Bottlegourd/ Ghia / Louki Raitha

Ghia otherwise known as bottlegourd is now being acclaimed as a curative for various ailments from urinary problems to a liver cure. It balances the Doshas and is an antiflatulant. Insomnia, baldness and juandice are other ailments that find a cure in this wonder vegetable.
In my adventure of trying out recipes, this is about the best I have picked up. Very healthy, balances the doshas and soothing to the stomach.
Besides this is a totally OIL-FREE dish.
And what's more it goes very well with any parathas or pulaos!

3 cups Grated Bottlegourd/ Louki
1 cup thick yoghurt/Dahi, beaten
1/4 tsp powdered mustard
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp sugar
salt
Cilantro/Coriander for garnishing

• Take the grated vegetable in a pan and add water only to the level of the grated vegetable and boil till tender.
• Cool completely and add the beaten yoghurt, spices and salt and sugar.
• Garnish with coriander/cilantro and enjoy with rice or chapathi
• Or you can eat it as it is instead of a sugar laden fruit yoghurt

Healthy Spinach Wada/ Keerai Vadai

Keerai vadai/Spinach wada and Healthy!? Is that possible? All I can say is...Try This!

You will need a APPAM PAN to make this.... This is a pan with depressions that looks like a muffin pan but can be kept on the stove top.

Recipe:
1 and 1/2 cup Urad dal, soaked for 2 hours
1 bunch Spinach, chopped
green chillies-2 or 3, chopped fine.
Jeera/cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
1" piece ginger
salt to taste
Pinch of baking soda

1. Grind the urad dal with salt and ginger to idli batter consistency.
2. Mix with it the chopped spinach, green chillies and jeera.
3. Add the baking soda and mix well.
4. Heat a greased appam pan and add a tablespoon of the batter into each depression.
5. Add some oil around the batter and close the pan with a domed lid.
6. After a few minutes, remove the lid and slowly turn over each wada
7. Make sure it is well browned on the underside
8. Once again drizzle some oil around the wada and do not close it this time.
9. Let it cook to a golden color on both sides and remove the wadas
10. Enjoy with chutney of your choice and No guilt about a waistline!

Chapathis with Kala Chana Atta

Kala chana is the black chana available at most Indian stores. Also available is the flour made out of this Kala chana or Black chickpeas. It is called kala chana atta and has the fibre content of the black chickpeas and also the protein content. Being both high in protein and fibre, it makes a very ideal diabetic diet.

1 cup Wheat flour
1/2 cup Black chickpea flour or kala chana atta
pinch salt

• Make a dough of the above with warm water. Cover the dough and set aside for a half hour.
• Divide the dough into rounds of required quantity, depending on the size of the chapathi you want to make.
• Roll out the rounds into flat discs with the help of a little wheat flour and put it on a heated griddle.
• When you see a few tiny bubbles on the chapathi, turn it over on the other side on the griddle.
• Once again when you see small bubbles on it, Take the chapathi off the griddle.
• Instantly put it on the open flame with tongs and watch it fluff up like a balloon
• Flip it onto the other side and when light brown spots appear onit, take off fire and have it hot with a curry of your choice.

Tasty and Healthy Mixed Peppers Curry

What an oxymoron that sounds! Tasty and healthy! Can anything healthy be tasty? I am sure a lot of us think that way....well! here's a surprise.
Research always recommends we eat colorful vegetables and fruits to stay protected from diseases, to stay healthy. My next post is a recipe for a colorful vegetable dish.

Mixed Peppers and vegetable Side Dish (Serves 6)

2 Green peppers
2 Red peppers
2 yellow peppers
2-3 carrots
1 medium red potato
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp oil
2 dried chillies
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
salt as requires
1/2 to 1 tsp chilli powder
21/2 tsp coriander powder
One handful peanuts , roasted and coarsely powdered.

