carrot samia payasam

Ingredients:

Carrot - 2 (Peeled and boiled)
Milk - 3 cups
Vermicelli - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom - 4 or 5
Cashew nuts - 2 tbsp
Raisins - 2 tbsp
Ghee -3tsp

Recipe:

1) Boil the carrot and puree in a mixer.
2) Heat milk (Add little water to the vessel before adding milk to prevent the milk burning at the bottom).
3) Add carrot puree and 1/2 cup sugar when milk starts to boil.
4) Reduce the heat to low medium and stir occasionally to prevent burning. Cook for 10 more minutes and remove from heat.
5) In a skillet fry Raisins with 1 tsp of ghee until the raisins fluff up. Keep aside.
6) Fry cashew nuts with 1 tsp of ghee until the nuts turns to golden brown. Keep aside.
7) Fry vermicelli with 1 tsp of ghee until golden brown. Add one and half cup of water to this and cook the vermicelli.
8) When it's half cooked add 1/2 cup of sugar and cook further.
9) There could be some water when the vermicelli is cooked and soft.
10) Add vermicelli with the water to the carrot milk.
11) Add cardamom, fried cashew nuts and raisins to this.
12) Serve chilled. (The payasam may look watery when hot, but it'll thicken when cooled down)
Note: Do not cook the payasam after adding the vermicelli to the milk to prevent from spoiling of the milk.

Radish soup

Ingrediants:

Onion -1 medium (chopped)
Red radish  - 6 (small chopped)
Potato - 1 medium (chopped into cubes)
Beans - 10 finely chopped
Olive oil - 2 tsp
Garlic powder - 1 tsp
Salt - as per taste
Pepper- as per taste

Recipe:

1) Heat olive oil in a skillet and saute onion till onions become transparent.
2) Add Radish and potato to this and saute with a pinch of salt.
3) Add 5 cups of water and 1tsp of salt to it and cook until the vegetables become tender.
4) Separate the vegetables from water and puree it.
5) Mix the puree with required amount of vegetable stack obtained from step 3 to form a creamy soup consistency.
6) Boil that with required salt, garlic powder and pepper.
7) Serve hot.

Sourashtra special recipes

Here are some sourashtra special recipes. I've given the dishes names in palkar.


Kangulo (Modhakam)

Ingredients:

For outer layer:

Idly rice or rice flour -1 cup
salt as per taste
water
oil - 2 tsp

For Filling:

coconut scraped
jaggery
cardamom
black sesame seeds
fried gram dal

Recipe:


Filling:
In a mixer add cardamom, sesame seeds (Refer the procedure to clean sesame seeds), fried gram dal and jaggery one by one. Since all these items grind at different stages make sure to run 2, 3 pulses before adding the next ingredient. Mix the scraped coconut to this mixture and knead to form small balls. This is the inner filling.

Outer Layer:
If you're using idly rice, soak the rice for 1 hour in water add salt and grind it nicely in a wet grinder or mixie.
If you're using rice flour, mix the flour, water and salt to idly batter consistency.
Personally i prefer the idly rice method, since the original tastes better.

Following steps are for both methods:
1. Pour 2 teaspoons of oil in a skillet and add the rice batter.
2. Stir it continuously without forming lumps.
3. Within few minutes the water will evaporate and a dough will form without sticking to the skillet.
4. At this stage remove from stove and keep it aside.
5. Take a damp cloth or plastic sheet and place a small size ball of the rice flour dough. Spread it thin to a circle shape by hand.
6. Now place a filling ball at the center of the circle, fold and stick the edges to form a half circle shape.
7. Steam this in a idly pot for approximately 7 to 10 minutes (4 to 5 mins after steam comes out).
Now kangulos are ready to serve. Serve hot with ghee.

Tip to use less oil for frying

Use a non stick kuzhi paniyaram kal (Looks like muffin pan with flat bottom) and pour 2 to 3 tsp oil in each hole and fry. This method uses very less oil and best for deep frying.

Healthy Palm jaggery (panai vellam or karupatti) cake

Palm jaggery is a great alternative to refined sugar and has lots of nutrients. This recipe is an healthy alternative to regular cake and tastes good too!!!

Pre preparation:

Dissolve 250 gms of Palm jaggery in 1 cup of warm water and filter the impurities with a cheese cloth.

Ingredients:

Concentrated Palm Jaggery syrup - 1 cup
Wheat flour -1 cup
Butter - 3 Tbsp
Egg -2
Baking powder -1 tsp
Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
Chopped Walnut - 1/4 cup (optional)
Pumpkin pie spice - 1 tsp (optional)
olive oil - to grease pan

Recipe:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degree Farenheit.
2. Mix wheat flour, salt, pumpkin pie spice, Baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Bring the butter to room temperature and beat them with the eggs.
4. Pour the egg mixture and palm jaggery syrup in the bowl and gently mix the flour and liquids.
5. Finally add the chopped walnuts to the batter and fold it gently.
6. Grease the cake pan with olive oil, and pour the batter into the pan.
7. Bake this for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.
8. Cool the cake for about 10 minutes and serve.

