Corn Lettuce Wrap: A Milky Masala Corn Snack

It’s been a while that I posted something which is healthy, not that iam not cooking anything healthy, but really having a hard time in managing the blog and my office :) but then I thought I should never give up and there comes a recipe, which is very easy and tasty snack. This is a very first recipe I am posting in my blog with Corn. In common, we use corns while making any rice pulavs or sometimes in pudding or a soup, just as an ingredient but have you ever tried anything with corn as a recipe? I guess you may not, as there are not much recipes to make with corns. This is a very unique recipe which has a sweet taste ( as its cooked with milk) as well as a little spicy.
 

 
In India, most corns are little hard even after cooking it, but I found corns here which are very soft, milky and we like even if it’s not cooked too. This is a very simple corn snack which takes about 10 minutes for you to prepare. My Amma gave me this snack recipe and I just went on making as a wrap out of it with lettuce. Interesting isn’t it. I just tried it once, and now it became a repetitive snack at my kitchen. The only little lengthy process in this is shredding the corn from the cob. It’s easier to do with hands if the corn is hard however, corns available here takes little more time to remove the corns from the cob as it is very soft,but if use a corn kerneler (if you have) or just use a knife you are all set.

As I said, its tasty as well as healthy, we all knows how healthy the corn is.

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Corns are rich in fiber content: It has many B-complex vitamins including vitamins B1, B5 and folic acid, and its notable protein content
• One fascinating new area of research on corn involves its potential anti-HIV activity. And also it reduces risk of hemorrhoids and colorectal cancer
• Corn is a good source of phenolic flavonoid antioxidant, ferulic acid. Several research studies suggest that ferulic acid plays vital role in preventing cancers, aging, and inflammation in humans.
• Further, it also contains healthy amounts of some important minerals like zinc, magnesium, copper, iron, and manganese.
• Consuming corn is also linked to reduced signs of diabetes. Studies have shown that the consumption of corn kernels assists in the management of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM)

So, what are you waiting for, grab a cob and enjoy! :)
 

Ingredients:

• Steamed Corns removed from the cob- 1 Cup
• Milk- ½ Cup
• Chili powder- ¼ Tspn
• Ginger pieces- finely chopped- 2 Tspn
• Green chilies chopped- 1 Tspn
• Mustard Seeds- 1 Tspn
• Lemon- small size
• Salt- To Taste
• Coriander Leaves- few
• Oil- 1 Tspn
• Asafetida- a pinch
• Lettuce- 1 bunch

Method:

• In a pan with medium heat pour milk, when it heats up add the corns to it and cook until the milk is dried up in the corn. Remove it and keep aside.
• In the same pan, pour oil, when it heats up add mustard seeds and when it breaks up add the green chilies, ginger and sauté for 2 minutes.
• Now add the steamed corns and sauté again, add chili powder,salt and asafetida and sauté for another 2 minutes and garnish with coriander leaves.
• Switch off the flame and squeeze the lemon to it.
• Arrange the corns to the lettuce and make a roll and enjoy as snack!

Notes:
As said, if you don’t need it as snack, you can serve just the corns. Wrapping it with lettuce is optional 

 

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Pearl Millet Rice / Kambu Kali and Kambu Koozh

I think this is a 100% recipe which is eligible to be at this page, Kambu kali is very famous in most of Tamil Nadu families, it’s extremely healthiest food and to be consumed especially during summer. The proper way of making the kali is getting the pearl millet as a whole and grinding it to a coarse powder to use, but unfortunately I don’t get the whole millet hence I used the flour in making. It tastes great when you have it Karuvatu Kuzambu or with any fish curry. Try making this with a erumbu karande or a wooden ladle to make it, as it’s really little hard to stir well. Here are some of the nutritious facts which I have gathered a few information from the internet for the readers.
 

You can make the kambu Koozh too as, it tastes great as its made with buttermilk. If you are too busy in the mornings to make breakfasts then these foods are a good choice, as its easy to make and a healthiest food to make you stay refreshed for the whole day. I still remember the person who sells the kambu koozh in many places near temples. Especially while we roam a lot in the Indian summer, when you have the kambu koozh you feel like heaven, it makes the body cool than you having a cold beverage.

