ADI KUMMAYAM

A Traditional Recipe for Aadi Season

Adi kummayam is traditional authentic recipe made in Aadi masam specifically on Tuesdays and Fridays Due to the onset of monsoons, It is an excellent recipe to balance the vata, Strengthen the bones, joints and backbone in our body. It is a nutrition recipe to strengthen the uterus for girls who hit puberty, pregnant ladies and women in their postpartum phase. Adi kummayam is a perfect recipe during this lockdown for protein consumption.It helps in curing constipation.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Whole moong or yellow moong 1/4 cup.
  • Matta rice or Blackrice 1 cup.
  • Whole urad dal or white urad 1/4 cup.
  • Palm jaggery.
  • Elaichi.
  • Cashew chopped.
  • Kismiss soaked and drained.
  • Sesame coldpressed oil 1 whole cup.
  • Desi ghee 1/2 cup.

METHOD:

Dry roast moong dal, urad dal and rice until they turn brown. Keep it aside and let it cool down. Grind to fine powder and sieve if required. In iron kadai, make palm jaggrey syrup to required consistency. Add ghee, Sesame oil and Elaichi to the jaggery mixture.

Keep stirring well by adding sieved flour slowly until the kummayam flour dissolves well with no lumps. Top it with chopped cashew and kismiss. Grease the steel plate with ghee. As the whole concoction gathers together, pour it in the steel plate and let it semi dry. Cut to pieces and serve. Enjoy the tasty Adi kummayam recipe!

About the Author:

A Parententrepreneur ,wisdom seeker, Ms.Lakshmi Bharadwaj is very well known, old parent from HLP Community. She has been a very active member in promoting ancient wisdom our parenting community from past few years and has many articles and blogs to her credit. She beileves that path to Spirituality is through our body.

Your body is your sanctum. Maintain with divinity – Lakshmi Bharadwaj

Navara Rice Balls

A Women’s health booster
  • Navara rice balls is a power packed energy builder is good for girls who hit puberty
  • It is used to boost milk secretion and regain strength for postpartum moms.
  • It can also be used for children with low weight and to cure back pain.
  • The Rice balls can be used for Menstruation Panic Attacks.

Ingredients:

  • Navara Rice Soaked and Sprouted
  • Red Rice
  • Ajwain
  • Garden Cress
  • Fenugreek Sprouted
  • Horse gram Sprouted
  • Dill seeds
  • Dried Ginger
  • Black Sesame Seeds
  • Cumin
  • Cardamom
  • Dry Coconut
  • Melted Jaggery

Method:

Roast all the above ingredients until golden brown and it emits a nice aroma. Make appropriate consistency of jaggery and add it to the roasted ingredients along with the grated coconut and sesame seeds.

Stir well until no lumps are formed. Add a little bit of desi ghee and roll it into balls. It can be stored for a week. Make sure to keep it moisture free.

About the Author:

A Parententrepreneur ,wisdom seeker, Ms.Lakshmi Bharadwaj is very well known, old parent from HLP Community. She has been a very active member in promoting ancient wisdom our parenting community from past few years and has many articles and blogs to her credit. She beileves that path to Spirituality is through our body.

Your body is your sanctum. Maintain with divinity – Lakshmi Bharadwaj

Author: Lakshmi Bharadwaj

Lakshmi Bharadwaj, known as OJAS in whatsapp group, is a home-maker and mother of three lovely kids. She comes with a rich tradition that follows home-remedies, which makes her a passionate towards ancient knowledge in Ayurveda naturopathy and herbs. She is one of the sincere and senior member of swarnaprashana Whatsapp parenting community. She has been constantly guiding new parents and with her continuous selfless efforts on various social and educative platforms. In 2015, She was the Parent of the month for her exceptional guidance in home-remedies to many parents in our whatsapp community.

World Banana Day

Want to know more about the fruit that The Nagas cultivated and the Buddhists ate, 1000’s of years ago?

Want to know why bananas are called a fruit of the Wise men?

