vegetables
Methi Thepla :Fenugreek Flatbread Easy Recipe
Sharing is good Karma!
Cooking Red Spinach|Lal Saag (Short Video):Case study
Cooking Red Spinach|Lal Saag :Do short videos on YouTube work? This was a question I had. Inspired by what I was hearing,I started with my case study.
Red spinach or lal saag is a favorite at home.When it’s cooked with the right amount of garlic you can polish of a plateful if rice without wanting any other thing.
The recipe is simple.
Ingredients for lal saag/Red spinach recipe are:
Red spinach,grlic,green chillies,tomatoes, turmeric,salt.I use mustard oil for these typical Bengali recipes.
Steps:After heating oil water till its colour clears before adding the red chillies,garlic.Saute till golden then add the red spinach and the rest of the ingredients.Now stir.
Cook till soft and all comes together.Don’t forget to subscribe for more such quick healthy recipes videos for busy people.
What exactly am I studying?
What kind of short videos works for my channel?
How short is just right?
Will my channel grow ?Will it help my blog?
Will be uploading the results of my study every three months .One month over .Three of the short videos worked well,few were duds.
Details will be available only after I collect more data.Short video is a format which seems to be growing very popular.Like on Tangi ,I love seeing food video and art videos.But other genres I am not sure. This post highlights video content as a part of the create cornerstone content challenge.
What do you think of the YouTube shorts?Let me know in the comments below.
Sharing is good Karma!
How Pointed Gourd (Potol/Parwal) saved me(Recipe included)
Today I will tell you about the Vegetables which saved me (1 and 2 most), during the lockdown.
From the time I could cook, I was not a passionate cook. I thought I had more fun things to do. But I enjoyed the good food. My sister and my mom ensured I learned the correct way into and out of a kitchen. But that was not something I thanked them for then. But now I do. Daily when I make my roti, cook that dal or simple lauki ka sabzi. Every lesson is a blessing.
Growing up, I also developed a discerning tongue. This usually means you have good people cooking good food. It also meant I liked my food just right. I liked good food which was not oily but cooked to perfection. The spices subtle and not overpowering, plus we should eat local.as much as possible. Salt and sugar balance a must. Overall a tight rope walk when you end up cooking yourself.
All this was great when mom was managing the kitchen. But what happens when you shift to a new location with a baby in tow and a new job?
You look for a cook.I did exactly that.
Well I was lucky I had a nice helpful friendly cook,who followed instructions except about the oil content and adding extra water.
But as 2020 March arrived, kitchen duty was swapped between the perfectionist hubby and daydreamer me. Covid 19 turned things topsy turvy.
By God’s blessing we are doing well and everything coming out of the kitchen tastes just right and finishes in no time. Zero food waste. This is empowering.
Now coming to the important topic, the vegetables which helped.
#1 Lauki or Lau or bottle Gourd
#2 Pointed Gourd
3 Pumpkin
4 Tomatoes
5 Bitter gourd
7 Potatoes
8 Carrots
10 Onions
The main reason I started sharing more stories from my kitchen was to let you know you are not alone struggling in the kitchen.
You have us as a company. Sharing stories is the best way to eat better as a community. Now I have already talked about Bottle Gourd, you can read about it here. Today I will tell you about the pointed gourd.Potol/parwal,parval is the hero of my story today.
It’s cute spindle shaped,rather svelte to look af.Green in colour with stripes.It tastes lovely fried by itself or as an accompaniment with dal chawal(rice and dal).
It’s part of typically mixed veggies, great stuffed or cooked with potatoes and posto . You can also have stuffed potol both veg(with raisins and nuts) or nonveg( fish roe or keema). The stuffed variety is called potoler dolman. It can also be cooked as a sweet dish, when stuffed with khoya, cashews, raisins and dunked the sweet syrup.
But today’s recipe is a tad different. It’s an everyday recipe for the busy mommy.
What will you need for Potol cooked Easy?
You will need cubed potatoes.
Peeled,cubed pointed gourd.
Ginger paste or ginger powder
Tomatoes green chillies.
Bay leaf ,
Cumin powder (my favorite)
,Turmeric powder (this is the one I use most)
and Salt( I only use low sodium Tata salt)
Simple Steps:
Boil potatoes strain and keep aside.
Air fry the pointed Gourd
Add Mustard oil in Kadai.
When the oil starts to smoke,add red chilli,cumin whole,bay leaf.
Let them sputter.
Add the boiled potatoes,add turmeric ,salt and cumin powder.
Mix it all together and let it cook for sometime.
Add the pointed Gourd. (It’s air fried with a little turmeric,dash of salt.)
Add the cubed tomatoes and green chillies(according to taste).Add ginger paste .
Cook till the tomatoes are soft and it comes together.
Taste .
Sprinkle a little more salt if needed according to taste.
Cover and cook for a minute.
Serve warm with phulka/roti/Indian flat bread.
It’s important to have four to five servings of fruits and vegetables in your diet.Having a dish like this gives you plenty of nutrients, with less headache.It has Vitamin A ,vitamin C and several trace elements.Best part is ,its grown locally,is a perennial crop and is easy to cook.
Before this summer, I hardly ever ate Pointed Gourd, as many times as I did this year. It’s easy to cook, tasty, and filling too. As a busy mom who is juggling more things than ever before, this veggie definitely gets a five on five from me.
