NIMBU SHARBAT, SHIKANJI

The health benefits of lime include weight loss, skin care, improved digestion, relief from constipation, eye care, and treatment of scurvy, piles, peptic ulcer, respiratory disorders, gout, gums, urinary disorders, etc.  It is a wonderful source of antioxidants & detoxifiers (vitamin-C & Flavonoids) which reduce the number of free radicals as well as detoxifying the body.

When you come home during the day in  summer or if you are tired or your BP is low, a glass of nimbu sharbat keeps you hydrated as well as energetic.  My children always prefer to drink this during the summer.  This is also known as Shikanji in North India.

I always add a bit of black salt,  cumin powder, black pepper powder  in addition to the sugar   but some people prefer to drink this with sugar and salt only.

It is a very simple preparation and can be served at room temperature or chilled as you wish or can add ice and serve.

MIX VEG IN WHITE GRAVY

Mix veg in white gravy goes well with paratha, naan, roti, phulka etc.  can be served with rice too.  Since I had very little different vegetables in the fridge, I decided to put the same together and decided to make this subzi.  

When you blanch and saute the veggies in oil before adding the gravy, it tastes better.  This was shared with me by one of the Sindhi lady, I forgot her name now when I was hospitalised for some operation.  Our discussion was the fussy made by children to eat the food and their choices.

When you talk, you share,when you share, you acquire knowledge.  This was happened exactly after our discussion.  Since then I started by making the subzis the way she explained to me.  Thanks to her for sharing.

Now coming back to the recipe when children are fussy about eating vegetables, best way to make pav bhaji or mix veg subzi with all the vegetables you want to put in and feed them.

Now let us look at the recipe:

MIX VEG IN WHITE GRAVY

MOONGDAL KHANDVI

Khandvi is a Gujarati Snack dish basically made with Besan or gram flour.  I tried the same with moongdal and that too came out well.  Preparation method is the same as like the gram flour and easy to prepare.

MOONGDAL KHANDVI

Let us look at the recipe now:

MANATHAKALI THEEYAL

Theeyal is a Kerala dish.  It is somewhat similar to Sambar, another popular dish of South India.  Theeyal can be prepared with mix  vegetables or a particular vegetable like pavakka, bitter gourd or Ulli (known as kunjulli or shallots, potato, egg plant, bhindi, raw mango etc.

This dish is made with the mixture of spices  like roasted coconut, coriander seeds, dried red chillies, fenugreek etc. and tamarind pulp is also used.

Theeyal means "burnt dish" here the coconut is roasted till golden brown in colour  as good as burnt the same.  This dish goes well with rice and included in a traditional sadya menu too.

But I am using the fresh Manathakali which I plucked from my balcony garden.  Let us look at the recipe now:

MANATHAKALI THEEYAL

IDLI RAVA NOMBU ADAI

Karadayan nombu adai is made for the Nombu by South Indians.  Normally, it is made with roasted rice flour  both  sweet and savory.  I tried the same with ragi  both savory and sweet and was quite good. 

Recently, one of my friend gave me the savory version  made with coarse ground rice.  It was quite tasty and hence I thought of trying with the idli rava.  I had a packet of rava lying in my fridge so I took the opportunity to try the same.  Since I did not have the stock of Karamani, I made it without that and was quite tasty.

Shall post the photographs after making the same with karamani (black eyed pea, lobia) shortly but presently posting the photo without that.  The preparation is very simple.

Let us look at the recipe now:

idli rava nombu adai

DRUMSTICK SOUP

The market is flooded with lots of drumstick and I happened to buy this for trying various dishes.  Today I tried the soup and liked it hence I am sharing with you all since it has got lots of health benefits.

The drumstick plant is also known by its scientific name moringa oleifera or by its name the horseradish tree, or, has been known to have many health benefits. The Health benefits of drumstick flowers and leaves and other parts of the tree are use in traditional medicine, various culinary applications, use for cleaning dirty water and its extraordinary nutritional value. There are many benefits that come from this tree and these are obtained from its flowers, leaves, juice and seeds.

 The main health benefits of drumstick flowers and leaves are in the nutritional quality of these parts of the plant as well as the seeds. These parts of the plant are rich in Vitamin B1, B2, B3, Vitamin A, and vitamin C. There are also the minerals calcium, iron, phosphorus and magnesium to be found in these parts of the tree as well. The juice is highly nutritious and an ounce of it is said to contain the same quantity of calcium as 4 glasses of milk, the vitamin C of 7 oranges and the potassium of seven bananas, and a reasonable level of iron. Added to a glass of milk it may help promote energy, strengthen children's bones, aid in purifying the blood and adds to the nutrition of pregnant women.

SEV KHAMANI

Sev Khamani is a popular  dish from Surat hence the name Surti Sev Khamani.  It is a popular Gujarati dish which can be served as a snack or as a breakfast. 

Basically, it is made out of chana dal.  But  I have used the moongdal for making this dish. I have made it very simple so that you can also follow the same method for making it easily at home.

It takes a lot of time (for soaking the chana dal for 4 to 5 hours), grind it,steam it and then cook it with tempering.  But the hard work is fruitful as you would love to eat again and again.

Now let us look at the recipe with the Moongdal.  Shall post the recipe with chana dal soon.

Surti Sev Khamani

LOTUS SEED RICE

I have already posted Lotus seed subzi and Soup yesterday.  Now I have to post the pickle and the rice which I tried yesterday.  You tube: lotus seed rice

The rice which I made was excellent with the lotus seed.  I am quite lazy to write a big story about the dish and must have noticed that most of my recipes are narrated shortly.  Here I have no patients to write about it as I have already described about the lotus and seed in the Soup and Subzi recipe.

POHA KESARI

Any festival or occasion is incomplete without a sweet dish.  Sweet dishes are always required for some people especially after having lunch.  I crave for some sweets after lunch if not a piece of chocolate.

Poha kesari is a sweet dish made out of poha or aval or beaten rice or rice flakes.  It is very easy to make and tasty too like other kind of kesari we make with Suji/rava/semolina.  If you add sugar to any item, you can make anything and everything and it will be tasty because it is sweet.  

Since I always want to eat something sweet after having my lunch, I keep on searching for some kind of sweets in the fridge.  If I do not find anything, I eat a piece of jaggery or bit sugar.   

Poha kesari is a simple preparation and can be made for any occasions.  If you are having unexpected guests, this is an ideal sweet to serve as dessert.

KHANDVI

Khandvi rolls are favorite snack dish of my husband and children.  Whenever, we pass by the shop TIP TOP, we never miss buying this stuff and the Alu vadi.

This is a popular Gujarati dish made out of gram flour and butter milk.  I never made an attempt to make this khandvi at home since I thought it will be a difficult task.  But somehow, I made up my mind and thought of trying it.  I have gujarati and marwadi friends and asked for the recipe as they know well about it.

They happily shared the recipe with me as they know that I am having a blog and the next post will be this recipe in my blog.

After learning the same, I made it four or five times and it came out well.  Infact when I  made the same for the first time, it came out well but the rolls were bit thick.  Then I decided to practice it and made four or five times.  Today, I shared the same with my friends and they all said that it came out well.

Now I am confident of making this stuff and need not go to TIP TOP as I found the same very easy to make.  Infact I have to try with only half cup of gram flour as it is sufficient for my husband and children.

Now let us look at the recipe now:

KHANDVI