Ancient Wisdom – Page 15 – Swarna Prashana

Thinai khichadi/ pongal (Foxtail millet)

Ingredients:

Foxtail millet : 1/4 cup
Moong dal : 2 table spoon
Shallots : 3 nos
Tomato : half ripe
Carrot : few diced pieces
Green peas: few nos
Jeera : half tsp
Pepper : 2 or 3 nos
Garlic : 2 pods
Dry chilli : tiny piece
Desi ghee 1 spoon
Salt as per taste

Method:

Soak moong dal n foxtail millet for half an hour.
Keep onion n tomatoes ready.
Cut the carrot into small dices.You can add any vegetables of your choice.
Add ghee to the cooker, once hot add jeera, pepper n allow it to splutter.
Add onion and fry for a min.
Add tomatoes n garlic fry for a min.
Add carrot n green peas n fry in low flame for a minute.
Finally add the soaked n rinsed millet n dal mixture..
Add water accordingly to the consistency you desire.
For kids, if it is a bit watery it is good else it will turn hard before you complete the task of feeding😬
Close the cooker and allow 5-6 whistles..
Yummy khichadi is ready.

Foxtail millet can be substituted with other Millets.

Author: Priyadarshini Somasundar

Priyadarshini is an Engineering graduate in Electronics and Communication. She used work for Dell, Later shifted to Chennai after marriage and worked in Ericsson as system analyst. I have always been passionate about our tradition and curious to know about our ancient wisdom and practices, which made me join this group. View all posts by Priyadarshini Somasundar

Homemade Healthy KinderJoy (Natural Choco balls / cakes)

Ingredients:

Scrapped Coconut : 1 cup
Organic Jaggery : 1.25 cup
Elaichi powder : a pinch
Fried cashew Optional
Desi cows ghee 2 tbl spoon

Method:

Spread the powdered jaggery in a vessel and add water till it is covered and heat till the jaggery is mixed well. Strain the mixture to remove impurities.

Now keep the jaggery mixture in a pan and heat till 1 string consistency.
Once it is arrived add the grated coconut and mix well. After 2 mins add the half of the ghee, elaichi powder and roasted cashew and combine everything.

Now add few drops of ghee to the plate and spread well.
Add the left out ghee to the jaggery coconut mixture. Once you find white bubbles in the sides, start blending it continuously. Just before it comes together as a mass, pour the mixture to the greased plate and allow it to cool.

Take the mixture and form into desired shapes. I had made into balls and squares.If you feel the mixture is sticky jus roll it in rice flour once.

I was about to name this dish as Chocolate balls as it was brown in colour, but to my daughter it looked and tasted like Kinderjoy choco ball.I was overwhelmed that i was able to satisfy my little angel’s urge for sugar candies which are chemical based through this homemade healthy Kinder joy!!! Do try this natural candy and share your feedback.

Author: Sri Nandhini Hari

I’m Sri Nandhini Hari, a B.Com & M.B.A finance post graduate and have worked in American Express Bank as an Asst. Manager and later with CTS as Financial Analyst. I have a passion towards our own tradition and culture and this has triggered me to share the natural and homemade products to a bigger community for the benefit of all. View all posts by Sri Nandhini Hari

Bajra Aval/Poha Veg Cutlet (Kambu Cutlet)

Ingredients:

Bajra/Kambu Aval/Poha – 2 cups
Peanuts – Handful
Boiled Potato – 2
Grated carrot – 1
Onion – 1
Pudina – 10 leaves
Ginger – 1 inch
Green chilly – 2
Salt to taste
Oil for cooking

Method:

Wash once and Soak Bajra Aval/Poha for 15 min.
Finely chop onion,ginger,green chilly and pudina leaves.
After 15 mins squeze the water from bajra poha and add it to mixing bowl.
(This excess squeezed water can be used for making some other dish)
Now add boiled mashed potato, grated carrot, onion, ginger, green chilly and pudina leaves and mix all the ingredients together.

Spread little oil in your palm and make small flat dumplings out of the mixture.
Heat a iron Tawa and pour few drops of oil.
Once its hot place these dumpling in the tawa and cook till golden brown by turning each cutlet now and then.
Put few drops of oil if necessary.

A Healthy lip smacking evening snack ready to be tasted!!!

