Home remedy for Cold, Cough and Congestion

The name given below for the recipe for this remedy pretty much sums up the whole recipe, don't you think?! Yes, you have to taste it to know the effects of it. My family is a living proof for this. Anytime can be flue season. So, Hey, might as well try this. You know your normal over the counter cold medicines are not going to work and they say it anyway takes 7 days to get rid of a cold. So what about the cough and that nasty congestion. Try this and see for yourselves.

Garlic milk with turmeric and black pepper

2 cups of milk
5 Cloves Garlic
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Black pepper powder
1 tsp Palm sugar (Panag Kalkandu) or Brown sugar

1. Combine all the ingredients except the sugar and simmer it well.
2. Make sure the garlic is cooked to a mushy consistency.
3. By the time the garlic is cooked the milk would have reduced too.
4. Once the garlic is cooked, transfer the mixture to a drinking cup.
5. Add the Palm sugar. Mix it well and serve.

Note: Palm sugar can be purchased in most of the Chinese or Mexican grocery stores. Some Indian grocery stores do carry them now. It does have medicinal properties. They say just putting a small piece of Palm sugar in your mouth and just sucking on it when you have a tendency to have dry cough helps it to subside. Its herbal and nothing artificial. So give it a try and feel relieved.

Cheeram Kurumolagu Veluthulli Rasam

This rasam is like the best known reliver of Cough and cold. It has all natural ingredients to fight cold, cough and congestion. This rasam is know in different names in all of South India. I would say every house has a version. This is my Kerala style version of the soothing rasam for the flu season. This will wake up all your clogged senses. I use Tamarind paste. You are free to use the fresh Tamarind. Use the old dark tamarind as they have more medicinal properties than the new lighter looking tamarind. Yes, as the saying goes, 'The darker the better'! ;)

10 Cloves Garlic-Sliced or crushed (Veluthulli)
2 Tomatoes-Finely chopped
2 Tblsp-Cumin seeds (Cheeram, Jeera)
1 Tblsp-Crushed Black Pepper(Kurumolagu)
6 Curry leaves
1/4 tsp-Hing
1/4 tsp-Turmeric
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp-Jaggery
3/4 tsp-Dark Tamarind paste
1/2 tsp- Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp-Fenugreek powder
1 tsp Olive oil or Ghee
4 Cups of water

1. Heat a sauce pan, add oil and let the mustard seeds splutter. Then add the curry leaves, cumin and garlic and saute it for a bit.
2. Reduce the heat add turmeric, crushed pepper and little bit of salt. Saute it a couple of min adding hing to it.
3. Now, add the chopped tomatoes and little bit of salt. Once it starts to soften add the water.
4. Mix in the tamarind paste, add a little bit of salt and jaggery and let it boil really well.
5. Reduce the heat and let it cook for 10 min. Check for seasoning and add if need be.

Your rasam is ready. This can be had just like that as a soup or along with rice.

Vazhakkai Podimas

'Vazhakkai' is 'Raw banana' or 'Plantain'. The whole plant is so useful and I think in India, we pretty much have multiple uses for each and every part of it. 'Podimas', means any dish which is mashed. We also make 'Urulaikizhangu podimas' or it can also be called as 'Indian style Mashed potatoes'. Instead of mashing it and make it look like a blob (a tasty one though!), I grated it. You can use the same method for potatoes and make it this way. Hope you guys will like it! Made this way, you can serve it as even poha. Believe me, people who don't like plantain will not even know the difference!

4- Medium size Plantain
1/2 tsp-Channa dal
1/2 tsp-Turmeric
Salt to taste
5-Curry leaves
2-Broken red chillies
4-Finely chopped green chillies
1/4 tsp-Hing
1/2 tsp-Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp-Cumin
1 tsp-Freshly squeezed Lemon juice

1. Peel the plantain, cut into a half and boil it in water with little bit of turmeric and salt.
2. Cook for 3-5 min. Insert a knife and see if it slides out. Then, drain it and let it cool.
3. Once cool to touch. Grate it in the bigger size holes, so that it looks like shredded cheese used for pizza topping.
4. Heat a non-stick pan, add mustard seeds to splutter in oil and channa dal. Once it starts to brown add cumin seeds, curry leaves, chopped green chillies and broken red chillies.
5. Add a pinch of turmeric and salt to the oil and mix in the grated partially cooked plantain.
6. Cook it in a med. flame closing with a lid for the initial couple of min.
7. Then in order to let the excess moisture evaporate, cook it uncovered. Taste it to check the seasoning.
8. Now, put off the heat and add the lemon juice.

Can be served as a snack or as an accompaniment to Sambar or Rasam.

