MAA VILAKU

Maa vilaku  (rice flour lamp) is prepared during the Thai, Adi months and for karthikai deepam.   It is a family custom for many of us.  My mother's side, my aunty used to light this lamp during Thai month.  In my in laws place this is not a practice.  However, I made this for posting the same on the blog.

This is a child hood memory for me as I love to eat this.  But after leaving my hometown, I hardly got the chance to eat this.  The combination of the rice flour, jaggery and the coconut pieces to eat is divine.  Since I had not eaten for years together, may be 15 years or more, I was craving for the same too. 

The lamp made out of this is lit with ghee in it and we have to wait for the same to completely get over.  Then neivedyam is done and it is distributed as prasadam to everyone.

In Thai month or thai  masam, it is done normally on Friday.  Since Thai masam is on, you can prepare this and enjoy it.

Now let us look at the recipe:

BABY BANANA PLANT STEM CURRY

I have got the habit of watching food and travel channels because we get to know various places and the food habits of that particular region / state/country.  Since we are connected with food through our blog, it is an interesting channel for us to pass our time.

As I was watching the Travel XP channel, I happened to see them cooking the  tender banana false stem.  Though I do not remember, the ingredients put in for cooking the same due to some work in between could not be noticed and missed the recipe.  However, I saw them cutting the baby plant for preparing the subzi.

Since then I was also thinking of making the subzi out of it.

Recently, we had Satyanarayan Pooja in our Society and the Baby plants are used for the Pooja.  I brought the baby plant and removed the outer false stem till such time I got the tender stem. video

I cooked the subji out of it and to my surprise, it was really really delicious.  Here I am sharing with you the recipe and giving below little brief about the benefit of the banana plant.

Let us look at the recipe now:

GREEN METHI, CHUARA, KISHMISH LAUNJI

Green Methi, chuara, kishmish curry is a Rajasthani dish which is quite healthy.  All the three ingredients used in this dish are having several health benefits.   This dish is made by soaking the ingredients overnight with mild spice and goes well with the roti, chapatti and rice.

My friend Mrs. Rinku Shinde shared this recipe with me yesterday and I am glad to post the same in the blog for the benefit of all my viewers.

Methi seeds are the rich sources of minerals, iron, vitamins, natural soluble fibres, potassium, sodium, Saponin, amino acid, phytochemicals, etc. Soaked methi seeds in the morning treats the digestive disorders like; loss of appetite, stomach upset, indigestion, bloating, constipation, eases emptying of bowl.

Date fruit or Phoenix Dactylifera is one of the most nutritious foods that can either be taken fresh or consumed after drying. Dry dates, also known as ‘Chuara‘ in Hindi, ‘Endu Kharjuram‘ in Telugu, ‘Pericham Pinju‘ in Tamil,  ‘Vana kharjura‘ in Kannada, ‘Sookno Khejur‘ in Bengali, ‘Kharik‘ in Marathi and ‘Kharek‘ in Gujarati. Dry dates are known to be an all-in-one natural remedy for a number of health-related problems.

From boosting your energy levels to taking care of your cardiovascular health, date fruits have multifaceted benefits to offer. You can also consume them for enhancing your beauty.  You can further google search for the  benefits of dry dates for health, skin and hair.

Improves Overall Health:

Dry dates are considered to be a gold mine of vitamins. They contain a wide range of vitamins including Vitamin A, C, E, K, B2, B6, niacin and thiamin. These vitamins are vital for our health and wellness. Therefore, consuming dry dates is beneficial for improving our overall health.

Source of Essential Minerals:

Dry dates also have all essential minerals like iron, potassium, selenium, magnesium, phosphorous and copper, without which our body cells cannot perform their regular activities.

Raisins or dried grapes  look very simple and unpalatable with their aged appearance and dry texture but they are one of nature’s healthier alternatives to those sugar-rich manufactured candies and sweet products.   Raisins, also known as ‘Kishmish’ in Hindi, ‘Yendu Dhraksha‘ in Telugu, ‘Ular Dhraakshai/Kaintha Thratchai‘ in Tamil, ‘Kismis/Unakku Munthiringa‘ in Malayalam, ‘Ona Drakshi/Vonadraakshe‘ in Kannada, ‘Lal Draksh/Khismis‘ in Gujarati, ‘Bedane/Manuka‘ in Marathi, ‘Khishmish‘ in Punjabi and ‘Kash/Kishmish‘ in Bengali.  Consumption of raisins keeps the bowel movement regular and the fibers help to keep toxins and waste products out of the system.  Raisins are beneficial not only for gastrointestinal problems but also for constipation.

Now let us look at the recipe now:

GADBAD CUTLET

When you hear cutlet, you think about the vegetable cutlet, paneer cutlet, brinjal and peas cutlet  etc. etc. It is a nice snack item anytime we can relish.  You can load vegetables of your choice and make it.  Main purpose of making these items that most of the vegetables can be used and feed the children mainly as knowingly or unknowingly, it goes into the stomach, especially when you serve it with sauce for them.

The gadbad cutlet is mixture of various left out items I had in my fridge today.  I had four slices of the bread slices top and bottom of the bread packet which I had kept in the fridge which became very hard and I could easily make the crumbs out of it.  Then I had two to three pieces of boiled raw jackfruit, boiled peas.  I added some more ingredients in it and made this cutlet.  I also had quarter cup of sabudana soaked.   So many things put together made a lovely dish which I am sharing with you.

Let us look at the recipe now: