Mint Chutney

Mint Chutney is a very common chutney you can see being served with most of the South Indian tiffin items in Tamil Nadu. This is a nice tasty chutney made with mint. There are many ways to make this chutney, this is a version of mint chutney without using coconut. So cholesterol watchers, this may be just the right chutney for you, if you want to avoid coconut in your chutney.

This chutney I learnt it from my mother and it goes very well with Idly. Even for dosa's it is still good, but I would strongly recommend it for idly.

There are lots of health benefits from Mint. So making this chutney serves 2 purpose - it satisfies both your taste and health. Once in a while, so regularising this chutney, gives your body all the benefits of mint leaves. So don't miss it.

Health Benefits of Mint Leaves:

1. Mint leaves have extensive use in aromatherapy due to its therapeutic properties.
2. Eliminates bad breadth.
3. Mint is a good cleanser for the blood.
4. Regular consumption of herbal Mint tea aids in weight loss.
5. Mint is a strong diuretic, thus eliminates the toxins from our body.
6. Mint reduces growth of fungus and bacteria in the body on regular usage.

Ingredients:

Onion (Big) - 2, chopped
Tomato (Big) - 2, chopped
Mint leaves - 1 1/4 cup
Tamarind - Marble size
Chilly Powder - 1 to 2 tsp
Salt - 1 or 2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Seasoning Ingredients: Oil - 1 tsp, mustard seeds - 1 tsp, broken urud dhal - 1 tsp, hing - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. In a kadai/non-stick pan, add the oil and when it becomes hot, fry the onions until it becomes translucent.

2. Add the tomato and tamarind ball and fry until tomato becomes mushy.

3. Once tomato is well cooked, add the chilly powder and mix well.

4. Add the mint leaves and fry until it gets mixed with the onion and tomato mixture.

5. Cool all the ingredients and then take it into a mixer and grind chutney into a thick paste without adding water.

6. Season as given and pour onto the mint chutney.

 

Fruit Salad

Fresh Salads are a very nutrition-packed instant food you can relish upon. A very well known benefit of salads is that, it helps immensely in weight-loss, not only that, salads (mostly raw/semi cooked) take time to digest and are generally low on calories, hence keep your stomach full for a quite a long time and also gives all the nutrition from its ingredients uncompromised as it is consumed mostly raw/semi-cooked. Salads also increases the intake of vegetables and fruits in your diet.

 

For a healthy living, it is important that we cultivate the habit of healthy eating for which salad is a very good option. You can make numerous variety of salads mixing various ingredients from vegetables, fruits, lentils to nuts. Having a colorful salad not only feasts your eyes but your hunger too.

 

Here is a healthy fruit salad version, that can be prepared in a jiffy and relished.

 

Method:

 

1. Apple - 1, chopped to thin pieces

2. Grapes - 20, chopped to round, thin pieces

3. Plum - 1, chopped to small pieces

4. Orange (peeled) - chopped to small pieces

 

Mix all the above and serve chilled or immediately.

 

 

Tips:

 

Optionally, add a teaspoon of honey.

 

Cabbage-Peas Curry

Cabbage is a very common vegetable used in the south-indian cuisine and mostly a regular in the south indian weddings & functions menu, particularly Tamil Nadu.  It is not only very easily digestible  & healthy vegetable and but also easy to cook vegetable.

Health Benefits of Cabbage:

1. Cabbage is low in fat and calories. 100 g of leaves provide just 25 calories.
2. Fresh cabbage is an excellent source of natural antioxidant, vitamin C.
3. Cabbage is a very good source of vitamin K, that has a potential role in making our bones healthy.
4. Cabbages help in relieving constipation.
5. Cabbages have anti-inflammatory properties.
6. Cabbages are known to contain potent cancer fighting that prevents the growth of tumors in the body. A recent study in China showed that women who consumed more vegetables from the cruciferous family (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, etc) had a lower chance of suffering from breast cancer.

This is a simple cabbage curry made by combining peas with it. I have used frozen peas in my recipe. If you have fresh peas, you can cook the fresh peas separately and use it in this curry. This dry curry goes well with any south indian sambar, kozhambu or rasam.

English Name : Cabbage / Tamil Name : Muttakose / Hindi Name : Bandh Gobi / Malayalam Name : Muttakose

Ingredients:

Cabbage (chopped) - 2 Cups
Grated coconut - 1/2 to 1 Cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 2 tsp
Seasoning Ingredients: Oil - 2 tsp, mustard seeds - 1 tsp, broken urud dhal - 1 tsp, channa dhal - 1 tsp, curry leaves - 10, green chillies (chopped fine) - 4, hing - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. In a non stick pan or kadai, season as given.

