Pepper and Cumin - Remedy for relieving upset stomach

Today's post is about the simplest but very natural home remedy for those days when you feel heaviness in your stomach and want something soothing to help make you feel lighter. Cumin and Pepper have always been the stars of many medicinal preparations connected with stomach problems. This recipe is also from Amma's kitchen! Amma uses this combination of Pepper and Cumin in many dishes - Rasam, Thogayal (wet thick chutney) etc. This powder that uses Cumin and Pepper (Milagu Jeeragam) is usually mixed with rice which is called SAMBA RICE. Its very simple yet a comfort food that will surely make you feel much better especially if you have been experiencing heaviness in your tummy!

 











Ingredients:

Cooked Rice - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 teaspoon
Cashews - a few
Green chilli - 1
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1 teaspoon
Curry leaves - a few
Asafoetida - a pinch - optional

To dry roast and powder:

Pepper corns - 1 teaspoon
Cumin Seeds - 2 teaspoons
Salt - To taste

Method:

For the powder

1. Heat a pan and dry roast pepper corns first, cumin seeds next and switch off the flame and dry roast salt for a few seconds.
2. Powder these in a spice grinder or mixie coarsely. You can even use mortar and pistil. It is preferable to keep the powder on the coarser side.

For the rice

1. Heat up the ghee
2. Put the mustard seeds and when they stop spluttering, add the urad dal.
3. Half way through urad dal turning golden brown, add the cashews
4. If you are using green chilli add it at this point.
5. Add the springs of curry leaves and Asafoetida.
6. Add the cooked rice, the powder and mix well.

Enjoy! 

Back to blogging with Amma's special recipe! - Drumstick leaves chutney powder

Its been more than 4 years since I posted anything in this blog. I cant even start telling you about how many changes we have seen in these 4 years - all for good though!!!

 

Today I am sharing a new recipe that my mom (Amma) created a few days ago. I have grown up eating various types of chutney powders (Podi as we used to call in Tamil language) - Kariveppilai podi (chutney powder made with curry leaves), Thengai Podi (Chutney powder with coconut as the main ingredient), Kadugu Podi (made with mustard seeds), Paruppu Podi (made with lentils) etc.

 

These are best enjoyed mixed with hot rice, a dollop of ghee or a spoonful of aromatic Sesame oil. These are extremely adaptable in terms of their use, you can even use this as a chutney powder when you  have your idlis or dosas. (South Indian breakfast items).

 

So the other day she told me she had made Drumstick Leaves podi and I was curious! I thought this would be a brilliant opportunity to resume posting wonderful, wholesome and nutritious recipes in this blog starting with her new invention!

 

Drumstick leaves are very rich in Iron. Its botanical name is Moringa Oleifera. The leaves are the most nutritious part of the plant, being a significant source of B vitamins, vitamin C, provitamin A as beta-carotene, vitamin K, manganese, and protein, among other essential nutrients. When compared with common foods particularly high in certain nutrients per 100 g fresh weight, cooked moringa leaves are considerable sources of these same nutrients. Moringa leaves have been proposed as an iron-rich food source (31% Daily Value per 100 g consumed, table) to combat iron deficiency.

Okay! So we know it is good, right!!! now off to the recipe!

You need:

Drumstick leaves - about half a bunch - cleaned, dry and leaves removed from the stem - yielding roughly 2 cups packed
Salt - Preferably rock salt - to taste
Asafoetida - In the picture is Asafoetida in a solid form but you can also use powder
Dry red chillies - 2 - 3
Urad dal - 4 teaspoons
Channa dal - 4 teaspoons

Method:

Very simple!

1. Heat a pan / kadai.
2. Dry roast red chillies, urad dal and channa dal one by one and keep them in a separate plate.
3. In the same pan heat up half a teaspoon oil and once it is hot fry the asafoetida (whether using solid form or powder form). Make sure it does not burn, keep the heat medium low.
4. Switch off the flame / heat and put the leaves in the hot kadai. At this point we are only aiming at heating the leaves up not roasting. This actually helps in getting rid of some of the water content from the leaves to increase the shelf life of the powder and to avoid it being a wet chutney as opposed to dry!
5. Once everything cools down a bit, transfer the roasted / fried contents to a mixer / blender, add the salt and grind to a powder.
6. Store in an airtight container.

Mix a good 2 spoons of this powder on top of hot rice, add ghee or sesame oil, mix and enjoy!

 

Amma's tip: While preparing any dry chutney powder, if you add the salt to the warm kadai and give a stir (like when we put the leaves) it gets rid of all the moisture from the powder itself and thus prolonging its shelf life and it tastes fresh!

 See you guys soon again with a new recipe (and hopefully better photos)!!! Thanks for reading! Thanks to Amma for the recipe!