MINTY VEG YOGHURT SALAD (RAITA) AND A POST ON A HERB-MINT

MINTY VEG YOGHURT SALAD (RAITA)
AND POST ON A HERB- MINT

EDITED: This recipe was published in the local Newspaper of Airdrie "Here's the Scoop" on 31st March 2017.

Mint is a powerful herb, which has a freshening flavour. That is the reason; it is used in many modern products like toothpastes, chewing gum, mouth fresheners, chocolates, inhalers etc. In India, I have seen mint capsules (Pudin hara) are available for indigestion, which is a very effective medicine to calm stomach cramps.

 

This is a tender herb like coriander and basil. These tender herbs are not used, straight in the pot, while cooking or baking an item, because chances are excessive heat will cause the mint leaves to lose their colour, aroma and nutrients during the process of cooking. Their optimum benefits can only be obtained when they are garnished fresh on top of food.

 

Normally, we use fresh green mint leaves which are easily available everywhere. In the absence of fresh mint, dry mint leaves can also be used. Dried mint leaves give almost the same flavour and taste like the fresh ones. I use these dried mint leaves to garnish veg and fruit salads, yoghurt raitas, chats and drinks etc.

 

It is very easy to dry the mint leaves, they can be dried in the shade and don’t need to be directly in the sun. The best place can be the dining table because mint leaves need a shady area to dry out. If mint leaves are dried in the sun, the colour and aroma will not be sustained. I always dry extra mint leaves and keep it for future use, these dry leaves can last in a glass jar for many months. That's how I do it – after rinsing the leaves with the stems, I spread them on a kitchen towel in a shady area. Next day I transfer them on a kitchen paper, they can take around 2-3 days to dry completely.  When they are dried, I crush the dry leaves in small pieces and fill them in a glass jar. This can last on the shelf for many months.

 

In Indian cuisine, a very tasty and flavourful mint chutney is made with fresh mint leaves, which is a famous restaurant chutney, available and served in almost all Indian restaurants with fritters and samosas in India and abroad. Apart from the freshness, aroma and taste of this mint leaves chutney, it has a nice pleasing green colour.

It is also very easy to grow mint. If you are planning to grow some mint leaves, take some stems and put in a jar with some fresh water, change the water every day. Within few days you will see the roots in the jar, as you can see in my picture. Within a few days, you may see plenty of roots in the jar, then transfer them in a pot with some nice soil. Mint plant needs a lot of sunlight and dripping water, I mean the soil should always be moist. I had grown mint leaves, many times in my kitchen garden when I lived in Africa.

Apart from such a nice flavour, mint leaves have many health benefits, check this website-organic facts.net

 

This is a very simple but tasty salad or a side dish, in which I have just folded the fresh vegetables in yoghurt and added some spices and garnished it with fresh mint. 

 

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 500 ml Greek yoghurt
• 100 grams cucumber (1/4 English cucumber)
• 100 grams tomato (one medium)
• 100 grams boiled potato (one medium)
• 50 grams onion ( one small)
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed roasted cumin seeds
• Few mint leaves to garnish

METHOD

• Chop all vegetables except onions into small pieces
• Finely chop the onion, and mix with other vegetables.
• Mix salt, black pepper, cumin and Himalayan pink salt in yoghurt.
• Fold yoghurt in all the vegetables and garnish with fresh chopped mint leaves and keep it in the fridge.
• Serve cold. This can be served to 4-6 people as a salad or a side dish.

I am sharing this recipe as my blog post entry to Hearth and Soul blog party, Sunday Food and Fitness party, Sweet Inspiration link party, Cook blog share party, Healthy Living Link party.  Meat less Monday, and Fiesta Friday link party. co host  Indian curry  and Margy's blog and Eat your greens party   and with I am pinnable party  and with Healthy Living link party. and with Cook once and eat twice linky

 

RAINBOW FRUIT SALAD AND A POST ON A SPICE- HIMALAYAN PINK SALT

RAINBOW FRUIT SALAD AND A POST ON A SPICE- HIMALAYAN PINK SALT

Himalayan pink salt is used a lot in Indian cuisine, it is considered to be the best salt for cooking, because of its amazing taste and health benefits. In the Hindi language, it is called “kala namak or sendha namak”. In English, it is also called rock salt which is still hand mined in Punjab, Pakistan. It is also produced in other Asian countries like India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. It comes in powdered as well as crystal forms.

Since my childhood, I have used this salt, because it was always available in my mum's kitchen. In my mum's kitchen, it was readily available on the dining table, for us, to add on top of salads and drinks if required to be added on top. I remember, in my childhood, when we brothers and sisters had a mild disturbance in our stomach, my mom would say, “ Take a pinch of kala namak (pink salt) and drink a glass of water, you will be fine.” I used to think, how come this salt can work as a medicine but it worked for us. In that era, in India, mum's were using their traditional knowledge, which was based on Ayurveda to treat small problems at home.

Ayurveda is an ancient Indian science of healing naturally, with the help of plants, herbs, spices and other natural things. This Himalayan pink salt has a specific place in Ayurveda, where it can be used for treating high blood pressure, balancing our body's acidity and alkaline, and can effectively detoxify human body. 

