How to adopt to spicy food:-beginer guide

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Adapt to Spicy Food Spicy food is enjoyed the world over. In some
countries, like Indonesia, spicy foods are even fed to newborns and
only the dying are kept from enjoying everything the spices have to
offer. Eating spicy foods will open up a whole new world of culinary
delights to those who dare to venture. Steps Tips and Warnings
1 Start with foods that are only slightly more spicy than what you
are currently used to. As you eat these foods, note which spices you
like, which you don't, and whether they cause any side effects.
2 Once you grow comfortable with the new level of spice in your food,
move up to the next. As you move up, go with those spices, whether for
heat or flavor, that you prefer.
3 Continue increasing the amount of spice in your food as you adjust
to each new level. However, give yourself time to adapt to each
increase in flavor and heat. As you do so, you will open up a wide
range of food options you might never have considered trying.

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What’s your ideal breakfast?

What’s your ideal breakfast?

Will it be parathas, muesli or eggs for breakfast? Indrani Rajkhowa Banerjee explores options for the most balanced meal to start your day

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
CRAVING parathas for breakfast but the calorie content scares you off ? Or is rolling dough too cumbersome? For a generation on the go, breakfast, considered the most important meal of the day, has been lost in a flurry of “expert tips” doled out by health magazines and videos. It has no fixed timings and no fixed palate. If it’s muesli one day, it’s poori-sabzi the next. With so many do’s and don’ts, where do you look for advice? Although the preferred palate for breakfast remains Indian, inertia and health fads let convenience take precedence over health benefits.
We know the awful things a skipped breakfast can do to our body, but the question is of rustling up the ideal morning meal. One quick tip, say nutritionists, is to “strive for five”. Include at least five grams of fibre and five grams of protein in every breakfast. Here, your options are many. The markets are flooded with a variety of canned and packaged foods — from readymade poha to frozen hams and sausages. There’s nothing that you can’t have! However, some wise judgment on your part will help.
Most fitness experts and dieticians vouch for the goodness of a freshlychopped and cooked
morning meal over packaged food. Says Honey Khanna, nutritionist, Max Healthcare, “Packaged cereals have sugar granules, which can harm diabetics or weight watchers.”
Though Indians generally prefer to drink tea or coffee with the first meal of the day, a glass of canned juice is fast replacing traditional drinks. “Packaged juice,” according to Dr Sunita Roy Chowdhury, chief nutritionist, Rockland Hospital, “has empty calories; it consists of just sugar and water.”