Bananas are undervalued by us here in India, but to the rest of the world, it holds a lot of importance. The scientific name for banana is Musa sapientum, which means “fruit of the wise men.” Since today is World Banana day, we wanted to share some of the amazing facts you should know about Bananas. Bananas are a rare example of fruit which has three genes from one of its parents, Musa acuminata. It confers the ability to produce fruit without the need for seeds. The word, Bana is of African origin, which means finger. The word was introduced by salves that were brought to the Americas from Africa. In India, it is called plantain. With the help of Alexander the Great, the fruits traveled to Europe and Spain. Later a Spanish missionary brought the fruit to America. 

In a document, which is from 400 B.C, quoted in Sanskrit literature, which in the south was known as Sangam literature states that bananas were the only fruit permitted to Buddhists in those days. Furthermore, bananas were cultivated by ancient South Indian people who are once called Nagas. 

Bananas originated in Southeast Asia, it was said to be the world’s most consumed food, in the previous times. It is one of the most common fruits all over the world. Not to mention it has twice the amount of nutrition than what can be obtained from an apple. Plus it doesn’t require any specific fertilizer or maintenance except water. Yes, water is the main source to cultivate Banana. Thus said, Banana will grow in all types of climate. It is one of a few fruits which is available throughout the year. No auspicius function or puja is complete without full grown banana plant. Banana plant is treated as god, cow in india.

Banana is one divine plant, that has various used to mother nature and mankind. Right from its root to flower, everything is a healing property. Eg. The roots has a micro-organisms, which can purity the impure or contimanited water. That is why in olden days, you will find Banana trees in backyard. where waste water of the house is directed to it, and the water is filtured and send into ground. Whats an amazing ecofriendly fore sight our ancestors had!

Type of Bananas in India – Originally more than 100 nati varieties of Banana were available in India however after the green revolution, most fo the nati varieties of banana weren destroyed and only a few varieties are now currently available. Below is the list of Nati Variety Bananas as follows:

Best time to Eat Banana

Sevvalai (red banana) – which is more nutritious, cultivated in 10 months. Anyone can eat. Especially good for Newly married couples. It helps in weight gain.
Mondham Palam (thoothukudi, Nagercoil belt) – King of Banana. Highest nutrition in a single banana than other nati banana varieties. For babies start from 2+ years old, they can give. Rich in fiber and easy digestion.
Nenthram Palam (Kerala) – Its a must take for Babies (2+) and those for neuro problems and constipation. In Kerala, the semi ripens fruit will be prepared as Kanji and given to infants to gain more weight. Must eat for all ages. The famous chips of kerala is made from this.
Matti Palam (North TN) – Rich in fiber and very rare to get.
Yelaki palam (krishnagiri, karnataka) – Very tasty, good for digestion.
Naatu vaalai – Very rare to get.
Then (honey) vaalai – Rich in fiber, reduces constipation.
Poo vaalai – Not recommended due to high sugar content. One of the oldest variety.
Rasthali – Very tasty with a good aroma.
Malai vaalai – Only produce in Hill stations. Rich in Nutrition and good for weight gain.
Sirumalai – A rare variety grows only in Sirumalai. Very tasty and rich in fiber. The famous Siddha Build Temple, Palani’s Panchamritham is made from this fruit, which has various preservative and curative property.
Karpooravalli – Very tasty and easily grown in many parts of South TN. Good for constipation and digestion.

It is recommended to eat on an empty stomach to get more benefits. Or else need to at least eat 1 hr before food or after 2hrs of food. You can also take tea time in the evening. Must avoid eating before sleep. Avoid eating Hybrid bananas. 

Make sure the banana contains Seeds while you are eating. Eat daily one banana and stay healthy.