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Millets are a great source of starch, protein and fiber. It is said that the amino acids in the pearl millet are more easily digestible than the ones found in wheat.
• Rich in methionine (an amino acid), B complex vitamins (niacin, thiamin, and riboflavin), folic acid, lecithin, potassium, magnesium, manganese and zinc as it lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart attacks.
• Pearl millet is a rich source of phosphorus, which plays an important part in the structure of body cells. This element is also a crucial component of nucleic acids, which are the building blocks of the genetic code. Rich in phosphorus is a constituent such as cell membranes and nervous system structures.
• Recent studies have proven that regular consumption of pearl millets help in preventing gallstones in women. They contain insoluble fibers which not only speed up intestinal transit time but also reduce the secretion of bile acids. Pearl millets are known to increase insulin sensitivity and lower the level of triglycerides.
• Regular intake of millets provides protection against breast cancer in pre-menopausal women. Apart from that, it has also shown a considerable reduction in the occurrence of wheezing and asthma in children.
• Millets contain an essential phytonutrient, lignin, which is very beneficial for the human body. With the help of natural flora, lignans get converted to mammalian lignans and they fight against hormone-dependent cancers and reduce the risk of cardiac arrests.
• Consumption of pearl millets helps in minimizing the risk of type 2 diabetes. Being a good source of magnesium, millets act as a cofactor in a number of enzymatic reactions.

 
Ingredients:
Kambu Kali:

• Kambu Flour- ½ Cup
• Any cooked Rice (Except raw rice)-1/2 Cup
• Water- 3 Cups
• Salt- As needed

Method:

• In the boiling water add the kambu flour and stir it and let that cooked well
• In the same pan, add the cooked rice  and smash it all together 
• Add the required salt and make as large balls(after it sets cool). Serve hot with desired curry or chutney

Ingredients:
Kambu Koozh:

• Cooked Kambu Kali or Cooked kambu (cooled): ½ Cup
• Butter Milk- ½ Cup
• Green Chilies- 2 sliced
• Small Onions- 4 Nos Sliced
• Curry Leaves-Few
• Coriander Leaves- Few

Method:

• Whip up the buttermilk and mix it with all the ingredients and keep it in refrigerator for atleast 10 mins.
• Serve cool with raw onions.

Tips:

"While making kambu kali, stir continuously with a ladle to avoid lumps.

In making kambu koozh, whipping up the buttermilk is very important as it tastes good.

You can add a tspn of curd in the kambu koozh as it gives an extra taste."

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Spinach with Dal / Keerai Kootu

It’s been long time that I couldn’t post anything here, don’t ask me if its because I didn’t cook any healthy foods at home :)... Here I come with an another spinach dish, but this time as a dry recipe, and you have a choice too to add, I would not suggest to use it but if you are concerned more on the taste then yes, you can add few baked potatoes to this recipe.

As I have presented the nutritious facts about Spinach in my Keerai Sambar, jumping on to the recipe.. So, today’s healthy menu is the spinach with daal dry recipe, its tastes so good with chappathi or with the rice. This recipe is excellent for people like me, as I don’t like it as a main course but as a side dish to my rice/roti and you can do this recipe with any kind of spinach you wish..

 

Ingredients:

• Spinach- a Bunch
• Moong Dal- ½ Cup
• Green chilies- 4 Nos
• Coriander powder- ½ Tspn
• Turmeric Powder-1/4 Tspn
• Oil- 1 Tspn
• Mustard Seeds-Few
• Curry Leaves-Few
• Dry Red Chilies- 3 Nos
• Salt- To Taste
• Ghee- 1 Tspn

Method:

• Pressures cook the dal for 3 whistles and keep aside.
• In a separate pan, pour oil add the mustard, curry leaves and dry red chilies and green chilies, garlic and sauté for a minute.
• Add the spinach to this and sauté again for a minute.
• Add the coriander powder and sauté again for a minute.
• Pour little water, close and cook for about 5-7 minutes until the spinach is cooked.
• Add the cooked dal to this and sauté well, till all the water evaporates.
• Add the ghee to it and give a last stir.

