Ginger Rasam(Spiced Ginger Soup)

Ginger has been associated with alleviation of the feeling of nausea, even in case of pregnant women. The anti-inflammatory properties of ginger make it effective in alleviation of the pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Ginger helps to promote warmth in the upper respiratory tract and thus, is quite effective in treating cold and flu. Those suffering from cramps, caused by stomach gas, have found ginger to be quite effective. Ginger makes the platelets less sticky and is thus, pretty helpful in case of circulatory disorders. The cineole content in ginger has been found to be a mood enhancer and can help in relieving stress. Ginger is a natural and effective mouth freshener and also aids digestion. Ginger reduces inflammation and also helps lower cholesterol. Ginger is good for those suffering from gas and bloating.

Ingredients



Ginger - 2 inch piece

Ripe Tomato - 1 small one

Green Chili - 1 or to taste

Grated Coconut - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp or to taste

Tamarind Paste - 1 tsp or if using raw tamarind soak gooseberry sized ball

Water - 3 cups

Cooked Thoor Dal - 1/4 cup(optional)

Asafoetida - very small piece or 1/4 tsp powder

Rasam powder - 1 tsp



Tempering



Oil or Ghee - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves - 5 to 6 chopped



Method



1) Extract the tamarind pulp and add 1 1/2 cups of water to it.



2) Add salt, asafoetida and rasam powder to the tamarind water and let this simmer.



3) Grind the tomato, green chili, ginger and coconut to a coarse paste and add this paste along with the rest of the water to the tamarind water and spices. Let this boil till the raw smell is gone.



4) Now add the cooked dal(this is optional) and simmer for 5 minutes and switch off.



5) Heat oil add mustard seeds, once they stop spluttering add the curry leaves and switch off the stove.



6) Add this to the rasam and serve it hot.



7) Enjoy!!



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Multi Legume Savory Pancake(Dosai) with Sesame Seeds

Know what you Eat - Breakfast is such an important part of the every day meal and  make sure it is high

in protein to give all the energy to get you going throughout the day. Legumes are so rich in fiber they

give you sense of fullness for a longer time.  Legumes are a valuable part of a healthy diet, because they

are low in fat, do not contain cholesterol, and have a significant amount  of fiber, and are low in sugar and

fat. This is such a wholesome and nutritious pancake, which is  packed with different legumes and the

calcium from sesame seeds. The darker the color of the sesame seed the better nutrition profile it is.

Very suitable for kids, adults and even for people with diabetes and gluten free diet.

If you have a picky child at home, surely the Mom has to be creative to whack the brain and come up

with nutritious dishes. Each and every child is different, some like all colorful dishes some might not

eat slight brown or green ones, that’s why i had to peel the peanuts, had to go for white sesame seeds

instead of black and not include the curry leaves  and cilantro, even though i love them and they give

such a flavor and taste to any dish. You can also add chopped veggies, greens etc to make it even

more nutritious.



Preparation Time – 30 Minutes

Cooking Time – 30 Minutes

Serves - 6



Ingredients



Peanuts – 1/2 cup

Split Moong Dal/Mung Bean – 1/2 cup

Split Channa Dal(Split Chick Pea) – 1/2 cup

Whole Urad Dal( white lentil) – 1/2 cup

Green Chili – 2 or to taste

Ginger – 1 inch piece

Salt – 1 1/2 tsp or to taste

Asafoetida – 1 small piece or 1/4 tsp powder

Curry leaves – handful (optional)

Onion – 2 medium sized

Cilantro – chopped 2 tbsp(optional)

Sesame seeds – 4 Tbsp

Oil – 2-3 Tbsp



Method



1) Except the peanuts, rinse and soak the other three legumes together and  soak the

peanut separately overnight.

2) Take handful of peanuts in your hand and roll between your palms so the peanut peel will come out

or if you don’t mind the color of the peel go to step 3 without peeling.

3) Drain all the water from the legumes, add salt, ginger, green chili, asafoetida, curry leaves(add this

only if there are no issue of food color) and grind to fine paste(batter) adding water as needed

at time.

4) Chop the onion into small pieces and mix with batter and add water as needed to get the

consistency little thinner than pancake.

5) Refrigerate and use this batter as needed.

6) When preparing add the chopped cilantro to the batter, heat a griddle(iron and not nonstick

for additional health benefits).  Take a ladle full of batter and spread into a thin circle shape

and take a 1 to 2 tsp of white sesame seeds and  spread on top of the batter and pour a tsp

of oil around the batter.

7) Once one side of the dosai/pancake is well cooked and the batter color has changed on the top

flip it and let the other side get cooked.

8) Remove from the griddle and serve hot with chutney or sambar of your choice. I served

it with Tomato Thokku(Tangy & Spicy Tomato Pickle) and i will post the recipe later.