Note:
If the cake is refrigerated, slightly warm it in microwave oven before serving.

Diet carrot cake

Ingredients:

Maida – 2 cups
Sugar – 1 cup
Egg – 8 (White part)
Oil – 4 tbsp
Carrot – 1 cup grated
Baking soda – 1 tbsp
Walnut, Almonds, raisins – 1 cup mixed


Recipe
 
1) Pre heat the oven to 350.
2) In a large bowl add the egg white and beat well
3) Then add the Sugar, baking soda, Maida, oil, Carrot, nuts one by one and mix well.
4) Add water if required and mix well till no clumps.
5) The mixture should be in thick idly batter consistency.
6) Pour the batter in a cake pan and cook for 25 mins in the oven.
7) Insert a spoon or knife in the cake and check whether it’s sticking to the knife. If not the cake is ready.
8) If it is sticky cook for some more time and check again.

Refer http://www.finecooking.com/articles/ratios-for-great-cakes.aspx for ratio tips
Flour=sugar=liquid (oil, milk or butter)
(Note: A cup of sugar weighs about 7 ounces, and a cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 4-1/2 ounces)
Eggs>=fat
Egg+liquid=sugar
For 1 cup flour 1tbsp baking powder or ¼ tbsp baking soda
More sweet -> tender cake, more flour-> pound cake
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Healthy walnut sweet balls

Ingredients: 
Walnuts and Raisins


Recipe:
1) In a mixie add the walnuts and raisins and grind well.
2) Make the mixture to small balls.

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Peanut Balls

Ingredients: 

Roasted peanuts, Jaggry





Recipe:
 
1) Remove the peanut skin. (Roast the peanuts in a pan and rub it to remove the skin).
2) Grate the Jaggry.
3) Add the peanuts and Jaggry to a mixture and grind well.
4) Now make the mixture to small balls.
5) Delicious peanut balls are ready.

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Rasgulla

Rasgulla:

Ingredients:
Milk – 1 litre
Lemon juice – 1/2 cup
Sugar – 1 cup
Water – 3 cups
Cardamom powder – ¼ tbsp




Recipe:

1) Heat the milk in a heavy bottom vessel.
2) When the milk starts boiling slowly add the lemon juice until the whey water separates.
3) Now drain the water and collect the paneer in a cloth.
4) Squeeze the paneer as much as possible to drain the water.
5) Keep this aside for 10 to 20 mins to reduce the moisture.
6) Knead the paneer well like chapathi flour. (Note: If this is not in correct consistency Rasagulla may broke or turn hard while cooking. Remove as much water as possible) To make this process simple quick run the paneer in a mixie or food processor for 2 seconds. Make this as small balls.
7) In a cooker add the sugar and water and heat it.
8) When it starts boiling add cardamom powder and the paneer balls.
9) Close the cooker lid and cook without weight for about 15 mins.
11) Now the Rasgulas will be doubled in size.
12) Serve it when chilled.

Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa
 
Ingredients:
Carrots, sugar, ghee, cardamom powder, cashew nuts and raisins.


Recipe:
1) Peel the carrot skin and boil until it is soft.
2) Mash the boiled carrots in mixie.
3) In a saucepan add 2tbsp ghee, carrot mash and sugar.
4) Stir the mixture until the sugar is melt.
5) Add the cardamom powder.
6) Now gradually add ghee and keep stirring until the mixture doesn’t stick to the pan.
7) In a small pan add 2 tbsp of ghee and fry cashew nuts and raisins.
8) Decorate the Halwa with fried cashew and raisins and serve chilled.

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Healthy sathu maavu (sprouted multigrain flour) cookies

Ingredients:

Sathu maavu flour - 1 cup
baking soda - 3/4 tsp
salt - 1/4 tsp
sugar - 1/2 cup
butter - 1 tbsp
Corn oil - 3 tbsp

Recipe:

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2) In a bowl mix sathu maavu flour ( for information about how to prepare sathu maavu refer to my previous posts), sugar, salt, baking soda, oil and butter. Slowly add cold milk and gently knead it to make a dough.

3) The dough should not be very stiff or too watery. Grease your palms with few drops of oil and prepare small balls using the dough.

4) Place the balls in a cookie sheet and gently press them to get nice cookie shape. Allow adequate space between cookies as they'll raise to double during baking.

