Thursday, August 25, 2022

Health Benefits of Cilantro or Corriander Leaves

 


If you are like me then you are always looking to get a leg up on eating healthy and how to improve your longevity. Of course, there are many ways to do this and some of these include dietary means, cardiovascular exercise, prayer and meditation and other ways as well.

If you are specifically looking at dietary ways to become healthier then you really should consider the health benefits of cilantro. The benefits of eating fresh cilantro are many. Let's take a closer look at this wonderful food.

So, why is cilantro so healthy? Well, Cilantro comes from the leaves of the coriander plant. Some people refer to this herb as "Chinese Parsley." Whatever name it goes by the fact is out and that is that there are many health benefits to eating fresh cilantro. Why is it so important to eat it fresh? Actually, this is true for almost any fruit and certainly all herbs. When you buy fresh you do not have to worry about preservatives or anything else. In fact, it is recommended that not only do you buy it fresh but if possible organic.

The number one health benefit of Cilantro has to do with its rich antioxidant properties. Like many of your dark greens, this herb is rich in antioxidants and helps to lower cholesterol, probably helps reduce the incidence of cancer, and has many other health benefits as well.

If you are looking at some ways to consume enough of this herb on a daily basis then you may want to follow my approach. I must warn you that you really should like salsa and/or guacamole. Personally, I love eating avocados and this probably comes out of my time having lived in Southern California for many years. The way I make sure I get enough cilantro on a regular basis is to dice it up and include it along with garlic and tomatoes in order to make a great-tasting and very healthy guacamole dish.

However you decide to eat it just make sure that you consume this herb as there are many great health advantages of cilantro.


By Isabella Thera 

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Thalipit Recipe

 


This thalipit recipe I learned from my mother-in-law. For this you have to prepare seperate thalipit flour. Here is the list of ingredients for thalipit flour.

Thalipit Flour

  • Rice - 4 cups
  • Chana dal (yellow gram ) - 1 cup
  • Black gram or Urad Dal - 1 cup
  • Sabudana or tapioca seeds - 1 tea spoon
  • Beaten rice or poha - 1 table spoon
  • Methi or fenugreek seeds - 1 teaspoon
  • corriander seeds or dhaniya - 2 teaspoon
  • Jeera or cumin seeds - 1 tea spoon
Dry roast rice, chana dal and black gram seperately. Do not over roast these. Get these milled in a flour mill and store in an airtight box. This can also be used as chakli flour.

Making Thalipit


Ingredients for thalipit

Thalipit flour - 2 cups
Wheat flour - 3 cups
Cucumber - 1 ( grated along with skin)
Green chillies - 3 to 4 ( or according to taste)
Red chilli powder - 2 teaspoons. 
Garlic - 10 cloves (optional)
Jeera - 1 teaspoon
Curd - 1 cup
Ghee - 2 teaspoon
Turmeric - 1/2 teaspoon
Sesame seeds - 3 teaspoons
Finely chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves - 1 tablespoon
Hing - 1/4 teaspoon
Salt to taste.
Lemon juice - 2 teaspoon
Water - quantity sufficient

Grind garlic, green chillies, lemon juice, jeera to a coarse paste.  Add all ingredients together and mix well. If needed add water little by little and kneed everything to a dough of chapati dough consitency. Keep this dough aside after covering it with a plate.

After 30 minutes kneed the dough , and squeeze small portions of this dough and make small round balls. Sprinkle some wheat flour on a rolling board and roll these balls with a rolling pin into small round rotis. Cook these on tawa with cooking oil or ghee. Roast this thalipit on both sides. Always take care to maintain medium flame or heat. 

Savour this with butter, curd and pickle. Or else you can also make chickpea Usli.


Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Heath Benefits of Pistachios

 


Pistachios are not only tasty they are also good for you. Health benefits of pistachios range from many areas. With the help of magnesium and vitamins, pistachios are a stable of many healthy eaters. In the nut family, pistachios stand out as a healthier nut which offers many benefits to the consumer. Pistachios can help in many ways. Some health benefits of pistachios are:

1. Cholesterol-free - 

Everyone likes a product which is cholesterol free. Because it is cholesterol free, pistachios offer a chance to track your weight. You have the opportunity to be healthier if you follow and eat pistachios. It is not a hard task to perform because it is a nut that you don't have to feel guilty of eating too much.

