Gujarat

Winter and no Undhiyu? Impossible. This is the most loved seasonal dish from Gujarat. It comprises of vegetables that are available primarily during winter. That includes vegetables like Surti Papdi (Indian beans as it is called) that is used along with tender pods, green tuvar, purple...

Handvo is a Gujarati delicacy, a savoury cake made from rice and lentils. This recipe uses Millets in place of rice. Added to that are vegetables like bottle gourd, carrots, etc. Handvo can be either cooked in a pan or baked in an oven. Ready made Handvo flour is available in the market. But making it from scratch is not too difficult. Batter is prepared by soaking the grains, grinding them, fermenting them and adding mixed vegetables and cooking / baking. Normally the grains are ground with curd and either baking soda / eno fruit salt is added for rising. To avoid both, I fermented the ground mixture overnight. The batter does not rise much, but the effect is achieved. What is Thavala adai / Adai to South is Handvo to Gujarat. Except Handvo is baked mostly. For a variation I have used Barnyard millet instead of rice.

Just the word ‘Salad’ brings to everyone’s mind grated carrots and cucumbers dressed with lime, pepper and salt. No, a salad need not be boring. There are multiple ways of making interesting, tasty salads. Lets see what are the ingredients that go to make an interesting salad that is nutritious as well. Salads are wonderful ways of adding health to your life. Firstly, they have natural flavours, crunchy texture and wonderful colours gifted by Nature. Secondly, including a large serving of fresh raw vegetables in our everyday meal can have significant health benefits. Salads are a natural source of fibre. Be it summer or winter, a crisp salad is the basis for an energizing meal. Even while dining out, ordering a fresh salad is the best way to start a dinner. The digestive enzymes that are present in the raw vegetables prevent indigestion that might be caused by the food that was to follow.

Welcome to my blog

 

February 10th is celebrated as World Pulses Day. I am an avid fan of whole pulses / lentils. When I took a review of my posts so far, I realised I have as of today posted 22 recipes using whole pulses & legumes. I decided to compile all those recipes and make an eBook that you can download from my site.

 

Healthy Eating ?

Rama Ganapathy