Spiced Flax Seed Powder

 

Ingredients

1) Flax Seeds - 1 and half Cups

2) Sesame Seeds - 1 Cup

3) Peanuts - 1 Cup

3) Dried Red Chilly's - 4 or 5 ( Or more if you need a little spice)

4) Garlic - 5-6 Garlic Cloves

5) Jeera - 2 Tablespoons

6) Amchur ( Dry Mango) Powder - 2 Teaspoons

7) Salt as per taste

Procedure

1) Roast Sesame Seeds, Peanuts separately and let them cool

2) Roast Jeera and Garlic Gloves (use the cloves without peeling the skin) , add Red Chilly's just before switching off the stove - Let this mixture cool

3) Roast the Flax seeds and keep it aside to cool

4) Coarse grind Sesame seeds, Peanuts separately and keep it aside

5) Add all the remaining ingredients ( Flax seeds, Jeera, Garlic, Red Chillies, Flax seeds, Amchur Powder) along with salt and make it into a powder

6) Add this ground powder to Sesame seeds Powder, Peanut powder and mix well

7) Flax seeds spiced powder ready

Spiced Flax seeds powder can be used as a side to eat Idly's, Dosa's, mix in hot Rice, add to curd as an instant raitha or Chutney etc.,

Enjoy !!

Curry Leaves Spiced Powder

 

Ingredients

1) Curry Leaves - 2 Cups

2) Sesame Seeds - 1/2 Cup

3) Dried Red Chilly's - 4 or 5 ( Or more if you need a little spice)

4) Garlic - 5-6 Garlic Cloves

5) Jeera - 2 Tablespoons

6) Whole Urad dal - 1/2 Cup

7) Whole Chana dal - 1/2 Cup

8) Salt as per taste

Procedure

1) Roast Chana Dal, Urad Dal , Sesame Seeds separately and let them cool

2) Roast Jeera and Garlic Gloves (use the cloves without peeling the skin) , add Red Chilly's just before switching off the stove - Let this mixture cool

3) Lightly Roast the Curry Leaves till it leaves the moisture, and become crispy. Make sure to not roast them on high flame. This needs to be done on low flame

4) Coarse grind Sesame seeds and keep it aside

5) Add all the remaining ingredients ( Roasted Urad Dal, Chana Dal, Jeera, Garlic, Red Chillies, Curry leaves) along with salt and make it into a fine powder

6) Add this ground fine powder to sesame seeds powder and mix well

7) Curry leaves spiced powder ready

Curry leaves spiced powder can be used as a side to eat Idly's, Dosa's, mix in Rice, add to curd as an instant raitha or Chutney etc.,

Enjoy !!

Eggless Carrot Cake

 

Ingredients

1) Grated Carrots - 1 Cups
2) Wheat Flour - 1 and half Cups
3) Jaggery - 1 Cup
4) Coconut Oil - 1/2 Cup
5) Curd (Yogurt) - 2 Tablespoons
6) Baking Powder - 1 Tablespoon
7) Baking Soda - 1/2 Teaspoon
8) Elaichi - 1 Piece
9) Cinnamon Powder - 1 or 2 Teaspoons
10) Sugar - 2 Teaspoons

11) Milk - 1 Cup

Procedure

1) Add Sugar and Elachi to a blender and make it into a fine powder

2) Melt Jaggery and keep it aside. Just heat Jaggery in a pan with little water till it melts ( 2-3 minutes)

3) Sieve the Wheat Flour and keep it aside

4) Mix grated Carrots, Coconut Oil, Curd, Elaichi Sugar powder , Cinnamon Powder, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, melted Jaggery and mix well

5) Add Wheat flour as well and mix well

6) To the above mixture, slowly add milk little by little and mix well

7) Beat the Cake batter thoroughly for 2-3 minutes

8) Pour the mixture into a greased pan and bake for 45 mins - 50 mins. Baking can be done in a conventional Oven or makeshift Oven using Pressure cooker container

9) Stick a tooth pick to the baked cake and check if the tooth pick comes out clean. If not, bake for another few mins

10) Take it out of the oven, and let it cool

Cut into desired shapes and enjoy !!

Peanut Flax seeds Ginger Chikki

Ingredients 

1) Peanuts - 1 Cup 
2) Ginger - 5-20 gms
3) Flax Seeds - 1 Cup
4) Jaggery - 2 Cups
5) Milk Cream - 2 Tea Spoons
6) Elaichi (Cardamom) - 2 Pieces

Procedure

1) Take the Ginger (add a bit more ginger if you like ginger flavor), 2 Elaichi, and little brown sugar (same quantity as ginger) (or Jaggery powder or grated Jaggery) and blend this into a paste. Keep it aside

2) Roast Peanuts and Flax Seeds separately. Let them cool and make them into a coarse powder. Do not blend peanuts too much as they release oil

3) Take a pan, switch on the stove (medium flame) - Add some (2 teaspoons or 1 table spoon)  milk cream (Meegada in Telugu or Malai in Hindi) and add to the pan. When the cream starts to melt and oozes out the butter /ghee add the ground ginger , Elaichi sugar paste and saute it for 3-5 mins

4) Once the ginger is cooked, add Jaggery 2 cups (equal quantity of the nuts that we are using for the recipe), little water, and keep stirring till we get the thick Jaggery syrup ( 2 string consistency)

5) Add ground peanut and flax seeds to the syrup and thoroughly mix

6) Add this mixture to a greased plate and let it cool

Cut into desired shapes and enjoy !!

