Sweet Potato Halwa

Ingredients:
1. Sweet Potatoes: 500 gms.
2. Butter: 1/2 stick.
3. Sugar: 1 cup.
4. Milk powder: 1/4 cup (Optional).
5. Cashews: for garnish.
6. Cardamom Powder: 1/4 tsp.
7. Cinnamon Powder: 1/4 tsp.
Procedure:
1) Remove the skin from sweet potato and wash thoroughly. Cut into uniform pieces or cubes (yielding about 2 1/4 cups chopped).
2) Place them into a microwave-safe bowl and add 1 teaspoon water. Cover and microwave on high for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir and microwave for another 1 to 2 minutes or until they are fork tender. Remove from microwave and mash them without adding any liquid. Set aside.
3) Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add roughly crushed cardamom seeds (if you like) and mashed sweet potatoes and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except cashews (choice of nuts). Continue to cook, stirring constantly until there is no moisture left in the pan. Stir in the chopped cashews.
4) Remove from the heat and transfer the mixture to a lightly buttered 8-inch round baking pan or thali (Indian stainless steel round dish). Spread the mixture evenly with a lightly buttered back of metal spatula. Let it cool completely and cut into desired shapes.

BANANAS: A very interesting FACTS

Never, put your banana in the refrigerator!!!...
This is interesting. After reading this, you'll never look at a banana in the same way again.

Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.

Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

DEPRESSION:
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS:
Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

ANEMIA:
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.

BLOOD PRESSURE:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

BRAIN POWER:
200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

CONSTIPATION:
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

HANGOVERS:
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

HEARTBURN:
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.

MORNING SICKNESS:
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

MOSQUITO BITES:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

NERVES:
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system..

Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

ULCERS:
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL:
Many other cultures see bananas as a 'cooling' fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has FOUR TIMES the protein, TWICE the carbohydrate, THREE TIMES the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, 'A BANANA a day keeps the doctor away!'


PS: Bananas must be the reason monkeys are so happy all the time! I will add one here; want a quick shine on our shoes?? Take the INSIDE of the banana skin, and rub directly on the shoe...polish with dry cloth. Amazing fruit !!! According to Japanese Scientific Research, full ripe banana with dark patches on yellow skin produces a substance called TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor) which has the ability to combat abnormal cells. The more darker patches it has the higher will be its immunity enhancement quality; Hence, the riper the banana the better the anti-cancer quality. Yellow skin banana with dark spots on it is 8x more effective in enhancing the property of white blood cells than green skin version. Eating 1-2 banana/s a day increases immunity.

Eggless Mango Muffins

Ingredients:
Self raising flour - 1 1/2 cup
Mango Puree - 1 cup
sugar - 3/4 cup
melted butter (unsalted) - 1/3 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - A pinch
Salt - A pinch
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp

Note: If using All purpose flour instead of Self raising flour, add 2 tsp baking powder.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 340 degrees F/170 Celsius.
2. Line muffin cups with muffin paper cups.
3. Mash bananas well.
4. Mix butter, Sugar and keep aside.
5. Mix the dry ingredients(flour, backing soda/baking powder, Cardamom powder, salt) really well or sift [ Mixing dry ingredients is important. Otherwise you will be biting into lumps of uncooked baking powder - not a pleasant taste!]
7. Add the dry ingredients mix into the butter mixture each spoon at a time.
8. Mix thoroughly till the complete dry mixture is done.
9. Add to Mango pulp and mix.
10. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 to the top.
11. Bake for 20 minutes or till the muffins are golden brown or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

This makes 20 medium size muffins.

Note: If using fresh Mango pulp, taste the mixture before filling the cups. It might make the mixture very sweet.

Russian Vegetable Salad

Russian Vegetable Salad

Ingredients
1) Red or Pink Kidney Beans - one cup
2) Sweet corn - one cup
3) Long and Finely chopped cabbage - 1/2 cup
4) Finely chopped Green and/or Red Pepper - 1/2 cup
5) Green peas - 1/2 cup
6) Salt - 1/2 tbsp
7) Chat masala - 1/2 tbsp
8) Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
9) mayonnaise or any salad dressing cream
10) Herbs like Chopped coriander, chopped basil, chopped mint leaves etc.

1) Soak Kidney beans for 4-6 hours in boiled water.
2) Cook kidney beans until they are soft and remove the water.
3) Par boil Sweet corn, Peas and remove water.
4) Now mix cooked kidney beans, par boiled sweet corn, peas, chopped cabbage, chopped Capsicum.
5) Add mayonnaise and mix together.
6) Now add salt, Chilli powder, chat masala and mix together.
7) Decorate with herbs.

This is very healthy, tasty, nutritious and easy to prepare.

Any type of vegetables can be used, however needs to decide which one to cook, which one to par boil and which one to add in raw form.

Koora podi 2

Indregients:
1. Dhaniyalu: 1/2 cup
2. nuvvulu: 1/2 cup
3. sounpu: 1/4 cup
4. rendu mirchi: 20
5. minappppu: 1/4 cup
6. senaga pappu: 1/4 cup
7. pallilu/veru senaga pappu: 1/4 cup

Procedure:

1. Dry roast each spice separately, let them cool.
2. Grind them together with Salt.
3. Store it in a dry airtight container.

Mukka avakai / Makkala pachadi : Raw Mango Pickle

Ingredients:

1. 1 large raw, sour mango- not peeled and cut into very small pieces.
2. 4 to 5 spoons of fenugreek, roasted evenly and powdered fine.
3. 4 spoons of salt
4. 4 spoons of red chilli powder
5. pinch of turmeric

Ingredients for seasoning:

6. 5 spoons of sesame oil
7. 2 spoons of mustard seeds
8. pinch of fenugreek seeds
9. 2 whole red chillies
10. 4-5 dashes of hing

Process:

1) Take a medium sized bowl and add finely chopped mango pieces.

2) Add turmeric, salt, chilli powder and fenugreek powder. Mix thoroughly. Cover
and leave for 3 hrs.

The mango mixture becomes slightly moist as salt dissolves.

3) Do the tampering with ingredients 6-10. Let the seasoning come to room
temperature before adding to the mango mixture.

Serve with hot rice and drop of ghee.

Eggless banana cake

Ingredients:
1. 2 cups Maida/self raising flour
2. 1 cup Sugar
3. 1 cup Butter
4. 2 bananas (mashed)
5. 1 tsp baking powder
6. 1/2 tsp soda bi carbonate
7. 1/2 cup Milk

Prcedure:
1) Mix maida, baking pd, soda and sieve them together.
2) In a bowl mix sugar and butter and fold them
3) Add maida mixture slowly with milk. Also add mashed bananas in this mixture
4) Just fold all ingriedents in one direction
5) Now put the batter in greased and dusted baking tin
6) Bake for 20 to 30 min at 180 °C
7) Check with a knife by from center ,if knife comes out clean then cake is baked, if not then give it some more time.
8) when baked , let it cool and then remove from tin as if you remove it hot then it will not come out whole.