2. High in monounsaturated fat - 

This means that it is a good fat and pistachios, with other nuts, will help with weight loss and circulation. With many people wanting to watch what they eat, having a nut that has healthy fat is a good idea to eat.

3. Protect you from heart attacks - 

This alone would get anyone to start incorporating pistachios into their diets. Nobody wants to have heart attacks. Whether you are old or young, eating pistachios are a very good thing to consider.

Another health benefit of pistachios is that the flavor which is given is an ice-creamed flavor taste. Pistachios offer many nutrients and value among other nuts in its family. Pistachios also contain 10% of the needed nutrients your body is in need of everyday. Having these health benefits of pistachios is beneficial to you and the ones you care about. Always remembering your health is the main focus.

Health benefits of pistachios are only as good as the healthy eater. If you don't eat them, you can't get the benefits. Always be mindful of your body and divulge in pistachios. Plus you help your immune system because of the different vitamins. Your body will thank you later with the prevention of so many harmful diseases, it is no wonder why this nut is the right choice.

Also Read  Benefits of Pistachios-ED, SPERM COUNT, PCOS- Ayurveda View

By Barry Lycka  






Friday, October 23, 2020

Three tasty recipes with figs By Carol A Hill

 Covering their shame with fig leaves, the first couple on the earth evoked a wrath so powerful that mankind never forgot the legend behind those figs. Wearing only a crown of fig leaves as they stood in front of the cheering crowds, ancient Olympian athletes received handfuls of figs for winning various Olympic events. It was mentioned, Cleopatra ate figs from a woven

basket while poisonous asps stung one of her exposed extremities.

Allowed freedom for one day a year, Roman slaves sat under a fig tree eating as many figs as they desired while enjoying the fruits of their labor. Somehow, figs and the human body have covered a lot of history since that remarkable time.

A meal of figs begins with a soup that has an exotic touch of cumin and paprika interacting with the colorful flavor of tomatoes and garnished with a fresh fig. The recipe below is

from a Penelope Cases cookbook.

Cumin Scented Tomato Soup With Fresh Figs

1-Tlb. olive oil

2-cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

4-cloves garlic, minced

1- onion, chopped

1/2-cup green bell pepper, chopped

1-lb ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped

1/2-tsp.paprika

1-1/2-cups, canned crushed tomatoes

Salt to taste

1-bay leaf

1-Tlb. parsley, chopped

1-tsp. ground cumin

3-cups water

1-cup bread crumbs

4-fresh figs

Directions: 

In a soup pot: Heat the olive oil and brown the first two cloves of garlic. Remove it from the heat and set aside. Add the onion, the minced garlic and the bell pepper. Saute the ingredients until they are wilted. Add the browned garlic,the tomatoes and the water. Season with the paprika, the ground cumin and the salt. Add the parsley and the bay leaf. Toast the bread crumbs and cut the fresh figs diagionally. Top the soup with the bread crumbs and a fresh fig.

Figs and strawberry jello are combined to make a strawberry fig

preserve that is good whether spooned over vanilla ice cream or on a homemade biscuit.

Strawberry Fig Preserves

6-cups fresh figs, mashed

5-cups sugar

1-large package of strawberry jello

Directions: 

In a large saucepan: Combine the ingredients and bring them to a boil stirring constantly cooking them for five

minutes. Sterlize some canning jars. Pour the mixture into them and seal the jars.

The crunchy texture of jicama is combined with the softness of fresh figs and served with an orange cinnamon vinaigrette.

1-jicama,washed, peeled and cut into two-inch strips

8-fresh figs,chopped

1-tsp. sugar,

1/4-cup red onion,minced

1-Tlb. cilantro,minced

Orange Cinnamon Vinaigrette:

1-orange, juiced

1/4-tsp. cinnamon

1-tsp.sugar

Directions: 

Add the chopped figs and one teaspoon of the sugar

to boiling water and cook for three to four minutes until they

are softened. Let the fig mixture cool. In a salad bowl: whisk the orange juice, the cinnamon and one teaspoon of the sugar.