Bajra Aval/Poha can be substituted with other Millets and flattened rice like Ragi aval, Black rice aval(Karuppu Kavuni), Diabetic/Arthirites Poha ( Kattuyanam), Normal Aval or Poha

Author: Sri Nandhini Hari

Subhashita #8 – Ajnyaana Timira

अज्ञानतिमिरान्धस्य ज्ञानाञ्जनशालाकया ।
चक्षुरुन्मीलितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥३॥

Ajnyaana-Timira-Andhasya Jnyaana-[Aa]n.jana-Shaalaakayaa |
Cakssur-Unmiilitam Yena Tasmai Shrii-Gurave Namah ||3||

Meaning:
3.1: (Salutations to the Guru) Who Removes the Darkness of Ignorance from our Blind (Inner) Eyes by applying the Collyrium of the Light of Knowledge.
3.2: By Whom our (Inner) Eyes are Opened; Salutations to that Guru.

Author: Roopa

By Roopa Prasanna I am a homemaker with two kids a son and a daughter aged 9 and 6 yrs respectively. I love telling stories to my kids. It has helped them to grow up better and they are more relaxed at the end of the day. My other hobbies are listening to music and reading. I have always believed our ancient wisdom holds the key to many of our questions. You can reach me at roopa.hebbar AT gmail.com View all posts by Roopa

Wheat Sweet Pancake

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat flour
Jaggery as per the sweetness
Water to dissolve the jaggery
Ghee

Method:
Take a pan and add the jaggery, pour water until jaggery is covered and heat it till jaggery dissolves.
Then filter it to remove impurities.

Now mix wheat flour and jaggery syrup together.
Add water if required to get the proper dosa batter consistency.
Heat a tawa spread a ladle of batter to get the pancake shape and sprinkle little ghee.

Cook both sides well.

Mashed banana can also be included with this batter for extra taste.

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. View all posts by Saranya

Kattuyanam cone dosa

Ingredients:

Kattuyanam(Diabetic and Arthritis) rice_1cup
Urud dal_1/3
Fenugreek _10 grms

Method:

Wash and soak the rice and urud dal(3:1) separetly for 4 to 5 hrs.
Soak fenugreek along with urud dal.
Grind it and allow it to ferment for 5 to 6 hrs.
Now the batter is readyto make dosas.

Heat a iron dosa pan and once its hot pour a laddle of batter and spread thinly in circular motion to get crisp dosas.
Tips :u can make cone dosas by cutting the dosa in from one side till the center and roll it to a cone with the spatula.

Crispy healthy cone shaped dosas are ready.

Author: Seetha Lakshmi

I'm a homemaker and a mother of 7yrs old son.I strongly believe in Thirumoolar's word"Food is medicine". My quest regarding ancient food recipes started a year back. I'm very happy to share and learn through this initiative from Swarna prashana. View all posts by Seetha Lakshmi

Kambu / Bajra Dosa

Ingredients:

Kambu/bajra – 1 cup
Idly Rice – 1/4 cup
Whole Urad dal – 1/4 cup
Fenugreek seeds – 1 tsp
Salt as required

Method:

Wash and soak all the ingredients together for 4 to 5 hours.Grind it to a smooth batter adding water when needed. Add salt and mix well.
Allow it to ferment for 5-6 hours.

Heat a Dosa pan and pour a laddle of the batter and move it ina circular movement to make these healthy dosa’s.

Author: Saranya

Immunity Aval/Poha Mixture – Crunchy Snack

Ingredients:

1. Immunity Aval – 1.5 cup
2. Peanuts – Handfull
3. Fried gram/Pottu kadalai – Handfull
4. Cashew 8 to 10(broken into half
5. Curry leaves – 6 to 7 leaves
6. Salt to taste
7. Chilly powder
8. Hing – a pinch
9. Oil for frying

Method:

Keep all the ingredients ready.
Heat oil in a wok.
Once oil is heated, add Peanuts and fry till it is slightly brown
Remove them and drain excess oil in tissue paper.
Then add fried gram and cashew in the same way.
Now add Immunity Aval/Poha and fry them till the shh sound ceases.
and Drain it in a tissue paper.
At the end add Curry leaves and fry till crisp.
Transfer all the item to a big bowl and add salt, chilly powder, hing and mix well

Crunchy healthy snack is ready for our tea time.

Immunity Aval/poha can be replaced with other traditinal flattened rice/poha varieties like Black rice(Karuppu Kavuni),Diabetic/Arthirites ( Kattuyanam)

Author: Sri Nandhini Hari

Remedies for Common Cold With Simple Herbs

Fight Common Cold With Simple Herbs From Your Kitchen.

Learn the ancient ways to cure and prevent cold

There are various way to cure Cold. At our whatsapp group, we have plenty of parents sharing their age old home remedies to each other. We have made an attempt to collect all those and share it for anyone. Apart from the information we share from our group, We have gone little deeper into ancient siddha, ayurveda and unai script and shared few remedies.

When you try these do share your feedback and or if you have any more tips so share it at comments.

