PULINKARI

PULINKARI
The Pulinkari simply means the curry with Tamarind. The Pulinkari is prepared differently in different households. The Brahmins usually avoid using onions in all dishes whereas the non-Brahmins use onions liberally in all dishes for flavour. Here are 2 variations to this dish. The first one is what my grandma prepares using coconut and the second one doesn’t use coconut as its ingredient and can be made using small onions. Both the recipes taste great.

Pulinkari
Ingredients
Orange pumpkin(Mathan) /Elephant yam(Chenai)/ Raw banana(Vazhakkai) /Kumbalanga or Vellarikka /Raddish (Mullangi) or Any other similar vegetable (cut into one inch cubes)- 2 cups
Coconut - 2 tablespoon
Coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon
Methi seeds - 1 teaspoon
Tamarind extract - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder 1 teaspoon
Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Toor dal - 1 tablespoon
Udad dal - 1 tablespoon
Asafoetida - 1 teaspoon
Curry Leaves - a few
Dry Red Chillies - 2
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 teaspoon
Method:
Cook the Pumpkin or whatever vegetable u r using with the curry leaves,
turmeric powder, chilly powder, asafoetida and salt. Add the tamarind extract and simmer for a few minutes.
In a frying pan,(keep the gas on sim (or low flame) roast the coriander seeds, methi seeds, udad dal and toor dal until orange colour and then add the coconut and fry until u get the aroma of the coconut or slightly pink in colour.
Grind the mixture into a paste when cool.
Add the coconut paste, to the vegetables, mix it well and allow it to be on sim for another 2-3 minutes.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and pop mustard seeds and dry red chillies and add to the mixture.
Your Pulinkari is ready

This is another version
Pulinkari
Ingredients
Red gram (Toor Dal)(Thuvaram paruppu) - 3/4 cup
Tamarind extract - 1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Water - 2 - 3 cups
Salt - As per taste
For seasoning:-
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Red chillies - 2 - 3 nos
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Oil - 2 tsp
Method :-
Cook the Pumpkin or whatever vegetable u r using with the curry leaves,
turmeric powder, chilly powder, asafoetida and salt. Cook, till it is half done.Add tamarind water and cook for a few more minutes.
Pressure cook the toor dal seperately. Add the cooked toor dal to the cooked vegetables. Heat oil in a pan or a kadai. Add mustard seeds and when they start to splutter, add red chillies and curry leaves. Pour this seasoning into the pulinkari.

**The variation to this would be to add small onions (madras vengayam). When u fry the mustard seeds and red chillies, at that time add the small onions and curry leaves, fry it and pour the seasoning into the pulinkari.

Podi Podichya Pulinkari
This is possibly the Palakkad Iyer substitute for the Tamil Nadu Sambhar.

Here is the recipe:-
Cut into long thin pieces, Brinjal, Orange Pumpkin(Mathan), White Pumpkin (Elavan), Bangalore Kathrikkai (Chow-Chow) (11/2 cup vegetables)
Cook in pressure cooker in tamarind water.
Dry roast in a kadhai rice (1tbsp rice) and red chillies (2 red chillies). (The colour of the rice should turn ivory)
Powder this rice & chilly mixture.
Add to the vegetables and boil.
Season with mustard and garnish with curry leaf.
An interesting variant is prepared by using only Jack fruit instead of all the above vegetables.
Hope you’ll enjoy making this Pulinkari.

ERUSSERI

Here is an interesting recipe for Erusseri made in Kerala. It is made for festivals and functions. I have given the different variations to this recipe. Try them. Iam sure it will be very enjoyable.

Erusseri
Orange Pumpkin(Matthan) 1/2 cup cubed
Yam (Chenai) 1/2 cup cubed
Coconut 1 1/2 cup grated
Cumin seeds 1 tspn
Green chilly 2-3
Salt as per taste
Cooking oil 1 tbsn (Can use coconut oil for the typical Kerala feel)
Udad Dal 1 tspn
Mustard 1 tspn
Curry leaves 1 sprig
Red Chilly 2-3
Pepper As per taste

1. Grind coconut, cumin seeds and green chilly together to get a fine paste. (don't add water)
2. Boil yam with 1 cup of water, turmeric and pepper. Then reduce heat and cook covered on medium heat. When Yam is 3/4th cooked add pumpkin and continue cooking.
3. Meanwhile heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and when they crackle add udad dal and red chilly and fry till browned. Now add ground coconut and curry leaves and fry till coconut is golden brown. Add this to Yam and pumpkin along with salt when they are almost done.
5. Cook on low heat till gravy is thick (almost dry)
6. Fry some grated coconut and add to the dish at the end of it. This is the special value addition to the dish.

