Bhut chadurdoshi and Choddo Shak - 14 Greens ritualBhut chadurdoshi and Choddo Shak - 14 Greens ritual
Green Gaga
By Barnali Dutta,
published by Prasadam: October 22, 2014Tomorrow is Kali puja. On this day the Mother, the Goddess of Strength [Shakti], the source of all, the universal principle of energy, power or creativity is worshipped and this is also known as the famous Festival of Lights - Diwali. By Diwali I remember that in the market today, alongside large displays of fire crackers, lined up wicker baskets full of green herb is to be found too. In no time I had decided and amassed with lots of health arrived there. Truely, it is a rare opportunity to have so many rare edible green vegetables available in the market in Kolkata these days.
According to our forefathers this is the time at the end of the monsoons when people should start eating herbs in Bengal. I still wonder how much have we progressed or advanced or modernized from our forefathers. Man has left behind a wonde…
Thankuni Pata Bata and Drink Thankuni Pata Bata - Mandukaparni/Brahmi Booti Paste
Centella asiatica Bengali: থানকুনি Thankuni
Sanskrit: Mandukaparni
In Bangladeshi cuisine Thankuni bata is eaten with rice and is popular for its medicinal properties. s
Thankuni Pata Bata recipe mandukaparni brahmi booti Centella asiatica
By Barnali Dutta
Published 12/19/2013
Prep time: 00:10
| Cook time:
00:05
|
Total time: 00:15 | Yield: 2 servingsIngredients
Ingredients:
Thankuni pata/ Centella leaves, 2 bunches about 100 g Green chilies 2 Kalo jeera (onion seeds), 1 tsp Salt to taste Oil 1 tspA pinch of sugar to balance the tasteInstructions: Take the leaves from bunches (you can use whole leaves with stigma). Wash and clean thoroughly and keep in a big bowl of lukewarm water for 5 minutes. Take out leaves from water, do not strain, use your hand and remove leaves from water carefully.Though thankuni is usually not attacked by pets and diseases of serious nature, but this a small,…
Sabir's Mutton Rezala Recipe
Sabir's Mutton Rezala Recipe
By Barnali Dutta,
published by Prasadam: October 13, 2014Mutton Rezala with Paratha is the most desirable dish during the festive season of our family due to its comparitively low richness, the fact which has set our mind free to eat sufficient red meat once in a year in the tropical geographical climatic region like Kolkata. The word 'rezala' stands for "khoobsurat" meaning beautiful. In reality the beauty of this highly popular Mughal dish Rezala [lamb or goat meat in a thin yogurt sauce] can only be understood by those who have tasted it from the menu of Sabir's Hotel. This eatery situated at 3 and 5 Biplabi Anukul Chandra Street, Chandni Chowk metro station, kolkata acquainted the Bengali cuisine in the year 1948.
Said Sabir Ali from the state of Uttar Pradesh came to Kolkata in search of earnings. While working for a daily meal eatery where he used to make tikia and paratha he conceived th…
Shim or Sheem is commonly known as string beans as they enclose a tough fiber running along the seam from one end to the other of the flattened pods. Therefore, it is also called flat beans. The mature velvety sheem has a sweet crunchy taste with an excellent texture.
Apart from mung daal or black gram, toor daal or pigeon peas, and bengal gram or cholar daal, the Big Four of pulses that are commonly used all over India, red lentil or masoor, cow peas, horse gram, lablab bean, there are several others that are also very popular. Like most members of the family these pulses are excellent sources of protein, B vitamins like thiamine B1, riboflavin B2, niacin B3, pantothenic acid B5, and folate folic acid/vitamin B9 as well as several dietary minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and sulphur.