Go for freshly squeezed juice. Even better is a bowl of freshly cut fruits, because fruits lose their fibre content when turned into juice. If you are a hardcore muesli and oats person, take a cue from actor and fitness expert Rahul Dev. His mom believes in serving homemade porridges which she roasts and grinds at home. When it comes to the traditional Indian breakfast, the general consensus is that it’s time-consuming, oily and fatty, but tasty! Restaurateur Shiv Karan Singh has an interesting observation, “Indians love to fill themselves. And not many can live without a hearty traditional breakfast, Indian or English. The newfound craving for cornflakes and sprouts is a fad created by the with-it generation.” Smart marketing by FMG companies can be one reason why interest in traditional Indian breakfast meals has dwindled, but when it comes to the ideal breakfast, south Indian snacks of idli-dosa-upma win hands down in the fat battle. High in protein and carbohydrates, while a morning breakfast of idli-sambar-chiku and coffee has 9.3 per cent protein content in it, the dosa-chutney-papaya-tea has 6.7 per cent proteins. Other suggestions are a glass of lassi with a bowl of sprouts or dalia-lassi-egg white combo. A healthy breakfast or nashta has been historically considered important to people in India. For ages,
north Indians have had roti and
parathas for their nashta, accompanied by pickles and curd, whereas
people of western India eat dhokla
and milk. South Indians mostly have idlis and dosas, generally accompanied by various chutneys served on a banana leaf. In the eastern parts, flat rice mixed with curd or milk and a dash of jaggery have been a staple diet.
T h e r e are also m a ny my t h s around breakfast. A common belief is that carbohydrates and proteins should not be mixed. But experts say a balanced meal must have a combination of both. Rahul Dev busts another myth, “Carbohydrates are not evil. They are harmful if taken at night, when the body rests, but as the only food for the brain, carbohydrates are a must for breakfast." Balancing carbohydrates (preferably from whole grains like chapatti, bread, oats, dalia, sooji, poha; fruit and vegetables) with some protein (milk, curd and sprouts) and a little fat will do a better job of staving off hunger until lunch.
Another mistake most Indians make, observes food expert Rupali Dean, is to have cereal with bread. “They do not realise that cereal is bread too! This increases the load of carbohydrates in the body. Also, two slices of bread do not make for a hearty English breakfast. It’s wholesome only if you have two slices of brown bread, egg poaches, sausages and milk,” she says. Beware of low-quality ‘brown’ bread, which actually is bread coated in caramalised sugar.
Try variations. Make stuffed chapatti instead of parathas. Use five grams of white butter or fresh cream instead of oil. Have it with dahi (protein) to balance the carbohydrate. For options, try chillas made with besan, sooji and lots of vegetables. Idli-sambar, poha, vegetable dalia and porridges are considered complete meals in themselves.
The idea is to mix both traditional and modern food for a calorie and time- conscious generation. Chef Rajesh Variyath of Radisson MBD, Noida. recommends recipes that are adaptable. “Look beyond idli-poha-dalia. Try pongal (rice boiled with vegetables) from Tamil Nadu, fluffy appams (rice pancakes) with potato stew from Karnataka and pesarattu (moong dal dosas) from Andhra Pradesh.”
It’s time to make room for experiments in the kitchen!
Food for thought
Breakfast accounts for about two-thirds of the day’s total calorie intake.
A glass of milk is not sufficient breakfast.
Papaya should never be had on an empty stomach. It is a laxative.
Drink water before breakfast, not along with it.
Fruits should be packed in between breakfast and lunch.
Mango and banana are the only fruits that can be had with meals, because they are easy to digest.