2. When the dhals turns brown, add the chopped cabbage, turmeric powder and salt. Add just enough water to immerse the cabbage and cook closed until all the water is evaporated and the cabbage is cooked.

3. Now add the cooked peas and grated coconut and mix well. Cook for a minute or two and remove.

 Tips:

1. For added flavor, add a teaspoon of coconut oil after removing and mix well.
2. If frozen peas is used, soak the frozen peas in warm water for 5 minutes & drain the water and then add to the cabbage.
3. If fresh peas is used, pressure cook the fresh peas adding required water for a whistle or two (until cooked) and drain all the water and then add to the cabbage.

 

How to cut Banana Flower

Banana Flower is a very healthy vegetable full of fibre and loads of goodness. One prominent reason why this vegetable is not used in cooking much is that, for some it is a very cumbersome process to cut this vegetable as its time consuming, and for others they simply don't know how to use it....In our days, it's all grannies and mommies duty to take up this labourious task, I wonder whether the next generation would even come to know such vegetable exists. Let us not stop using this healthy vegetable because we don't know how to use it...I have attempted to show how to cut this wonder vegetable, so it can help anyone who wants to know how to cut this vegetable. Next time you see a banana flower, just go grab it and cut as shown below and cook it in multiple ways as you want and enjoy it's both good taste and good health.

How to Cut Banana Stem:

1. The banana stem comprise of many petals (Dark Red/Maroon colour), peel each of the petals one by one.

2. Inside each petal, there are many florets (white in colour), which should be detached/plucked from the petals.

3. Each florets has a stamen in the middle and a small covering (looks slightly glossy), which needs to be removed. This is done by holding each floweret's tip of the stamen and pulling it towards you, this breaks both the stamen and the covering from the florets.

 

 Collect all the florets like this from each and every petal, until you reach the core of the vegetable, where you will not find any more petals and only bunch of small tender florets remains, It is ok to use the tender florets as it is, without removing the stamen, as there would be hardly any stamen in it, as you reach the core of the vegetable.

 Once all the florets are collected as mentioned above, cut them to an inch size or any desired length you want and drop them in the bowl of buttermilk water. This helps the florets from discolouration.

Now the chopped banana flower is ready for your cooking!!!!

Tips:

If the Banana flower is very fresh, when you remove the petals the florets will be very creamish/whitish in colour and looks very tender and fresh. If the flower is not very fresh, the florets will have slight brown colouration. As long as it is not too dark, you can use it for cooking.

Banana Flower Thuvayal

Banana Flower (Vazhaipoo) is a very healthy vegetable which grown as a bunch on the banana tree. The Vazhaipoo is very significant in our South-Indian tradition, as in many tamilian household ceremonies and functions ; you will find the banana flower hung from the banana tree, in front of the house.

Health Benefits of Banana Flower:

1. Rich in Vitamin A and C.
2. A good lactating agent.
3. Significantly reduces the blood sugar levels, hence diabetic-friendly vegetable.
4. Have anti-oxidant properties.
5. Curbs excessive bleeding during menstrual cycle & considerably increases the progesterone levels in the body.

Once the banana flowers are cut to small pieces, they have to be immersed in buttermilk water immediately to avoid discoloration.

The Banana flower can be prepared in numerous ways and included in our diet. This is a thuvayal version of the recipe. Thuvayal are thick chutneys made with variety of vegetables/green leaves, dhals and spices, which can serve both as a main dish or a side dish in our south indian cuisine. Mostly thuvayal goes well along with Rice and not tiffin items. Here is a simple Banana flower thuvayal.

Best Accompaniment for : Sambar / Kozhambu / Rasam / Curd Rice

Ingredients:

Banana Flower (chopped) - 1 Cup
Urud dhal - 2 tbsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 2 or 3
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 6
Tamarind ball - 2 pinches
Coconut - 3/4 Cup
Hing - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 2 tsp
Salt - 1 to 2 tsp
Water - 1/4 Cup

Method:

1. In a non-stick pan/kadai, add a teaspoon of oil, when it becomes hot, add the chopped banana flower and fry for 5 minutes and remove and switch off and cool.

2. Add a teaspoon of oil, when it becomes hot, add the urud dhal, pepper, cumin seeds, red chillies, curry leaves , tamarind & hing and fry until the urud dhal becomes light brown.

3. Cool the ingredients in 1 and 2 and grind together adding coconut and required salt and very little water to a thick paste.

Banana Flower Thuvayal is ready to serve.

