SHIKAKAI POWDER BENEFITS

What is Shikakai?

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.

Common name: Shikakai, Soap-pod • Hindi: Kochi, रीठा Reetha, शिकाकाई Shikakai • Marathi: रीठा Reetha • Tamil: Shika, Sheekay, Chikaikkai • Malayalam: Cheeyakayi, Chinik-kaya, Shikai, Cheenikka • Telugu: Cheekaya, Chikaya, Gogu • Kannada: Sheegae, Shige kayi, Sigeballi • Oriya: Vimala • Urdu: Shikakai • Assamese: Amsikira, Kachuai, Pasoi tenga, Suse lewa • Sanskrit: Bahuphenarasa, Bhuriphena, Charmakansa, Charmakasa, Phenila
Botanical name: Acacia concinna    Family: Mimosaceae (Touch-me-not family)
Synonyms: Acacia hooperiana, Acacia sinuata, Mimosa concinna

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Shikakai Benefits: A Quick Look

• 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.
• Helps delay the appearance of gray hairs.
• Strengthens hair roots.

 

POHA IDLI

Idli is the main South Indian breakfast dish prepared by all over the world now.  It is soft, tasty and even when you are sick, this can be served as it is steamed hence do no harm.

Varieties of Idlis are made, normal idli, kanjeevaram idli, tuvar dal idli, jowar idli, corn meal idli and the list is endless.

Here I made the Poha Idli which turned out super soft and could not believe it.   Hence I am sharing it with you all.  This can be prepared without much hassles.

CORN MEAL PARATHA, MAKAI PARATHA

Corn meal paratha or makai paratha is made out of corn meal or maize flour.  There is a difference between corn flour and corn meal.  corn flour looks white and is very fine powder which is a thickening agent whereas  corn meal looks yellow, slightly rava consistency and is used for making corn meal dosa, corn meal adai, corn meal idli, makai ki roti, paratha  etc.

After making the makai ki roti, there was left over dough with me so I decided to make paratha out of it.  It was quite tasty along with the Maa ki daal.  I chose to have this because once I had eaten this combination in one of the Punjabi restaurant. 

corn meal paratha video

SARSON KA SAAG

Sarson ka saag is a North Indian Dish.  It is a winter special.  I happened to taste this dish in one of the marriage party.  On that day it was quite cold,  my friend who was a punjabi told me to try this dish as I never eaten this before.  She said you would love this.  So we both went to that counter and took one makai ki roti and little bit of saag as I never tasted it before.  I thought I will go for more if I like it.

Though I was eating the dish for the first time, it was served hot, I could not resist myself as it was awesome along with some pickle and onion.  I ate around three roti along with the saag.  

I asked her to give me the recipe, she said, I only know to eat, you must ask my mother for the recipe.  But she was kind enough to write and bring the recipe for me.  I am sharing the same with you all.

Sarson means mustard and saag means greens.  So you must have got the name yes mustard greens.  few other greens are also added to this viz.palak, radish, methi, bhatua etc.  I have taken only three main ingredients i.e. mustard greens, palak and bhatua as the bunches were quite big and the vendor was not giving me half of it as I do not need so much. 

 


 Still I brought the same, prepared  and shared  the saag with my friends and told them to make makai ki roti and Rinku was kind enough to prepare the hot roti and we all enjoyed it. 

It tastes so good but at the same time, it is very time consuming and take your half day almost.  So If you are working, prepare the same on weekly off day.  You need lots of  patience to  prepare this  yummy dish.  

MAKAI KI ROTI

Makai ki roti is the North Indian  flat bread  speciality of Punjabis.  This is served normally with sarson ka saag.  It can also be served with Palak saag, bhatua saag and can be served plain with a cup of tea also.

During winter, the combination of sarson ka saag and makki di roti is good to keep your body warm.  People are bit confused with  maize flour or corn meal and corn flour.  Corn flour is a very fine  starch,  white in colour made out of corn, used as a thickening agent whereas maize flour or corn meal is yellow in colour, which is used for making idli, dosa, paratha and the roti.  makai adai, corn meal dosa  I have already posted.

I happened to taste this dish in a punjabi wedding and liked it very much but never thought of making it at home. Ever since I started the blog, I was thinking of making it but could only do it in the past week.

It was an amazing experience for me to make the roti with the saag.  But unfortunately, my husband and daughter could not taste it as they were out of town.

BITTER GOURD PULIKACHAL

Pulikachal is a tangy tamarind (puli in Tamil) sauce. This is an ideal side dish for Molagootal, Thair Sadam, Idly and Dosai.  Also, you can mix this with plain rice and serve.  It can be stored in fridge for few months, if handled properly. This can be served as pickle too. Normally,  this is part of the feast in South India especially in Kerala.

The tanginess, sweet and sour has to be balanced for the real taste of it.  Let us look at the recipe now:

This recipe was shared with me by my neighbour Kamala Vaidyanathan.

