~ Tamalapaku

Bottle Gourd Sabji - Detox

BM #64 Week 2 Day 2 -

As a continuation of the Bottle Gourd Detox Plan, here is a salad/sabji which can be had as dinner. Again the idea is to refrain from consuming any salt and major carbohydrates. It is very easy to stay on this plan as it is only for a couple of days and there are a few options to make it interesting as well.

Yesterday, I wrote about breakfast and lunch options. This would be a dinner option and make sure dinner time is no later than 7 pm.

The quantity of sabji can vary from person to person but a big bowl full of sabji is typically enough to fill you up.

Recipe Source Pooja
Ingredients -

Bottle Gourd, peeled, chopped and cooked 1 1/2 cups
Saindha Namak / Himalayan Rock Salt as needed
Turmeric as needed
Peanuts, Roasted and coarsely crushed 2 Tbsp
Green Chili paste as needed
Seasoning (Oil 1/2 tsp, Mustard Seeds a pinch and Cumin Seeds 2 pinches)
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method Of Preparation -

In a heated pan, add oil and the rest of the sesoning.

After the mustard seeds pop, add in the cooked bottle gourd and green chili paste. Saute for a few seconds.

Sprinkle turmeric, saindha namak and crushed peanuts.

Sprinkle some water if needed, let the flavors blend in.

Remove from fire and garnish with coriander leaves.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 64.

Preparation Time 15 min
Serves 1

Posted by Harini R on Wednesday, May 11, 2016

13 comments

categories: Anapakaya (Bottle Gourd), Blogging Marathon, Curries (Dry), Diabetes or Weight Management, Dry Fruits and Nuts, Peanuts, Vegetables | |

Detox Diet with Bottle Gourd - Day 1

BM #64 Week 2 Day 1 -

This week as part of BM #64, I have chosen to post a two day Bottle gourd detox diet as explained by my dietitian friend, Pooja. I shall outline the rules and the diet plan with a couple of recipes from the plan today. The next two days I shall blog one recipe each.

According to the dictionary, 'Detoxification' is the process of removing toxic substances or qualities. As I understand from reading various articles on this topic, our body has been built in a way that it takes care of all the detox needs naturally.

But then why this hype about Detox, detox foods and detox diets, you ask. I am no expert on this topic but my understanding is these detox diets take care of improving and optimizing the function of our body’s own detoxification systems.

Essentially high water intake, total elimination of processed foods, alcohol, increased intake of fresh fruits and vegetables, reduction of salt is the mantra for detox.

Also we need to recognize and understand the purpose of detox for our bodies. My friend says, in her practice, she recommends a detox diet for people who are maintaining their weight management goals but need help in correcting any slip-ups, so to say. It is especially true when one has to deviate from the regular healthy eating patterns owing to festivals, parties or other important life events.

She recommends that this Bottle gourd diet be done for 2 consecutive days a week, typically on Mondays and Tuesdays assuming the weekends were the 'deviant days'. This regimen, she says, will help keep your weight management goals in line. This is also of great help with issues like bloating, water retention and the like.

Most of us under estimate the power of Bottle Gourd / Doodhi / Lauki / Sorakaya / Anapakaya. It is extensively used in Ayurveda and Naturopathy.

I cannot emphasize enough that these diets are not for everyone and must be undertaken under a doctor's supervision.

Let us get into the nitty-gritties of this diet ..

Rule 1 - Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water in a day
Rule 2 - Avoid regular salt, use Saindha Namak (Saindhava Lavanam or Himalayan pink rock salt)
Rule 3 - No other Nuts, Vegetables, Fruits or dairy products other than specified in the plan.
Rule 4 - Stay away from citrus fruits and berries.

Day 1 and Day 2
Breakfast - Bottle Gourd Juice
Mid Morning Snack - Fleshy Fruits like Papaya, Water Melon or Cantaloupe
Green Tea with no additives (Optional but recommended)
Lunch - Bottle Gourd Pulp - Wheat Bran Roti with Bottle Gourd Raita
Evening Snack - Fleshy Fruits like Papaya, Water Melon or Cantaloupe
Dinner - Bottle Gourd Kheer or Bottle Gourd Sabji with Peanut

For Day 1, I have provided the link to the breakfast Bottle Gourd juice and so let us look into the lunch menu.

Recipe Source Pooja
Ingredients -

For Bottle Gourd Pulp - Wheat Bran Roti -
Bottle Gourd Pulp 2 Tbsp (Got after straining the bottle gourd juice made for breakfast)
Wheat Flour 2 Tbsp
Wheat Bran / Oat Bran 2 Tbsp

For Bottle Gourd Raita -
Bottle Gourd, peeled, chopped and boiled 1/2 cup
Low Fat Yogurt 3/4 cup
Saindha Namak as needed
Pepper and Cumin Powder as needed

Method Of Preparation -

For Bottle Gourd Pulp - Wheat Bran Roti -
Mix the wheat flour, bottle gourd pulp and wheat bran along with warm water. Knead into a soft dough.

Cover and set aside for 5 min.

Heat the griddle/tawa.

Pinch the dough into 2 equal parts and roll each of them into a thin circle (roti).

Gently place the dough circle on the hot griddle.

After bubbles appear, flip it and after a few seconds, cook it on a flame directly or on a phulka griddle. This ensures that the roti puffs out resulting in a soft roti.

Cover in a paper lined box and make another roti.

For Bottle Gourd Raita -
In a bowl, mix the boiled bottle gourd, yogurt, saindha namak, pepper and cumin powder. Whisk well and serve.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 64.

