If you are a coffee drinker, you must try the South Indian Filter Coffee. It beats any Latte or Cappuccino hands down.
The filter referred to here is typically a stainless steel cylidrical contraption that comes apart in two halves. The top half has a pierced bottom with several tiny holes. The coffee beans are ground and the ground powder is filed in the top half. The top half sits snugly on the bottom half which receives the coffee drips. There is a lid to cover the top half. A pierced disc with a stem is placed on the coffee powder inside the top half of the cylinder.
If all this sounds difficult to visualize, please google for some pictures. There are several on the web!!
The top half is loaded with the coffee powder, the pierced disc with stem placed on it and then hot water is added to it. The coffee slowly drips into the bottom half. One can also add some chicory powder to the coffee powder. This adds to the flavor and taste of the coffee. The resulting decoction is so strong that one cannot drink this coffee black. Add one-fourth to one-third decoction and three-fourth to two-third milk, depending on how strong the decoction is.
Add some sugar, milk, and decoction and then mix it by pouring it back and forth between two cups till you generate a lot of froth. The higher you pour the liquid from, the more the froth it generates. This action aerates the resulting liquid and that actually enhances the taste a lot
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South Indian Filter Coffee
Drumsticks grow on a tree
These drumsticks are for real. The botanical name for this tree is Moringa Oleifera. Referred to as "Murungai" in the native Tamil language, this tree bears a vegetable that resembles a drum stick, the percussion instrument. It is a long green pod and inside the pod are seeds embedded in an edible flesh. Both the fleshy vegetable and the leaves of the tree are extremely nutritious.
The leaves are asignificant source of beta-carotene, Vitamin C, protein, iron, and potassium.
A traditional dish in Kerala and Tamil Nadu is the Adai, which is made from various lentils and shaped like a pancake. The similarity ends there, The Adai tastes a quadrillion times better than a pancake. The drumstick leaves are added to the Adai batter and when the Adai is made, these leaves are embedded in it and cooked. The drumstick pod, which is a foot to a couple of feet in length, is chopped into small 3 to 4 inch pieces and cooked with sambhar. A variety of other dishes are also made with drumstick vegetable and the leaves.
A future post will deal with making Adai incorporating drumstick leaves.
Curry garnish
Ingredients
1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds,
1 teaspoon urad dal, 1 teaspoon chana dal
1 tablespoon sesame oil
Preparation
Heat the sesame oil in a special ladle (copper bottom) or in a saucepan. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and chane dal to it. Just shake / stir the contents around in the ladle. The mustard seeds begin to pop within a couple of minutes. The garnish is now ready to be added to any stir-fried or steamed vegetable(s). Add salt to taste.
Typically for making various vegetable curries, I would also recommend adding a couple of pinches of turmeric powder and coriander powder or coriander seeds that have been crushed.
Top 7 ways to eat a tomato
7. Eat a salad with diced tomatoes thrown in
6. Topping on a pizza
5. Have a veggie wrap / sandwich with tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, olives, cheese and chick peas
4. Pasta with diced tomatoes thrown in
3. Tomato Sambhar
2. Tomato Rasam
and the best way to eat a tomato .....
1. Slice a raw tomato, sprinkle some black pepper and enjoy!
Hey Flexitarians - Something is Better than Nothing
I am coming across droves of people who label themselves as Flexitarian. They try to follow a mostly vegetarian diet but occassionally eat meat. There is no specific pattern to their eating habits or diet. There is also no real inclusion or exclusion criteria to the kinds if meat they eat. Some of them limit the number of meals with meat every week. Others limit the type of meat they eat.
I am always happy to see anyone making an attempt to get on a vegetarian diet. So Flexitarians, here's hoping to see more and more of you slowly become completely vegetarian. So, whether it is health reasons, environmental reasons, avoiding cruelty to animals, reducing your carbon footprint, religious reasons, whatever be the case, any step you take towards becoming a vegetarian eventually is great.
I would be curious to know from Flexitarians that read this article, what are your reasons. I have been a vegetarian all my life and it is difficult for me to imagine being anything else.
One Pesky or Pesci Vegetarian
I do not know if being vegetarian is a fashion statement these days. I would never know what induces folks to become vegetarian suddenly since I have been a vegetarian all my life. I had posted earlier on the definition of a vegetarian, and we may need to revisit that with some "pesky" vegetarians :-)
Apparently, people that are vegetarian but also eat fish / sea food are on the rise. These people do not eat poultry or any other meat other than fish. They are now being called pesci-vegetarians. This practice is being called pescetarianism. The vegetarian society that was established way back in 1847, does not recognize pescetarianism as being vegetarian. At least, being a pesci-vegetarian is better than being no vegetarian or as some would say non-vegetarian.
Parboiled Rice
Rice is a staple food for a lot of vegetarians. It is a really good source of complex carbohydrates and to a lesser extent, a source of protein. Combining rice with pulses will ensure that one gets an adequate amount of protein.
When one wants to incorporate rice into their diet, the options and varieties are mind boggling. Do you go with white rice, brown rice, wild rice, parboiled rice? Which specific named rice variety like basmati, jasmine, arborio, bhutanese red rice do you buy? Each variety of rice has its own unique taste and characteristics.
I am a big fan of parboiled rice. It tastes a lot better than the raw white rice. Parboiled rice is rice that has been boiled in the husk. Parboiling the rice preserves most of the nutrients and is almost comparable to brown rice in that regard.