Man can live by bread and paneer alone

Man can live by bread and paneer alone

It is difficult to believe food historians who tell us that good old paneer isn’t a child of native soil. In fact, it was brought to the Indies by the Portuguese, who also introduced chillies, potatoes and other items that have become an indispensable part of our daily diet.
The poor Portuguese may have lost the rest of the subcontinent to the British and had to remain content confined to a small enclave in Goa. But, their food imports – like paneer – didn’t take long to conquer the local palate.

Today, paneer is a staple item on any menu for vegetarians. It is substituted for meats and eggs in myriad recipes. Once, matar paneer was considered a special dish, but now, paneer seems to have displaced almost all the vegetables from restaurant menus. It is encountered in various avatars – from the plain bhujiya and the once seasonal palak paneer (cooked with spinach) to kadhai (a spicy stir-fry with capsicum, onions and tomatoes), labadar (in a buttery piquant sauce) and shahi (in a creamy white gravy enriched by nuts). Paneer snacks, such as tandoori tikka hariyali (laced with mint, coriander and green chillies), lehsuni (flavoured with garlic) or ajwaini (accented with caraway seeds) beat other vegetarian finger foods – to mix metaphors – hands down.


In many ways, paneer’s upward mobility has coincided with the prosperity of Punjabi refugees. After losing their fortunes during Partition, they did well on this side of the border. But, Punjabis are not the only ones with a passion for paneer. In fact, it is difficult to avoid, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and Kolkata to Kutch.
In Awadh, they have fashioned a delightful taash kebab out of paneer that puts to shame the pasanda version it set out to mimic. Hyderabad responded with paneer tamatar ka qut and more recently, fusion artistes have created a lehriya bharwan delicacy resembling a roulade.
The Kashmiri repertoire has the mildly sour, scarlet-hued tamatar chaman and the aromatic and flavourful methi chaman. In Chennai, it has found its way into the masala dosa and competes with the chicken in the dish billed as ‘65’. Delicious chunks of paneer pack the veg kathi roll in the City of Joy. ‘Chindian’ may no longer be the flavour of the month in South Block after Jairam Ramesh’s recent gaffe in Beijing, but chilli paneer continues to score over gobhi
manchurian in Indian-Chinese restaurants in Gujarat. Purists who ‘look East’ keep pushing the ‘healthier’ tofu but this bland import is no match for the ‘Resident Non-Indian’.


Memories of the most satisfying paneer meal ever include the bhurji served up at a dhaba in Sirhind. It was no frills, spared the overworked tomatoes and onions and was just a generous helping of creamy scramble tempered with royal cumin, with a trace of fresh ginger and green chillies. Paired with hot tandoori roti, it was sheer bliss. There was no yearning for the proverbial flask of wine or company. There are times man can live by bread and paneer alone!
article from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Mumbai on the platter

Mumbai on the platter

Even if you are never going to visit Chalchitra, take time off to
check out its superb retro façade from the outside. Wait for the sun
to set, and look at the lights as they twinkle. Everything - the
lettering, the colours and the movement of the lights - call to mind
the 1960s. As you walk up the Red Carpet to the first floor, you hear
strains of Hindi film music. It is the leitmotif of the restaurant, a
witty take on our cinema industry. The only music in the restaurant is
Bollywood; the menu alludes to filmi names and scenes and there are
books on popular Hindi cinema for reading. It is perhaps because
Bollywood is headquartered in Mumbai, that much of the menu is
Mumbai-inspired. Ragda pattice sandwich, frankies, pav bhaji and
chutney club sandwich. However, it is not all sandwiches: there are
soups (Mulligatawny, Baked Onion and Paya), salads (mostly of the
chatpata desi kind) and starters, and though the vast majority of them
are the kind that you'd expect outside a movie theatre, there are a
couple of western offerings too. I tried the Murgh Salli Chaat (Rs
165) that turned out to be succulent batons of roast chicken, onion,
mint and coriander napped in a chaat masala that is obviously made
in-house. The salad was served in a basket fashioned out of aloo
lachcha. Simple and effective, it's one of those creations that makes
you wonder why nobody thought of it before. All the starters are
served with French fries dusted with the same chaat masala that is
made in-house, and a 'basket' of papad with chopped papad and peanuts
napped in spices that are irresistible. This is one restaurant where
the accompaniments on the plate are too good to be true. They are
served whether you order the unmissable Shikampuri Kebab (Rs 250/125)
or any other item on the starters menu. In fact, so good are the
starters that it is not a bad idea at all to make a complete meal of
them. The Shikampuri Kebab (6 pieces in a full plate; 3 in a half
plate) consists of extremely finely ground lamb with a centre made of
hung curd. It is easy for a restaurant to get the non-vegetarian
element of the menu right; it's much more challenging to please
vegetarians. Chalchitra's Gongura Charra Aloo (Rs 175/89) is a
delicious, tangy, herby concoction of tiny potatoes left whole and
napped in what appears to be gongura pickle. I can't imagine a more
funky bar snack than these little devils. Prawn Koliwada (Rs 350/175)
is supremely tasty: it just requires a bit of tweaking to make the
texture of the batter more interesting. Right now, it is soft and
spongy, but the kari patta and mustard seeds ground into it are
redolent with flavour. It's a fight for the best main course, but I'd
say Khichda (Rs 275 for non-vegetarian; Rs 225 for vegetarian) wins
for sheer appeal. The nicest part about Chalchitra is the fact that it
is not pretentious. The seating is of the cane chair variety, service
is casual, the jokes on the menu really are hilarious, the food is
great and the prices are low. Too good to be true? We'll know in six
month's time if the quality goes south and the prices north.

