Home-made Yogurt

How to make home-made yogurt :

Making your own yogurt really isn’t that difficult. If you follow some basic steps religously, then it should be a piece of cake. It was a few trial & error episodes with me andfinally happened to be successful. I have been making my own for a while. I thought i could share my tips here for you all.

Ingredients :
2 cups of Milk (wither whole or 2% but not the fat free)
1 tsp of starter yogurt ( Any store bought yogurt with active/live culture in it. If you read that is written in the yogurt tub , it would say something like "All Natural with active or live culture)- keep it beaten well without lumps. And it should be in room temperature.

Procedure :

Pour the milk i na container and put it either on stove top or microwave and heat it until just before it could boil and raise up . You donot have to leave it until the milk would boil and raise up the vessel. Allow it to cool for a while . When u put in your last finger into the milk it should be luke warm as a baby's milk , that would be the perfect temperature.

Add the starter yogurt to the lukewarm milk. and mix it well with an egg beater or a spatula.

Pour the milk in a container.

Since i live in cold place, i usually set up my oven for 5 to 10 mins at minimum temperature and put the container inside the oven wrapped with a blanker/towel. Now remember the most important thing is once you have set up the container in a place, you should not disturb it at all.

Leave it just for 8 hours and here you go , all natural and homemade yogurt!

Note :

Most important thing to be taken care of , while making yogurt at home is

1. Temperature of the milk

2. Starter yogurt with live/active culture. Starter yogurt at room temperature. well beaten without lumps. And just the right amount, say 1 tsps for 2 cups of milk.

why homemade is good over store bought yogurt?

Freshly home-made yogurt is filled with countless numbers of beneficial bacteria that help digestion and kill harmful viruses. The key here is fresh yogurt as compared to commercial store bought yogurt. The commercil yogurt that has been sitting on the shelves at the grocery store does not have the fresh active bacteria that homemade yogurt does.Therefore eat as fresh as you can. Have a healthy life.

Uppu urundai (or) Kara Kozhu Kattai (or) Steamed Spicy Rice Dumplings

(Yay i finally posted my own picture for this post!!!)

This snack is very popular in Madras and one of my recent favourite. Here goes the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup rice rava (broken rice) (or you can break it in the mixer as u like)
2 cups of water
2 tsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp bengalgram dal
1/2 tsp blackgram dal
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
Few curry leaves
2 red chillies cut into small pieces
1/2 cup Grated coconut

Method:
Heat oil, add mustard, bengalgram dal and blackgram dal. When it splutters,add the red chillies, ginger, curry leaves and water. Let it come to a boil. Now add the rice rava to it and cook for 2 mins. Allow it to cool ; Add grated coconut to this and shape them into tubes and steam them for about 6 to 7 minutes.Serve with chutney of your choice, sambar, mor kozhambu, or kathirikai kothsu.

Ven Pongal

Ven Pongal is a special dish made especially on Pongal (Sankranti).This is the south-indian kind of khichdi. It is best when served with sambar , Vadai and coconut chutney . Please check my next post to get the recipe for Vadai ( both urud dal and masala vadai).



Ingredients:

Rice (uncooked): 1 cup

Moong dal: 1cup

Cooking oil: 1 teaspoon

Ghee: 1 teaspoon (optional)

Chopped cashews: 1 teaspoon

Black pepper powder*: ½ teaspoon

Cumin powder*: ½ teaspoon

Asafoetida (hing): a pinch

Curry Leaves: a few


*I use the black pepper and cumin powders as it helps me to control the spice level better and the pongal is evenly spiced. Traditionally, whole black peppers and cumin seeds are used. If you like the bite of whole black pepper, you may use whole spices instead.


Method:

1. Pressure cook rice and dal in a pressure cooker with about 5 cups of water, salt and some turmeric.
2. In a large, heavy-bottomed vessel, heat the oil and ghee. When well heated, add the cashews and fry.
3. When the cashews are slightly browned, add curry leaves.
4. When they are slightly roasted, add asafoetida, black pepper powder, and cumin powder.
5. When the cashews are nicely browned, add the rice and dal mixture.
6. The pongal should be a nice mushy mass. Else you can add some water to it and stir well on a low flame until it becomes a mushy mass.Serve hot with some curry leaves and black peppercorns on top of it.