These are the top 5 home remedies to cure the common cold:

Drink ginger tea – It acts as a decongestant, helps stimulate slow digestion and improves the taste buds too.
Lemon juice with water and honey. It soothes sore throat, boosts vitamin C intake and releases excess cough.
Garlic contains antiseptic property, garlic in soups or supplements is the best remedy.
Tulsi and long pepper in equal quantity, ground together and rolled into small pills, take 3-4 times daily. Tulsi has antiviral, antioxidant property. It is good immune-modulator. Long pepper relieves inflammation.
5 gm ginger juice mixed with one amla (Indian gooseberry) juice and one teaspoon honey with a little water. It boosts body immunity and acts as a decongestant.
Take one tablespoon of grated fresh ginger, one teaspoonful of cinnamon powder and one teaspoonful of licorice powder. Add all these together to one litre water and boil on slow fire for ten minutes till about one fourth (250 ml.) of it is left. This drink can be taken three times in a day. Honey can added as a sweetener.
If you are unable to sneeze or blow nose to open the blocked passage, then, here’s solution. A powder made of equal parts of cinnamon, black pepper, cardamoms and the seeds of Nigella sativa (krishna jeeraka)
To stop a running nose, you can apply the paste made of nutmeg (jaiphal) and cow’s milk along with a little opium on the nose and forehead. to be taken as a snuff.
Black pepper and long pepper, taken along with dried ginger, is supposed to help chronic inflammation of the mucous membrane, such as those lining the throat, sinuses, and lungs. During cold and flu, the body loses moisture, and mucous becomes thick and difficult to expel. Thick mucous provides a place for germs to multiply. Trikatu, the combination of the above three, can help by keeping the mucous in the lungs wet and fluid-like, and decreasing inflammation of the respiratory tract. You can take half a teaspoonful of Trikatu powder mixed with honey.
Drink a glass of hot water mixed with the juice of two lemons and sugar to taste. Take the same at bedtime as it gives relief from nasal catarrh.
Simple Ayurvedic remedies can play a very effective role as first aid for many common ailments, such as earache, backache and diarrhea. Try these simple treatments and stay healthy in a natural way.
1. Vyoshadi Vatakam
2. Agastya Rasayanam
3. Mustarishtm + Amritarishtam
4. Lakshmi Vilas Ras 1-1-1 after food
5. Sudarasanavati
6. Sitopaladi Choornam
7. Fluvin
8. Talisapatradi Choornam
½ tsp black pepper powder + ½ tsp dry ginger powder + 10 Tulasi leaves boil in 1 cup water make tea and take 2-3 times a day
½ tsp turmeric in hot milk 2-3 times per day
Boil 1 piece ginger in 1 cup water and drink
Juice of Tulasi leaves – 1tsp + Ginger juice 1 tsp + Betel leaf juice 1 tsp with honey 4 times per day
½ tsp – Turmeric powder in milk – Mix nicely 15 times a day
Common salt +2 black pepper combine chew every four hours
Yashtimadhu Kashyam +1 tsp honey
1 tsp tulasi juice +10 ml honey 3 times a day
1 tsp onion juice + 10 ml honey 3 times a day

Prevention is definitely better than cure, here are ways to prevent it altogether:

Cover the head and neck with clothes
Gargle with hot saline water
Take fresh fruits and vegetables to boost your immunity
Keep yourself warm at all times
Do not sleep during the day
Do not sleep late
Do not share towels and glasses
Avoid deep fried and processed food
If there is uncontrolled sneezing, excess thirst, foul smell in nose, insomnia, fever of 102 F or more, consult your doctor as soon as possible.

Little millet(samai) veg pulao

Ingredients:

Little millet_1cup
Onion_1
Tomato_1
Green chillies_3
Cardomom,Cinnamon,
Bayleaf,Cloves_each 1.
Chopped vegetables_1 cup
(Carrot,beans,greenpeas,knolkhoz ,capsicum,etc..)
Ginger garlic paste_1 tbl spn
Garam masala_1tea spoon
Cold presses groundnut oil.
Salt.
Method:
First wash the little millet and soak it in water for 15_ 20 mints.
Heat oil in the cooker
Add cinnamon, cardomom,bayleaf,clove and saute it.
Then add ginger garlic paste,garam masala,onion ,chillies saute it until the onion turns light brown.
Then add the vegetables.
Pour 11/2 cup of water ,allow it to boil
Then add the drained little millet to it
Add some mint leaves before closing the lid,leave 1 whistle and simmer it for just 2 mints.
After opening the lid add 1 tbl spoon lime juice.
Garnish it with coriander leaves n serve with Raitha.

Little millet can be substituted with other Millet varieties.