5) Place the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Home remedy (kai marunthu) for small babies

Below are few home remedies that are learnt from my grand parents.

1) Wet and rub Nutmeg (ஜாதிக்காய்), Gall oak (மாசிகாய்), Asafoetida (பெருங்காயம்),  Harde Whole (கடுக்காய்),  Dry Ginger (சுக்கு) over a rough surface in circular motion. If the baby is 1 month old then 1 circle of each herb is enough, as the baby grows the number of circle can be increased and so the quantity also. Collect the residue from the hard surface and mix that with breast milk. This can be given to new born baby every week. This medicine will protect baby from most of the physical problem like stomach pain, cold, indigestion etc.


2) Boil Country borage (Karpuravalli), Holy Basil (Tulsi) and Betel (Vetrilai) with 1 cup water till it reduces to 1/4 cup. Strain the herbs and give the water to kids. This is a great remedy for cold.


3) Crush Country borage (Karpuravalli), Holy Basil (Tulsi) and Betel (Vetrilai) leaves and collect the juice. Alternatively grind the leaves in mixie with small amount of water, strain the leave and collect the juice. Heat the tip of a knife in open flame. When it's hot, dip in the collected juice. Remove knife and make the child to drink this juice in the morning before having any food. This is a great remedy for cold. The cold mucus will be disposed either by vomiting or bowel movement.


4) If the baby is restless and refuses to sleep properly follow the below method:
Soak 1 cup of rice in 2 cups of water for 15 mins. Collect the soaked water by draining. Wash the rice twice with water and collect the washed water. Combine all the drained water and warm it. Pour this warm water over baby's body and pat him dry. Then make him sleep.


5) For diarrhea or vomiting: Boil 200 ml of water and cool it. Add 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 pinch salt to this water. Give this water to baby every 1/2 hour. This will balance the salt and water lost due to diarrhea or vomiting and soon the baby will recover to normal condition.

Tips for new moms

Below are few tips for new moms, based on my personal experience and learning. But on critical situations don’t completely rely on this information; kindly refer your doctor.

1)      During initial days it may take some time for the baby and mother to get proper latching position, but please don’t give up breast feeding. It is the best food for your new born baby. It contains lot of antibodies required for the baby.

2)      Never think breast milk is insufficient for baby. More feeding and good nutrition food will increase the breast milk quantity.

3)      Less liquid intake will reduce breast milk secretion.

4)      For the first 3 months adequate sleep is required for the baby to put on weight.

5)      Apart from hunger Infants may cry for inadequate sleep, poor ventilation, pain or for many reasons. Read your child signs for the reason.

6)      Practice the baby to sleep on a routine.

7)      Assume that infants have the same food as mom during breast feeding period. This assumption will help to understand the root cause of many stomach problem of the baby. For example if mom consumed lot of potatoes then possibly her child may get stomach upset due to gas after feeding. This can be applied to exclusively breast feed babies.

8)      Usually mom’s food intake takes at least 2 hours to digest and produce breast milk. So the above root cause can be calculated only after that feeding.

9)      Consuming protein rich food like egg, milk products, sprouts etc. will increase the quality and thickness of breast milk.

10)   Mom should consume enough fiber and water to prevent constipation for the baby.

11)   Mom should consume Calcium and Iron supplements during the breast feeding period to prevent lack of nutrition.

12)   If the baby cries continuously in lie down position and stops crying in the vertical position then it could be a probable sign of stomach pain.

13)   Make sure to feed one breast completely before start feeding the other one. Approximately this may take about 20 mins.

The reason is that, the breast milk flow for the first few minutes is known as foremilk and this contains the water contents required for the baby. After some time the milk consistency will become thick. This thick milk is known as hind milk and this contains all the fats and nutrients required to nourish the baby. If the mom feeds only for 2 to 5 mins on one breast then the baby will get only the watery milk and lack in the nutrition.

14)   Garlic flakes are great source of increasing breast milk.

Few simple recipes:

Garlic milk:

1.       Peel 10 to 15 garlic flakes and cook in pressure cooker for about 5 whistles.

2.       Boil 1 cup of milk, add the cooked garlic flakes and cook for 5 more mins.

3.       Add sugar as per taste and consume.

Garlic roast:

1.       Peel 5 to 6 garlic flakes and show it on open flame with the help of a knife till it become golden brown.

2.       Add salt and pepper as per taste and have it as snacks.

15)   Garlic is great remedy for gastric problems. Consuming garlic during meal will prevent baby from gastric pains.

For more information about breast milk and how it is produced please refer the following links:

http://www.babies.sutterhealth.org/breastfeeding/bf_production.html

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/breastfeeding/makingbreastmilk/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_breast_milk