How to grow Microgreens ?

What are Microgreens ?

Microgreens are young vegetable greens that are about 2-3 inches tall. They have concentrated nutrient content and come in a variety of colors / textures/ flavors. They are a good addition to salads, soups etc., Since they are concentrated in nutrients, small quantities would be sufficient for consumption and yet meet the nutritional needs. 

I took masoor dal (red lentil) for demonstration of the process

Steps to grow microgreens

1) Soak red lentils (masoor dal) for 12 hours, and drain the water. 

2) Take a flat bowl with 1-3 inches depth (In this case, I had taken half cut milk bottle), and layer the bowl with 2 layers of tissue. Tissue is required to hold the sprouted roots and help the microgreens grow

3) Spray water and make the layered tissue damp

4) Spread the soaked & drained lentils on the tissue. Make sure the lentils are not too overcrowded. If there is too much overcrowding, we will end up with foul smelling lentils after 3-4 days

5) Cover with a damp cloth, and store the container / bowl in a warm dry place

6) Spray water on the soaked lentils every 12 hours

7) Seeds will start to germinate in 3-4 days

8) Continue this process until leaves start to appear

9) Once we see leaves appearing, remove the covered cloth and place the greens in a sunny or dry area

10) These initial leaves will go off and true greens start to appear after another 5-7 days

11) The greens are ready to harvest and consume

Note :- In place of red lentils (masoor dal), we can use chickpeas, green gram (moong dal), horse gram etc.,

Picture & Procedure Credit - Sri Chakri Tallam, Australia

Thank You Chakri !

Common names of vegetables in regional languages

Below table is a compilation of commonly used vegetables and their names in few regional languages.

S.No	English	Telugu	Tamil	Malayalam	Hindi
1	Spinach	Palakura	Pasala Keerai	Palak Cheera	Palak
2	Basil	Tulasi	Tulasi	Tulasi	Tulasi
3	Carom	Vamu Aaku	Asamatavoman leaves	Omam leaves	Ajwain
4	Curry Leaf	karivepaku	Kariveppilai	Kariveppila	Kadi patta
5	Mint	Pudhina	Pudhina	Pudhina	Pudhina
6	Coriander	Kothimeera	Kottamali	Kottamali	Dhaniya Patta
7	Carrot	Carrot	Carrot	Carrot	Carrot
8	Beetroot	Beetroot	Beetroot	Beetroot	Beetroot
9	Bottle gourd	Anapakaya	Sorakai	Chorakaa	Lauki
10	Ridge gourd	Beerakaya	Peerkangai	Peechinga	Chikni Turai
11	Tomato	Tomato	Thakkali	Thakkali	Tomato
12	Dates	Kharjooram	perichampazham	Eethapazham	Khajur
13	Honey	Thene	Thaen	Thaen	Shahad
14	Ginger	Allam	Inji	Inji	Adarak
15	Lemon	Nimma Kaya	Elumichai	Cherunaranga	Nimbu
16	Celery	Celery	Celery	Celery	Celery
17	Chia	Sabja	SabjaVithai	Tirunitru	Sabja
18	Ash gourd	Boodidha Gummadikaya	Neer poosanikai	Kumbalanga	Pethakaddu
19	Malabar Tamarind	Vaagu Kaya	Murgal	Kudampuli	Kokum

  

Bottle gourd Plantain Chutney !!

Ingredients - 

1) 1/2 cup diced bottle gourd along with skin
2) 1/4 cup diced plantain along with skin
3) 1 medium onion
4) 3-4 green chilly's (can be more if you prefer spicy)
5) 1/2 lemon slice
6) 1/2 teaspoon crushed peppercorn
7) 1.5 cups curd
8) Pinch of Salt (Optional)

Preparation - 

1) Saute the diced bottle gourd and plantain for 1-2 mins
2) Boil the sauteed bottle gourd and plantain in a pressure cooker for 1 whistle
3) Added the boiled bottle gourd & plantain , green chilles, onion and blend them in a blender or  mixie
4) Add this mixture to the curd, squeeze lemon along with a pinch of salt (optional), crushed peppercorn and mix well
5) Add Lemon juice and mix
6) Optional - Add tadka / tempering with ghee / cream

Bottle gourd plantain chutney ready !!

This can be served as a side to Roti's / Paratha's, or served with Pulav's, Biryani's. This can also be eaten as is without any side.

Recipe & Photo Credit - Sri Amarnath garu, Srimathi Lakshmi garu