1. Chop all the vegetables into longish pieces.
2. Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds and the 2 dried chillies.
3. Next add the chopped vegetables, salt and turmeric and cook till the vegetables are just soft. Be careful not to overcook the vegetables!
4. Add the coriander powder and chilli powder midway, while cooking the vegetables.'
5. Now add the coarsely pounded peanuts. Mix well. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Have this with rotis /chapathis and a cup of curds/yoghurt for a complete meal. Chapathis made with KALA CHANNA ATTA makes this a high protein, high fibre and a low carb meal that is even good as a low fat diet

Pasta Sauce

There is no doubt that a bottle of pasta sauce picked off the shelf is so much more convenient to use. But most of us used to spicy food do find 'something' missing in a regular pasta sauce. I saw my daughter load her pasta with crushed peppers and evolved this pasta sauce..make it bland or spicy, it is worth the effort. Moreover, all those vegetables added make it so much tastier and nutritious!
Bottle it in the very same pasta sauce bottles and you can fool your kids into eating a lot of vegetables.

Anyway here it goes...

1 can Tuttorosa Crushed tomatoes with basil
(If you want to go the healthy way, I recommend no-sodium Eden crushed tomatoes with basil
or for those to whom these are not available, any carton of tomato sauce will do)

Method:
2 green peppers (capsicum) diced
4-5 carrots diced
3 onions diced
2 yellow peppers diced(opt)
Green peas a handful, if liked
Mushrooms, again if liked
any other pasta friendly vegetables!
2 cloves garlic
Fresh or dried Basil
Dried Oregano
Cilantro, a small bunch chopped
chilli powder, as per taste
salt
Crushed black pepper, 1 tsp (reduce if cannot take too much spice)
Olive oil 1 tbsp

whole red chillies 2
2 fresh tomatoes chopped
1/2 tsp sugar

• Heat the olive oil and add the whole red chillies and crushed garlic.
• Sauté for a minute till garlic looks roasted
• Next add the onions and all the vegetables and sauté till fairly cooked
• Do not cook to a pasty texture, stop while the vegetables still hold up shape.
• Add the pepper, chilli powder and salt and the tomatoes, cook for a minute or two
• Next add the crushed tomatoes from the can and the sugar
• Bring it up to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes
• Finally, add the basil and oregano.

Your pasta sauce is now ready to use. Chop the vegetables to longish pieces for an added vegetable flavor to the dish.

Mango Ice Cream

Here is a recipe for yummy mango ice cream, I made yesterday. More than being particularly inclined to make ice creams was the necessity to use up that carton of fresh cream that stared at me from my refrigerator every time I opened it! I have used heavy cream and where heavy cream is not available, you can substitute with this... For 1 cup heavy cream, melt 1/3 cup butter and add 3/4 cup milk to it. Mix very well.
This recipe qualified for this 'healthy options' blogsite when I took a look at all the ingredients on any ice cream carton...there were at least 22 to 25 ingredients if not more. Chemicals to preserve, to keep fresh and whatever other reasons! My next attempt will be to bake my own bread rather than use the 'chemicalized' versions at supermarkets!
So here's to good wholesome ice cream that contains fresh fruit and good old cream and milk and NO chemicals!

You will need..
1 Ripe Mango
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Cup Whole Milk
About 3/4 cup sugar (adjust this according to sweetness of mango)

Peel and chop or crush mango to make puree. Blend with all the above ingredients in a blender.
Now you can make this ice cream in a churner or continue to whip for a few minutes then
Freeze icecream till softly frozen
Remove and whip again in the blender and freeze again.
Repeat this a couple more times till you get soft fluffy and light textured ice cream
Freeze and enjoy!

Can make this with any fresh fruit, chikoo, strawberries, figs ...your choice

Bachelor Food..Quick Sambar Bhath / Huli Anna

Many bachelors living in the US and other places far away from family especially if they are from South India crave a simple good Huli anna or Sambar Bhath or Sambar Saadam. And this is one dish you dont get in restuarants. Of course, you do get the famed Bisi Bele but it is too spicy for an everyday huli anna. So this post is for all those youngsters and olders . This is also good for families after a tiring day and you dont feel like an elaborate dinner. It is equal to khichdi chawal..maybe tastier.

