14 January 2014

Dry Ginger Kashayam for Cold

There is flu everywhere around us, during winter season, due to the fluctuating low temperatures and very cold weather. From children to adults alike, we succumb to cold quickly. Finally we end up at doctor's clinic and take anti-biotics for 5 to 7 days to get cured. The most common impact of antibiotics which we may all know is that, they weaken the immune system. To keep the cold at bay, there are age-old home remedies which have been practised in olden days, but which has been forgotten/not used regularly in the modern times..One such common remedy are Kashayams, made with ingredients mostly available in our kitchen frequently. These ingredients when combined together and boiled and consumed hot when having cold,  gives us gradual but definite cure from cold, owing to their medicinal properties.

Dry Ginger powder (Chukku Kashayam) is one such kashayam which can be prepared easily at home and is a reliable cure for cold. Drinking this kashayam hot even gives a soothing effect to your throat during infection.

Dry ginger's rich anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties are very good for health. It provides relief from common cold, headache, stomach ache etc. It is effectively used in weight loss treatments too as it helps to burn fat fast & helps to increase the body metabolism as well.

Here is a quick & easy to prepare Dry ginger powder kashayam along with some other ingredients for effective cure of common cold. Consume this regularly for atleast thrice a week and see the difference.

Ingredients:

1. Dry Ginger Powder - 2 1/2 tsp
2. Coriander Seeds - 1 1/4 tsp
3. Black Pepper Seeds - 1/2 tsp
4. Cumin Seeds - 1/4 tsp
5. Ajwain - 1/4 tsp (Omam in tamil) - Optional
6. Water - 2 1/2 tumbler
7. Palm Sugar or White Sugar - 3/4 tsp (Palm Sugar is Panagkalkandu in Tamil)

Method:

1. In water, add all the ingredients, except Sugar (Ingredient 7) and bring to a boil until the consistency is reduced to half.
2. Then add the Palm sugar or white sugar and boil for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sugar dissolves.
3. Switch off, strain the kashayam and then drink it while it is hot.

08 January 2014

Vegetable Salad - IV

Here is another healthy vegetable salad version including some vegetables and sprouted green gram, that can be prepared in a jiffy and relished.
 
Ingredients:
 
Sprouted Green gram - 1 Cup
Shredded/Grated White or Purple cabbage - 1 Cup
Shredded/Grated Beetroot - 1 Cup
Boiled/Cooked white channa - 20
Assorted Nuts - Almonds, pistachio, walnut - 4 each, broken to small pieces.
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
 
Method:
 
1. Semi-cook together sprouted green gram, grated cabbage and beetroot for not more than 6-8 minutes and remove and drain all excess water.
2. To the above add the boiled white channa, pepper powder and salt and mix well.
3. Garnish the salad with broken nuts & serve chilled or immediately.
 
 

Vegetable Salad - III

This is a mixed salad recipe with some vegetables and fruits. This salad is little different from the normal because of the combination of Avocado and Orange along with vegetables. Avocado, even though quite tasteless, when mixed with other ingredients, it's blandness is overshadowed by the taste of the other ingredients. So eating it raw in a combo is actually quite easy. Orange in this salad is a citric supplement. I have used it instead of lime. A slightly sour orange will be better choice for this salad to give a mild tartness to it. The vegetables used are the usual salad vegetables like carrot, cucumber, beetroot, sweet corn, onion etc. Additionally even sprouted green gram is used.
 
Enjoy this colorful and healthy salad.
 
Ingredients:
 
Sprouted green gram - 1/2 cup
Beetroot (small) - 1, chopped to medium pieces
Carrot (small) - 1, chopped to medium pieces
Cucumber (small) - 1, chopped to medium pieces
Small onions - 6 , chopped fine
Sweet corn - 1/4 Cup
Avocado - 1, peeled and chopped to medium pieces
Orange - 1, peeled and chopped to small pieces
Pepper powder - 2 tsp
Vegetable Masala Powder (or) Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1 to 1 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves - 2 tsp, chopped fine.
 
Method:
 
1. Semi cook together sprouted green gram, beetroot, sweet corn together for maximum 5 to 7 minutes and remove. Drain the water and keep the semi cooked vegetables ready.
2. In a broad bowl, add the chopped carrot, cucumber, small onions, avocado, orange and mix well.
3. To the above, add semi cooked vegetables and mix well.
4. Add the pepper powder, vegetable masala powder (or) garam masala powder and salt & mix. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve chilled or immediately.
 



 

06 January 2014

Mixed Flour Dosa

Mixed Flour dosa is an instant dosa that is made with combination of flours. We call this dosa as "Karacha maavu dosa" in tamil. As this an instant dosa, we need not worry about grinding the batter and fermenting. The preparation time for this batter is just less than 5 minutes and it can be made immediately after the batter is prepared. However, I generally set aside this batter for minimum 5 to 10 minutes and then start making the dosa. After a long day, if you are tired to prepare extensive dinner, this dosa can come to your rescue. Children will surely like the crispiness in the dosa & will eat well.

This dosa is very similar to rava dosa, both by looks and taste. Unlike the sada dosa, this karacha maavu dosa batter is prepared by making a thin circled layer  of the batter from the outside  and then smearing the batter randomly inside, hence this dosa looks so porous in between and the edges turn out very crispy when the dosa gets cooked.

Any combination of chutney goes well with this dosa. Even small onion or drumstick sambar makes a good combo for this dosa. I have tried this dosa with just milagai podi (gun powder) and the combo was awesome. Now let's look at making this instant and tasty dosa.

Ingredients:

Rice Flour - 2 Cups
Maida Flour (All purpose flour) - 1 Cup
Sooji (Rava) - 1/2 Cup
Salt - 2 tsp
Green chillies - 2 (chopped finely)
Cumin seeds - 3/4 tsp
Whole black pepper - 3/4 tsp
Curry leaves - 4 (chopped to fine pieces)
Oil - 2 tsp (for batter)
Oil - 4 tbsp (for cooking)
Water - 4 to 5 cups


Method:

1. In a bowl, add the rice flour, maida flour and salt and mix well. Add water and mix into batter consistency. The batter should be very loose(little watery) in consistency. 

2. Once batter is ready, add cumin seeds, green chillies, whole black pepper, curry leaves, 2 tsp of oil and mix well & set aside for 5 minutes (setting aside is optional, you can start making dosa instantly too).


3. Heat the tava, and drizzle oil evenly, take a ladle of batter and drop them into thin circle in the corner of the tava, and then smear the batter randomly in all directions within the circled layer criss-cross.  Add oil on the corners and in the middle randomly and wait till brown spots appear on the lower bottom corners of the dosa.




4. Then, toss the dosa around and wait for 30 - 45 seconds and then turn the dosa around, brown spots will be seen on the turned side, fold the dosa into two and remove from stove and transfer to a plate.


 
This Instant Dosa (Karaicha maavu dosa) goes well with coconut chutney, but you can have any desired chutney or sambar as it's side-dish.