Health First:-Now, quality check for panipuriwallas

Now, quality check for panipuriwallas
By Sruthy Susan Ullas , TNN,
Tags:Bangalore|paanipuris|golgappas BANGALORE: Your friendly
neighbourhood panipuri vendor will soon have to clean up his act if
wants to attract customers. For, these wayside sellers are coming
under the ambit of the Quality Council of India which will check their
ingredients and certify their products. After schools and hospitals,
these vendors will have to earn the trust of customers, not only
through their spicy delights but a certificate from the QCI, a
government of India body. This is largely voluntary process and up to
the vendor to seek the certificate. "Waste disposal should be done
according to the norms of biomedical waste disposal, public garbage
disposal or pollution control board norms," Thuppil Venkatesh,
principal adviser to QCI told TOI. The vendor can apply for
accreditation and the board will let them know of the standards.
Later, they will inspect his stall and decide whether he can be given
the accreditation. The accreditation is valid for two years, after
which it has to be renewed. "The vendors will be given a registration
number. This will make them accountable. Our duty is to bring wellness
to all," said Venkatesh. The vendors will be informed about this
through awareness programmes like raodside shows and seminars and told
whom to contact at the local office for this. The programme has
already kicked off in Delhi.

Indian spicy breakfast !!

The complimentary breakfast buffet that came with the hotel room we
recently stayed in turned our thoughts to the wonderful dishes
traditionally eaten in the morning. They are fast fading from memory
but the buffet can't be blamed. The buffet tries to provide guests
with choice – throwing in poori-bhaji; idli-vada-sambar and stuffed
paratha and dahi. At times, eggs to order are forced to compete with
uttapam. But the desi nashta or traditional breakfast declined when
the foods of the colonials – buttered toast with jam and masala
omelettes – became popular. Vegetarians resisted the cereal (read
cornflakes) but not for long. As children in Uttarakhand, half a
century ago, we often feasted on dahi-jalebi. That was in Bhowali. In
Almora or Nainital, milk was substituted for curds.

The home cooked
stuff ranged from cheela (lentil pancakes) to daliya (porridge) both
sweet and salted. The staple was phulka subzee. Travel opened our eyes
to regional specialties. In Lucknow it was nahari-kulcha and in
Hyderabad, tradition prescribed khichadi-keema.

In the literal heart
of India, in the Malwa-Maharashtra belt, poha or pounded rice flakes
reigned supreme. Sabudana vada and khichadi provided variety. Shops in
small towns in the Hindi heartland did brisk business in
khasta-kachori. In the countryside, it was the no frills but filling
and nourishing sattu (parched gram or barley) flavoured with salt and
green chillies. The sattu would be mixed with water to make it easier
to eat. In Bengal and Orissa, pantha bhat (left over fermented rice)
was a light morning meal. Down South, dosa – plain, not masala – or
upama would partner with filter coffee. One could go on salivating in
this vein but some of my best memories are of an exceptional
bedavin-puri breakfast at a small eatery in Modinagar next to the
police station. It cost Rs 25 and gave us three puffed bedavin, deep
fried in pure ghee but brought to us bone dry without a trace of
artery clogging fat. This was accompanied by two small portions of alu
(potatoes sans onion and garlic in thick gravy) and sitaphal ki sabzi
(sweet and sour tangy green, not yellow dry pumpkin) along with bitter
and pungent methi chutney. It was a beautifully balanced meal because
it included all six basic tastes. Other satisfying desi breakfasts
include the bedavi from Chachi in Varanasi just a stone's throw from
the gates of BHU. Similarly, Chiman Lal in Agra has an enviable
reputation based on extra crisp bread fashioned by rolling two discs
of puri together before they are fried. Old-timers in Lucknow vouch
for the Kabarwale ki puri, fried in oil, not ghee. They beat the
buffet by an easy margin. Article from TOI

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Spicy Indian curry could prevent swine flu