Rice 1 cup
Tur dal 1/2 cup
Frozen mixed vegetables...like some peas and carrots, papdi lilva, drumsticks, beans, cluster beans and whatever.
Tamarind paste or soaked tamarind mixed with water...1/4 cup
MTR sambar powder 2 tablespoons
salt
oil 1 tablespoon
mustard 1/2 teaspoon
urad dal 1 teaspoon
red chillies 2
hing

• Wash tur dal and rice together and cook it together with the vegetables, add 3 cups water and cook in a pressure cooker
• Heat oil, add mustard, hing, urad dal, and red chilllies
• Once urad dal is light brown, add tamarind juice and sambar powder and allow to boil well for 5 minutes
  
• Add another 1/4 cup water to this and add the rice-dal-veg mixture and salt
  
• Mix very well, if mixture is too dry , add some water.and cook well.
• Sambar bhath is ready. Have it with the pumpkin raitha for a comforting dinner that will remind you of home.
  

Very Simple Pumpkin Raitha

This is one very tasty , healthy nutritious dish that will have you smacking your lips and craving more. Gone will be those fruity sugary yoghurts and in is this mildly spicy yoghurt. And NO SUGAR too! Have this as a pure snack or as an accompaniment to chapathis or bhaths.
Here is how...
Serves 2
Finely chopped pumpkin about 2 cups.
green chillies 2
red chilli 1
mustard seeds 1/2 teaspoon
urad dal 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds 1/2 teaspoon
asafoetida a sprinkle
salt
oil 2 teaspoons
coriander leaves or cilantro, as much as u like or 2 tablespoons
Finally Yoghurt or Dahi 1 1/2 cups

• Heat the oil. Add asafoetida, mustard, cumin urad and red chilli
• when urad turns a light brown, add the green chillies and pumpkin. Stir
  
• Cook till pumpkin is tender but not squishy. Add salt and allow to cool.
• When it is at room tepmperature, add the well beaten yoghurt, mix well
• Finally add cilantro and serve cold.
  

Low Fat PUMPKIN AMBAT BHAJI

Ambat bhaji meaning sour vegetable is a staple among deshastha marathi madhwas or smarthas. This dish is made with spinach, pumpkin, cabbage or any leafy vegetable and relished with curd chillies and a separate bowl of prepared seasoning of rai, urad dal and hing.

SERVES TWO:
Finely chopped Pumpkin 2 or 3 cups
Tur dal 3/4 cup
tamarind or Thai fruit..lime sized soaked in water.
Sambar powder-2-3 tsps
2 to 4 green chillies
sprig curry leaves
kothmir or coriander
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 red chillies broken
1 tsp urad dal
1/2 tsp methi seeds
2-3 tsp oil
dash of asafoetida
salt
Boil the tur dal and keep ready
1. Heat oil.
2. Add mustard seeds, asafoetida, urad dal and the red chillies.
3. When this splutters, add curry leaves and slit or cut green chillies
4. Add the pumpkin and cook till tender
5. Now add the tamarind juice and sambar powder and allow to boil
6. Add the tur dal, salt and let boil well
6. mixture should be thick. garnish with coriander and serve hot with rice or roti

PEACH GOJJU

Returned after a lovely 4 week vacation in India. Even as we were driving back from the airport decided to pick up some grocery staples..bread milk and you have it. Also picked up some lovely peaches, all golden with the lovely pink blush on them that I so love. But alas, they only looked good..they were so sour I almost got a toothache! And there was born my Peach Gojju on the very first week after my return accompanied by jet lag and all!

PEACH GOJJU

6-7 peaches, sour if they may be
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
2 red chillies
2 green chillies
1 sprig curry leaves
2 to 3 cups of water
2-3 tsp sambar powder
Lime sized piece of jaggery
1 tsp oil
salt to taste.

Chop these to 1 inch pieces. Heat the oil and add to it seasoning of mustard seeds, urad dal, 2 split red chillies and methi seeds(fenugreek).
When the mustard seeds spluter and the urad dal turns reddish, add 2 green chillies, curry leaves and the peach pieces.
Allow to cook, adding very little water if necessary.
Once the peaches are tender and assimilated, add 2 cups of water to it.
As it boils, add 2-3 tsp sambar powder, salt and a big piece of jaggery .
Let cook very well and Enjoy.

Spinach or Methi Dal

Another wholesome food for a weeknight dinner is this dal, which is a good combination of leafy green vegetable with split peas or Tur dal and the tang of green mangoes. This along with pumpkin raitha and rice is a complete meal . This is very tasty made with methi or fenugreek leaves and equally good with spinach. It may not be so easy for working people to work with methi on weekdays, when frozen spinach is a better option.