Tips:

"If you do not want to add ghee, you can skip it.

Add more dal, as per your requirement."

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Keerai Sambar / Spinach Sambar

At times, we all are in some difficulty in cooking a healthy recipe with good taste. One among them is the” spinach”. I believe there is no necessity to brief the nutritious facts in Spinach. There are lot of spinach variety exist. Whenever the spell the word the word spinach I remember the cartoon character Popeye the Sailor Man is portrayed as having a strong affinity for spinach, becoming physically stronger after consuming it. It may look funny however there is a hidden truth in it. Yes, not just for the Popeye in cartoon, but it have wide nutritious facts to make anyone physically strong.
 

Cooking the spinach as a normal poriyal(Tamil) or Thoran(Malayalam) is always boring, and so this is my new adventure “Keerai Sambar/Spinach Sambar”. This recipe really tastes good as it has a combination of daal and spinach in it with all masala powders.I used the Malabar spinach for this recipe, you could replace it with any spinach of your choice. Before getting into the recipe here comes few nutritious facts as you are in the Healthy Menu.

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Rich in vitamins such as vitamin A, C, E, K
• Highly contains the source of calcium and potassium.
• Good source of Folic acid and protein.
• Excellent source of Iron

Ingredients:

• Spinach- a Bunch.
• Green chilies- 3 sliced vertically.
• Small onion- few sliced
• Tomato- 1 Sliced
• Turmeric powder- ¼ Tspn
• Sambar Powder- 2 Tspn
• Tamarind Extract- ¼ Cup
• Toor Dal- ½ Cup.
• Ghee- ¼ Tspn
• Salt- To Taste

To Temper:

• Oil- 1 Tspn
• Mustard- ½ Tspn
• Curry Leaves- Few
• Fenugreek seeds- ¼ Tspn
• Asafetida- ½ Tspn

Method:

• In a pressure cooker, cook the toor dal for 3 whistles and set aside.
• In a pan, add all the items under “To Temper” and add the small onions, green chilies and sauté until the onions turns soft.
• Add the tomatoes to it and sauté again until it becomes soft.
• Add the turmeric and sambar powder and sauté well until the masala smell goes off from it.
• Add the spinach to it and sauté for a minute just to mix up with the masala.
• Now, transfer the content to the cooker which has the cooked toor dal and close the lid and pressure cook again for 1 whistle.
• After the whistle goes off, open it and add the tamarind extract and salt and boil for a minute.
• Mix the ghee to it and serve hot with white rice or chappathi.

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Paruppu Kanji with coconut chammanthi/chutney

When we fall sick at times, we may feel like having some food which is tasty and nutritious as well especially foods like kanji, is prepared at home to serve some one falling sick say fever or so. Such kind of recipe is the paruppu kanji. This is a real simple yet nutritious recipe which has green gram and rice in it. Green gram is widely used in many Indian recipes. Its mostly used among vegetarians since it contains a lot of proteins and fiber in it and it helps in digestion and controls cholesterol content in our body as well.
 

This is again from my Amma’s cookbook and I just tried it through her instruction and obviously it turned great. This is best to serve for diabetic patients and those who are trying to loss weight. The best combination to serve with the kanji is coconut chutney/Chamanthi/Thogaiyal. We call Chammanthi in Malayalam and Thovaiyal in Tamil. Before getting into the recipe, I found few amazing nutritious facts about green gram, here for you too.

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Rich in Vitamin C and potassium.
• Rich in carbohydrates and Proteins.
• Improves liver health, hair and nail fragility
• Reduces heart problems and best for constipation.
• Reduces cholesterol and helps in skin anti aging as it has Phytoestrogens an enzyme helps in the secretion of collagen and elastin which helps in enhancing the skin tone
• Best for Diabetics and prevents breast cancer.