Notes – If you have the batter ready, it will take a maximum of 30 minutes to make a full breakfast

for 6 people. So even on a time crunchy day, you don’t have to compromise on the your health, but

just prepare this in a jiffy and enjoy.

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Mung Bean/Moong Dal Halwa for ICC – Aspartame Free /Sugar Free & Low Cal

This year for past few weeks starting (from the last week of December) there are too many parties and eating out.  With the ICC challenge to be posted for the 15th, i thought of trying out this delicious Indian sweet with Xylitol for Bhogi. I had to combine both the recipes from Srivalli as using xylitol will give a dry texture to the end product so added 1/4 cup milk. Xylitol is a natural sweetener manufactured from the Birch tree bark, which is vegan looks like sugar and has only 1/3 calories as sugar and the best of all doesn’t cause cavities like refined sugar. Xylitol and Stevia another herb are the kind of natural sweetner available in the market, do more research and check out for yourself .

If you are going to use Natura, Equal etc which are artificial sweeteners, the white sugar is way better than these dangerous chemicals. So don't use them. The artificial sweetener contain a dangerous chemical called aspartame about which i will post later.



Ingredients



Split Yellow Moong Dal(Mung Bean) – 1 cup

Ghee (clarified butter) – 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp

Khoa/Mawa(Thickened unsweetened milk ) – 1/2 cup

Xylitol – 3/4 cup Milk – 1/4 cup

Saffron – few strands

 Toasted nuts – 1 tbsp for garnishing



Method



1) Soak Moong Dal overnight in water.



2) Next day rinse the mung dal few times with enough water.



3) Drain the water completely from the mung bean and grind this into a fine paste using as little water as possible.



4) Heat the milk add xylitol, saffron and once the xylitol dissolves, add the khoa and keep this paste ready.



5) Heat 1/4 cup of the ghee(1/2 the quantity) once it is hot and melted, simmer the stove into minimum and add the grind mung bean paste little by little stirring continuously with a egg beater as this part is very tricky because the mung bean will stick to the bottom of the vessel if not taken care. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of ghee and keep stirring till the mung bean gets cooked and the color of the bean paste changes color to slight brown.



6) Now add the khoa paste to the bean mixture and stir till everything combines and well cooked and the halwa starts leaving the side.



 7) Switch off and a tsp of ghee, toasted nuts and serve warm.

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Sweet Pongal(Brown Rice & Mung Bean Pudding)

Happy Pongal/Shankranti to all of you. Pongal/Shankranti is a harvest festival celebrated throughout India and in each state it is called in different names and is basically a festival to celebrate the elements of nature which help in farming. This is one of the traditional sweet made with Rice & Mung Bean and Jaggery(Panela). I wanted to make it little healthy so substituted brown rice with white rice and increased the quantity of mung bean, it did taste awesome. Brown rice is a very good source of complex carbohydrates, mung bean is a good source of protein and jaggery is unrefined sugar and is a very good source of iron. A perfect nutritious sweet.

Ingredients

Brown Rice – 1 cup

Split Mung Bean – 3/4 cup

Milk – 2 cups

Water – 2 cups

Jaggery – 1 1/2 cups (or increase it according to your taste)

Saffron – pinch

Ghee(clarified butter) – 2 tbsp

Chopped nuts – 1 tbsp

Cardamom powder – 1/4 tsp



Method



1) Soak brown rice overnight.

2) Dry roast split mung bean for few minutes till you get a slight aroma and don’t over roast it.

3) Combine the brown rice, mung bean, saffron, water and milk and cook in a pressure cooker

for 3 whistles and simmer for 5 minutes and switch off.

4) Take out the cooked brown rice and mung bean and using a potato masher, mash well so that

the grains of the brown rice are well mashed and become soft.

5) Add the powdered jaggery to this mashed mixture and cook till the jaggery is dissolved

and the mixture thickens.

6) Heat ghee, add the cardamom powder and chopped nuts once they are golden brown

garnish the pongal and serve.



Notes – You can increase the ghee according to your preference, and of course the

more the ghee the better it will taste.

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Eggless Whole Wheat Fruit & Nut Cake

Know what you Eat – This is not a health food and nothing much to brag about, instead of all

purpose flour i have used white whole wheat flour. So slice them and watch out on portion

control and have them in between meals, so the indulgence will be less.

I made this for Muskaan’s sister who was visiting her with a new born, since she was on a

dairy free diet i used clarified butter instead of butter for making this cake. Yes clarified

butter is the only dairy product which will not cause any allergies. One of my friend’s son has

sever allergies and any ingestion will cause hives and breathing difficulties, but this clarified

butter(ghee) doesn’t cause any problem. So if you have dairy allergies check out with your Doctor and

try out clarified butter instead of butter next time. I  got this recipe from somewhere on the web

when i searched for eggless tutty fruity cake and noted it down, don’t remember from where i got this

recipe.

