Shikakai
(literally translates to "hair-fruit" or "fruit for hair") is a
shrub-like tree that grows in central India. It has been used for
centuries as a cleanser for hair, body, and pretty much anywhere else a
cleanser might come in handy. What sets this plant apart from the rest
is that shikakai actually lathers moderately because its bark has
saponins, which foam up when shaken in water, similar to soap.
Some people who have used the "no ’poo" method love it but still miss
the suds from commercial shampoo. Shikakai could be the solution for
this problem. It's all natural, but it still foams up. Yay!
Shikakai is very high in vitamin C as well as vitamins A, D, E, and
K, antioxidants which are essential for healthy and rapid hair growth.
These vitamins provide the hair follicles with the necessary
micronutrients to help hair grow fast and healthy.
Shikakai looks very similar to tamarind. Its seed comes inside a pod.
The seed, or fruit, is then dried, mixed with the leaves and bark, and
ground into a very fine powder. That's the reason the shampoo also
lathers. This powder is then made into a paste and applied to hair.
The good news is that we no longer have to make our own powder. We
can just buy it and follow these instructions. But before you go and buy
your own bottle, let's examine the benefits of shikakai.
Shikakai has been used for hundreds of years in India as a shampoo and body wash.
Shikakai bark has saponines, which make the powder foam up much like soap.
Shikakai is known to promote hair growth, beauty, and strength.
Shikakai has low pH levels, which means it won't strip hair of its natural oils.
The Benefits of Shikakai
One
of the greatest benefits of using shikakai as a regular cleanser is
that it is all natural, so you won’t have to worry about any harsh
chemicals seeping into your body. But there are many other benefits,
such as:
Shikakai has very low pH levels, which means your hair won’t be stripped of its natural oils.
Works as a shampoo and detangler at the same time. Since shikakai
does not strip your hair of its natural oils, there's less chances of
your hair getting all tangled up.
Prevents and eliminates dandruff.
Nourishes hair, making it grow faster and stronger.
Can be used as shampoo, face cleanser, and body soap. This means there will be less bottles taking up precious shower space.
Strengthens and conditions hair.
Keeps hair moisturized and shiny.
Protects the scalp from fungal infections and even hair lice.
Lauki, dudhi bottlegourd it is known as has got lot of health benefits. A glass of juice in the empty stomach helps for weight reduction, keeps the cholesterol level under control, treats in urinary tract infection, reduces inflammation in liver, replenishes water loss as it contains lots of water, keeps heart healthy, treat sleep disorders, helps in digestion, keeps cool the stomach, etc. etc. As lauki contains almost 96% of water, it is perfect for juice
extraction. It is readily available in the market and is affordable too!
Moreover, extracting the juice from lauki is not at all difficult.
Lauki juice is rich in Vitamin C, Vitamin B, sodium, iron and potassium.
It has low fat and cholesterol level. As a result, this anti-oxidant
drink is quite popular among health conscious individuals.
Now coming back to the recipe, the puliyitta kootu means, the lauki is cooked in tamarind sauce along with black boiled chana and chana dal. we can also use tuvar dal instead of chana dal or only can be done with tuvar dal. Since tamarind does not suits us, I have replaced the same with amchur powder. This delicious dish goes well with rice, roti etc. consistency of the gravy can be decided according to your requirement.
rice stuffed capsicum is similar to the rice spinach skillet but without the spinach. This dish is also can be prepared with left over rice. The capsicum stuffed with rice and egg with spices and topped with cheese yummy when it is served hot. I made this dish when I prepared the rice spinach skillet and the video was shot but could not show the end product due to the time it consumed to bake.
Chips are served during tea time apart from serving it during feast or with sambar rice, rasam rice, dal rice etc. I prefer to have this at tea time especially when it is raining, with a cup of tea or coffee in the balcony watching the rain to munch it.
Thoran or poriyal a dry subzi is made as an accompaniment for sambar rice, rasam rice, morukootan rice etc. Very simple and easy preparation with any one of the vegetables with some freshly grated coconut is awesome to have it with chapati too.
I have already posted avarakka poriyal.
Since children are going out of their own home and settle down for jobs in another parts of the world, they find it difficult to get the food they want. If they have the willingness to cook on their own, it is always good.
Hence I thought of pen down whatever comes in my mind called BACHELORS TIP of course, it is useful for the working women and housewives too.
I shall be updating it on a day to day basis or on weekly basis as and when I get time since I am also a working woman. Hence you are requested to go through this link and update yourself.
