Onion Samosa - indian food

Handvo (Handwa) Gujarati Snack Recipe -(Microvave recipe)

Some Healthy Cooking Tips for Meals that Satisfy

Changing the way we cook our food can have a dramatic effect on our health. If we make wiser choices with our food and the way we cook it, we can significantly reduce our risk of contracting cancer and heart disease.

Here are some top tips for healthy cooking:-

1. Invest in non stick pans - With quality non-stick pans you can get away with not using oil at all or by using a low fat cooking spray. You can also 'fry' some foods in a little water to prevent them sticking. If you have to use oil, use olive oil and pat food with kitchen roll after cooking to remove excess oil.

2. Look through your recipes collection for diet recipes and low fat recipes. Cook them in batches and freeze so that you always have a healthy meal option available.

3. Steam or stir-fry vegetables - Cooking them using these methods will help the vegetables to retain their nutrients, colour and taste. Look for healthy recipes like Chinese stir-fries and invest in a wok and steamer. You can buy Chinese bamboo steamers, which just sit on top of a pan of boiling water, or you can buy electric steamers. You can get a good electric steamer for less than the cost of one meal out and the ease of use is a real time saver.

4. Use olive oil - Replace other oils or fats with olive oil which is a mono-unsaturated oil and actually helps to reduce cholesterol. Make your own salad dressings from olive oil and balsamic vinegar to give your salad a Mediterranean taste and this will be lower in fat than commercial salad dressings. Search online for free recipes using olive oil. Some muffin recipes use olive oil or corn oil instead of solid fats.

5. Use fat free milk in cooking and baking to cut the fat content of your healthy recipes.

6. Replace fat in baking - Look for low fat recipes for cakes and biscuits or replace half the fat in recipes with pureed prunes, yogurt or mashed banana. Search for diet recipes for sweet treats.

7. Use fat-free yogurt or creme fraiche instead of using cream for pouring on dessert recipes or fruit.

8. Add more vegetables to casseroles and soups and use fresh or frozen vegetables rather than canned.

9. Don't add salt to food - Season food with herbs, spices, garlic and lemon juice instead of salt.

10. Trim visible fat off meat and use lean meat in your low fat recipes. Cut down on how much red meat you consume and replace with fish and chicken or turkey.

Khichadi - Khichadi is the very core of Ayurvedic nutritional healing.

Khichadi - Khichadi is the very core of Ayurvedic nutritional healing.

Foreigners call it mishmash. To indians it is khichdi (Kitcheree), the food many of us turn to when illness calls and we need something warm, light and restorative. However, there’s more to the khichdi than just mung and rice. Using a range of herbs and spices, Ayurveda devises khichdi recipes that can heal various diseases.This recipe is used in an Ayurvedic cleansing therapy because of its ease of digestion and assimilation. This khichari can be eaten by all doshas but is especially good for vata.
Moong Dal is one the most cherished foods in Ayurveda. It is tridoshic; balancing all three doshas and, especially when cooked with spices, is appropriate for each dosha. It is very nourishing and relatively easy to digest, generally not creating abdominal gas or bloating. Split hulled mung beans are nutritious and easier on the digestion than larger beans.
Examples of Spices for individual Dosha:
calming vata: cumin, ginger
cooling pitta: turmeric, coriander, peppercorns
stimulating kapha: turmeric, cumin, ginger
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup basmati rice
1/2 cup green split moong dal
1/2 tbsp cow's ghee or sesame oil (preferably agmark)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
1/4 tsp pure hing (not the mixed one available usually in market)
1/2 inch ginger, finely chopped (pitta)
1/2 tsp turmeric (preferably home made or organic)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chili powder
4 cups water
DIRECTIONS
Place rice and dal together in large mixing bowl. Rinse several times under running water. Drain and reserve.
Set heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat and add ghee or oil. When warmed, add cumin and mustard seeds (if using) and hing. Stir until seeds pop, about 30 seconds. Add chopped ginger, sauté 30 seconds.
Add reserved rice and dal, turmeric, salt and chili powder. Mix in gently.
Add water and bring to a boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Cover saucepan, reduce heat to low and cook undisturbed until tender, about 30 minutes.
Switch off heat, let khichari rest 5 minutes. Fluff it up gently with a fork and serve.
Enjoy hot.
(Serves 2)
Note -- 4 cups water will yield a thicker kitcheree while six will yield the consistency of porridge.