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Spicy Indian curry could prevent swine flu

curries could prevent swine flu and common cold just like any
prescribed medicine available with the chemists, Russian doctors have
said . "You can strengthen immunity by consuming spicy foods like
curries, as spices like turmeric, ginger and zeera also posses
excellent therapeutic effect," an unnamed official of Moscow city
sanitary and anti-epidemics committee was quoted as saying by RIA
Novosti. As panic grips Muscovites over the spread of seasonal
influenza and swine flue in the eastern parts of the country and
neighbouring Ukraine, authorities are focusing on prevention and have
ordered the use of masks at work place. Besides the intake of spicy
food, people have been advised to consume raw onions and garlic, which
also are said to contain good anti-viral properties.

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Garam masala: good spices mean good dishes

Garam masala: good spices mean good dishes The spices in garam
masala vary by region and household. Ottmar Diez / Grapheast "You
want spicy? I'll give you spicy!" Saleem Qureshi, the executive chef
for Asha's Restaurant, grins as he offers up this friendly challenge,
then watches as I sniff each tiny earthenware pot. "Fenugreek," he
says, as I inhale the first. "That's mace and green cardamom," as I
smell another. The colours are beautiful, from burnt sienna to olive
green, but the scents of the freshly ground spices are what reach deep
into you, heady and earthy."This is garam masala," he says, pointing
to the last. "Here you have all the spices in one form." The smell is
too complex to adequately describe. I finally (lamely) write
"wonderful" in my notebook.
The most aromatic of all Indian spice blends, garam masala is used
throughout northern India. Garam means "hot", as in temperature (the
whole spices are usually roasted before being ground), and masala
means "spice blend". But which spices? That's a personal question for
most Indian cooks and varies from region to region and household to
household. A Northwest Indian garam masala such as the one created in
Asha's kitchens would probably include cloves, green and black
cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. (Many garam masala spices are more
widely used in the West for sweet baking). But in Kashmir, fennel,
cumin, turmeric and chillies would also be added to the blend. And
it's not just for meat curries. "Use it with vegetables, fish,
anything," Qureshi says.
What's most important is grinding the spices fresh. While you can
easily buy garam masala already ground, the mix soon loses its aroma.
Whole spices keep fresh longer and can be ground when needed. All six
of Asha's restaurants in the Gulf (one is located in Abu Dhabi's
Khalidiyah Mall, another in Dubai's Wafi City) grind their spices,
including their signature garam masala."Spices are everything," says
Qureshi. "Indian cooking is very simple. If you have good spices,
you'll have good dishes." The recipes below – the first for garam
masala, the second for a dish featuring it – promise both.Asha's garam
masalaThe original recipe calls for mace and dried rose petals, both
difficult to find locally. I've eliminated the rose petals and
substituted nutmeg for the mace (they come from the same fruit).
Makes 35 grams.
Ingredients2 tsp whole cloves
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 medium cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
2 tsp green cardamom pods
1½ tsp whole black peppercorns
1 whole nutmeg4 bay leaves1½ tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
4 black cardamom pods
Method:-
Heat a small, dry frying pan over medium-high heat, then add the
spices, stirring frequently until they are several shades darker and
fragrant. Be careful not to let them burn, cooking and stirring for
six to seven minutes. Cool, then place in a blender and grind.
Transfer to a spice or coffee grinder and grind to a fine powder.
Store in a clean jar with a tightfitting lid at room temperature.
Chandni chowk ka keema (lamb curry)
Asha Bhosle, the beloved Bollywood singer, is the guiding spirit
behind Asha's restaurants. Now 75 and living in Mumbai, she continues
to perform and record – and cook.
This spicy dish, named for the famed Old Delhi market, features minced
lamb and Asha's garam masala. Serves 6.
Ingredients
180ml corn oil
3 bay leaves
1 large onion, chopped
3 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1.5kg leg of lamb,
minced150g almonds, whole20ml water
2 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp salt
2 small tomatoes, chopped 1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
3 tbsp almond flakes
Method :-
Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the bay leaves and sauté for 2
minutes over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, stirring and cooking
until golden. Add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Add the minced lamb and sauté for 10-15 minutes over medium-high heat,
stirring to break up the pieces.While the meat is cooking, put the
whole almonds in a blender and grind to a smooth powder. Transfer the
powder to a small bowl and add the water to make a paste. Add the
ground coriander, chilli powder, cumin, garam masala and salt to the
meat in the frying pan and cook for another 15-20 minutes. Add the
chopped tomatoes and fresh coriander and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves. Add the almond paste and cook for another 10
minutes. Garnish individual servings with almond flakes. Serve with
basmati rice.