Preparation Time 20 min
Serves 1

Posted by Harini R on Tuesday, May 10, 2016

13 comments

categories: Anapakaya (Bottle Gourd), Blogging Marathon, Chutneys And Powders, Dairy Products, Diabetes or Weight Management, Flatbread, Flours, Oat Bran, Vegetables, Wheat Flour (Godhuma pindi), Yogurt (Curd/Perugu) | |

Wheat Rava Upma Kozhakottai

BM #64 Week 1 Day 3 -

For the third day of cooking with whole wheat, check out this filling snack. I intended to make this with cracked wheat only to realize in the last minute that I was out of cracked wheat. So I had to settle with wheat rava.

Recipe Source here
Ingredients -
Wheat Rava / Cracked Wheat 1 1/2 cups
Salt and Turmeric as needed
Water 2 cups
Almonds coarsely crushed 2 Tbsp

Seasoning (Oil 1 Tbsp, Mustard seeds 1/2 tsp, Chana Dal 1 tsp, Urad Dal 1 tsp, Cumin Seeds 1/2 tsp, Asafotida a pinch)

Soak and Coarse Grind -
Chana Dal 1/4 cup
Red Chilies 1-2

Method Of Preparation -

Soak the chana dal and red chili for an hour and coarsely grind adding as little water as needed. Set aside.

Dry roast the wheat rava until aromatic. Set aside.

In a heated pan, add oil and the rest of the seasoning ingredients.

Add the coarsely ground chana dal and saute for a few seconds.

Add in salt and turmeric and water.

After the water comes to a rolling boil, add the roasted wheat rava.

Mix well, cover and reduce heat. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.

Remove from fire. Allow it to cool a little so it is easy to handle.

While it is still hot, pinch big lime portions of the mixture and shape into an oblong. Set aside and continue to make more oblong shapes of the mixture.

Place all of the oblong shapes in a steamer and steam for about 8-10 min.

Remove and serve with a chutney of your choice.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 64.

Preparation Time 30 min
Makes 30 kozhakottai

Posted by Harini R on Thursday, May 5, 2016

10 comments

categories: Almonds, Appetizers and Snacks, Beans And Dals, Blogging Marathon, Chana Dal (Senaga Pappu), Dry Fruits and Nuts, Grains and its Products, Healthy Snacks, Wheat Rava | |

Vegan Coconut Milk Pancakes

BM #64 Week 1 Day 2 -

These pancakes were an instant hit with the kids. They loved the idea of shredded coconut as a topping and they set the berries which they love.

Fortunately I was able to recover a few pictures from my camera's memory card and these pictures were among them.

Ingredients -

Whole Wheat Flour 1 cup
Baking Powder 1 Tbsp
Brown Sugar 2 Tbsp
Salt 1/4 tsp
Coconut Milk 1 cup
Olive Oil / Coconut Oil 1 Tbsp
Flax meal 2 tsp + 2 Tbsp of warm water
Shredded Coconut Flakes for topping as needed

Method Of Preparation -

Whisk the flour, baking powder, brown sugar and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In a measuring cup whisk the coconut milk, flax egg and oil.

Mix in the wet and dry ingredients gently until there are no lumps.

Heat a griddle and pour 1/4 cup of batter and sprinkle the coconut flakes. Cook on both sides and continue with the rest of the batter.

Serve with more coconut flakes or fruit and maple syrup.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 64.

Preparation Time 15-20
Makes 8-10

Posted by Harini R on Wednesday, May 4, 2016

11 comments

categories: Blogging Marathon, Breakfast, Coconut Milk, Flours, Kid Friendly Recipes, Other Breakfast, Wheat Flour (Godhuma pindi) | |

Mooli Paratha

BM #64 Day 1 -

We are back to the regular relaxed pace of blogging from this month until September for another mega marathon series.
So the regular marathon will see me post 3 recipes a week. This week I have chosen to blog 3 whole wheat dishes.

Mooli Parantha has been in my to-do list forever now. I am not a great fan of it but my husband loves it and so I got around my aversion and made these for him and my older one. They absolutely loved it.

Ingredients -

Wheat Flour 1 1/2 cups
Radish, peeled and grated 1 1/2 cups
Salt, Turmeric, Green chilies paste, Red chili powder as needed
Coriander seeds, crushed 1 tsp
Ajwain / Carom Seeds 1 tsp
Coriander leaves, chopped 1 Tbsp
Oil/Ghee to shallow fry

Method Of Preparation -

Add salt to the grated radish and set aside for a couple minutes.

Squeeze out the water and save the water.

To the radish, add all the spices and add wheat flour and knead adding the radish water as much as needed.

Make sure the dough is not too soft as it tends to soften a bit more if left for a long time.

Pinch lime/lemon sized portions of the dough and roll out thick rotis.

Heat a griddle, and cook the rotis on both sides spraying as much oil/ghee as needed. Remove onto a hot box or air tight container layered with paper towels to absorb excess moisture.

Continue with the rest of the dough.

Serve warm with yogurt.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 64.

Preparation Time 30 min
Makes 6-8 rotis

Posted by Harini R on Tuesday, May 3, 2016

12 comments

categories: Blogging Marathon, Flatbread, Flours, Radish, Vegetables, Wheat Flour (Godhuma pindi) | |

Recap of Journey through Maharashtrian Cuisine

It has been been an amazing culinary exploration experience in the month of April. I hope all of you followed me through the journey.

Thanks to Srivalli who has created and motivated us to step out of our comfort zone and explore more. Special thanks to my friend, Shalaka, who has helped me every step of the way.

To keep this collection of Maharashtrian food all in one place, I am doing a recap of this series.