You are always welcome to post your queries if you have and wants to know anything please do e mail me at rajirk22111989@gmail.com or post your comments in the comment column of the blog. Though I am not a Catering qualified Chef to give you the exact reasons and comments and tips, to some extent these tips are useful as the experience taught me to follow and the guidance from my parents and my mother in law. Of course, friends and neighbours are also part of it.
Youtube channel: 19.03.2014 While boiling milk, first add little water in the vessel and then pour the milk. this will prevent the milk sticking to the bottom of the vessel.. 17.03.2014. Today is Holi an auspicious day and am starting the TIPS for everyone. Happy Holi, may GOD bless all of us to have a healthy, wealthy, peaceful life in the years ahead. TIPS: ALWAYS KEEP MEASURING CUPS, SPOONS ETC WITH YOU WHICH IS HANDY FOR THE BACHELORS.
1) Always keep some TOMATO PASTE and TOMATO PUREE in the freezer. when you want to use it, take out from the freezer and keep it out to bring to the room temperature. It is always handy.
2) Wash, pat dry and cut the vegetables and put in ziplock bag and store in fridge. this will ease your preparation of food.
3) Always soak the dals in water for 15-30 minutes for easy cooking.
4) Keep boiled potatoes in fridge if you intend to make the stuff within 2-3 days. take out from fridge and put in hot water for 10 minutes and then peel off the skin.
5) Look for cut vegetables, cleaned methi / palak/ chowli / lal math leaves if you can get in the near by store. Beans will not stay for more than two days. always bring fresh these kind of veggies.
7) Keep 3G paste i.e. ginger, garlic, green chilli paste. It is always handy. this can be made and stored when you are having weekly off or you get store bought ones. But preparing at home is always best.
8) For peeling garlic, put them in water and peel.
9) While making dosa, it might stick to the pan. what you do is apply little oil on the tava, preferably sesame seed oil and rub it with a cut potato or onion. the cut portion should touch the tava. and always make a small uttappa first then start making the normal dosa.
10) Keep the spatula in water. whenever you try to remove the dosa from the tava, it will be easy.
11) While preparing sticky vegetables viz. bhindi, arbi etc. add one teaspoon of rava, semolina, suji in the subji (dry vegetables). it will not stick to each other.
12) After cutting the brinjal/kathrikka/vazhuthalanga put them in salt/turmeric water to avoid discoloration.
13) Banana flower, banana stem also can be put in butter milk/salt/turmeric water.
14) To clean the cauliflower, put them in water with one teaspoon vinegar. it will help in clearing the dirt if any in the florets and the worms in it. or you can put them in lukewarm water with salt.
15) During summer season, always keep lime in fridge. can make lime juice which will help in rebuilding the energy.
16) Butter milk is another source to quench your thirst.
16) A tender coconut once in two days is always good to avoid de hydration.
17) Make curd at home. Take milk in a bowl. Put 1/4 to 1/2 tsp curd in it. Pour it in a glass and back to the vessel. Repeat the process two to three times. Cover and Keep for setting. Another tip is cover the vessel with another big vessel or you must be having an invitation card. Keep that on top of the vessel and place the plate on top. The curd will set very nicely.
18) Keep bread at home, sandwiches are easy to make provided you have cucumber, tomato, carrots, sandwich masala etc. at home. if you do not have sandwich masala, just put little black salt and black pepper powder.
THANKS FOR VISITING THE BLOG. FOLLOW BY E MAIL. EAT HEALTHY, STAY HEALTHY.
WATCH YOUTUBE: rasavinsuvai. Subscribe, Like,Share and Comment. Also press the bell button for getting notification as soon as I upload the recipe.
Makai palak is a very tasty dish with hot roti, parantha, rice. I love to eat with rice any kind of palak preparation. The combination of sweet corn and palak makes this wonderful and will be liked by everyone as I have made it less spicy. If you wish, can add more spices according to your requirement. Palak has abundance of Vitamin K, A, magnesium, iron, calcium, Vitam K, A, C, B2, B6, C. It is also a great source of protein, phosphorus, vitamin E, zin, dietary fiber and copper and omega 3 fatty acids. It is less in calories, fat free and cholesterol free. Also available in abundance.
Coconut milk is used for kheer or payasam which is made with jaggery or for sol kadhi or some curries. It is very easy to make. I do not prefer the store bought ones as when we can make fresh, why to go for store bought ones.
Let us look at the recipe now:
Ingredients:
1 coconut grated.
1 cup of water
Method:
Put the coconut and water in blender and grind. pass through the sieve to extract the milk. this is the first thick milk.