As far as a specific variety of rice is concerned, I highly recommend the Ponni rice which originates from the state of Tamil Nadu in India, for its taste
Pampleade = Pamplemousse + Lemonade
La Croix water comes in various flavors like orange, lemon, berry and pamplemousse. Pamplemousse is the french word for grapefruit. My almost three year old daughter gets a real kick out of saying the word.
I decided to concoct a drink for her. It was easy enough to mix equal parts of LaCroix pamplemousse and Simply Limeade. We call it pampleade. Since then we have experimented LaCroix berry and LaCroix orange with equal parts of Simply Limeade, Simply Lemonade and Simply Lemonade with Rasberry.
They all get a thumbs up from my daughter. The fizz and the lime / lemon flavor are hard to beat.
Tell us what you think if you give this a try.
Tamarind for the daily grind
Tamarind is a tropic tree indigenous to tropical Africa and grown widely in Asia and other tropical regions. The tamarind fruit is used in many Asian cusines and to a lesser extent in South Americam and Carribean cusines.
The fruit consists of a pod with the acidic flesh of the fruit inside with several seeds. As the fruit ripens, the flesh inside the pod turns from a greenish color to a brown color. Research has shown the pulp to be rich in calcium, phosphorous, iron, and other vitamins and minerals. Tamarind fruit pulp, leaves, bark, roots, and flowers are also used for medicinal purposes in ayurveda, a form of practising holistic medicine.
There are some really good dishes that are prepared with Tamarind as a key ingredient. Tamarind rice is very popular in South India. In fact, certain temples distribute tamarind rice to devotees. Sambhar and Rasam are two other popular dishes in South India that use tamarind paste along with dals (lentils) and vegetables. There are many varieties of these two dishes that they warrant an article on their own.
In the western world, tamarind is used in preparing Worcestershire sauce. It is not suitable for vegetarian consumptions due to other ingredients. There are variations of the sauce that are available for vegetarians. Tamarind is also used in many chutneys and soft drinks. Tamarind is a really flexible, multi-use, exotic tree (and fruit) with a good impact on health that it is a must to incorporate into your lifestyle.
Please check the recipes category for dishes that use tamarind as an ingredient. We will feature some original multi-cusine recipes that are a fusion of popular techniques used to incorporate tamarind.
Quinoa Indian Fusion
Ingredients
1 cup qunioa
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 Teaspoon turmeric powder
1 Tablespoon mustard seeds
1 Tablespoon urad dal
1 Tablespoon chana dal
chopped cilantro
diced onions
one potatio
peas
cut carrots
broccoli
1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups of water
season black pepper to taste
add salt to taste
Instructions
If your quinoa does not come pre-rinsed, please rinse the quinoa to get rid of saponin which might impart a slightly bitter taste.
Boil the potatoes and cut to small cubes
Saute onions first in part of the sesame oil.
Separately heat the remaining sesame oil with mustard seeds, urad dal, and chana dal. Once the mustard seeds start popping, this is done.
To the onions, add the seasoning from the previous step and also add peas, carrots, pea pods and broccoli. Add turmeric, salt, and stir fry for 5 minutes.
Finally, add the potatoes and mix it in for a minute
Separately, boil water in a covered pan and add quinoa to the boiling water. Reduce the heat and let the quinoa simmer in the covered pan. Check occasionally to ensure that all the water has not evaporated. Depending on the heat, and gas versus electric, in about 10 minutes or so, the quinoa should be cooked. It shoudl appear fluffy and all water should have evaporated.
Now drain any extra water (if it is still there and the quinoa is already cooked).
Add the quinoa to the sauteed vegetables, add black pepper as necessary and mix it in for a couple of minutes.
Put the chopped cilantro on the top and serve.
Vegetarians do not have to fish for Omega-3
Vegetarians can get sufficient quantity of Omega-3 in their diet without having to eat fish. While there are plenty of ALA sources, the EPA and DHA sources are not that many. Flaxseed, flaxseed oil, and Walnut provide a good source of ALA. Broccoli, cabbage, and Tofu also are good sources of ALA. ALA is converted to DHA and EPA in the body. The conversion rate is not that high. Consuming very large amounts of Omega-6 in proportion to Omega-3 can hinder the conversion. Certain fish provide a good source of EPA and DHA. For vegetarians, that does not do any good.
Most people, especially vegetarians, get more Omega-6 than Omega-3. It is important to balance the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3. There are DHA supplements derived from algae. Most supplements that advertise EPA and DHA, derive that from fish as the primary source. So, please check the supplement details and ensure that the source is from algae and not from fish.
Turmeric - spice or medicine?
Turmeric is extenisvely used in cooking various dishes in South Asia. It is a key ingredient in curry powder. Turmeric is dried and ground into a powder and used in combination with many other spices such as black pepper to flavor dishes. In the western world, turmeric has been used as a food coloring or additive.
Turmeric has a lot of medicinal properties. Ayurvedic medicine utilizes turmeric for the treatment of ailments such as digestive problems, inflammation, and also as an anti-bacterial agent for treatment of cuts and bruises. Modern research has now corroborated certain facts about turmeric's medicinal properties. Turmeric contains curcumin which has been identified as a key active substance in turmeric.
I personally use turmeric and black pepper for the treatment of common cold and cough and it works very well. Add 1/2 a spoon of turmeric powder and a 1/4 spoon of black pepper powder to 4 ounces of warm milk. Stir well and drink to get immediate relief from cough. It is not easy to drink this concoction but if you do manage to drink this, it will soothe your cough and speed your recovery.
