Food is a wonderful way of expressing your inner thoughts. It is the best way of self-expression. Food connects us to our culture and beliefs. Cooking with aromatic ingredients has been proven to reduce stress. The beautiful colors, processes such as cutting, kneading, chopping, seasoning, shapes of ingredients and spices soothe the nerves and a sense of tranquility.

Chopping, mashing, crushing, kneading, slicing, rolling, etc. are all common actions used during cooking that divert attention from stress and provide an outlet to vent out everyday frustrations in a most effective way! Cooking boosts creativity.

I want share here two recipes of GSB food:

Patrado

This is a favorite dish of GSB people, it is prepared with Colocasia/Taro leaves.

Ingredients:

25 Colocasia/Taro green leaves
1 cup fresh grated coconut
2 cups Toor dal
1/4 cup rice
1 small piece of jaggery
10-12 red chillies (preferably Bedagi chillies)
Small lemon size tamarind
1 teaspoon asafetida
Salt

Oil

Method:

1. Soak toor dal and rice in water for about half an hour.
   Heat oil and fry chillis; grind grated coconut, soaked rice, daal, asafetida, tamrind, jaggery and chillis. Grind a stiff good paste. Add salt for taste. When the paste is stickier it’s better for application.
2. Wash the Colocasia leaves thoroughly and flip them over on the non-shiny side and remove the veins with a knife. Soak the leaves in water for some time as it is believed to reduce the effect of Calcium Oxalate crystals which causes the itchiness in throat. Arrange the leaves in order of their size, this helps in preparing the final cylindrical roll. Take the leaves one shiny side and the other non-shiny side; apply the paste evenly on the entire leaf, place another leaf (non-shiny side) covering 3/4 of the previous leaf and smear the paste. When you apply paste to about 8-10 leaves, fold the sides and roll them over to a cylindrical shape, apply paste on all sides and fold the edges in. Once done, you could tie a string to hold them together. Make 2-3 rolls in similar fashion.
3. Add enough water in a steamer and transfer on stove to boil water with the lid on. Place the patrado rolls in the steamer side by side and steam cook them. Make sure that the steamer water should be boiling hot, cover the steamer with a lid and let it steam on medium-to-high flame for 30-35 minutes.

Once done and completely cooked, scoop each of the roll into evenly cut pieces and serve hot with coconut oil. Should they remain for next day, shallow fry them by applying little rava, salt for taste and pan-fry with little oil. It tastes yummy.

Jeera-mirya kadhi

This is another favorite Konkani dishes. It is good for digestion since cumin seeds (jeera) and pepper (miryakan) goes into it. A lot of garlic is added to this gravy to give that amazing aroma.

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh coconut

2 red tomatoes
1 tea spoon cumin seeds (jeera)
6-7 peppercorns
3-4 red chillies
a pinch of tamarind
Oil
Coriander leaves

Karipatta (curry leaves)

Salt

 Method:

Take two cooker-boiled and cooled tomatoes. Heat oil and fry cumin, pepper and red chillies. Put tomatoes with coconut, tamarind, asafetida, fired chillies, cumin seeds and pepper seeds and salt together in mixer and make paste. Add sufficient water to the ground masala and heat it for 8-10 minutes. Do seasoning: heat little oil add mustard seed and kari patta. Let the seeds splutter, add the seasoning to curry. Add chopped coriander leaves to the curry.

GSBs (Gaud Saraswat Brahmins) are comparatively a small community (approximately 3 lakhs). The GSBs originally lived on the banks of the river Saraswati. The name Sarawat is derived from either the river Saraswati or from their spiritual leader, the sage Saraswat Muni who used to live on the banks of Saraswati. The Saraswat Brahmins have migrated to a variety of locations and are found mostly in Western coast of India. Their mother tongue is Konkani.