Fresh start

I think i have shed few kids recipes here which are slightly different with some nutritional value. Im sure many of you would have enjoyed it. I would like to ask u to leave all your comments in the comments form , related to each post, as i have been recieving all the comments to my email id. Thanks for your support once again. Will start again with our regular recipes....

Kids recipe - Episode 7 - Beetroot veggie

Ingredients :

Beetroot 2 small size – slice each beetroot into 4 portions

1 carrot (about 150g) – cut into chunks

1/4 cup of sweetcorn or baby corns (Optional)

1 small onion – chopped coarsely

Garlic - grated - a pinch

12-15 red dates - remove seeds

200g meat (checken or goat or fish or crab)– cut into chunks (boiled or stir fried and made tender for toddlers) or grounded.

Low sodium - chicken or meat stock(Home-made is better)

Salt to taste

Preparation :

Stir fry onions, beetroot, carrot , with some olive oil and ass grated garlic for flavour. Now add meat to this and fry until tender. Add some chicken or meat stock to it with some salt according to the taste and allow it to get cooked well. You can also pressure cook these contents . You can either make it to soupy consistency or a gravy consistency according to your taste.

Serve hot with some cheese or crem on top .

Nutritional facts :

Beetroot is a rich source of carbohydrates, a good source of protein, and has high levels of important vitamins, minerals and micronutrients. It’s an excellent source of folic acid and is therefore recommended to women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
A number of different antioxidants are found in fruits and vegetables. These are important to human health because they prevent the oxidative processes that are thought to be the cause of many diseases. Betalins are a type of antioxidant found in beetroot in fairly large quantities. You don’t need to eat much beetroot to take in a beneficial amount of betalin.
Beetroot is a useful source of folate, with 100g of beetroot cooked in natural juices containing 42mcg (micrograms). Three baby beets (about 80g) contain approximately 17% of the Recommended Daily Allowance. Beetroot is also a good source of potassium and magnesium.

HeartBeetroot contains soluble fibre, which can help reduce blood cholesterol. It also contains ‘carotenoids’ and ‘flavonoids’, which help prevent LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol from being oxidised and deposited in the arteries.
Recent research has shown that beetroot can have a beneficial effect in lowering blood pressure. However you should be aware that the research was based on drinking ½ litre of (raw) beetroot juice a day, which may be a little extreme even for beetroot enthusiasts.
Brain, heart, bones
Cooked beetroot is a great source of folate that can protect you against high blood pressure, Alzheimer’s and dementia. It is also crucial to the development of a baby’s spinal cord during the first three months of pregnancy, so a good intake of folate is important to prevent spinal cord defects such as spina bifida.
WaistlineBeetroot is virtually fat free and low in calories. Although it has a ‘medium’ GI (Glycaemic Index) of 64, it has an extremely low GL (Glycaemic Load) of 2.9 which means it’s converted into sugars very slowly and therefore helps to keep blood sugar levels stable – which is good for the blood.

Kids recipe - Episode 6 - Pasta with avacado

Ingredients :

Pasta - about a bowl (well cooked)
Tomato puree ( or one quarter of a 15 ounce can of tomato sause)
Garlic - frated - a pinch
salt to taste
Avacado - riped (mashed)

Preparation :

Take a pan and heat it up with some olive oil. Add some mustard, and then add cooked pasta to it, saute them for a minute. Add tomato puree and cook well, or add the tomato sause and cook them well. Now remove it from fire and add mashes avacado to it.