This salt is used in Indian and South Asian cuisines as a condiment in many dishes like raitas, fruit salads, chutneys, chats, pickles etc. This salt has a distinctive flavour which can be really enjoyed when it is added to the dishes which are ready to eat. For example- fresh veg salads, fruit salads, different types of raitas, (when we add cut or diced vegetables in yoghurt) and in many chutneys, dips, pesto and chats for garnishing on top. Since is it considered to be a cooling spice, it is also added to beverages like lemonade, orange squash or different types of savoury lassis (savoury yoghurt drink). It is also sprinkled on chips and fritters. If it is used during the process of cooking, we may still enjoy the health benefits but the aroma of the salt can disappear during cooking. Chat masala which is an Indian blend of spices, black salt is the main ingredient in it.

This pink salt is appreciated by some vegans in dishes to mimic the taste of eggs for example to season tofu. This pink salt is considered as a cooling spice in Ayurveda and is used as a laxative and digestive aid. This salt is also used to treat hysteria and for making toothpaste by combing it with other mineral and plant ingredients. ( Source- Wikipedia)

 Note-  I am not advertising any pink salt.This is a picture for my readers.

It is considered to be the purest salt which is used in culinary, therapeutic and cosmetic uses. Check this website.

Coming to the recipe of no cooking and no baking. This fruit salad can go with any meal as a side dish or can be eaten as a starter.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 English cucumber
• 1 big apple (200 grams)
• 1 big pear (200 grams)
• 200 grams strawberries
• 100 grams blueberry
• 1 big mango ( 200 grams)
• Half sweet melon ( 200 grams)
• 2 bananas medium size
• 2 kiwi ( 200 grams)
• Himalayan pink salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp dry mint
• 1 tbsp chat masala ( optional)

METHOD

• Wash all the fruits thoroughly and chop them into small pieces.
• Mix them all in a big bowl.
• Sprinkle himalayan pink salt, black pepper, chat masala and dried mint.
• Serve immediately.
  
  
  
  

  
  

  I am sendIng this recipe as my blog post entry to Real Food Friday, and Sweet inspiration party, and with Sunday Fitness and food, and with Cook Blog Share and Hearth and Soul blog hop and with Tasty Tuesday, and with way wow link party, and with Fiesta Friday and with Food Year link up 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  
  
  

  

  
  
  

GRILLED BABY POTATOES AND CREAMY BROCCOLI SALAD

GRILLED BABY POTATOES AND CREAMY BROCCOLI SALAD

Last year, around Christmas I made some cookies, which I had posted on my blog, they were soooo tasty that I gave them the name “Eat sum more Christmas cookies”. I thought it was a fantastic idea to give that name. Even on my blog people liked that name, some even appreciated it. But that was a festive season and everybody was in a festive mood.

I wish I could give some interesting name to this recipe too- like “Christmas on a plate” :). I do not know what people will think about it, but I hope you will like it. This idea came to my mind because this dish is so colourful, and three dominating colours of this dish - green, white and red appear at the same time on a plate.

Few months back, when I was watching Master chef India, the first vegetarian master chef TV show. I really liked some of the names given to the prepared dishes by some contestants in it. In a few episodes of that show, the judges gave some strange combinations of ingredients to the contestants, e.g. sweet potato, orange, cheese, lemon grass and oats (I just made up this combination, I do not exactly remember, what were the ingredients). The contestants were asked to choose at least three of them to make a snack item. I remember one contestant, after preparing a snack item, gave the name to the dish “Tea with mom”. The other one gave the name “Shadow of umbrella”. Judges laughed and appreciated the names given to the dishes by the contestants. Sometimes they look funny, but if they correspond together with the idea or some incidence with the dish they make sense to me, I really liked those names.

 Also, a very well known Indian chef, Sanjeev Kapoor, has given a name “Shaam Savera” to a dish on his website. Shaam savera means “Evening-morning”, in this dish two contrast colours are used, that is, dark green and white. It is spinach and paneer balls in the tomato curry. Wow, what a nice name.

Coming to the recipe: this is a low fat recipe because very little oil is used in potatoes and low fat cream cheese is used with broccoli. I have sprinkled paprika on top of the potatoes to give a nice colour and slight taste of chilli because paprikas give more colour than heat. This plate can be served as a full meal, as vegetables are there, protein is there in cream cheese and carb is also there in the form of potatoes.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

• 500 grams baby potatoes.
• 1 bunch of broccoli (500 grams)
• 2 big tomatoes sliced
• 150 grams low fat cream cheese
• 2 tbs milk
• 2 tbs olive oil
• Salt, black pepper and paprika to taste
• Few coriander leaves for garnishing.

METHOD

• Boil potatoes till they are well done.
• When cold, cut potatoes in half, toss with olive oil and spread on an oven tray, sprinkle paprika and salt on it.
• Heat the grill at 200 degrees C, roast potatoes for 10-15 minutes till they look golden brown and crispy.
• Slice broccoli in small pieces, either steam it for 10 minutes or heat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes, till tender but crunchy.
• Leave the cream cheese out of the fridge to come to room temperature, mix milk, salt and black pepper in it.
• When broccoli is cold, mix the cream cheese mixture in it.
• Serve with sliced tomatoes, garnishe with green coriander.

I am sharing this recipe as my blog post entry for Meatless Monday, and with What'd you do this weekend, and with Tasty Tuesday Creative kids, and Cook blog share, and with wonderful Wednesday and with Healthy living link party, and my two fav things on Thursday, and with Fiesta Friday, and with Real Food Friday and Food and Fitness Friday, and with Friday free for all, and with Way wow link party, and with No Crouton required together with Tinned tomatoes, and with Extra Veg for January together with Michelle,