives at high end foodie-haven Williams-Sonoma. Introduced in stores nationwide earlier this year, Kaimal’s Indian simmer sauces have been flying off the shelves, prompting Williams-Sonoma to triple its order.

This year, company sales are expected to hit $1.5 million.

For more infrmation–including recipe ideas and where you can buy Maya’s marinades–visit http://mayakaimal.com.