PAPAYA KESARI

Kesari is a sweet dish made with suji, sugar during festivals and also for weddings.  Normally we add kaju kishmish etc. in this but  I have made papaya kesari with little twist in it.  This dish came out very well.    This can be cut into pieces and serve or can be scooped too.

Let us  look at the recipe now:

Ingredients:

400 gm  ripe papaya
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup  milk
2 tbsp suji
2 drops of vanilla essence
1 tsp grated coconut
3 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp charoli
1 tbsp musk melon seeds
kaju, pistachios as you wish
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1 tsp corn flour  (optional)

Method:

cut the papaya into cubes, add sugar, 1/2 cup  water and pressure cook the same for 4-5 whistles. cool and grind to a smooth paste along with the corn flour and essence.

In a kadai, heat ghee, add the rava and roast it like you roast the same for the sheera.  add the milk and cook the same till the milk is dried up.  add the papaya puree, grated coconut  into it and cook till it starts leaving the sides of the kadai.  add the charoli, little dry fruits, mix well and transfer it into a greased plate.

garnish with the melon seeds and remaining nuts.   cool it, keep it in fridge.  then cut into desired shape if you wish or serve scooped out with spoon.

This is a different kind of kesari.  Hope u all will like it and do post your comments on the blog and share it on FB.

THANKS FOR VISITING THE BLOG.  YOUR SUGGESTIONS ARE MOST WELCOME.

MATTAR POD KOOTU

When you buy next time the fresh green peas, do not discard the pods.  the same can be used for making lovely subzis.

I have already posted two subzis.  this is the third post.  mattar pod subzi


Mattar pod kootu is a side dish I prepared for the chapati and also to be served along with the sambar rice today.  If you add little more water and make into a running consistency, it can be called as Molagootal and served as a main dish too.

The preparation is with coconut based gravy and a mild dish.  Even the small children can be fed with this as it is not spicy at all.



video: mattar pod kootu

Let us look at the recipe now:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup mattar pod chopped (see the video how to clean the mattar pod)
1/4 piece of potato chopped or a small potato
fistful of sweet corn
fistful of fresh green peas
1/4 cup moong dal
turmeric powder
salt

Tempering:

1 tsp oil
1 tsp urid dal
1 tsp mustard dal
a piece of red chilli
curry leaves

to roast and grind

1 tsp oil
1 tsp urid dal
1 small piece of red chilli
2 tbsp grated coconut
1/4 tsp cumin seeds

Method:

Heat oil in kadai, roast the urid dal and chili, keep aside.  grind together with the coconut and cumin seed by adding little water to a smooth paste.

wash and soak the moongdal for 15 minutes in water.

In the same kadai, boil water.  add the moongdal, vegetables in the water and cook till soft by adding turmeric and salt.  ensure that the same are cooked till soft and not mushy.   add the ground paste in it and bring to boil.  temper with the ingredients mentioned under tempering.  serve hot with chapati or as a side dish for sambar, rasam rice.

Note:  By adding little extra water, it becomes molagootal an can be served as a main dish too with rice, chapati.

BHATUA KOOTU

Bhatua is a leafy vegetable which is added to the sarson (mustard greens) for making sarson ka saag.  Recently I made sarson ka saag and a cup of bhatua was balance in my fridge.  Though I have not made any dish with this greens, I tried the kootu today.   The kootu is made in different ways but this is a unique one you will agree with me.

I used little moongdal, coconut paste made for avial.  something weird right.  What happened was I made avial today and the coconut paste was too much for the quantity of vegetable I boiled.  So I had kept some paste of that which I used for this kootu.

PAPAYA HALVA ll HOW TO MAKE PAPAYA HALVA

Papaya has a delicious sweet taste with a soft butter like consistency.  Papaya is also a rich source of antioxidant nutrients such as carotenes, vitamin C and flavonoids,  the B vitamins, folate and pantothenic acid,  and the minerals, potassium and magnesium,  and fiber. The pulp of this fruit is also a basic component of many facial creams, and shampoos.    Papaya is actually a wholesome fruit as it contains more Carotene when compared to other fruits like apple, custard apple, guava and plantains. Not being an expensive fruit, papaya is a common man’s fruit which is beneficial in many ways.

This version is very simple, easy and tasty too.  I was having a big papaya in fridge and no one wants to eat it.  When I cut it, it was not tasting that sweet hence there is no chance of  using it except for some custard or fruit salad or some sweets with it.   Hence I tried this version of halva with only the papaya, sugar and bit ghee and  corn flour.

I have already posted two recipes of papaya halva one with raw papaya   the link is here:   raw papaya halva.  

the other one with ripe papaya halva in www.simpleindianrecipes.com where I used to share my recipes before I started my blog.   

Let us look at the recipe now: