Herbs and Spices for a Long and Healthy Life!

Indian cooking uses a number of herbs and spices known around the world for their medicinal values.
Regular consumption of each of these in small quantities everyday ensures longer life and healthy body!

I have listed some of the common ingredients in my regular cooking:


Ginger

Known to boost the body immunity,has been traditionally used to treat colds and flu (Luv the Ginger tea cuppa!)
Ginger aids digestion,is a useful food preservative and has been proven to kill the harmful bacteria
salmonella.Don't forget to keep some ginger candy with you in case you suffer from motion sickness...


Garlic aka 'The Stinking Rose'!

Garlic has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial,anti-viral and anti-aging compounds.Small amount of garlic in
one's daily diet enhances the overall immunity.


Turmeric

Turmeric is a natural and powerful healer.It is a natural antiseptic and antibacterial agent, useful in
disinfecting cuts and burns.It is a potent anti-cancer agent and also a natural liver detoxifier.


In India it is Widely known as a pain killer,in case of internal injuries,Indians love to have a tumbler of
turmeric milk for fast recovery and soothing pain.
Morever it adds a lovely yellow hue to the vegetables...

Onions

Onions have similar benefits as Garlic


Tomato

Tomato comes in the list of top anti-oxidant foods.cooked tomatoes are preferable, since heat allows more
desirable antioxidants in tomatoes to be made available to the body.

Stir Fry Pepper Vegetables!

Lately I have been cooking no spice no oil dishes for my hubby..One cannot eat much with a recovering jaundice, so I hope my experiments are useful to other people too..



Initially apprehensive, I did start my 'tough' task to select 'selected' vegetables and somehow make then taste delicious using almost nothing! Phew...

There could be a series of them coming up, so keep an eye...

I had eaten Stir fry vegetables once or twice and secretly admiring the taste (Don't like carrots/beans cooked otherwise!), so the first thing that struck my head was to make it now!

Do try this healthy recipe and share your experience.
This recipe can be served as a side dish or main course

Serves: 4

Ingredients
===========
1 small flower of cauliflower
200 gm beans
200 gm Carrots
1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 table spoon olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

How to go about it!
===================
1) Wash the vegetables thoroughly under running water
2) Peel the carrots and cut the cauliflower in small flowers (not very small)
3) Now cut the carrots into thin 5 cm rectangular slices and beans too of approximate length
4) In a non stick pan add 2 cups of water and put all the sliced vegetables into the same
5) Sprinkle little salt and close the lid
6) Lets the vegetables cook for around 10 min or so until slightly tender, medium flame
7) Drain the water,transfer the vegetables into another pan
8) Wipe the non stick pan dry and put 1 tablespoon oil
9) Add the mustard seeds, close the lid until the seeds have crackled
10) Now add the cooked vegetables and sprinkle salt as per taste
11) Close the lid and toss the plan for the salt to mix
(One can use a wooden stapula for mixing if the veggies are not too soft)
12) Let it cook for another 5-10 min
13) Add pepper when the pan is off the flame and toss
(Optionally add some fresh sprouts)
14) Enjoy!

Vanilla ice cream with coffee..hmm...Comforting ...

I love Vanilla ice-cream and I love coffee..Have you ever tried combining the two.
Last night after dinner I was looking for my second round of desserts (Devoured some Indian sweets in the first round)..
The opened the freezer looking for options,picked Vanilla, turned around and saw the Instant Coffee Jar..
Bingo!
 Do try this combination if you haven't  already! For all dark chocolate lovers,like me, this combination is definitely
a thumbs up!
Put a scope (or 2) of Vanilla ice-cream into the bowl
Sprikle instant coffee powder on the scoops (As per your taste, more coffee gives a little bitter taste)
Enjoy!

Mushroom Love!

 If you love mushrooms this recipe will surely find its way into your recipe book. I learnt this from a friend, and can't stop making it since then.
 We found the mushroom in the picture while trekking the 'Valley of Flowers',Uttarakand

The Valley is heaven on Earth, was called the land of fairies in Hindu mythology.

This recipe serves 2, the ingredients can be doubled as per servings

Ingredients
============
1 pack button mushrooms
2 large red onions
1 Tbsp fresh ginger/garlic paste
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 pinch of Garam Masala
1 pinch of Dried coriander powder
1 teaspoon oil
Red Chilli powder/Green Chillies as per choice
Salt

Get started
===========

a) Wash the mushrooms thoroughfully under running water
b) Chop the onions vertically (long thin slices)
c) Seperate the stem from the umbrella and make thin slices from both
d) Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and put the cumin seeds
e) Add the ginger garlic paste once the cumin crackles
f) Add onions when ginger/garlic turns light brown
g) cook the onions untill translucent and add the mushrooms
h) Mix the dry spices and close the lid
i) Stir in between and cook untill all the water released by the mushrooms is over
j) Garnish with fresh coriander and serve
k) Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Butter-less Chocolate Cake!!

I am feared among my friends and family circle for trying my hands on cooking and serving some of the outcomes ..But they seem to be patient and i seem to never give up!! Since I am born with a sweet denture most of my trials are desserts..

I hate to reference back a recipe once I have heard or read it (Now you know the reason!) and I do admit I have a bad memory.


I remember the first time I decided to learn the recipe from my friend's mom (She's make ultra-delicious cakes..we devoured quite a few of them, some times when offered..sometimes by flicking ;p), I argued with my mom on keeping water in the cooker instead of sand!(The cake was baked in a sand oven made in the pressure-cooker)My mom was really patient, for the ordeal took more than 5 hours and I ended up making a steam lump of the batter!!


After 4 years of that incident,I made my next attempt to bake a cake (This time in a microwave oven). Some of my girl friends were coming over for a dinner party and I thought decided to give them a treat!


What can I say..I prepared the cake batter are per my sister's instructions and proceeded. Only place I messed up was the cake tin (It was more like a non stick grill pan! haha)...


Anyways I cake rose and fell and after the expert supervision of two first-time bakers (Me and my hubby),we took the cake out.


As excited as a four year old, as I inserted the knife on to the cake surface and realised we had unknowingly made some chocolate biscotti!! It took an hour for him to cut the biscotti neatly and place them in the jar...Haha...We didn't have a cake but what came out was delicious.


At the end of the party, my friends asked for a take-away of the biscotti!! That marked the first success of my baking history :))


Its been 6 months since that day and I have been asked a number of times to reproduce the biscotti for them..Hmm..now thats tough :P


Last week I wanted bake a cake, but since husband just recovered from jaundice I didn't want to use the AP flour and butter..but how can you have a cake without Flour or Butter??


Pondering over the same question, I stumbled upon a chocolate cake recipe by James Martin's 'Desserts'


The cake was a miracle, moist dense and ultra-delicious. This recipe is a adapted from the above book:


(The original recipe yields two 20 cm cakes, I use a borosil bowl and baked 3/4 of the below mixture. Rest was used for my experimentation :) See pics in collage for the wafers I created from the leftover batter)

6 Eggs
50 gm Cocoa Powder
150 gm castor sugar
Butter for greasing

Separate the egg whites from the yellow and whisk the sugar with the yellows.Next sift the cocoa powder and add to the yolk-sugar mixture.


Beat the egg whites seperately untill firm and combine into the yolk mixture.


Pour the batter into a greased tin and bake at 180C for 10-15 min


Cool on the wire rack and devour the cake!!


(One can reduce the sugar to get more of bitter chocolate flavor..gives one a real kick.because of lack of butter, this cake should be consumed in 1-2 days)


I couldn't wait to post the experience, the photos will follow soon !