This humble vegetable has a lot going on and is one of the easier veggies to cook. Have you eaten pointed Gourd? Let me know how you cook them in the comments below.
Featured post
How is the Health of the Nation: The report is an eye-opener!
Sharing is good Karma!
Fruits and vegetables..nature’s multivitamins
Fruits and veggies ย are nature’s multivitamins
Nature’s bounty of fruits and vegetables are an easy way to add the much-needed multivitamins to our diet.Vitamin supplements never look half as good and no comparison is possible regarding taste.
Many of the vitamins have their source in fruits and vegetables. Some, however, may have animal products as their best sources.
An easy way to remember:
Water soluble vitamins like B complex and C: Main source fruits and veggies
Fat soluble vitamins:ย Vitamin ย A, D, E, K
Source:Animal products,eggs,meat,beef,poultry.
Our busy schedule and lack of motivation often derail all our good resolutions.While on a self-improvement trip, I was able to increase the daily dose of this goodness, hence this post! Hope it helps, to get you motivated and add more nature’s goodness to your diet.
Top 5 Reasons to make fruits and veggies our best friends
Vitamin A: Keeps our eyes healthy
Richest source is orange and yellow fruits and veggies. Carrots are a very good source.
As Retinol:Liver,fatty fish,eggs
As Beta-carotene: Red and yellow coloured veggies.Carrots, tomatoes, green leafy vegetables, sweet potatoes
Vitamin B: Important for best energy production and repair of muscle tissues.Helps to keep our digestive system healthy.
Vitamin B: Richest source germinating sprouts and most fruits and veggies
Sources of ย B-Complex vitamins:
Thiamine:ย Yeast, pulses, wheat, rice (paroled and milled), bread
Riboflavin:ย Milk and milk products, eggs, papaya, dried apricots, leafy veggies
Niacin:Liver,kidney,peanuts,beef,mutton,pork,wholemeal cereals,pulses
VitaminB6:Avocado,banana,legumes (dried beans),meat,nuts,poultry,whole grains.
Folate:Liver,peanuts,green leafy veggies ,avocado ,pulses.
Vitamin B12:ย Milk and milk products, meat
Vitamin C, E: ย Both these are antioxidants.They help prevent cellular damage hence has anti-aging property, helps prevent cancer.
Vitamin C sources: All sour fruits.Amla,oranges, lemon,guava,mango,papaya,pineapple, green leafy veggies,tomato,lettuce,radish
Vitamin E: Fish oils, nuts, wheat germ, beef and organ meat, sunflowers seeds, eggs, green leafy veggies.
Vitamin D, K: Keeps our skin, hair, bones healthy, ย role in proper blood clotting and overall neuromuscular health.
Vitamin D Source: fish oil(cod liver oil), liver, egg yolk.
Vitamin K Source: Green leafy vegetables, dried herbs, dried prune green tea, also produced by probiotic organisms in the ย intestine.
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How to change ..slow and steady….the rule of 5
5 Servings per day
2 servings of fruit,3 or more of veggies, would be best, but it’s better to be slow, steady and consistent. Gradually increasing number of fruits and vegetable in every meal helps to increase the total daily intake.
5 Trick to do this
Breakfast
- Bananas ย , apples , grapes, berries,various nuts, fig ย raisins with oats or corn flakes
- Fruit smoothie
- Spanish omelette with sprouts, carrots, French beans.onions, tomatoes, peas and any other veggies you want.
Lunch: Indians love their sabzi ย as a side dish, so this is generally not a problem
- Sautรฉ seasonal veggies in olive oil, add salt pepper, nuts, raisins and a portion of brown rice.garnish with lemon wedges.
- Salad of cucumber, apples, pears, shredded carrots, oranges and pineapples any others.
- Raita/ yoghurt with diced veggies, fruits of your choices.
Dinner
- Grilled chicken with grilled veggies like carrots, beans tomatoes, peas.
- Salad of cucumber, onions Tomatoes.
Snack
- Diced carrots, tomatoes, onions with boiled chickpeas/ roasted peanuts/muri (puffed rice)/sprouts with a dash of salt, lemon, black pepper.
Dessert
- Sweet fruits like mangoes, apples watermelon, ripe papaya, grapes, sweet berries, custard apple, by themselves are deserts but if you crave chocolate something, dip fruit of your choice in molten dark chocolate.
How to start and stick with the plan
- Slow and steady definitely wins the race in this case.Whatever be the number of fruits and veggie servings you have nowadays, try to increase at least by one serve per week. A gradual lifestyle transition causes less havoc than a drastic change.
- Enjoy fruits as a family together, we started having fruits in front of our toddler which made her have them enthusiastically without much trouble.
Have them as salads, chats, snacks, side dish, main dish, dessert, drink any way you want.
Buy fresh, eat whole or cut, with or without seasoning just have them.Not only do they provide us with essential micronutrients, their fibre and water content and minimal calorie count make them ideal for losing weight and keeping it off the healthy way, so keep on munching!
One small step in the right direction is a leap towards a healthier and happier life.Stay healthy, stay happy and rememberย Health is ย Wealth!
Featured post
How is the Health of the Nation: The report is an eye-opener!