Again put water 1-2 cups of water in it and extract the second milk and repeat the process for the the third milk. This is used for making kheer.
use it immediately for the curries or kheer or for sol kadhi.
Note: when you choose the coconut for preparing coconut milk, should choose the paal thengai. If you ask the coconut vendor, they will give you the exact one to be used.
I wanted to post this recipe when I made Beetroot, tomato saar. But somehow could not make it. Tomato puree can be made and kept in freezer. Either you keep it in container or make cubes by putting them in ice tray and keep in ziplock bags. One hour before making any dish, remove it from freezer to bring to room temperature. I always used to keep tomato paste, tomato puree, ginger, garlic, and green chilli paste in fridge for a week as it is quite handy for me to make the dishes in the morning rush hour.
Paneer is made out of milk. It can be prepared at home very easily. what you need is milk, vinegar or lime juice. Home made paneer is always good. See the videos in YouTube: Paneer 1, Paneer 2 & Paneer 3
HOW TO MAKE YOGHURT AT HOME. Hi viewers, sometimes, i used to feel bad that whenever i set the milk for making curd, it never used to set properly and at times, it used to go in the dustbin. During the conversation with one of my friend, she explained to me how her mother in law used to set the curd. Yoghurt is made out of milk. It is a a good source of protein. One serving is a significant source of potassium, phosphorous, riboflavin, iodine, zinc and vitamin B5. It also contains B12 which maintains red blood cells and keep your nervous system functioning properly. Potassium in yoghurt helps in flushing out the excess sodium thus keeping your blood pressure under control. We can make fruit yoghurt, kadhi, chaas, lassi and neer moru, curd rice out of this.
Amla has got lot of medicinal values. It is used in preparing lots of auyervedic medicines. It is rich in Vitamin C. It is good for diabetic patients. During amla season, you can make candy and store it. You need only sugar and amla for making this. Sugar syrup which is obtained while making candies can be used as a amla sharbat so that it does not go waste.
Let us look at the recipe now:
Ingredients:
1/2 kg amla
400 gms sugar
Method:
Wash and pat dry the amla. In a large vessel boil enough water to immerse the amlas. when the water is boiled, add the amlas and boil for 2-3 minutes. switch off gas. allow to remain the same in the hot water for another two minutes. after that drain and allow to cool. now cut the amlas into pieces. put the amlas in a vessel and sprinkle 350 gms sugar on top of the amla, cover and keep for 3 days. by the time, the sugar will melt and the amlas will settle down. on the fourth day, remove the amlas from the syrup and put it in a plate and sun dry the same. once it is dried, powder the remaining sugar and coat the candies with the powdered sugar. I did not do that, by the time my candies got over. You can store it in airtight container.
Jackfruit is liked by everyone. We can make various dishes out of jackfruit. I have already posted kathal-kofta-curry The chips made out of this is also very tasty to munch with a cup of tea or coffee. See the post jack fruit seed chips. We can fry the seeds, make kheer, subzi etc. Here I am presenting the subzi recipe for you.
Papad is served with rice, sambar combo and pulao, raita combo, rice, vattal kuzhambu combo. It is also served as Masala Papad. Varieties of papad are available like urad, garlic, masala, rice etc. Ila vadam, rice papad made by South Indians. Here is a slight variation of that by adding palak in it. You fry it or roast it, it is liked by everyone. thattai vadam. Killu Karuvadam, So enjoy.
Spicy shakarkandi is made out of sweet potato, ratalu, sarkaravalli kizhangu, madhura kizhangu it is known as. Now Navrathri is only two days ahead, all must be searching for some upwas ka recipe. This one is perfect for your taste bud during upwas. Also a sweet dish for you
It is a simple recipe made out of sweet potato with some spice.
Karela or bittergourd or pavakka or kaipakka is bitter in taste but has got medicinal values as well as quite tasty if prepared well. For diet friendly people, this method is quite ok with them as i have not used oil at all in this preparation. I have already posted one recipe which is fried in oil. Considering the health conscious people, i have made this in microwave oven and is cent percent diet friendly. I could have very well included the same in the same post but it will not serve the purpose much as people will think about frying them in oil only.
Karela, bitter gourd, pavakka, is the name for this vegetable. Though it is bitter in taste, it has got medicinal values and health properties.
I have adopted the method for making this of Rajasthani Bhindi recipe with slight changes. But it was very tasty. My colleagues in the office finished the same within a minute.
It is an easy preparation and can be served with rice, dal rice etc.
-001.JPG)
-001.JPG)
-001.JPG)
.JPG)