Different Variations to the Erusseri are :
-Erusseri can also be prepared with Yam(Chenai) and Raw Banana(Vazhakkai) Mix - A big one. Split the banana lengthwise into 3 pieces. Cut it into small pieces without peeling off the skin (If the skin is very thick like mondhangai or mondhan vazhakkai then u can peel the skin). Cook yam and banana along with pepper powder, turmeric powder and salt in a cup of water. And follow above method.
-Erusseri can also be prepared with just Pumpkin (Matthan). Follow the above method. (For the matthan also u can retain the skin but if the skin is very thick, u can peel it off)
-Erusseri can be prepared with Yam only or Raw banana only.
-And Can be even prepared with Snake Gourd (Pudavalangai) by following the same method just replace the vegetables.

Tip: Whenever u are mixing 2 vegetables, where one gets cooked faster and the other takes time to cook, for eg. Chenai(Yam) (takes time to cook) and Vazhakkai and Pumpkin (cook faster). In these cases 3/4th cook the vegetable which takes longer to cook and only then add the vegetable which cooks faster so both vegetables will be well cooked together otherwise the vegetable which cooks faster will get mashed and the taste of your Erusseri will not be good
The skin of vegetables have a lot of nutritious value, so if the skin is not very thick, it can be cooked alongwith it.
Do try this authentic Kerala recipe at home.

ANDHRA PESARATTU WITH UPMA

Ours is an evening tiffin family. So everyday we have to think of making something for tiffin. Something new is always welcome. Here is the recipe for pesarattu, some of you’ll maybe already making this recipe but for others it will be a refresher.
The Andhra Pesarattu is a spicy snack similar to our Adai but more nutritious as it has the Green Moong Dal.
“For those who have a problem with onions u can avoid onions in the recipe”.
1.PESARATTU
Ingredients
Whole green gram with skin - 1 cup
onion -1 medium sized
ginger - a small piece
green chillies - 5
salt 1 tsp
Raw rice- 2 Tblsp
For Topping
Finely chopped onions - 3/4 cup
Finely cut green chillies -1 Tblsp
cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Oil-1Tblsp
Serves about 10 pesarattu dosas.
Preparation :
Soak green gram and rice together for 9-10 hrs in enough water. After that grind with onion, ginger and green chillies. Add salt at the end of grinding.
For the topping Heat oil and fry cumin seeds, green chillies with diced onions for 2- 3 mins or till the onions is transparent, If your taste buds want it a little spicy, chop one or two chilies more into small pieces and add these also to combination) .Keep this seperately in another plate. Heat a heavy dosa pan/tava. Pour dosa by spreading from the centre. Add a teaspoon of oil around the dosa. Sprinkle the topping and press with the flat ladle. Fry in medium flame till the dosa becomes crisp. Sprinkle a little water on the pan and use the same procedure for making your next Pesarattu. It is traditionally served with Upma and Ginger chutney by the Andhraiites.But u can also serve it hot with coconut chutney. Top it up with a teaspoon of butter for added taste. Since it is a spicy dish it is good to have it with butter. Weight watchers can avoid this.