Variation: This dish can be made without adding Lemon juice and cumin seeds. Cook the plantain or the potatoes really well after peeling them in water after adding some turmeric and salt. Drain them and mash them well with a masher or a spatula. Take a non-stick pan, add oil , mustard sees, channa dal, curry leaves, hing , red chillies and salt. Add the mashed plantain or potatoes and cook until done. Now, instead of adding any of the other ingredients, grind together 1/2 cup of grated coconut and 5 green chillies and add it at the end. Mix it well and cook it for couple of more minutes. This is actually the authentic recipe for 'Podimas' but hey, nothing wrong in trying new flavors and short cuts to your fav. dishes, right!

Dal fry with Baby bok choy

I know everybody has heard of 'Dal fry'! What in the world is 'Bok choy dal'! Well, its an Indo-Chinese adaptation of the normal simple dal fry. Indian cuisine had
adopted lot of other Asian ingredients in their diet so why stop now. Lets get creative and start using up more of their wonderful produce and ingredients. I used
baby 'bok choy'. You can use the bigger ones too. I have posted the 'bok choy' photo here which is from 'Wikipedia' because I think this one looks much better and it had both large and the smaller 'Bok choy'. This 'Dal fry' is a fav. of my husband! When he lived in 'Amchi Mumbai', his fav. restaurant was or still is, I should say, 'Geetha Bhavan' in Chembur. He took me there and made me eat 'Dal fry' and 'Veggie Kolhapuri' and many other dishes as well so that I can learn how to make those dishes exactly how it tasted in that restaurant! We analyzed a lot. You see, both of us were from Madras and half of the ingredients were new to us. Things like 'Dal chini' or 'star anise' and 'Cocum' was new to us. So I had to really try and try these dishes adding all these ingredients together to get that exact taste because none of the cookbooks or any of the relatives had those recipes. I succeeded finally! Okay, now Anway, I have a confession to make!?! This particular dish in this photo was made by my husband! He usually mumbles a lot in French (if you know what I mean, again mumbles, point to note!)if I thrown in so many red chillies in huge pieces and hates it when garnishing gets in his way of the food, especially methi seeds, bay leaves, broken red chillies etc... and look at it now when he has cooked it! I was happy anyway, dddaaahhh, one more advantage point for me for life!! That is the reason I dressed up the dish like this in order to make him realize the number of pieces he had put in it. Like it or not, you guys have become the witnesses, oopppssy! You must be wondering why did I leave out curry leaves in his list of hindrances! Nnnoooo, he loves it! That and cilantro are never considered hindrance. Thank God for that! Anyway, the dish just came out so wonderful. Usually, I am his worst critic, like all wives are (Yeah right, you damn right are, be graceful and accept it already!) But this dish, I've to admit, was his masterpiece and so is his 'Veg biryani'! I know he doesn't read my blog unless I make him read it and that is the reason I am writing such nice things about his occasional culinary triumphs!? Okay, hope you enjoy making this 'Bok Choy dal fry'.

1 cup-Toor dal
1/2 cup-Moong dal
1/2 tsp-Turmeric
1 lb-Baby bok choy, finely chopped
1-Large red onion
7- Cloves of Garlic, miced
1/2 tsp-Ginger paste
9-Finely chopped green chillies
1 tsp-Cumin
3-Cocum
1-Star anise flower(Dal chini)
1 "-Cinnamon stick
3 cups-Water+1 cup reserve
1/4 tsp-Hing
1 cup-Chopped Cilantro
2-Bay leaves
2-Chopped tomaotoes
3 Tblsp-Oil or Ghee
5-Broken red chillies for garnishing
1/4 tsp- Jaggery
2 Tblsp-Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp-Garam masala
Salt to taste

1. Pressure cook both the dals with little bit of turmeric, hing, cocum, cinnamon and dal chini (Star Anise) and 3 cups water until super soft.
2. Discard the cooked Star anise and cinnamon. Mash the cocoum along with the dal well and keep them aside.
3. Heat a non stick wide pan, add oil, cumin seeds and bay leaves.
4. Reduce the heat, add green chillies, red chillies and minced garlic and ginger paste. Saute it for a couple of sec.
5. Now, add a bit of turmeric again and add chopped onions. Saute it after adding a pinch of salt.
6. Add the chopped baby bok choy, Cilantro and Garam masala and saute until the onions have turned brown.
7. Add the chopped Tomatoes and add a pinch of salt and cook until soft.
8. Now add the mashed dal and dilute it with water. Add some salt and jaggery, Mix well and cook.
9. Check for seasonings. Adjust if need be.
10. Once done, put off the flame and add lemon juice. Mix well and check if taste right.

Note: Can be served with rice or roti. Its a great fragrant dal recipe. You can reduce the amount of heat by cutting down on red and green chillies but make sure you add a couple of each though! They add a great flavor to the dish.