Add the jicama, the minced red onion and the cilantro. Lightly

combine the cooled figs with the salad ingredients and coat them

well with the orange vinaigrette.

Sun dried figs are hand dipped into chocolate for a dessert

that any bon bon lover will enjoy eating. The recipe below is

from the Valley Fig Growers Association.

Chocolate Fig Bon Bons

(Makes 25 bon bons)

8-ounces sun dried figs, stems removed

2/3-cup hazelnuts or almonds, toasted

8-vanilla wafer cookies, crushed

1/3-cup cup powdered sugar

1/4-cup rum

1-tsp. grated orange peel

3-oz. semisweet or white chocolate

Vegetable oil

Directions: 

Process figs, hazelnuts or almonds and vanilla wafers into a food processor until they are finely ground. Add the powdered sugar, rum and orange peel and process them until they are well mixed into the fig mixture. Dampen hands and shape the mixture into one and one-fourth inch balls. Arrange close together on a baking sheet or wire rack. In a small microwave-safe bowl heat the chocolate on high for one to two minutes, stirring after one minute. Add a few drops of the vegetable oil if needed to make the chocolate thin enough to drizzle. Dip the tips of a fork in the chocolate and quickly drizzle it over the fig balls, or dip each fig ball into the melted chocolate. Chill until the chocolate is set. Store the fig bon bons in an airtight container up to one week.

Cooking since the age of fifteen, the author has always enjoyed eating and cooking with figs.

By Carol A Hill 

Also Read Health Benefits of Figs (Anjeer) An Ayurveda View


Friday, April 10, 2020

Dalgona Idli


This is just for fun not for eating. 

Prepare Mysore Mallige Idli Batter. Put some batter in a small glass coated with oil (any oil sunflower oil, sesame oil, coconut oil etc). Steam it till batter gets hardened. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of instant coffee in 2 tea spoons of water. Take two cups with idli batter and add this coffee mix to these cups to get a dark shade and light shade. (mix a small quantity of coffee for one cup and a large quantity of coffee in another. Pour dark mix on hardened idli in glass. Steam again . Garnish with light coloured batter.  I have named it as dalgona idli

Idli Art


Adding funny twists while cooking enhances your mood and increases creativity. Inspired by one of my face book friend I tried this art with idli. You can perfect the idli art and can be more creative.

Click here for Mysore Mallige Idli Recipe. You need carrot slices cut in shape of flowers and few curry leaves and stalks of coriander. Pour idli batter on idli plate and arrange the veggies you like  and cook in idli cooker. Eat with Marimallappa's Canteen Style Roasted Gram Chutney

You can make kids happy with stars and cartoon characters. Enjoy.  



Saturday, April 4, 2020

Raw Mango Juice (Aam ka panna)

aam ka panna

Now it is season for raw mangoes. In this sweltering weather, raw mango juice or aam ka panna comes as a boon to quench our thirst. Water, sweetening jaggery, tangy raw mango, aroma of cardamom and edible camphor (pachcha karpura) makes us to crave for more. This juice helps to supply energy instantly and rehydrates body. Calms mind and satiates your taste buds. Here is a quick recipe for this juice. This is usually prepared during Sri Ramanavami or Chaitra navami in India

Ingredients:


raw mangoes

Raw mangoes - 2
Jaggery - 1 cup (you can add more if you need)
Cardamom - 5
Edible Camphor (pachcha karpura) - 1/4 pinch (don't put more. It turns juice bitter).

Method:


cooked raw mango

Wash raw mangoes well and cook them in cooker or you can also boil them in water till cooked. Powder jaggery and dissolve it in 4 cups of water. Allow the cooked mangoes to cool down. Remove its external skin and seed.  Mash the pulp. You can also mix it in blender. Mix this pulp in jaggery water. Stir it well.  Strain this juice mix to remove mango fibers. Add powdered cardamom and edible camphor. Mix well. Aam ka panna is ready to drink.

Also read Ayurveda Health Benefits of mango