2.UPMA INGREDIENTS :
1 cup Rava / cream of wheat
2 cups water
1 teaspoon chana dal (Kadalai paruppu)
1 teaspoon Urad dal (Ulutham paruppu)
1\4 spoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon oil
2 green chillies
Small piece of ginger
Half a dozen curry leaves
3\4 teaspoon salt
Carrots cut into small pieces
Fresh peas
1 chopped onion
1 tablespoon of Ghee
Preparation :
Heat the oil in a Kadhai (wok) pan. Add chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds and heat on a low fire. When the dals become light brown and the mustard seeds crackle, add the green chillies after cutting them into small pieces, chopped ginger, onion pieces and curry leaves. When the onions are cooked soft, add the other cut vegetables like peas and carrots. Add 2 cups of water and salt. When water starts boiling add one cup of Rava continuously stirring. Then add one table spoon of butter. Reduce the heat and cook till it becomes a soft pudding. Remove from fire and keep it for 5 minutes. Your Upma is ready for serving. Eat it with ginger chutney or any other chutney or pickle. You may add a little lemon juice, if you like . It adds to the taste of the Upma.
3.GINGER CHUTNEY INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon chopped ginger
1\4 cup grated jaggery
2 tablespoons chana dal
1 tablespoon urad dal
5 red chilies
1\2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon tamarind paste or u can use concentrated tamarind soaked in water also
A pinch of Asafoetida
1 teaspoon oil
Preparation
Fry chana dal, urad dal, mustard seeds, red chilies and asafoetida in 1 tablespoon oil. Fry till the dals become brown and the mustard seed split. Wait till the mixture becomes lukewarm. Then add salt and grind the mixer into a powder. Add chopped ginger, grated jaggery, tamarind paste and water and grind again to a thick paste. Your ginger chutney is ready.
Eat Pesarattu and Upma with this chutney.
In all the recipes add salt and chilies to suit your taste.
The quantities given here are for one or two persons. For larger numbers increase
quantities proportionately.
Hope u enjoy your pesarattu served hot with Upma and Ginger chutney or any other combinations u want.Enjoy!!!!!!

ARE YOUR HANDS TOO BUSY

My Hands Were Busy
My hands were busy throughout the day
I didn't have much time to play
The little games you asked me to.
I didn't have much time for you.

I'd wash your clothes, I'd sew and cook,
But when you'd bring your picture book
And ask me please to share your fun,
I'd say: "A little later, son."

I'd tuck you in all safe at night
And hear your prayers, turn out the light,
Then tiptoe softly to the door...
I wished I'd stayed a minute more.

For time is short, the years rush past...
A little boy grows up so fast.
No longer is he at your side,
His precious secrets to confide.

The picture books are put away,
There are no longer games to play,
No goodnight kiss, no prayers to hear...
That all belongs to yesteryear.

My hands, once busy, now are still.
The days are long and hard to fill.
I wish I could go back and do
The little things you asked me to.
- Author Unknown

SAUCES - HOT AND SOUR SAUCE

Hot and Sour Sauce

Ingredients
3 ripe tomatoes
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. vinegar (brown)
1 tsp. soya sauce
1 tsp. chilly sauce
1/2 tsp. ginger finely grated
1 tsp. cornflour
Salt to taste
Method:
Wash and wipe tomatoes dry. Chop and boil, without adding water. Take care to stir frequently. When tomatoes get soft, blend into a smooth puree. Strain this puree, discard the seeds & skin
Add the sugar, brown vinegar, soya sauce, chilly sauce, finely grated ginger and the cornflour. Add 2 tbsp. hot water. Mix well. Continue boiling, till sauce is thick enough.
Check taste for salt.
Making time: 20 minutes
Makes: 250 gms. Sauce
Shelflilfe: 2 weeks refrigerated

MOUTH

MOUTH

Keeping your mouth clean and fresh and smelling good is also what makes you attractive to another person. Bad breath can be caused by the odors of food eaten or bad oral hygiene practices. Here are some remedies to help you with bad breath, which can be a cause of embarrassment to people.

HOMEMADE BAD BREATH CURES
Herbal Mouthwash Recipe 1
Ingredients
Eucalyptus Oil - 12 drops
Water (hot) - 800 ml
Method
Mix together the above ingredients and use as a mouthwash. Gargle and rinse. This will keep your breath sweet for hours.

Herbal Mouthwash Recipe 2
Ingredients
Clove oil - 4 drops
Eucalyptus oil - 12 drops
Tincture of myrrh - 4 drops
Water (hot) - 800 ml
Method
Mix together all above ingredients and use as a mouthwash.