Ingredients

White whole wheat flour - 1 cup

Mixed spices powder(Cardamom, Nutmeg, cinnamon) - 1 teaspoon

Clarified butter(ghee) - 1/2 cup

Candied fruit - 1/3 cup

Chopped nuts - 1/4 cup

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup

Water - 3/4 cup (**)

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Salt  - pinch

Flaked almonds handful



Method

Put the mixed spices, clarified butter, dried mixed fruit, sugar and water into a saucepan.

Place them over a medium heat and stir the mixture until the sugar has dissolved.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool until lukewarm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Add the baking soda, baking powder, pinch of salt.

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre of it.

Pour the lukewarm mixture into this.

Mix well and pour into a greased cake tin.

Smooth the top of the mixture and sprinkle with a few flaked almonds.

Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour 15 minutes at till a knife inserted in

the center comes out clean.

Turn onto a wire rack to cool. Cool them overnight and slice the next day.

Notes – I used White Whole wheat flour which was coarsely ground, if you are using

all purpose flour or finely ground whole wheat flour increase the water from 3/4 to 1 cup.







Event Participation



1) Sending this to Cakes & Cookies event hosted by Mahimaa of Indian Vegetarian Kitchen.



2) Sending this to Cakes & Cookies event hosted by Sara's corner.

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Vegetarian Chili with Eggless Corn Bread

  There is nothing like a hot bowl of chili on a cold winter day. It is the perfect combination

of protein, carbohydrates, spices and with colorful vegetables. Don’t be intimated

with the list of ingredients. Basically all you need is different beans, veggies and spices.

Ingredients

Kidney Beans – 3/4 cup

Chick Peas – 3/4 cup

White Beans – 1/4 cup

Pink Beans – 1/4 cup

Celery – 2 Stalks

Onion – 1 big

Green pepper – 1(Chopped into fine pieces)

Red pepper – 1(Chopped into fine pieces)

Carrot – 1(Chopped into small pieces)

Tomato – 5(Medium sized)

Garlic – 4 cloves(Chopped finely)

Jalapeno pepper – 2 (optional)

Cayenne Pepper – 2 tsp or more as per your taste

Salt – 1 1/2 tsp or per your taste

Bay leaves  - 2

Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp

Oregano leaves – 2 tsp

Water – 3/4th cup

Olive oil – 1 tbsp

Black pepper – 1 tsp(or to your taste)

Lemon juice – 1 tsp(optional to your taste)



Method

1) Soak all the dry beans overnight and add salt and cook till tender.

2) Heat 2 to 3 cups of water till it reaches boiling and then place the tomatoes and

cover and keep it for 5 minutes.

3) Put a pan and heat a tsp of oil, once the oil is hot add the finely chopped

garlic and bay leaves.

4) Once the garlic is slightly browned, add the chopped onions and stir till it is

slightly brown now add celery, bell pepper, carrot, jalapeno peppers.

5) Saute for 10 minutes and now add the peeled and crushed tomatoes, water,

cayenne pepper, salt, cumin powder, oregano leaves and the cooked beans and

simmer for 30 minutes. Depending on your preference adjust the consistency by

adding more or less water.

6) Add black pepper and little bit of lemon juice and serve with a piece of corn bread.

Corn Bread

Preparation Time – 10 minutes

Cooking Time – 20-30 minutes

Serves - 6



Ingredients

Stoneground Whole Cornmeal – 1 cup

Whole wheat flour – 1/4 cup

Baking powder – 1 tsp

Baking soda – 1/4 tsp

Buttermilk – 1 cup

Ener-g Egg replacer – 1 1/2 tsp

Water – 2 Tbsp

Salt – 1 tsp

Method

1) Preheat the oven to reach 350 degree Fahrenheit.

2) Combine all the dry ingredients – Cornmeal, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

3) Take Ener-g egg replacer add water and beat till fluffy, now add the buttermilk and whip once again.

4) Now slowly add this to the dry ingredients and mix well.

5) Pour the batter into a parchment paper lined baking pan and bake for 20-30 minutes till a knife

inserted at the center comes out clean.

6) Remove the bread from the parchment paper and cool in a wire rack.

7) Once cooled slice and enjoy with your chili.

Event Participation

1) The cornbread goes to Baking with Corn meal event hosted by Madhuram of eggless cooking.

2) The chili goes to MLLA 19th helping hosted by EC an event started by Susan.

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Oats Almond Macaroon ??

