Qatar Airways damaged our bag - resolved

Hello folks,

I had mentioned in my India Return 2010 - Part 2 that Qatar Airways had damaged one of our bags and I will post on what was the result of the inquiry and claim.  Well here it is.  After 2 months of back and forth conversation, this issue is finally resolved when we got the new bag from them.  Here are the details.

In the beginning of December when I came back from India,  our first stop in US was Washington Dulles airport and we found out that one of our bag was damaged...such that its chain was broken and the bag was wide open.  Thankfully nothing fell out.  I try to contact Qatar everyday only to find myself holding on the line for 35 - 45 minutes and then hanging up since no luck.  Finally I get hold of someone after 40 minutes of hold and the person tells me to talk to Qatar staff at the Washington Dulles airport.  I call the next day and get hold of an agent.  I explained to him the situation that we couldn't file a complaint at the airport since we had to transfer the bags to the final destination and he asks me for my email address to send me the process info.  I get the email within few minutes to send him the following information in order to begin to process the claim.

• Scanned copy of the passport of the traveler making the claim
• Scanned copies of the original luggage claim checks for bags checked in from origin airport
• Scanned copy of the boarding pass of the traveler
• Detailed description of the damage to the luggage with photograph of the bag in question
• The age of the luggage, approximate cost of the luggage, and the brand of the luggage.

The same weekend I got sick so couldn't send the information until the following weekend.  I gathered all the details and sent it in an email to the agent.  3 weeks go by and I don't hear anything and I didn't call them either because it was Christmas and New year weekend, so I thought people might not be working during those times.  I call them after 3 weeks and luckily get hold of the same agent I had talked to couple of weeks ago.  I tell the agent that I have not heard back from anyone regarding the claim and he says he will contact me with the details within half an hour.  Surely after an hour I get a call from him telling me that they are working on the claim right now and will get back to me again in an hour.  Apparently I don't hear from him the same day, and I wait couple of days before calling again.  The agent tells me that the claim has been processed and gave me the reference number.  He told me that someone will contact me within a week from baggage agency to get the replacement of the damaged bag.  I was somewhat happy to know that they were going to replace the bag.

The same weekend, I get a call from Qatar Airways agent to get our home address to send the new bag to.  The following week, I get the call from the baggage agency who asks me whether it's OK for them to send another brand bag since our bag brand was old and that she came make sure that we get something nice.  I was like "No problem" (lady, you are giving me a new bag...I don't care if it's the same brand or not..just get me something nice :D ).  She goes on asking me "Now, we don't have brown colored bag (my old bag color)...the only color we have is black, is that OK?"...and my reply is "Of course!!".  Haha...I was pretty surprised with the treatment and the lady was really nice.  She ends the conversation by confirming my home address and letting me know that we should get the new baggage within 7-10 days.

Surely after 2 weeks, we get the new bag via FedEx.  The bag is actually 6 inches smaller than what we had, so it's little bit smaller but it's ok.  Also one other thing I noticed is that when you open the bag, there is sometimes a clothe covering the bag which can be opened with a zipper to see the inside boards surrounding the bag.  I opened that zipper and turns out that one of the side boards of the bag was broken and was fixed up by a black tape.  Haha...I think they gave us a bag which must have been damaged in the manufacturing and fixed it up and gave it to us.  Well, it's ok ...I mean there is nothing we can do.  It's not like the board is going to break in one time use, but I just found it hillarious.

I have said this before and I will say it again to everyone that if you ever come across an issue of damaged bag by an airline, always file the complain and follow up.  In worse case scenario, they will reject your claim and won't do anything, but on a positive side, you might get a new bag to replace the damaged bag.  It's always worth a shot.

Wow...I didn't realize how much I wrote until I read the entire post again :P.  Hope this info helps if you are ever in a similar situation.

Paneer Tikka Masala

So about a month ago, I had bought 1 lb. Paneer and used it to make Shahi Paneer, Vegetable Navratan Korma, and Malai Kofta.  Even after making these 3 recipes, I had about 1/3 of paneer left.  Mostly it was used in making Shahi Paneer, and the other 1/3 was used in making navratan korma and kofta for malai kofta.  So with the remaining of the 1/3 of paneer, I wanted to try out a different paneer recipe.  I looked at the options on vahrevah.com and found the recipe for Paneer Tikka Malasa.  Here is the link to the recipe that I followed from the site: http://www.vahrehvah.com/Paneer+Tikka+Masala:6803.  This time I did not have any variations and followed the recipe exactly as explained on the site (the video).  I did make couple of mistakes which can be corrected easily but that to discuss later in the process.  For now, here is a snap of delicious Paneer Tikka Masala.

Here are the ingredients, preparation, and process steps.  Hope you enjoy making it if you decide to use these steps.
Ingredients:
Vegetables:
- For puree and gravy: 2 tomatoes, 2/3 to 1 onion finely chopped, cilantro for garnishing
- For marinating: 2 tomatoes cut in cubes, 1/4 or 1/2 onion finely chopped in cubes, 1/4 capsicum/green bell pepper chopped in cubes

Spices:
- Coriander powder, cumin powder, cumin seeds, turmeric, red chili powder, garam masala powder, salt, ginger paste/shredded ginger, garlic paste, sugar (very little if it gets little sour due to curd).

Other:
- All purpose flour/maida (1 spoon), curd thick (1/2 to 1 cup), lime juice (1-2 spoons), oil, paneer finely chopped in cube (1/2 pound), cream fresh (optional).

Preparation:
- Cut all vegetables and paneer in cube shape and keep aside.
- Finely chop 1/2 to 1 onion for gravy.
- Finely chop cilantro.

Marinating Process:
- Take a bowl and add 1/2 to 1 cup of thick curd.  How much curd you need depends on the quantity of the vegetables and paneer cubes.  My mistake was that I took more curd and when added the vegetables and paneer, it was little liquidish.
- To the curd, add red chili powder, salt, lime juice, little bit of oil (about 1 spoon) to mix well.  Mix everything well.
- Add cut vegetables and paneer to the mixture and mix it all well and keep it aside.
- One thing I wasn't sure about is if I was supposed to keep this marinated mixture aside for a while before cooking it on a pan.  I read it on majulaskicten.com paneer tikka malasa recipe that it's better to keep the marinated mixture refrigerated for an hour.  But I just left it aside for 15 minutes or so.
- To cook the mixture, in a non-stick pan, add some oil.  Add the marinated paneer and vegetables.
- Cook them both sides, and once done, keep them aside.

Gravy Process:
- In a pan, add oil and cumin seeds.  Once oil is ready, add chopped onions and pinch of salt.
- Once onions are little transparent, add turmeric, ginger paste, garlic paste, and mix it well.
- Cook for a minute or so and add 1 spoon of all purpose flour/maida.
- Add tomato puree and mix it with onions.
- Then add cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, and mix it well.
- Cook until you see small amount of oil loosing out.
- Add water as needed and bring it to boil.  Once it's boiling, you can add more water if you want to for more gravy.
- Add cooked vegetables and paneer.  Then add some more salt as needed (taste it before and after you add it).  Add garam masala powder and mix all.  Also at this point, taste the final gravy and add little sugar if the gravy is sour.  It is possible that the gravy might be little sour because of the curd and all the tomatoes used in the marinating.
- Add little bit of cream if you want.  This is completely optional.
- Let everything cook for 3-5 minutes and bring it to boil.
- Turn the heat off and add cilantro on top.

And....you have delicious paneer tikka masala ready.  This took me about 1 hour and 15 minutes and wasn't too much of a hassle and it came out great.  It serves about 4 people.  Hope this helps.

See ya!