Herbal Mouthwash Recipe 3
Ingredients
Hydrogen peroxide - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Water (warm) - 1 cup
Method
Mix together all above ingredients and rinse your mouth with it.

Herbal Mouthwash Recipe 4
Ingredients
Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Honey - 2 tbsps
Wine - 2 tbsps
Cloves (Powdered) - 1/2 tsp
Method
Mix together all above ingredients and use as a mouth wash.

Herbal Tooth Powder
This herbal mix will help avoid bad Breath to cure bad breath.
Ingredients
Soda Bicarbonate - 3 tbsps
Salt - 2 tbsps
Method
Mix together the above ingredients with warm water and use.

Here are yet other remedies which will help you deal with bad breath.

• Drink some peppermint tea. It’s delicious and will also help with your digestion.

· Parsley is also very good. So make sure you grab that garnish from your plate before you leave the diner.

· Another good thing to do is carry a few fennel seeds with you at all times and chew them when you feel a bout of bad breath coming on.

MORKALI AND PULI- MA

Heres another tongue tickling recipe for tiffin time....Can make it for morning breakfast or evening tiffin. Good for health and tasty too

Morkali
Ingredients
Raw rice flour - 250 gm
Sour curd - 1 tumbler
Mustard - 1 tbspUluthamparuppu
1 tbspAsafoetida
A littleRed chillies
2Curry leaves
1 sprigCoriander leaves - A little (optional)
Refined oil - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste
Method
Mix the rice flour in the curd and add a spoon of salt. Splutter the mustard, uluthamparuppu, red chillies and asafoetida in the oil. Pour the mixed rice flour in it and stir well. Add the curry leaves and coriander leaves and allow the mixture to cook well. Stir continuously till the raw smell goes off.

Puli Ma (Puli Uppuma)
Use all the above ingredients. As an alternative, you can use tamarind juice in place of the curd. But here u must mix it like chappati dough. Add tamarind juice, salt, asafoetida and make the dough then split it into pieces and put in the oil after thalichi kottardhu.....It should be done so well that it should come out udhur-udhira(seperate) and lo and behold u have some tasty Puli ma or puli uppuma.
Puli Ma takes a lot more oil than Mor-kali as to get seperate it drinks oil.
Mor-kali is very good for health.....Can be given in case of sicknesses also. It is tasty and easy to digest.

Tip : To enhance the taste of both can add 4-5 of Mor molaghai / thair molaghai (the dried and pickled chilly). You must fry it first before u add it. It tastes very good and adds that extra zest, a little of that extra spice and tastes oh so yum!!!!!

Please do try these recipes.

PESHAWARI NAAN

PESHAWARI NAAN
Peshawari Naan has gotten its name because it was first made in Pesahwar, now in Pakistan, this naan is very similar to the Kashmiri Naan, it has sugar and is stuffed with a mix of nuts, raisins/sultanas and desiccated coconut.

Ingredients
Maida or Self Raising Flour - 2 cups
Baking powder - ½ tsp
Soda - ¼ tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Fresh Yeast - 1 tsp
Warm Milk - ¼ cup
Yogurt - ¼ cup
Oil or Ghee - 2 tbsp
Poppy seeds - 2 tbsp

For the Stuffing
Granulated sugar – 4-5 tbsps
Slivered and chopped Cashew nuts – 1 -2 tbsps
Slivered and chopped Almonds - 1 -2 tbsps
Red Cherries - 1 -2 tbsps
Raisins – 1 – 2 tbsps
Desiccated coconut – 1-2 tbsps
These must be finely chopped, otherwise, the dough will burst while rolling out.

Method
In a Big bowl mix together 2 cups Maida, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp baking powder and ¼ tsp soda and 2 tbsp of oil or ghee.

In another small bowl, combine ¼ cup warm milk, ¼ cup Yogurt, dissolve 1 tsp sugar in it. Add 1 tsp fresh yeast and add this liquid to the flour mixture in the big bowl. Now mix all this together. Add warm water to make a very soft dough. Once you make the dough, Add a tablespoon of oil and mix well, so the dough becomes glazed with oil. Cover the dough with a wet cloth for around two hours. The dough will puff up and become almost double in volume.

