Barley - The drink of the God's

Barley water is an ancient refreshing drink. They believed that Barley is the drink of God's.
Barley water is a good remedy to fair up skin complexions and prevent wrinkles. It is a great source of magnesium, which reacts with many different enzymes that involve glucose levels in the body. This can help to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes. The fiber that comes from barley water is also known to lower cholesterol. The insoluble fiber is beneficial to women in preventing the formation of gallstones and infection in the urinary tract during pregnancy. It contains a nutrient Lignans that help in preventing cancer.
Many scholars say regularly drinking two-thirds of barley and water solution can be an antidote to the many possible diseases the body can have and help us live a healthy life.
The following recipe has been handed over generation to generation in our family. So let's jump straight to this simple yet healthy drink recipe.

Ingredients

Barley - 1/2 cup
Water - 10 cups
Salt as per taste

Recipe

1) Place the barley in a sieve and rinse under cold water until water runs clear.
1) In a large bowl place the barley and water and bring it to a nice boil. This take about 30 - 40 minutes.
2) Once done set aside to cool by itself for 8 - 9 hours (This is done to ensure we get all the nutritive value)
3) Strain and serve in a glass adding little salt to taste.

Tips

1) You can also make your own specialty drink using lemon zest, lemon juice and honey/sugar for a different taste.
2) Try using the barley pearls into your other recipes like soup, salad etc
3) There are also quick barley packets available in the market, as they are already steamed and dried they will cook in less then 10 minutes.
4) You can also pressure cook the barley and let them sit aside to cool (1 cup barley and 8 cup water).

Sending this to the event by Sumadhura : Cooking with whole foods

Yummy dosa with wite rind of watermelon

It is the all time family favorite watermelon season, after having a big fruit I remembered one of my friend telling her mom used to make dosa with the white rind part of this fruit, sat down to browse and came across a dosa recipe using the white rind of the watermelon. Tried it and the batter got over the same night and everybody in the house was very impressed with this one. Not only is it cooling for the body, it is excellent for flushing out the kidney has  potassium and vitamin C and B. Here goes the recipe dear friends.

Ingredients

Par boiled rice(pulungarisi) - 1 1/2 cup
Melon pieces(white rind portion alone) - 1 cup
Scrapped coconut - 1/2 cup
Salt as per taste
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp

Recipe

1) First blend in the white rind and then add the rice, coconut, salt, fenugreek seeds and blend them again into batter consistency.
2) Heat the griddle so it is just hot,now reduce the flame to medium heat. Grease the tawa with few drops of oil and fill the ladle with dosa batter.Gently pour the the batter onto the center of the griddle and swirl the griddle around to spread the batter.
3) Grease the uncooked side and the edges with a few drops of oil.
4) Allow to cook for a couple of minutes on each side while turning over. The dosa is ready when browned on both sides.

Tips

1) The batter was more tasty when I left it to ferment overnight.
2) If you do it using a high flame, the dosa will not get cooked or will stick on to the tawa.
3) This was more tasty when served hot.
4) The busy bee's can try making dosa's in a gridle.

Baby Potato in yogurt sauce

   The potato, a name derived from the native American Indian word "batata", was first cultivated by the Inca Indians in Peru over 4,000. Potatoes are an excellent source of carbohydrates, the body's best energy
source. In October 1995, the potato was the first vegetable to be grown in space years ago.
   Did you know the potato is actually about 80  percent water? Only 20 percent of it is  actually a solid.  Potatoes can also be  quite large, with the world’s largest weighting in over 18 pounds.  And large potatoes didn’t stop with just the  vegetable itself. Pringles also made the  world’s largest potato chip.  It was  produced in Tennessee in 1990, and it measures 23 inches across. Now lets see a melt in your mouth delicious dish with the baby potatoes.

 

 

Ingredients

Yogurt - 1/2 cup
Ginger past - 2 tsps
Garlic paste - 2 tsps
Asafoetida - one pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 2 tsps
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt as per taste
Coriander powder - 2 tsps
Onions chopped - 2
Baby Potatoes - 15
Coriander leaves chopped - 2 tbsp

 

 

Recipe

1) Pressure cook the potatoes and when they are cool enough drain the water, prick them with a fork in multiple sites and keep them aside.
2) Take a large bowl and add in yogurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, asafoetida powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, garam masala, salt,  coriander powder and mix well.
3) To this add the baby potatoes, give a nice mix and allow to marinate for about 30 - 60 minutes.
4) Heat a non-stick pan and roast onions till lightly browned (WITHOUT using any oil).
5) Then add the marinated mixture of the baby potatoes and cook till it comes to a boil. Then reduce the flame and cook for about 5 - 7 minutes till the gravy thickens.
6) Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy with chapatis, rice, dosa.