In the GSB recipes coconut, coconut oil, curry leaves and tamarind is primarily used. The GSB recipes are to great extent influenced by south Indian cuisine. Two recipes which are mentioned here are the most common ones. Most GSBs are grown eating toi and also batatyache song.

Batata Song and Daali toi 

Recipe Description: 

Potatoes cooked in stir fried onions and tomatoes mixture. This dish goes especially well with Daali Toi served over plain boiled rice.

Ingredients:  

2 medium size onions, chop them finely.
Two medium size tomatoes, chop them too finely.
4 medium size potatoes well boiled and cut into proper cubes.
Whole red chilies 10-12 (Bedagi chilies recommended)
Small seedless tamarind ball
Oil (coconut oil recommended for authentic taste)
Asafetida (hing) powder – half teaspoon
Turmeric (haldi) powder – quarter teaspoon
Salt for taste

Instructions: 

Fry red chilies in three teaspoons of coconut oil. Remove them after they are stir fried.   In the same oil stir fry chopped onions and tomatoes.  Add asafetida powder and haldi powder to the cooked mixture. In a mixture grind the stir fried red chilies, little portion of stir fried onion-tomatoes mixture and tamarind – make paste by adding little water while grinding.

Once onions and tomatoes are softened in the pan, add the ground chilly, onion-tomato and tamarind paste, salt and potatoes. Add enough water to bring it the consistency of a semi-dry curry. Bring to a boil. Batata song is ready to serve.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Daali toi

Recipe description: Daali toi is a classic GSB daal style made with cooked toor dal tempered with seasoning of mustard seeds and curry leaves.

Ingredients:

1 cup toor dal
2 green chilies
1 inch piece ginger
quarter teaspoon of turmeric powder
quarter teaspoon of asafetida powder
1.5 teaspoon of coconut oil for seasoning
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
1 red chilli
8-10 Curry leaves
Salt

1.5 teaspoon of ghee

Instructions:

Boil toor daal in pressure cooker with turmeric powder, asafoetida powder, green chilies, and finely chopped ginger.  Transfer the cooked daal (mashed well) to a sauce pan by adding little more water to it and bring it to a boil. Add salt to it as per your taste. For seasoning heat coconut oil, add mustard seed and curry leaves and red chili to it, when they splutter add it to the daal. Pour ghee on to the cooked dal for its aroma. Mix the daal.  Dalitoy can be cooked thick or thin as per taste.

Preparation time:  20min

Both daali toi and batata song go very well with plain cooked rice.

Guava also commonly known as Peru is a tropical fruit that’s subtly acidic sweet in taste that intensifies as you eat your way to the center. Its scientific name is Psidium Guajava.

It is available throughout the year but found scarcely in summer season. Being very resilient, it gives a guaranteed crop even with very little care.  It requires little amount of fertilizer, little irrigation and plant protection. It grows well in the backyard of home. Further its nutritive value is very high.  Therefore, it is an ideal fruit for the nutritional security.  In India, the best quality guavas are produced in Uttar Pradesh, particularly in Allahabad region.

This somewhat round or pear-shaped, light green, yellow, or maroon in color fruit is very tasty, very yummy. It’s appetizing; it has white or maroon flesh and lots of small hard seeds enveloped in very soft, sweet pulp. Eat it raw by sprinkling little salt and chili powder on its pieces. Oh it’s mouthwatering.

The health benefits of guavas are unlimited. This popular fruit is a source of power of nutrients. If the traditional adage says that “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” in Europe and Americas, the phrase is probably changed to “A few guavas in the season keeps the doctor away for the whole year”. Naturopaths advise eating guavas regularly.

Guava is very helpful for those who want to lose weight without compromising their intake of proteins, vitamins and fiber. It is very high in roughage and rich in vitamins, proteins and minerals, but it has no cholesterol and a low number of digestible carbohydrates. It is a very filling snack and satisfies the appetite very easily. In a related benefit to blood pressure mentioned above, an intake of guava can also help those patients who suffer from diabetes.  The high level of dietary fiber in guava helps to regulate the absorption of sugar by the body, which decreases the chances of major spikes and drops in insulin and glucose in the body.