Ingredients:

• Green Gram- 1/2 Cup
• Rice- ½ Cup
• Salt- To Taste
• Ghee- 1 Tspn(Optional)
• Water- 2 ½ Cup

Grind:

• Coconut Shredded- 3 Tspn
• Garlic pods- 4 Nos
• Cumin Seeds- 1 Tspn

 

Method:

• Grind the items under “To Grind” coarsely and keep aside.
• Wash rice and green gram and pressure cooker it for 4 whistles.
• Open the lid, and smash the rice, dal finely to make it loose in texture.
• Add the ground coconut and salt and mix well again.
• Add ghee and stir again. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Coconut Chammanthi:

Ingredients:

• Grated coconut – 1/2 cup
• Ginger – a small piece
• Dried Red Chilies (unakka mulagu) – 5
• Tamarind– a medium size piece
• Curry leaves – a few
• Salt – as needed

Method:

• Grind all these together sprinkling little water in between. Serve with Kanji.

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Mutton Liver Fry

Yummm!!! Look at the pics mouth watering is it!! Yes it is, we felt the same after having it cooked so tasty at My Kitchen. I know I was bit late in posting in my healhy menu for long time however I was waiting for a good recipe to do so. Mutton Liver is excellent source of Iron and should be taken by people who are anemic. Many children suffer from Anemia, and do you know Signs of iron deficiency anemia include.

• Feeling tired and weak
• Slow cognitive and social development during childhood
• Difficulty maintaining body temperature
• Decreased immune function, which increases susceptibility to infection
• Glossitis (an inflamed tongue).

So, to overcome the anemia, one should take the foods which comprises of Iron, though you take any medicine or any tonics, vegetables, Iron from meat, poultry, and fish is absorbed two to three times more efficiently than iron from plants. Foods containing (meat, poultry, and fish) enhance iron.

At most of the south Indian houses especially in Tamil Nadu often people cooks the mutton liver fry, I never tried in my kitchen before, and to my surprise it turned out tasty after I did. So here comes my ultimate spicy and tasty Mutton Liver Fry!!. Best with rice, chapathi or Dosa.

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Vitamin A- Vitamin A helps form and maintains healthy skin, teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, mucus membranes, and skin. It is also known as retinol because it produces the pigments in the retina of the eye.
• Vitamin C- Vitamin C is required for growth and repair of tissues in all parts of the body. It is essential for life and in healing wounds and maintaining the integrity of gums, bones, and teeth.
• Potassium- Potassium is an essential mineral and a major electrolyte found in the human body. It plays an important role in electrolyte regulation, nerve function, muscle control, and blood pressure and is essential for the growth of cells and tissue repair.
• Iron- Iron is a part of many enzymes and is used in many cell functions. Enzymes help our bodies digest foods and also help with many other important reactions that occur within our bodies.

 

Ingredients:

• Goat Liver- ½ Kg
• Onion – 1 sliced
• Tomato- 1 Small sliced
• Garlic Crushed- 5 nos
• Coriander Powder- 1 Tspn
• Turmeric Powder- ¼ Tspn
• Ginger Garlic Paste- 1 Tspn
• Chilly Powder- ¼ Tspn
• Gingely Oil- 2 Tspn
• Mustard Seeds- 1 tspn
• Curry Leaves- Few
• Coriander Leaves- Few
• Salt – To Taste

To Roast and Grind:

• Onion – ¼ Cup
• Coconut – 2 Tspn
• Black Pepper Corns- 1 Tspn
• Fennel Seeds- ½ Tspn
• Garlic – 6-7 Pods
• Green Chilies - 6
• Ginger – a Small Piece
• Cardamom- 1
• Cloves- 3
• Bay Leaves- a small leaf
• Cinnamon- a small piece
• Oil – 1 Tspn

 

Method:

• Wash and keep the goat pieces mixed with turmeric powder and keep aside.
• In a small pan, add all the ingredients under “To roast and grind” and roast for 2 minutes and grind to a fine paste.
• In pressure cooker, add oil and add ginger garlic paste,goat liver with salt and cook it for 1 or 2 whistle and set aside.
• In a separate pan, add gingely oil, and add mustard seeds,curry leaves when it starts spiting add the sliced onion,tomato and sauté for 5 minutes until it becomes translucent.
• Add the baked mutton pieces to it and add the ground paste, chilly,turmeric and coriander powder and sauté for until the masala smell goes off completely from it.
• Sauté until it becomes dry and garnish with coriander leaves.