Sanskrit name Nishpava botanical name Dolichos lablab Linn, English name flat bean has a totally different approach in treatment of impotency and improving debilities and is possibly the holistic approach of ayurvedic medicine. Our ancient nutritionists and physicians knew that this little bean was also packed with an astonishing array of therapeutic powers and is used to treat many disorders. The sage Charaka was very impressed by this seed's ability to make even an old man potent and fertile. [ref:Chiranjib Banousadhi by Shibkali Bhattacharya, vol IV, pg 149]
Ingredients for the recipe
Fresh mature pod, 250g
Mustard seeds and poppy seeds paste, 1 tbsp each
Salt and sugar, to taste
Mustard oil, 2 tsp
Onion seeds, 1 tsp
Whole green chili, 3
Instructions:
First prepare the pods for the recipe. Make a small cut at the end and peel out the fiber from the whole seam of the pod along the cut end of the bean or sheem. Keep it whole for this recipe.
Blanch the pods in salty hot and iced cold water for 2 times alternately and keep aside.
Take a pan, heat oil in medium flame, add onion seeds and one green chili, add prepared pods, add salt and sugar, stir gently, keep the fire to simmer and cover with a lid. After 5 minutes open the lid, add pastes, sprinkle 2 tsp water to protect the paste from burning, stir cooked vegetables gently to cover with the paste. Check if the vegetables are cooked or not. If not allow 2 to 3 minutes more to cook in simmer. Now put off the flame. Add slitted green chili, cover the pan with the lid and give a resting period for another 2 minutes.
Fresh pod only needs about 4 to 5 minutes of cooking. Dried seeds needs to soak in water overnight and then require slow-cooking about 1 hour or in pressure cooker about 15 to 20 minutes.
Traditional research in script: Nispava
Meaning, different types of nispava are aggravates of vayu and pitta and un-unctuous. They dry up kapha.
Meaning, different types of simbi reduce strength and alleviate kapha. They are exceedingly un-unctuous, astrigent sweet, cooling, constipative and promoter of strenght. They reduce the power of digestion.
Meaning, it has several varieties viz white, block, yellow and red. They have different tastes but all of them share the properties described above. They are predominantly pungent in taste as well as vipaka and hot.
Nonetheless Nibbling....
Proteins are essential in everybody’s diet, are known as building blocks of life making up 45% of the body by weight.
Proteins are complex substances found in many foods and are made up of thousands of small units called amino acids. Complete proteins are from animal sources meat and milk because it contains all nine of the essential amino acids in the right balance and most vegetable protein is considered incomplete because it lacks one or more of the essential amino acids.
Isoflavones is a natural component in Raj-Shimbi that shows a weak estrogen like effect and anti-estrogen effect. Sheem is a valuable green source of protein about 25%, amino acids, vitamins [A, B, C]. Sheem also contains copper, niacin, and folate They are rich in L-dopa, which is very important against Parkinson’s disease.
Avara, there is a bitter variety of Val known as kadva in the Deccan
Medicinal/Therapeutic Uses
Treatment for ear and throat infections
Edible part and uses of some indigenous vegetables
Pod and dry seed, Mature green pod and seed as vegetable, dry seed as pulse, plant as animal feed, soil improvement crop
Countereffect:
Prescription drugs supplements also may interfere with nutrient absorption, digestion, metabolism, utilization, or excretion. Similarly, both nutritional status and diet can affect the action of drugs by altering their metabolism
activity under certain circumstances. Drugs may act centrally or peripherally to decrease appetite or may reduce appetite as a result of side effects during treatment and recovery from Chemical Dependency. Peripherally acting agents include those that inhibit gastric emptying, and bulking agents. Continuous intake of artificial vitamin supplements may stop natural production for quite awhile, which can create greater risks of vitamin deficiencies as well.
There is a tremendous scope to increase the yield as well as quality of indigenous vegetable through technological advancement. Increased indigenous vegetable production and consumption will prevent the incidence of mal-nutritional disorders, generate more income to the farmers and vegetable traders as well. Due emphasis has been given on indigenous vegetables. Thus the indigenous vegetables have the vital role for nutritional, financial, food security and sustainable development of the peoples of Bengal.