There are three things which i regularly bake -  Bean burgers, Vegan Oat Bar(will post the recipe soon), Cookies using Almond & Oats Flour.
Thinking of saving energy when using the oven,  i bake all these things on the same day.
This was one such day, i had the Oat & Almond flour, beans, Oats and nuts all sitting on my kitchen countertop and i wanted to finish all
the baking and cooking before my Kids come back from school. The vegan Oat Bar uses banana as the binder and i added two bananas to be pureed
to my food processor. Suddenly the phone rings and while talking in the phone i proceeded to finish the baking job. Distracted with the conversation
instead of adding the banana puree to the Oat bar, I added it to the Cookie flour and without realizing mixed it. Only after thoroughly mixing it, i realized
my mistake. Thus was born this Oats Almond Macaroon or suggest me a good name for this. When i baked them they were crisp on the outside and crumbly
in the inside, the next day they were all spongy. But before eating i put them in the toaster oven and toast for around 5 minutes and it gives a crunchy
texture on the outside  and of course they all tasted good. Why not, might be i might try making these once again when i have some ripe bananas
in the hand. Now let us get on to the recipe.

Preparation Time – 15  minutes
Cooking Time – 15 minutes
Serves – Makes around 2 1/2 dozen macaroon
Ingredients
Oats Flour – 2 cups
Almond Flour – 1 cup
Walnuts – 1/4 cup chopped
Coconut – 1/4 cup shredded
Maple Syrup – 1/3 cup
Clarified Butter – 1/8 cup
Ripe Bananas – 2
Cinnamon powder – 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp
Salt pinch
Sliced Almonds – few(optional)
Method
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Combine Oats flour, almond flour, walnut, coconut, baking soda, cinnamon powder and salt.
3) In a food processor puree the banana without any lumps.
4) Add this banana puree, maple syrup and clarified butter to the flour mixture.
5) Line a cookie tray with parchment paper and drop the flour mixture into small balls leaving
enough space in between.
6) On top of the dough place a slice of sliced almond
7) Bake for 10-15 minutes till the macaroons are baked completely and slightly brown.


Event Participation
These go straight to Kitchen Mishaps hosted by Malar of Kitchen Tantra.

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Homemade Chocolate Truffle-Indulge without Guilt

Know what you Eat –  Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). The flavonoids in Cacao also help relax blood pressure  through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body. Xlitol is a  natural sweetener, typically derived from trees (birch and beech) or corn cobs. Xylitol has about 40% lower calories than sugar, with all the great taste.  It is good for anyone who is on a diet, watching their calories, or just wants to be healthier.  Although this product contains carbohydrates, but the carb has a very minimal effect on blood glucose levels and have a lower calorie amount per gram.  These products, in effect, have low Net Effective Carbs.  Xylitol also has a low glycemic index value of only 7, has minimal effect on blood sugar levels, and does not require insulin to metabolize.  It is not only effective for those with diabetes or people with hypoglycemia, but for anyone who is sensitive to sugar. Xylitol is a good sugar alternative for everyone because it is beneficial for dental health. Xylitol helps reduce dental cavities, plaque, and tooth decay.

I saw the truffle recipe in Parent & Child Magazine but the original recipe was  loaded with calories from butter, heavy cream, sugar from the suggested bitter sweet chocolate. I wanted to make the truffle guilt free and and came up with this alternate recipe. It tasted so good and very healthy one indeed. Do try out and indulge without the guilt.



Preparation Time – 5 Minutes

Cooking Time – 10 Minutes

Serves – Makes about 30 truffles



Ingredients

Unsweetened 100% Dark Chocolate – 3 bars(4 oz each)

Xylitol – 1 cup or increase this if you really have sweet tooth(but check before adding, as this 1 cup itself was sweet for us)

Milk – 1 cup

Toasted Almonds – 2 Tbsp

Toasted Walnuts – 2 Tbsp

Raisins –1 Tbsp

Dates chopped – 1 Tbsp

Vanilla bean - 1

Coarsely powdered nuts – 4 Tbsp for dusting

Method

1) Break the chocolate bar into small pieces put it in a heatproof bowl with xylitol and milk.

2) Split the vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the bowl and add the bean as well. Put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the bottom vessel but touch the water surface.

3) Melt the chocolate stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove the vanilla bean and add the dried fruits and nuts.

4) Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator and chill for 40 minutes, stirring twice in between. The mixture should thicken and become fudge like.

5) Scoop out mounds of the truffle mixture, roll between your hands to form a smooth ball and roll into powdered nuts and place in a tray or container lined with parchment paper.

6) Refrigerate for at least 4 hours until firm. Keep refrigerated and eat within a week.







Event Participation



This goes to Food for 7 Stages of Life- Desserts & Icecream hosted by Radhika and co-hosted by Sudeshna.



This goes to Think Spice - Think Vanilla hosted by Snackgiving.

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