 

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Instant Oats Dosa

“Oats” many of us, doesn’t like it as much as other breakfast, even I am one among them, before knowing the nutritious benefits in it. Oats are grains from a cereal plant and once harvested, go through a milling process. In order to retain the valuable nutrients in oats, processors set out to preserve as much of the oat grain as possible. The mill removes only the outer inedible shell, known as the hull - virtually guaranteeing you get all the goodness of wholegrain no matter what form you eat oats in. Once milled, oats are steamed, heated and cooled in a kiln, which brings out the flavour. The oats are then rolled, cut or ground to produce flakes, oatmeal or flour.

Most people have Oats as breakfast as it may help with weight control. People who eat breakfast regularly are more likely to weigh less than those who skip it. It may also be used in a variety of baked goods, such as oatcakes, oatmeal cookies, but if you don’t like to have the oats in the above forms or if you’re unsure how to include oats into your daily meals, here comes my instant Oats Dosa, you can try this recipe as it tastes like our normal dosa. It’s easy to make as well.

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Rich in soluble fiber-Oats contain more soluble fibre than any other grain, resulting in slower digestion and an extended sensation of fullness.
• Lower bad cholesterol- which possibly to reduce the risk of heart disease.
• High in Proteins
• Excellent source of carbohydrates which provide calories for energy needs
• Oats are high in mineral content and also in several vitamins.
• Contains hundreds of phytochemicals (plant chemicals)-which are thought to reduce a person's risk of getting cancer

 

Ingredients:

• Oats- 1 Cup
• Wheat Flour- ½ Cup
• Rice Flour- ½ Cup
• Onion- 1 Finely Chopped
• Ginger- small piece finely chopped
• Green Chilies- 3 Nos
• Pepper Seeds- few
• Cumin Seeds- 1 Tspn
• Salt- To Taste
• Curry Leaves- Few
• Oil
• Water

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients and make a thin batter(like dosa batter) except onion.
• Fry the onion separately with little oil and transfer the roasted onion to the batter
• Pour the batter to the dosa pan, and cook flipping both the sides.

 

Tips:

"You can add asafetida to bring extra flavour and taste to the batter.

You could replace the pepper powder with the pepper seeds

Add adequate oil, so that it wont be very dry."

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Non Vegetarian Soups

Bored of making curries every time?? Why not this time, try for Soup recipes as they are healthy too. Remember when you had a bad cold as a kid and your mom made you chicken soup? It always made you feel better, right? Soup is the only recipes found common in all countries, traditionally, soups are classified into two main groups: clear soups and thick soups however, there are different kinds of soups like dried, fruits and cold soups. Perhaps, Indian soups are extremely different from all these.. Indian soups certainly tingles your taste buds. Each soup tastes different as it involves different masala.
 

Indian soups tastes great as it comprises a lot of masala and spices, At home, we prepare the soup at times when some one fall sick at home with cold, fever and bad whether and served hot. In south India, Chicken and Mutton soups are very much famous, as in Tamil Nadu, we have varieties like Eeral soup,Nenju Elumbu soups. For grinding masala of the soup I used the mortar and pestle as it gives a wow taste to it.

So, let me serve you all with the three ultimate simple and easy Nandu Rasam(Crab Soup), Sweet corn chicken soup and a plain chicken soup/Village Style. All the three soups are very easy to make and especially the village style soup is easy and tasted terrific. Pic appam1

Few Nutritious Facts:

Best for Runny Nose-Rhinorrhea or rhinorrhoea is a condition where the nasal cavity is filled with a significant amount of mucous fluid. The condition, commonly known as "Runny Nose", occurs relatively frequently. Rhinorrhea is a common symptom of allergies or certain diseases, such as the common cold or hay fever.

Best for Weight loss-Eating Soup fills your stomach and prevents hunger pangs because combining foods with liquid prevents the liquid from being passed through your intestines as quickly, meaning you feel full for a longer period of time.

