Nellikai Sadam - Indian Gooseberry rice

There is a story in Tamil Nadu about the Sangam age king Athiyaman and his friend and the great poetess Avvaiyar. Athiyaman gets a fruit with magical powers - power to grant eternal life. The King, a great patron of Tamil that he was, realizes that the life of a poet is more valuable than his own and offers the fruit to Avvaiyar. We, of course, do not know if Avvaiyar infact ate the fruit. If she did and if you happen to chance upon this blog, dear Avvai patti, please leave a comment! But -- our interest is about that magical life enhancing fruit. The special fruit was none other than Amla, Nellikani.

From Google Images

All parts of the Nellikai plant are used in various Ayurvedic and Unani medicine. It is the only fruit contains all tastes like sour, sweet,  bitter, pungent  and astringent except salt. According to Ayurveda there are six tastes. Amla has five tastes out of six. If it would have all the six taste it might be called as amrita (divine fruit) instead of Amla.
Though the size of the nelliaki / amla is small, it is packed with Vitamin C, protein, carbohydrate, fibre and minerals. Nellikai is an antioxidant, helps in regulating blood pressure. Maintains the cholesterol level. Has anti diabetic quality and anti bacterial property, helps in the digestive system and prevents from ulcer. Ladies, mainly used for hair conditioning and prevent premature greying. My mom still puts dried nellikai while grinding shikakai mixture at home. It also helps us to cool our body.

 Normally we make pickles and pachadi out of nellikai. If you are like me, wanted to cook new recipe for the lunch box, then go head and try this. A bowl full of goodness invites you to dig in and gives a full refreshment to your body and mind.

Ingredients : 3 nos -- Nellikai / Amla  medium size 1 cup -- Rice 1 tsp -- Mustard seeds 1 tsp -- Jeera 1 tbsp -- Urad dal 1 tbsp -- Channa dal 1/4 cup -- Peanuts 5-6 nos -- Dry chili 3 - 4 tbsp -- Oil 2 tbsp -- Gingely oil (optional) 1/2 tsp -- Turmeric powder Coriander leaves to garnish. Salt to taste. Method : --- Pressure cook the rice with right amount of water. --- Try not to make the rice mushy. Once the steam is gone, transfer the rice in a big plate and let it cool completely. Drizzle the gingely oil, if using over the rice. Gingely oil gives rich taste to the food. --- While the rice is cooling. Grate the nellikai. --- In a pan, add the oil and heat in the medium heat. When it is hot add the mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add jeera, channa dal, urad dal, peanuts and the red dry chilies. --- Once the dal color changes to golden colour add the grated nellikai and the turmeric powder and saute it for a minute. --- Turn off the heat and pour the mixture over the cooling rice and add salt according to taste. --- Using a wooden spoon mix the rice thoroughly, avoid the breaking of rice. --- Garnish with cut coriander leaves. *** Note : According to your taste, you can change all the ingredients level.

Enjoy the 5 tastes of nellikai in the rice.

Sources : Wikipedia, Indian food, Dhyanfoundation blog, Krishna, Rajaputan agrico

Dhal Soup

Happy New Year to all.

Love, Give and Serve - Swami Shantananda Saraswathi.

Let us start the new year with a nice subtle tasting Moong dhal soup.

Few months ago I had this wonderful soup at Annalakshmi Restaurant, Singapore. I was able to persuade  the master chef who made this soup to share the recipe with me.

Simple and easy soup with easily available ingredients. On top of all its very healthy and full of proteins. Okay, I am not talking about the goodness of lentils again in this post. You can check about the nutritional facts of lentils here.

Ingredients : 1/4 cup -- Moong dhal 1 no -- Tomato medium size 1 no -- Green chilli 1 tbsp -- Butter 1 tsp -- Jeera Powder 1/2 tsp -- Turmeric powder 1 -2 no -- Garlic pod 2 tbsp -- Besan / Chickpea flour 2 tsp -- Corriander leaves finely chopped Salt and Pepper powder to taste Method : --- Pressure cook the Moong dhal, until the dhal becomes mushy and disintegrate its shape. --- While that is cooking, grind the garlic and the chilli to a fine paste. ---  Heat the butter in a sauce pan in medium heat. Add the ground garlic mixture and saute them for few seconds and add the besan / chickpea flour, turmeric and fry in the butter. --- Once a nice aroma comes from the flour, add jeera powder, cut tomatoes and mix well. --- Turn the flame to low and add the cooked moong dhal and mix well in the flour mixture. --- Add 1 cup water and cook for few minutes. According to taste add salt and pepper. Please bare in mind that we used a chilli in the first. --- After 5 - 7 minutes garnish with fresh corriander leaves and serve warm.

Sumptuous restaurant style soup is ready to serve. Try not to over power the taste with  garlic or Jeera. It will change the taste of the soup.

Nutritious lentils

As a vegetarian, I dare not dream a world without lentils - my major source of protein. Last week, Alton Brown' Goodeats show was about one of the oldest and most versatile ingredient in the pantry, the lentil. Click the Goodeats to know more about the show and the recipes he tried.

 

Here are some interesting facts and articles about lentils that I culled from the net. Hope you find them useful.


Nutritional facts :
One cup of lentils, approximately 198 g, a single serving of cooked lentil contains 230 calories. Lentils are a healthy option for a weight loss diet, since they are filling while being low in calories. One serving of lentils contains 18 g of protein and only1 g of fat. There are 40 g of carbohydrate in one cup of lentils, including 16 g of fiber. The fiber in lentils is of both soluble and insoluble types. Lentils have no cholesterol and are low in salt, with only 4 mg sodium per cup.

Health Benefits :
Health magazine has selected lentils as one of the five healthiest foods. They are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fiber, helps in managing blood-sugar disorders. Lentils also provide good to excellent amounts of six important minerals, two B-vitamins, and protein—all with virtually no fat. This tiny nutritional giant fills you up--not out.

Love Your Heart—Eat Lentils. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine confirms that eating high fiber foods, such as lentils, helps prevent heart disease. Lentils can increase energy by replenishing iron stores. Particularly for menstruating women, who are more at risk for iron deficiency, boosting iron stores with lentils is a good idea--especially because, unlike red meat, another source of iron, lentils are not rich in fat and calories. Iron is an integral component of hemoglobin, which transports oxygen from the lungs to all body cells, and is also part of key enzyme systems for energy production and metabolism. And remember: If you're pregnant or lactating, your needs for iron increase. Growing children and adolescents also have increased needs for iron.

Go to your kitchen, quickly cook some lentil and enjoy them as a salad or a soup.

References :
Wikipedia.org, About.com - Home cooking, WH Foods, Live Strong