  

Instant Vicks Remedy for blocked nose

Few days back, I came down with unexpected cold and blocked nose. I was finding it difficult to breathe through the nose while sleeping. We are all aware of the usual vicks application on our nose & chest to get some relief...even though this is a regular method, it takes few days for the cold to leave and also this doesn't release the nose block 100%.While thinking of ways to combat cold with home remedies, I remembered something which I recently read on the internet. It's a quick and effective treatment for cold using Vicks Vaporub with slight difference in its application.

I was little skeptical even after reading so many articles and testimonials about its effectiveness, but when the nose block is so irritating and you're desperate for a relief, one doesn't feel like leaving any stone unturned to find a way out. So I gave it a try and it really worked. Within half an hour of giving it a try, I could sense my nose block relieving (100% relief) and very soon I could breathe through my blocked nose without any difficulty and much better, I slept through the night very well.

So am now compelled to share this remedy (which is all over the net anyways), and my post here is my guarantee for its effectiveness. So, if you're having cold and want a quick relief, please do as below.

1. Take 2 scoops of vicks vaporub and rub each scoop under each of your feet and cover it up with a socks and goto sleep. This relives your blocked nose.

This treatment I have read, is effective for both adults and kids. But for kids the vicks scoop can be less. For very small children under 2 to 3 years, I am not sure whether this treatment is advisable. So parents first check whether it is ok to try this remedy for your little one. For adults, it works and I am strongly vouching for it !!! 

PS: Next day the cold was completely gone. Is it the vicks treatment effect or just a coincidence..not sure, but am happy it's gone!

Baingan Bartha

Baingan Bhartha is quite a side-dish made with eggplant, famous in various cuisines of Maharashtra, Bihar, Orissa, and even Tamil Nadu. It is a gravy side dish made mainly with cooked and mashed eggplant (brinjal) and spices to give a different taste from the usual routine side-dishes.

Egg plant has enormous health benefits. So including it in a form of a side-dish that is well suited for chapathi's makes it an interesting eat.

Health Benefits of Brinjal:

1. The eggplants are a very rich source of fibre and low soluble carbohydrates. Thus a good choice for diabetic persons.
2.  The content of nasunin that is present in eggplant helps remove excess iron from the body. This brings down the risk of getting heart attacks as it damages the existence of the free radicals in one’s system.
3. Eggplant is considered to be high in water content yet low in calorie count. This feature makes it very ideal as a healthy diet for people who want to reduce weight.
4. The skin is well hydrated owing to the high water content an eggplant has. It is also good for the hair.
5. Eggplant reduces the chance of cardio vascular diseases and strokes.

There are 2 ways of cooking this egg plant for this dish.

Method 1: Roast the brinjal directly on the stove, until it is cooked inside. This gives a smoky flavour to your dish. Then remove the skin and use it for cooking. This method I haven't tried myself yet, but know it works.

Method 2: Cut the stem of the brinjal and directly keep them in pressure cooker and cook for just a whistle or two. Cool and open. Remove the skin of the cooked brinjal and mash it well. This is the method used in my recipe. This cooking doesn't give a smoky flavor for the brinjal.

It is one's choice to use your convineant method to cook brinjal. Now let us go into its preperation.

Ingredients:

1. Brinjals - 5 to 6, pressure cooked and skin peeled.
2. Chopped Onion - 2 (small)
3. Chopped Tomato - 2 (small)
4. Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
5. Red chilly Powder - 1 tsp
6. Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
7. Salt - 1 to 1.5 tsp
8. Coriander leaves (chopped) - 2 tsp
9. Seasoning Ingredients: Oil - 2 tsp, Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Season as given and add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for few seconds.

2. Add the chopped onion and mix well and fry till it becomes slight brown.

3. Add the chopped tomato and mix well and cook till it becomes mashy.

4. Add the required powders - Red chilly powder, coriander powder and salt and mix well with the gravy.

5. Add the mashed brinjals and give a nice stir. Cook for 5 minutes until the brinjals are well blended with the gravy.

6. Garnish with coriander leaves and remove.

Raw Onion Chutney

This is an instant spicy onion chutney for all spice lovers. It's instant because, you need to just raw grind all the ingredients without cooking. So it's fast.  This chutney has little raw taste yet goes well with tiffin items like idly and dosa. Since no cooking is done, while seasoning be little lavish with oil, so the cooked oil blends with the chutney and removes the raw taste a bit.

Ingredients:

Big Onion - 2
Red Chillies -  4 or 5
Tamarind - Small ball
Salt - 1 to 1.5 tsp
Seasoning Ingredients: Oil - 3 to 4 tbsp, mustard seeds - 1 tsp, broken urud dhal - 1 tsp, asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. In a mixer, add the onion, red chillies, tamarind and salt and grind to a thick paste, adding limited water.

2. Season as given and pour onto the chutney and mix well and serve.