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Village Style Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• Chicken with Bone pieces- few
• Tomato- 1
• Garlic- 3 Pieces Crushed
• Green chilies- 2
• Small Onion Smashed-few
• Salt
• Oil- 1 Tspn
• Turmeric Powder- ¼ Tspn
• Coriander Leaves- Half Bunch Crushed between palm
• Pepper Coarsely powdered- 1/2 Tspn

To Grind:

• Black pepper Seeds – 3 Tspn
• Garlic pieces- 2
• Cumin Seeds- 1 Tspn

Method:

• Cook covered the chicken along with the onion, turmeric powder, green chilies, crushed garlic and tomato with little water
• After the chicken is boiled well, add the items under “To Grind” list and add the paste to it.
• After the masala smell goes off completely add the pepper powder and salt and garnish with the crushed coriander leaves.

 

Tips:

"You can adjust the level of the spices according to your spice level.

You can add asafetida a Tspn for adding flavor to the soup."

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Sweet Corn Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

• Small pieces of Chicken – ¼ Cup
• Sweet Corn canned or fresh corns- ½ Cup
• Green chillies – 1
• Onion – ½ Finely chopped
• Eggs- 2
• Cream of chicken (Optional) - 1 Tspn
• Chicken Stock or Broth- ½ Cup
• Ginger garlic paste- 1 Tspn
• Corn Starch – 2 Tspn
• Salt- To taste
• Carrot pieces- 4 or 5
• Pepper coarsely powdered- 2 Tspn
• Spring Onion – Few

Method:

• Bake the chicken pieces along with the ginger garlic paste, green chilies and onion and keep aside, once its cooled, cut the chicken pieces to small cubes.
• Mix the chicken broth/Stock, corn, carrot pieces with the baked chicken pieces with little water and boil in stove for about 5 minutes.
• Add the cream of chicken to it and stir well.
• Add one egg at a time into the soup and stir continuously for the egg to form as thick white pieces.
• Now, add the corn starch and stir continuously for the soup to thicken.
• Add the pepper and the salt to it and serve hot sprinkled with spring onion

Tips:

"For best taste I used the Del monte Sweet corn or you can skip this by using the fresh corns.

You can skip using the cream of chicken as its an optional ingredient but it gives a nice taste to it.

If you don’t want to use the chicken broth, you can use the water used for baking the chicken for the recipe."

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Nandu Rasam/Crab Soup

Ingredients:

• Crab legs- 1 Bowl
• Tomato- 1
• Garlic- 6 Pieces Smashed
• Small Onion Smashed-few
• Salt
• Oil- 1 Tspn
• Tamarind paste- 1 Tspn
• Turmeric Powder- ¼ Tspn
• Coriander Leaves- Few

To Grind:

• Black pepper Seeds – 3 Tspn
• Cumin Seeds- 1 Tspn
• Coriander seeds- 1 Tspn

Method:

• Grind all the ingredients under “To Grind” and keep aside.
• In a pan, pour oil, add the smashed onion and tomato and garlic and sort for about 2 minutes.
• Add the crab legs, salt, tamarind paste and turmeric powder to it and add water and cook covered for about 10 minutes or until the crab is baked well.
• Open the lid and now add the grounded paste and garnish with coriander leaves.

 

Tips:

"You can skip adding the tamarind paste as it is optional ingredient.

You can add asafetida a Tspn for adding flavor to the soup."

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Maravalli Kilangu Appam / Tapioca Sweet pancake

Many of the south Indians like to have the maravalli kilangu, and its very much famous especially in kerala as Kappa Kizhangu or Poola (in northern Kerala) or Maricheeni and it is served most often with sea foods.In Tamil nadu its called as Maravalli Kilangu. Conventionally, tapioca, derived from the cassava plant, is best known as a creamy pudding dessert with little sustenance. However, in some in areas like Africa, Asia and South America, tapioca is known better for its nutritional benefits than as a sweet treat.
 

Certainly I would say it as a unique recipe as it tasted so good and has health benefits as well. There are quite lot of dishes made out of Tapioca.I never know that tapioca is prepared even as appam until my MIL gave me this unique recipe,so its from her cookbooks :)
 

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Carbohydrate
• 1-2% of crude protein
• Rich in calcium and vitamin C
• Contain a nutritionally significant quantity of thiamine, riboflavin and nicotinic acid. Cassava starch contains 70 percent amylopectin and 20 percent amylose.

