Kashayam for cold (Tamil medicine)

It was one of those days I had the sore throat, with constant drinking of hot water, steaming it got cured. In another few days I started having sore throat running nose and this time it didn't subside. Being a nursing mother I didn't want to take Alopathy, so one of my friends gave this kashayam recipe.

Ingredients

Handful of Tulsi leaves
curry leaves - few
Ginger - 1 inch
Garlic - few pods
Jeera or cumin - 1 tsp
Pepper - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - pinch
salt - as required.

Directions:

Grind all these and boil it in a big pan of water for minimum of an hour. The entire contents will reduce to 1/4th of its original. Strain it and have 100ml of this kashayam. Running nose and sore throat will be gone. If it doesn't get cured, drink for 2 more times. Once prepared kashayam can't be used for more than 2 days.

Poondu Kazhi (Garlic Porridge)

I have heard about this from my mom that my granny used to make this yummy food as part of the post partum diet. I used to think how can this be Yummy. After the delivery of my second baby, my aunt prepared this for me and I just gulped the entire stuff in one go.

After that when I realized many didn't know about this recipe, decided to post this in the blog.

BTW THIS SHOULD NOT BE CONSUMED BY WOMEN WHO ARE TRYING TO GET PREGNANT OR PREGNANT.

Also it should be eaten after 16 days post delivery of the baby

Ingredients

Garlic - 1 kg
Ginger - 300gm
Palm Jaggery - 3/4 kg (depends on your sweetness)
Gingelly oil 200ml (or depends on your preference too)

Step 1: Peel off the garlic, it might take days. Better but the whole garlic and peel off the skin.
Step 2: Extract thick Ginger juice using enough water so that the garlic can be pressure cooked with that ginger juice.
Step 3: Pressure cook the garlic with the extracted ginger juice.
Step 4: Powder the palm jaggery in a coarse manner and boil it with less water and strain it for any impurities.
Step 5: Mash the cooked garlic and add the strained palm jaggery juice. Let it cook to the desired consistency. That is the excess water should go off.
Step6: Once it reached the desired Kazhi consistency, add the gingelly oil and remove it from the stove.

Let it cool and enjoy. You are not supposed to have it in one single day. This can be eaten in 5 days. Increases the milk supply, also cures the uterus. Ginger and garlic aids the digestion for the baby. This can be consumed after 16th day of daily delivery.

Barnyard millet pongal

Barnyard millet pongal(Kuthiraivali pongal)

Me and hubby prefer variety when it comes to dinner. That is the only meal of the day we eat together. Being foodies we really relish and savour whatever we eat. Pongal is one of the dinner menus that we do once in 2 weeks. We usually like our pongal very mushy. One reason is mushy pongal tastes awesome when it is piping hot with a good chutney or gosthu. Second reason is with minimum amount of ghee the pongal still tastes like the restaurant pongal. 

Recently we got ourselves introduced to the world of millets for good. Most of the dishes taste exactly same when replacing rice with millets or I would say some of them taste even better. One such awesome tasting replacement is the millet pongal. I tried my hand with Barnyard millet aka kuthiraivali in tamil. This is one of the millets which gets mashed up easily and so becomes the obvious choice for a delicious mushy pongal. It tasted like the pongal we get in early hours of margazhi month in the temple.

Servers 2

Ingredients

Barnyard millet(Kuthiraivali) - 3/4th cup

Moong dhal(Pasiparuppu) - 1/4th cup plus 1 tblsp

Salt to taste

Water - 4 cups

To temper

Peppercorns - 2 tblsp

Ginger (finely chopped) - 2 tblsp

Green chilli - 2 (optional)

Jeera powder - 1 tblsp

Curry leaves 

Ghee - 1 tblsp

Procedure

1) Take a cooker and dry roast the Moong dhal in medium flame till nice aroma comes. Take care not to burn the dhal. 

2) Wash the barnyard millet and add to the roasted dhal. Add water and salt and close the cooker. Keep in between medium to high flame. 

3) Place the cooker whistle once u get steam. This ensures the dhal cooks well. 

4) After 4 whistles, reduce the flame to low and keep for 5 mins and then switch off

5) Once you are able to open the cooker mix the cooked dhal and millet well. Meanwhile take a small kadai and add the items under to temper. Pour the mixture over the cooked mixture and mix well. 

Serve with white chutney and tomato or brinjal gosthu or with onion tomato chutney.

Notes:

- I prefer adding ginger, pepper and jeera powder in the end as it gives a very nice flavour. You can also add all the ingredients except ghee along with dhal and millet in the cooker itself before cooking. Finally add ghee and mix

-  I add only 1/2 tblsp and it tastes good. For indulgence once in a while or when giving for kids, you can add more ghee as per your taste.

- I like adding jeera powder since it blends well with pongal to give nice flavour and taste. You can also add jeera as such. 

- If you dont prefer mushy pongal, you can reduce water. 

The same procedure can be used to make pongal with foxtail millet aka thinai for people who dont prefer too much mashed up pongal. 

Who wants a happy life???

                 I know this may sound like a stupid question. You are probably thinking, "What is she even talking about? Of course, everyone wants a happy life!". Alright now, pull your eyebrows down, wipe that smirk off your face and listen to this - "Happiness is a CHOICE. You DO NOT need anyone or anything to bring you happiness." Now, who is smirking, eh?