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NOT SO HEALTHY!! high on Salt

NOT SO HEALTHY
Curry sold in UK has high salt content: Study
Kounteya Sinha | TNN

New Delhi: Sale of Indian curry — Britain’s most loved cuisine — could take a serious beating in the UK.
Research by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), an influential British group of scientists and doctors working towards reducing use of salt in food, has found that curry takeaways sold across British supermarkets and stores, with all the extras like rice, naan, saag aloo, pappad and chutney, contains nearly 21 gram of salt — over three times the maximum recommended intake of 6 gram a day.
The new research, the largest of its kind in the UK, that surveyed 784 products sold in supermarkets, independent shops and takeaway restaurants, revealed “very high levels of salt hidden in bought Indian and South Asian cuisine including takeaways, ready meals, cooking sauces, chutneys, pickles and side dishes”.
Around 29 of the 52 chutneys and pickles surveyed “were saltier than the Atlantic Ocean”. The findings, shared with the Indian members of CASH, said the lack of clear labelling on the packaging, combined with the spicy ingredients masking the salty flavour, made it very hard for people to know how much salt they were eating.
The researchers said, “Very high levels of unnecessary salt added to our food is increasing our blood pressure and leading to thousands of people needlessly dying of strokes and heart attacks every year.”

Spicy fare from Chettinad

The feast will showcase the flavours of Chettinad



TEMPTING DISHES Chettinad food

Among the various South Indian cuisines, Chettinad cuisine holds a special place in the taste buds of food lovers.

Spicy and aromatic, the liberally thrown chillies in the dishes don't come in the way of enjoyment of the food.

Bringing the flavour of Chettinad to the city is South Park, which is conducting a 10-day Chettinad food festival.

The festival will conclude on February 26. To lend the dishes authenticity, a chef is being brought in from Karaikudi. The buffet costs Rs. 310 per person.

To start your meal, take spoonfuls of `Aattukaal' soup. A mutton soup, it is rich and spicy.

Rice dishes

Next help yourself to the variety of rice dishes. The festival offers `Puliyodharai, (tamarind rice) `Tenga sadam' (coconut rice) and `Elumbicha sada' (lemon rice).

As side dishes, you could try `Kari kozhambu,' a mutton dish with thick red, hot gravy.

The `Yera varuval,' or fried prawn, has prawns seasoned with Chettinad spices and deep fried.
Article from Hindu

Hot peppers help melt love handles :)

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SPICING UP THE FIGHT
Hot peppers help melt love handles


Love to have your food extra hot? Well, other than spicing up your taste buds, chilli pepper also helps in losing those extra inches around the waist.
Scientists have said that hot peppers contain a substance called capsaicin that can actually cause your body to heat up.
However, now researchers have found growing evidence that the body-heat-generating power of peppers might even lend a hand in our quest to lose those extra inches accumulating around the waistline.
And fortunately for those who do not appreciate the “burn” of hot peppers, there are plants that make a nonburning version of capsaicin called dihydrocapsiate (DCT) that could have the benefits of peppers without the pungency.
Researchers at the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition said that data provided convincing evidence that, at least for several hours after a test meal was consumed, energy expenditure was significantly increased in the group consuming the highest amount of DCT. In fact, it was almost double that of the placebo group. ANI

Article from TOI

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