Ingredients:

• Tapioca- half lb or 1 small
• Any Rice- half cup
• Jaggery- half cup
• Coconut-1/4 Cup
• Ghee- to toast (optional)
• Cardomom powder- 2-3 Tspn

Method:

• Dry roast the rice and blend it to a coarse powder and keep aside.
• Cut the tapioca to small pieces and grind it to a fine paste and keep aside.
• Mix both the tapioca paste and the powdered rice together and add the jaggery, coconut and cardamom powder and mix well to make a batter.
• Adding little ghee or oil to hot griddle and make appam flipping both sides.

 

Tips:

"The rice added can be any rice.

Carefully flip both the sides, as there may be chances for the appam to tear.

Allow the appam to bake appropriately before flipping both the sides else the raw smell of the rice may not goes off completely."

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Dill Leaves Pulav

Hope many of us know about the Dill leaves, it is absolutely perfect for Women health and I would call it as an Herb perfectly because of the nutritious facts in it. Most people use it as a spice or even as a curry. It’s wonderful source of many vitamin and iron and helps mostly for women to regularize the ovulation and even after pregnancy as it offers you 0.1 mg of zinc per ounce which helps breast milk secretion in new mothers. In India, dill is known as shepu in Marathi and Konkani, savaa or menthulu in Hindi or soa in Punjabi. In Telugu, it is called methulu and Methi-kura (for herb greens). It is also called sabbasige soppu in Kannada. In Tamil it is known as sada kuppi .In Malayalam, it is chathakuppa or sathakuppa. In Gujrati, it is known as hariz.

 

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Folic Acid: Folic acid, along with vitamin B12, is important for formation of red blood cells
• Vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine)- Helps in maintaining the health of nerve and muscle cells
• Riboflavin (vitamin B-2)- helps in the conversion of carbohydrates to sugar, which fuels the body function. It can also serve as antioxidant, which slackens the pace of ageing.
• Vitamin-C: helps the body develop resistance against infectious agents
• Vitamin-A: for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin and is essential for good eye-sight
• Calcium: Helps to Promotes strong bones, lowers blood pressure
• Good source of Iron and Zinc
• Manganese- plays a vital role in reproduction and bone growth

So, I think nothing more is needed to explain the benefits of dill leaves. If you are fond of pulavs and variety rice why not try out this dill leaves pulav it’s a very unique recipe precisely made in Karnataka. I learned making this way from my kannadiga friend and thanks to her as well :).

 

Ingredients:

• Basmathi Rice- 1 Cup
• Dill Leaves- ½ Cup
• Peas-1/4 Cup
• Onion-1
• Ginger garlic paste- ½ Tspn
• Green chillies-4 Nos
• Coconut milk- ½ Cup
• Turmeric Powder-1/4 Tspn
• Coriander Powder-1 Tspn
• Shredded coconut-1/4 Cup
• Garam Masala-1/2 Tspn
• Salt-To Taste
• Jaggery- a Pinch

Ingredients:

• Oil- 2 Tspn
• Fennel Seeds-1/2 Tspn
• Bay Leaves-few
• Cloves- 2 nos
• Roasted Peanuts- few
• Mustard- 1 Tspn
• Red Chilies- 2 Nos
• Cumin Seeds- ½ Tspn

Method:

• Cook rice with coconut milk and water for 2 whistles and set aside to cool
• In a pan, heat oil and add all the ingredients under “To Temper”.
• Add sliced onion, green chilies, ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder and cook until the onion becomes translucent.
• Add the dill leaves, peas and shredded coconut to it and stir for 2 minutes.
• Now add the coriander, garam masala powder,salt and stir occasionally to let the raw smell goes off completely from it.
• Pour little water to it and cook covered just to bake the dill leaves for about 5-10 minutes and add jaggery.
• After it gets thickened add the cooked dill leaves to the cooked rice and mix well.

Tips:

"You can use ghee instead of oil which gives a rich taste.

You can add a teaspoon of lemon juice at the last, which also adds an extra taste.

Adding jaggery is optional however it adds a good taste to the pulav."