Lets break it down. Life is nothing but a series of choices that we make. Some are good and some are bad, but today, why don't we make a conscious choice to be happy? 

In this time and age, we have a lot to worry about - health, family, money, career (unlike the cavemen who just had to worry about lions, tigers, food and keeping themselves alive). But the truth is, worry achieves NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING - well, except maybe a high blood pressure if you are lucky and a heart attack if you are not. Jokes aside, more and more researchers are attributing stress as a common factor for many diseases. I think it is wise to try and reduce worry from our lives before the disease becomes another thing for us to worry about.

When you have a problem, however big that might be, don't dwell on the problem. Instead, dwell on the solution to the problem. Simple enough? Think you already do that? Here is a quick test: How do you FEEL when you are dealing with a problem? Are you clear headed or are you running around like a chicken that has had its head cut off? 

Thinking about the problem brings you worry, anxiety and stress. Thinking about the solution brings you clarity and a sense of relief. Pay close attention to how you are feeling when dealing with a problem. Emotions never lie - they will tell if you are thinking about the problem or the solution. This is easier said than done as the mind likes to cling to the problem. Here is a simple technique I read elsewhere, that works effectively in retraining our mind to not do this. 

Schedule a worry time! Earmark 15 to 30 minutes each day(or maybe an hour if you are the president of the country) to think about your problems. I would recommend the end of the day but not before bed. Keep this time consistent. Every time during the day, when you start worrying about a problem, "Say to yourself - That is a very good worry point. I will worry about it during my worry time. Let me not waste another moment of my day worrying about this". Now, when you consciously do this your mind shifts. Repeat the same how many ever times worrying thoughts pop up in your head during the course of the day. 

The interesting thing is, when you finally get to your worry time, I have personally noticed that:

1) You don't even remember all of the worrying thoughts that you had earmarked to worry about.
2) Even if you remember, they do not seem as big as they were when they first announced their existence. We tend to blow up things in our imagination.
3) The problem might have already been solved with no help from your part.
4) It might be a problem that really needs your attention. Spend time thinking about it(worry about if you want to) and then move on to look for a solution.

OK, So you have stuck with me till the end of this article. As a token of my gratitude and appreciation, I will give you a bonus tip!;-) We have all been in situations where we are in an overdrive that we can't even stop to do the above mentioned. A quick way to defuse the heaving chest, the fast breathing, the dilating pupils and the rising anger(and tears in my case) is to stop and ask, "How is this going to affect me five years down the line?". Believe me, half the things that we get worked up upon are not even worth a second glance.

Make a habit of doing this(and FYI, if you are wondering, it takes 21 days to make a habit stick). It is easy to get carried away when you are in the midst of a problem but every time you do this, you will get one step closer to living a happier life consciously. 

Wishing you a very happy day and a very happy life!! 

Nursing care for new moms

Nursing our baby is a pleasant experience and it should be an enjoyable journey between the mom and baby. Unfortunately some moms suffer with nursing problems. The most common is cracked nipples or sore nipples.

Proper positioning of baby is prime factor. For a perfect latch, the babies lower lip should be pressed against breast outwards. Breast should not close the nostrils of the infant. Though the baby latches perfect, there should not be a drag or pulling of the nipple during the course of nursing. Hold the breast like a "C" . Left hand for left breast. With the other hand hold the baby's neck. The infant's mouth, shoulder and hip should be in a straight line. 

Inspite of perfect latch and positioning, sore nipples (cracked nipples) remains a threat. Its crucifying pain during the initial latch and eases during the course of each nursing section. The simplest easiest solution is to express or squeeze a few drops of milk (as soon as the nursing is over) and apply it in the cracked areas of the nipple. Allow it to dry a minute and then wear the nursing brassiere. The cracked nipple occurs because of dryness. Keep it moisturized with the expressed milk or lanolin or coconut oil or olive oil. It does not require a wash between feedings. 

1. Applying warm salt water rinse between feeding sessions can heal the worstly damaged nipples. Wash before nursing. 

2. Applying ice cubes can numb the initial latch pain. 

Happy nursing new moms ! 

Easy Onion tomato chutney

Easy Onion tomato chutney

In our busy working schedule or household schedule with kids, cooking itself is a marathon task. Eating homemade idli or dosa or upma is a great boon for the Husbands ;) Sometimes if in good mood i prepare an elaborate side dish. This fatafat onion tomato chutney comes handy in one of those days when we are in no mood to make a side dish but feel pity for hubby or kids to eat without sidedish. Minimum time +effort is the mantra and it is a big hit every time i make it. 

Serves 2

Ingredients

Big onion - 2

Tomato - 3 to 4

Green chilli - 2 to 3 (based on your level of spiciness)
Coriander leaves - fistful

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Salt to taste

To temper 

Oil - 1 tsp

Mustard

Split urud dhal

Asafetida or hing

Curry leaves - few

Steps

1) Cut onions and tomatoes into big pieces since we are anyways going to grind

2) Add the cut onions, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger and salt. Grind them together in a mixie. Yes you heard it right! grind raw

3) Take a pan and add the items under to temper. Add the ground mixture and allow it to boil in medium flame for 10 minutes. If you feel raw smell is still there, you can boil for 3 more minutes.

TADA.. your fatafat chutney is ready. It goes well with idli, dosa, upma and even pongal.