Nutritional fact :

Low sugar
Contains fibre
Salt free
Contains vitamin A
Contains thiamin
Contains riboflavin
Good source of niacin
Good source of vitamin C
Contains magnesium
One cup of avocado provides one serve of vegetables

Kids recipe - Episode 5 - Steamed Cauliflower with Spinach

Steamed Cauliflower with Spinach:

Steam cauliflower until soft and make sure to press out all the liquid(Or you may even stir fry cauliflower first & add some water to boil it until soft). Drop a little raw spinach into boiling water for 15 - 20 seconds and drain. Stir it into the cauliflower. For extra flavor, you can add a little minced garlic and/or just a pinch of nutmeg.You can even add ricotta cheese to this.

This is a fantastic recipe for adults as well, if you want something low-carb to replace the mashed potatoes!

Nutritional fact :

Cauliflower: is an awesome vegetable, which is low in fat and calories, high in fiber, folacin, potassium, water and vitamin C, have a very high nutritional density.

Spinach :best method for eating this super green, leafy veggie is, frozen spinach might just be more nutritious than fresh. Has health-boosting carotenoids and the folate (a B vitamin) in spinach.

Ricotta cheese : has more calcium than other varities.

Kids recipe - Episode 4 - Chinese Corn and Crab Soup

Ingredients:

3 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) low-sodium chicken broth 2 cans (14 3/4 ounces each) no-salt-added,

cream-style corn1 can (6 ounces)

crabmeat1 teaspoon

grated ginger root or 1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1/8 teaspoon white pepper

4 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1/3 cup finely-chopped green onions

Preparation:

Put the chicken broth, corn, crabmeat, ginger, and pepper in a large saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Fold in the egg whites, and remove from the heat. Continue to stir gently until the egg white sets. Garnish with the green onions

Nutriton fact:

Crab meat is very healthy, good protein, low fat, very tasty. Also rich in Omega-3 fatty acids

Kids Recipe - Episode 3 - Maryland Crab Soup

Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 large potato, chopped
A pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tablespoons of Old Bay Seasoning (Note: More if you prefer spicy, less if you don't.)
2 - 14.5 ounce cans of diced tomatoes, drained
1- 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
1/2 of a 16 ounce package of frozen peas (Note: Normally lima beans are used for MCS)
1/2 of a 16 ounce package of frozen corn kernels2 cups of water1 pound of crab meat, rinsed and picked over for shells .

Preparation:
In a large stock pot sauté onions and potatoes with a little sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper until onions are tender and both onions and potatoes are slightly browned.
Next add Old Bay Seasoning and stir to coat.
Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, frozen peas and frozen corn, along with water and bring to a quick boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are fork tender.
Once potatoes are tender add crab and cook for 5 minutes to heat through. Serve immediately.

Notes: This soup is extremely easy to make and has a bit of a wow factor to it too. It is also very healthy, so that is always an added plus. You could use lima beans in place of the peas .

Nutitin facts:

Crab meat is very healthy, good protein, low fat, very tasty. Also rich in Omega-3 fatty acids.

Kids Recipe - Episode 2 -Halim

Halim is another Muslim's dish whichi learned through my friends Aliya & Maria. This dish is very nuitritious since it has many saoked whole grains and meat in it. I have slightly customised this recipe for kids. But generally this dish consumes a lot of cooking time if it has to be done authentically.

Ingredients :

Black gram/Urad Dal - 5 Tbsp

Bengal Gram/Channa Dal - 5 Tbsp

Split red gram/Toor Dal - 5 Tbsp

Split green gram/Moong Dal - 5 Tbsp

Meat or chicken - 1/2 Cup

Prep:

1. Soak all the grains/dal in seperately for about 3 hours. And pressure cook until extremely cooked say for about 10 to 12 whistles.

2.Now pressure cook the meat/chicken seperately until extremely cooked say for about 10 to 12 whistles.

3. Mash them both together to form a thick paste. And add salt and turmeric and let it cook for another 5 mins.

4. Saute the mixture with some splittered Lavan/Patta/2 Cardomom.

This dish is very nutritious so kids can only eat half or 3/4 of their usual quantity of this food.

Nutrition facts :
High in protein - helps in overall metabolism and building muscles.