Guavas are extremely good sources of vitamin-A, which is well known as a booster for vision health.  It can help slow down the appearance of cataracts, macular degeneration, and general health of the eyes. It can not only prevent degradation of eyesight, but even an improvement in eyesight once it has begun to degrade.

One of the most important benefits of guava is – its ability to inhibit the growth and metastasis of cancerous cells. There have been numerous studies done in recent years on guava’s effects primarily on prostrate cancer, breast cancer and oral cancers. Guava leaf oil is extremely successful as an anti-proliferative substance, and has actually been shown to be more effective than some leading modern medicines in reducing cancerous growth. Guavas are also rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant that has been shown to be wildly successful in reducing prostate cancer risk.

Guavas have the naturally high levels of vitamin C in them, which are four times higher than the levels found in an orange (the traditional vitamin C powerhouse) which boosts the immune system with its antioxidants. These are the major lines of defense against the proliferation of free radicals in the body, which are one of the main causes of serious conditions like cancer and heart disease. Therefore, adding guava to your diet has numerous ways in which it helps you stay health and cancer-free. They are helpful to curb diarrhea, dysentery, constipation, cough, cold, skin care, high blood pressure, and scurvy. It has a good source of copper in it and therefore it helps balancing the thyroids as well. I suggest all of you to eat guavas in raw form to get the maximum benefit of it.

Raita:

Ripened Guava – 2

Ripened Bananas – 2

1 small spoon mustard (mohari) powder

1 small spoon cumin (jeera) powder

Chopped coriander leaves

Pinch of Salt and 2 spoons of sugar for taste

Cut guavas and bananas into small pieces (after removing skin of bananas) add mustard powder, cumin powder, and little salt and 2 spoons of sugar together. Garnish the raita with coriander leaves and delicious raita is ready.

What are you waiting for? Go, get some guavas and enjoy eating them.

Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

If you are stressed out and don’t have time for a facial massage, or visit to a spa –here’s what you can do: cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that will reduce stress in your face, It works great on wrinkles too!!

Recline on the sofa with a slice of ice-cold cucumber over each eye. The cooling sensation helps sooth red and tired eyes; while the high water content works to reduce puffiness and can even eliminate dark circles. Just do it today.

Another use of the cucumber’s amazing attributes is that it acts as a diuretic. The next time you feel bloated – wash, but don’t peel and slice a cucumber. Add the slices to a jug of ice water and drink it down. You can easily shed with this your water weight. Try it; it’s simply amazing.

If you have just finished a business lunch and realize you don’t have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth, hold it with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

Cucumber is a natural astringent, so a cucumber facial is cleansing and soothing. Puree half a cucumber in your food processor or blender; add a few mint leaves to it, a tablespoon of lemon juice and an egg white. Mix them all together and then apply it onto your clean face. Leave for 15 minutes and rinse with warm water. Follow with a splash of cool water to close skin pores.

Recently the New York Times published loads of information and praises for cucumber as part of their “Spotlight on the Home” series highlighting maximum usage of it in our daily life. I give here under one raita recipe which is delicious and appetizing, very easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
•  Small portion of chopped fresh dhaniya (coriander leaves)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 chopped green chili
• 2 medium cucumbers peeled and diced
• Salt & sugar for taste

Whisk yogurt, add diced cucumber, limejuice, chopped green chili in a small bowl. Stir it by adding salt and sugar for taste. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves and grounded cumin seed powder. Season it with half table spoon tempered oil and mustard seeds. It tastes amazing!

Because cucumbers are mostly water, they are low in calories. Even, a large cucumber contains less than 100 calories. You will not find any other natural element loaded with such immense nutritional value. Store cucumbers in your fridge always, and consume them regularly.