 

Tofu Stir Fry

    If you are a vegetarian and are looking for a rich source of protein, Tofu is the answer. Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk using mineral salt (usually calcium sulfate), and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks.
    It was first made during the reign of Han dynasty in ancient China, and since then it has become a part of staple diets in almost throughout the world.
    This is a very easy-to make stir fry recipe. You can customize the ingredients to make it suit your palate.

Ingredients

Extra Firm Tofu – 1 14oz package
Oil – 1 Tbsp
Soy Sauce – to taste
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Chinese Chili Sauce (like Sambal) – to taste
Salt as per taste (note that soy sauce also salt in it)

Method 1 - In the stove

1) Drain liquid from Tofu package. Press tofu between paper towels or keep them on a towel to remove water.
2) Cut tofu into bite size cubes.
4) Heat Oil in a non-stick skillet.
5) Add Tofu and cook on high heat until all sides are light brown.
6) Add Soy Sauce, salt,ginger garlic paste and Chili Sauce and toss until tofu is well coated.
7) Serve hot.

Method 2 - In the Oven

1) Drain liquid from Tofu package. Press tofu between paper towels or keep them on a towel to remove water.
2) Preheat oven to 375'.
3) In a bowl mix in soy sauce, ginger garlic paste, salt, Chinese chili sauce, salt and marinate for 10 minutes.
4) Once done add oil and mix nicely.
5) Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes, turning once halfway through, until a deep, golden brown and crispy on the outside but still tender on the inside. Remove from oven.

Tips

1) Marinating for a little longer adds up to the taste.
2) Try adding your favorite ingredients eg Szechuan spicy stir-fry sauce, teriyaki sauce, red chili flakes and scallions for a more delicious stir fry.

Onion Chutney

      Exactly why is it that chopping and peeling onions makes our eyes water furiously ? Apparently during the process of slicing up these literal tear jerkers, an enzyme known as allinase and another compound called isothiocyanate get together and create a type of sulphuric vapour which gets into the eyes and irritates them.
      The word "onion” comes from the Latin "unio" meaning one or unity, because an onion grows as a single bulb. This onion Chutney goes as a great condiment with dosa, idli and uttapam. So here goes the recipe.

Ingredients

Onion big chopped - 2
Red chilli - 2
Salt as per taste
Tamarind - 1/2 lemon size
Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 2 tsp

Recipe

1) Blend the onions, red chili, salt and tamarind into a very fine paste with       little water.
2) Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds.
3) Once they splutter mix in the paste and cook for about 5-6 minutes in medium heat. Keep stirring occasionally.

Tips

1) Try to cook the chutney with the pan covered to avoid spluttering of the chutney.
2) If you eat onions you can get rid of onion breath by eating parsley.
3) If you need only half of an onion, use the top half. The root will stay fresh longer in the refrigerator.

Sambar Powder

     The term ‘SAMBARA’ in Kannada means “pungent or aromatic vegetable substance used as flavoring” as per the dictionary. It is a vegetable stew or chowder based on a broth made with tamarind and toor dal, and is very popular in the cooking of southern regions of India.
     The origins of this dish is uncertain though legends has it that it originated in the kitchen of Thanjavur Marathas ruler Shahuji, during the 18th century from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.[1] It is believed that Shahji had a liking for a dish called amti which had kokum as one of its main ingredients. In one particular season, the kokum which was imported from the Maratha homeland ran out of supply and someone suggested to him that the locals used tamarind pulp for sourness. Shahji experimented the dish with the toor dal, vegetables, spices and the tamarind pulp served his coterie and his cousin, Sambhaji who was visiting him. The court liked the dish and named it sambhar after the guest of the day, Sambhaji.
     Here's my version of the Sambar powder recipe, as some of you have asked me the secret behind the finger licking delicious sambar coming from my kitchen. Thanks to Mom and here I proudly present her sambar powder's recipe.

Ingredients

Asfoiteda or hing powder - 1 tsp
Chana dal - 2 - 3 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/4 cup
Curry leaves - 4 springs
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
Red chili - 4-5

Recipe

1. Dry roast all the ingredients separately for 3 to 4 minutues except hing (hing gets burnt) on slow flame until they give a nice aroma and turns to a light brown color.
2. Let cool and dry grind everything together, along with hing and store in an air tight container.
3. Stores well for a couple of months.

Tips

1) Do not stock on large quantities of Sambar powder as freshly ground is far superior compared to months old prepared powder or store bought one.