Now make equal sized balls apply a little oil. Make a depression in the ball and place some of the stuffing in the center of the balls circle, then fold the edges of the dough up over the stuffing and pinch it together to enclose the stuffing; press with your hands to flatten the dough and then roll it into a round shape. Roll gently, vigorous rolling will make the stuffed naans burst.

Stretch it from one side to give it a triangular shape like the ones you see in a restaurant. Brush the surface gently with ghee or oil and sprinkle a few poppy, sesame or nigella (or other) seeds.

Now put it on the wall of a preheated Tandoor or cook in a preheated oven (250 degrees Celsius) by placing it on a greased tray.

Remove when it is crisp and golden brown on both sides. Your Naan is ready to be served with any nice curry.

PLAIN CAULIFLOWER CURRY WITH COCONUT AND DAL

PLAIN CAULIFLOWER CURRY WITH COCONUT AND DAL
This is a simple and easy recipe. Plain Cauliflower curry is very quick to make and you can rustle it up in a breeze for your morning tiffin to work and tastes good with chappati or rice. This is a typical south Indian recipe and doesn’t have many spices. Cauliflower is usually avoided in Brahmin homes because they have worms in them. Do try this recipe.

Ingredients
Cauliflower - 250 grams
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Udad dal - 1 tsp
Red chillies – 1-2 broken into 2 halves
Turmeric -1/4 tsp
Asafetida (Hing) - a small pinch
Cooked Toor Dal – 2 tbsps
Freshly grated Coconut – 1-2 tbsps
Cooking oil - 1 tbsp
Salt as per taste.

Method
Cut the Cauliflower into small florets. Put these florets into warm water with some turmeric and salt. Keep it soaked for about half an hour. Cauliflower usually has small worms. Keeping it soaked in this water will make the worms come floating to the surface and it can be discarded. Rinse well after half an hour and keep aside.
In a Kadhai (wok), Add oil, when it is hot, Add the mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, Add the red chillies and the udad dal, wait till udad dal is light pink in colour, add the Cauliflower florets. Mix well. Now add turmeric, asafetida and salt. Mix well and cover the kadhai with a lid. Don’t add water, let it cook in its own juices. Cauliflower has a tendency to cook very fast. Once the crunchiness is gone and it is soft and all the water has been absorbed, Stir well and Add the cooked dal, mix well and then the freshly grated coconut, stir and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve hot with Chappati or Rice.

HOW TO REMOVE STONES IN THE BLADDER NATURALLY

HOW TO REMOVE STONES IN THE BLADDER NATURALLY

By Dr Lai Chiu-Nan

Gallstones may not be everyone's concern. But they should be because we all have them. Moreover, gallstones may lead to cancer. "Cancer is never

the first illness," Chiu Nan points out. "Usually, there are a lot of other problems leading to cancer in my research in China, I came across some

material which say that people with cancer usually have stones. We all have gallstones. It's a matter of big or small, many or few. One of the symptoms

of gallstones is a feeling of bloatedness after a heavy meal. You feel like you can't digest the food. If it gets more serious, you feel pain in the

liver area." So if you think you have gallstones, Chiu Nan offers the following method to remove them naturally. The treatment is also good for

those with a weak liver, because the liver and gallbladder are closely linked.

Regimen:

1. For the first five days, take four glasses of apple juice every day.

Or eat four or five apples, whichever you prefer. Apple juice softens the

gallstones. During the five days, eat normally.

2. On the sixth day, take no dinner.

3. At 6 pm, take a teaspoon of Epsom salt (magnesium sulphate) with a glass

of warm water.

4. At 8 pm, repeat the same. Magnesium sulphate opens the

gallbladder ducts.

5. At 10 pm, take half cup olive oil (or sesame oil) with half cup fresh

lemon juice. Mix it well and drink it. The oil lubricates the stones to ease

their passage.

The next morning, you will find green stones in your stools.

"Usually they float," Chiu Nan notes. "You might want to

count them. I have had people who passes 40, 50 or up to

100 stones. Very many. "Even if you don't have any symptoms of gallstones,

you still might have some. It's always good to give your gall bladder clean

up now and then.