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Horse Gram Thogaiyal/Chutney

Horse gram, I know its tough to have this, but if you know the benefits of having, you will definitely like to have. Horse gram is an excellent source of Iron and it is consumed as a whole seed, as sprouts, or as whole meal in India, popular especially in southern Indian states. Horse grams are called by different names in different languages say like In Hindi- Kulthi,Bengali- Kulthikalai,Tamil- Kollu, Telugu-Ulavalu or Guggillu,Kannada-Hurule,Oriya-Kolatha,Gujrati-Kadthi Ni Dal.The most important tip for those who are trying to reduce the weight can consume horse gram daily as it burns the fat and help to loss excess weight.
 

Few Nutritious Facts:

• Energy
• Proteins
• No Fat
• Minerals
• Fiber
• Carbohydrates
• Calcium
• Phosphorous
• Iron

So here is my horse gram chutney recipe, you can have it with chapathi or even with rice, as it tastes good and healthy as well.
 

Ingredients:

• Horse Gram-1 Cup(Soak it overnight)
• Small Onion- 4-5 nos
• Garlic- 3 Nos
• Red Chilies- 3-4 Nos
• Coriander seeds- 1 Tspn
• Whole pepper-1/2 Tspn
• Cumin Seeds- ½ Tspn
• Tomato-half
• Turmeric Powder-1/2
• Salt-To taste
• Mustard- ½ Tspn
• Curry leaves- few
• Oil

Method:

• Pressure cook the soaked horse gram for 3 whistles and keep aside.
• Pour oil and heat the pan, add all the ingredients and roast till the onion becomes translucent.
• Let it be cool and grind to fine paste
• In a separate pan, pour little oil, add the mustard and curry leaves after it splits up add it to the taste.

Tips:

"You can also add asafetida a bit while roasting all other ingredients which gives a nice aroma to the chutney.

Adding mustard and curry leaves is also optional step."

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Vazhaipoo Poriyal/Banana Blossom Dry Curry

In India, we never waste any part of a banana tree, the stem, flowers and even the leaves and they are much seen in any festivals celebrated at home. Rite from packing foods, the leaves are used in cooking foods and serving food too. If you find some one’s house gate is tied in India with banana trees it’s a sign of celebration there. I would call the banana tree as one of the God’s most precious creature. Even in Caribbean,Mexican Indonesian, Malaysian, and Singaporean cuisines they use the banana leaves in cooking.

 

Few Nutritious Factors:

• Dietary fibers
• Unsaturated fatty acids
• Proteins
• Rich in vitamin E(Skin and health care)
• Flavonoids (can also referred as Vitamin P)- flavonoids are reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, asthma, and stroke.

The most vital part in a banana tree used in cooking is the flowers the banana blossom. We can make use of vazhaipoo to cook different dishes. Many of the adults doesn’t like this recipe as they think that it taste bitter but if you cook it in rite way and if all the bitter taste goes off, it really tastes so good. The tedious process in this is the cleaning part, as it takes long time. Use the water used while washing the rice to wash the banana flowers too as it will take off all the impurities and leaves the flowers fresh.

Ingredients:

• Banana Flowers-a Bunch
• Shredded coconut-Half Cup
• Turmeric powder-1/4 Tspn
• Sambar Powder-1/2 Tspn
• Salt-To Taste

To Temper:

• Oil-1 Tspn
• Mustard-few
• Urud dal-few
• Curry Leaves

 

Method:

• Remove the stamen and the sheath from the flower (the black head and the outer thin cover).

• Immense the flowers into curd or buttermilk overnight to remove the bitter taste and also to minimize the blackening effect and cut into small pieces.
• In a pan, pour little oil and add all the items under To Temper list followed by onion and sauté for few minutes.
• Add the banana flowers, salt into this and sauté again for few seconds with low flame and pour water into this and cook covered with a lid.
• After the flower baked well, add turmeric, sambar powder, and asafetida and sauté for few more minutes so that the bitter taste will go off completely.
• Mix coconut to this and sauté for few more minutes.

Tips:

"You can replace with a bit of chili and coriander powder for using sambar powder

You can immense the flowers for 2 hours also, but by doing overnight gives a complete relief from bitterness."

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