AMAZING BUT TRUE THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH BANANA PEELS (AND BANANAS)

  • Thanks to its oil, rubbing the inside of a banana peel on a mosquito bite (or another bug bite) or on poison ivy will help keep it from itching and getting inflamed.
  • If you rub the inside of a banana peel on a scrape or burn, it will help the pain go away, keep the swelling down, and keep the wound from getting infected.
  • If you rub the inside of a small piece of the banana peel on a wart every night (or tape a piece of peel over the wart), the potassium in the peel can make the wart disappear in one to two weeks.
  • If you tape a banana peel over a splinter, the enzymes help the splinter work its way out of your skin (and also heal the wound).

Author: Velu Jayaprakash

Velu Jayaprakash is a social entrepreneur, product manager, techy, photographer, meditator, father of two angels, ancient wisdom seeker, holistic adviser and Soul coach. You can reach him at velu.jayaprakash AT gmail DOT com

Jowar Instant sweet panniyaram

Ingredients :

Jowar flour – 1/4 cup
Jaggery powder – 1/4 cup
Cinnamon powder – pinch
Salt – pinch
Banana – 1
Grated coconut – little

Method :

Take jaggery and water in a pan and cook on stove top.. Once all the jaggery is melted remove it from and cool it for a while.

Take jowar flour, grated coconut, cinnamon powder, salt in a bowl. Then add mashed banana and mix well. Then strain the jaggery liquid and pour to the jowar banana mixture and mix well.

Heat a paniyaram pan add ghee and pour the batter. Cook well both sides and remove.

Can make dosa too with the same batter.

Author: Saranya

I’m HomeMaker and a mother of 1 year old baby girl. I have 6 yrs of IT experience with Accenture and IGATE and currently taken break to take care of my little one. I have an interest towards home made ancient recipes which is very healthy for kids and adults and hence started preparing all those at home and thought of sharing the same with all parents.

Sweet and Raw Ladies Finger Starters

Have you ever thought of using Ladies Finger as a starter except in the form of Bhendi Fry? How about if we give you a recipe for a sweet and RAW Ladies Finger starter that you will not only eat happily but will even look for a second serving? Here, take a look at this super simple and super delicious recipe for Ladies Finder Starter.

Sweet and Raw Ladies Finger Starter

 

Ingredients:

  1. Quarter Kilo Ladies Finger
  2. 2-3 Lemons (adjust according to taste)
  3. 5-6 spoons of Jaggery powder (adjust according to taste)
  4. Juice of 1 or 2 medium size Ginger pieces

Method:

  1. Wash the Ladies Finger well and pat dry.
  2. Slit them sideways partially (not fully; the Ladies Finger should not come apart and should stay intact). Ensure there are no worms.
  3. Combine the juice of lemons, Ginger and Jaggery Powder and mix until the Jaggery is dissolved completely. You may add a bit of water to get a smooth syrupy consistency.
  4. Now, soak the slit Ladies Finger in this syrup for up to 3 hours.
  5. Your Sweet and Raw Ladies Finger Starter is now ready to be served.

Few Health Benefits:

  1. Ladies Fingers are a great source of natural Iodine and can be a wonderful natural remedy to deal with Thyroid problems.
  2. The combination of Lemon and Ginger juice helps make the raw Ladies Finger easier to consume as-is without cooking/frying. This helps ensure all the nutritional properties of Ladies Finger are kept intact.

It’s enough if one person has 2-3 of these starters every day to get all the health benefits.

You can also replace the Ladies Finger with Snake Gourd and make Sweet and Raw Snake Gourd starter. Come on now, give it a try!

Author: Vaijayanthi

Vaijayanthi is a freelance business writer and full-time gardener. She coaches people on adopting a chemical-free lifestyle through her initiative called the Kaustubam for Sustainable Living Practices. She also conducts various physical workshops and training sessions on sustainable living and Gardening for children in Bengaluru through the initiative The Happy Child.

Sprouts Milk (Vegan Milk)- Great alternative to Cow’s Milk

If you have been looking for a good alternative to Cow’s milk (either due to health reasons, cruelty reasons or any other reasons), you have many choices today – including Almond Milk, Soy Milk, Rice Milk, Hemp Milk, Coconut Milk and Sprouts Milk. While the first five may be commercially available off the shelf in super markets, they can also prove to be a bit economically unviable for everyday use. In such a case, do not worry!