SPINACH/ METHI DAL

1 packet frozen spinach or 1 bunch fresh methi or spinach, chopped finely.
1 cup boiled tur dal /split peas
1/4 cup diced raw green mango or a nugget of thai fruit or tamarind soaked in water.
2 or 3 tsps of oil
3 green chillies sliced vertical
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp gram flour (besan)
2 or 3 red chillies, broken
1/4 tsp methi seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 tablespoon peanuts
1 sprig curry leaves
Salt as required
Asafoetida a pinch


Method:
1. Boil the greens along with the green chillies with very little water till tender . If using green mango, add this too.
2. Once the greens are cooked, add the dal and turmeric to it.
3. At this stage, if using tamarind or thai fruit add that and let boil.
4. Now, mix the gramflour in a little water and add, stirring all the time.
5. add salt and allow the mixture to thicken and take off fire.
6. Finally the seasoning.... Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, asafoetida, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, red chillies and peanuts. Once urad dal and peanuts turn reddish, add the curry leaves and pour over the dal. Enjoy with cooked white rice and pumpkin raitha.

Cabbage Waran

Chopped Cabbage (qty. as needed)
3/4 or 1 cup mung dal
1/2tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
1tsp urad dal
2 red chiilies
dash of asafoetida
2 green chillies
sprig of pinched curry leaves
water to boil mung dal
salt as needed
Dessicated coconut for garnish
coriander leaves for garnish
1 tsp oil

• Wash mung dal and keep for boiling with 1 1/2 cups water ( a little above the mung dal) and turmeric
• Heat oil, add mustard seeds, udad dal and red chillies, broken in two and asafoetida
• When seeds splutter and urad dal turns golden, add the green chillies, curry leaves and cabbage
• Add salt and cook till half done. In the meanwhile, the mung dal will also be half done.
• Add mung dal to cabbage mixture , add some water, cover and cook till done
• garnish with dessicated coconut and coriander leaves

Have with cooked rice and yoghurt and or with chapathis.
This can also be cooked dry till all water has gone. Can also add any bhaji powder or sambar powder for additional spice.

Quick Healthy Wholesome Weeknight Dinners

In most families these days, it has become imperative that the dinner is a quick cooking meal and wholesome too. In addition, for many it serves as lunch the next day so it being healthy and wholesome becomes more necessary. Here are some recipes for healthy weeknight dinners. They are mostly one dish that includes vegetables and lentils (translate vitamins and protein) that accompanies rice or chapathi (carbohydrate) and and yoghurt (Calcium) to complete the meal.

Cabbage Waran
Spinach/ Methi Dal and Pumpkin Raitha
Pumpkin Ambat bhaji
Quick Sambar Bhath
Mixed peppers with crushed Peanuts

"Keep Off" the Colds and Flu with CUMIN TEA

While in an earlier blog, I have given a very potent household remedy for colds and cough, here is something to prevent the cold and flu.
It has been snowing in New Jersey and all along the east coast. And these are the times, I give my family preventive care to keep off the cold. It is very simple,can be done by the busiest person.

CUMIN TEA: Take a few glasses of water in a saucepan , add a tablespoon of cumin to it and boil it for a few minutes. Take off fire, cool just a little bit and drink it hot especially after coming in after cleaning the snow off your car, or back home on wintry evenings. Give it to children when they are back from school, make it a family thing so the kids look forward to the comfort of the hot cumin tea after a cold day and get protected from sore throats, cold and coughs.
Try it and let me hear from you all!

Strawberry Banana breakfast shake for school going teenagers

When my daughter was in High School when they so typically do not have the time to eat breakfast...well, more precisely breakfast is just a pick up while going to the door, this is what I used to give her.

5-6 Fresh strawberries (substitute with chikoo or apple or any seasonal fruit)
1 banana
half a cup of any cereal (cooked oats, cooked dalia/buckwheat, cornflakes )
A few almonds(optional) or 1 tbsp vanilla complan or any vanilla protein powder(again optional)
1 cup milk


Blend all the above in a mixer, put in a glass and hand it to your kid on his/her way to the door. With this, you don,t have to worry even if they skip lunch!