Here’s a wonderful alternative to these Vegan Milk options which is also very very healthy – and what’s more – you can make five different variations of this milk as well! Yes, I am talking about Sprout’s Milk. Let’s quickly look at how to make this milk before we look at the benefits of this milk.

How to make Sprout’s Milk:

  1. Take any one millet/gram of your choice from the ones listed above – Finger Millet or Pearl Millet or Foxtail Millet Or Horsegram or Whole Greengram.
  2. Wash it once, remove any impurities/stones and then soak it for 5 – 6 hours (or overnight). You need not wait till the sprouts fully appear but if you want to do so, there’s no harm either. This recipe looks at how we can prepare Sprout’s milk fresh every day with just five minutes of work the previous night.
  3. Once the millet/gram is soaked sufficiently (and just about starting to sprout if you let it longer than 6 hours), put it in a blender with some water and grind it nicely.
  4. Filter out the liquid with a fine mesh. This is your thick Sprout’s Milk.
  5. Add equal quantity of hot water to this extracted thick Sprout’s Milk.
  6. Add Jaggery and Elaichi to give it sweetness and flavor and consume as an alternative to regular milk.

Why Sprouts Milk:

  1. As you know, millets and grams pack quite a punch of nutrients and are considered super foods.
  2. They are also cheaper compared to any other type of vegan milk including Almond Milk.
  3. They also help you replace the so called commercial health drinks which in reality may not have much nutrition at all.

Do give this recipe a try and let us know how it worked for you. Perhaps, you can even combine one or two millets and extract mixed Sprout’s Milk.

Author: Vaijayanthi

Vaijayanthi is a freelance business writer and full-time gardener. She coaches people on adopting a chemical-free lifestyle through her initiative called the Kaustubam for Sustainable Living Practices. She also conducts various physical workshops and training sessions on sustainable living and Gardening for children in Bengaluru through the initiative The Happy Child.

Greens Kheer – A healthy morning drink

In the previous two posts, we saw three wonderful recipes for a healthy morning drink (Curry Leaves Kheer, Carrot OR Beetroot Kheer). We can also replace the curry leaves/carrot/beetroot with Greens such as Ponnagannai (Alternanthera/ Matsyakshi/ Honganne/ Ponnaganti koora) or Karisalankanni (Bhringaraj). Both these greens (healing herbs actually) are fantastic for eyesight and skin health.

By alternating between these five different recipes, one can ensure a healthy, balanced nutrition is provided to the family throughout the week. What’s more, these recipes also be a great alternative to cow’s milk being Vegan recipes.

Here are also a few tips that can help you adapt these recipes quickly into your lifestyle:

  1. If you or your child prefers a hot drink in the morning, you can simply use medium hot/warm water to prepare the juice. Do not boil it, however.
  2. You may also grind the Coconut separately and extract the Coconut milk and then add it to the other ingredients while grinding. That way, you can get the Coconut fiber separately – which you can use in your regular cooking for chutneys, sabjis, sambar, etc.
  3. You can also try doing it with few other vegetables (or maybe even fruits). The fun lies in experimenting with a taste and consistency you will fall in love with (or rather your children will come to love!).
  4. You may also try adding a bit of water to get a more liquid consistency. You may need to increase the Jaggery though.
  5. You can also replace Jaggery/Country Sugar with Palm Sugar and get the additional benefits of Palm Sugar
  6. The consistent use of Coriander and Ginger in all the recipes ensures good digestion power.

Additionally, these recipes should take you just about 3-5 minutes to prepare provided you have all ingredients handy. This is much lesser than the time taken to boil milk and prepare your health drink/coffee/tea. So that’s time saved in the kitchen which you can use elsewhere!

If you have a variation of this kheer which you think will work great, please do try and share your feedback with us. We would love to try it as well!

Author: Vaijayanthi

Vaijayanthi is a freelance business writer and full-time gardener. She coaches people on adopting a chemical-free lifestyle through her initiative called the Kaustubam for Sustainable Living Practices. She also conducts various physical workshops and training sessions on sustainable living and Gardening for children in Bengaluru through the initiative The Happy Child.

Carrot/Beetroot Kheer – A healthy morning drink

Carrot/Beetroot Kheer

Ingredients:

  1. One Carrot OR Beetroot
  2. 2 -3 medium size pieces of Coconut (Or a bit less than half a crown)
  3. 5 – 6 spoons of powdered Jaggery/Country Sugar (Depending on how sweet you want it)
  4. A bunch of Coriander Leaves
  5. A piece or two of Ginger
  6. 4-5 Elachi

Carrot Kheer (Skip the curry leaves shown in the picture)

Method:

  1. In a blender or mixie, grind all the ingredients listed together
  2. For children, filter the liquid and separate the fiber out
  3. For adults, you may consume the juice as-is with the fiber if possible else you may filter the fiber out as well. Feed the pulp to your plants/compost.
  4. Your super healthy Curry leaves kheer is ready. Pour into a re-usable glass and enjoy the innumerable health benefits.

Few Health Benefits:

  1. Carrot is extremely good for eyesight and skin.
  2. Beetroot is good for Iron and Magnesium and helps increase Haemoglobin in Blood.
  3. Both Carrot and Beetroot helps increase immune power and are a good source of vitamins and minerals.

Author: Vaijayanthi

Vaijayanthi is a freelance business writer and full-time gardener. She coaches people on adopting a chemical-free lifestyle through her initiative called the Kaustubam for Sustainable Living Practices. She also conducts various physical workshops and training sessions on sustainable living and Gardening for children in Bengaluru through the initiative The Happy Child.

Curry Leaves Kheer – A healthy morning drink

Curry Leaves Kheer

Ingredients:

  1. Two handsful of Curry Leaves
  2. 2 -3 medium size pieces of Coconut (Or a bit less than half a crown)
  3. 5 – 6 spoons of powdered Jaggery/Country Sugar (Depending on how sweet you want it)
  4. A bunch of Coriander Leaves
  5. A piece or two of Ginger
  6. 4-5 Elachi

Curry Leaves Kheer (you may additionally add a carrot or beetroot piece as well)

Method:

  1. In a blender or mixie, grind all the ingredients listed together
  2. For children, filter the liquid and separate the fiber out
  3. For adults, you may consume the juice as-is with the fiber if possible else you may filter the fiber out as well. Feed the pulp to your plants/compost.
  4. Your super healthy Curry leaves kheer is ready. Pour into a re-usable glass and enjoy the innumerable health benefits.

Few Health Benefits:

  1. Extremely good for your hair and scalp; Promotes hair growth and controls hair fall
  2. Helps increase digestive power and heals stomach ulcers
  3. Good for dealing with women health related problems
  4. The Kheer is also a complete nutritionally balanced drink – Curry leaves provide Iron, Magnesium, and Calcium, Jaggery provides Carbohydrates and Iron, Coriander helps balance the heat generated by Iron (compensating excess pitta), and Coconut acts a natural source of rich Protein, and Ginger helps increase digestive power.

 

Author: Vaijayanthi

Vaijayanthi is a freelance business writer and full-time gardener. She coaches people on adopting a chemical-free lifestyle through her initiative called the Kaustubam for Sustainable Living Practices. She also conducts various physical workshops and training sessions on sustainable living and Gardening for children in Bengaluru through the initiative The Happy Child.

Watermelon Granita

Watermelon Granita:
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Ingredients

Watermelon – deseeded and cut into slices
Lemon juice – 1 to 2 tbsp
Sweetener – honey/sugar (not required if watermelon is sweet enough)
Mint leaves – 8 to 10 leaves

Method

In a blender, crush together all the above ingredients into a slush consistency ( use pulse option, don’t make into juice consistency). Freeze in a closed container for 3 hrs. Take it out and crumble using a fork. Again freeze till serving time. While serving, take it out and serve immediately.