Making Filter Coffee

As described by Anu Anniah, who makes amazing filter coffee! 😍 This came out so well - and I have never made filter coffee before. 

What you need

1. Coffee powder
2. Milk
3. Steel tumblers
4. A coffee filter
5. Sugar

Coffee Powder

• Mix Cothas Specialty Blend Coffee Powder + Suma Coffee Powder, equal quantities

Making the Decoction

1. Place the perforated part of the filter on top of the regular container. Don't fit it too tight. (Keep slightly slanted.) Might be hard to disengage later due to the heat.
2. Depending on the size of the filter, add several heaped spoons of coffee power into the perforated vessel. You will learn exactly how much over time. Must experiment. For now, maybe add enough to cover one third of the container. Don't pack it tightly.
3. Now place the tongue-like thingie on top of the powder and gently press it. Not much. Just gently.
4. Boil water.
5. Start adding is sl..ooow…ly into the percolator. Add maybe upto 3/4th of the container.
6. Let the unit sit undisturbed.
7. Again, this part comes with practice.
8. You may need to check the consistency of the decoction collected and add more water.
9. I like my decoction to be strong. When I pour it into a different vessel, light should not pass through it. It should be that thick.
10. What you can do is transfer what is collected to a different bottle. Then add a little water. Check for thickness. If it feels thick, add it to the bottle. Repeat until the decoction is thin and u can see light passing through.
11. With strong decoction, you will need less to make good coffee and it tastes better. Obviously, because there is less water to dilute the coffee.

Making the Coffee

1. Boil milk as needed
2. Keep glasses ready
3. Add sugar/jaggery to the milk and mix as it boils
4. If sugarless, then skip above step
5. Add fresh decoction into the waiting glasses. Add about 3 spoons and adjust later depending on strongness needed
6. NEVER add decoction to the milk while it boils
7. Once the milk boils, use a filter to eliminate the cream and add the milk into the waiting glass
8. Immediately use an empty glass to do up and down and generate froth. This will also tell you if extra decoction is needed. Add.
9. Do up and down
10. Serve hot and frothy in steel glasses (no fancy ceramic mugs for filter coffee please!)

Photo from here

Dal Many Ways

Storing my research on how to make ordinary dal more tasty - thanks to all the many people who shared their tips! 😀 Really grateful for your generosity. 

General Tips

So any saaru i mix tur and Moog dal along with vegetables i pressure cook.... Then mixer: sambar onions, chilli powder, sambar powder, little roasted channa, garlic and tamrind i grind and add to the cooker and boil with turmeric and salt, u can give tadka and close ...If u like hing in tadka add that, if u like slight sweet, bella. If u want ur vegetables crunchy and seperately u have to cook dal and later vegetables fry and dal mixture and masala mixture and tadka last. Tadka: i put just oil, mustard, red chili and hing

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Even gingelly or sesame oil for toor dal goes well...

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A bit of ghee on top after it has been served. Roasted jeera powder aids digestion.

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After dal is cooked, heat ghee or oil, add a big pinch of cumin seeds and lots of chopped garlic. If you all eat hot peppers then either add dry red chillies or chopped green chillies in this tadka. Once the garlic turns color, add this to dal

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I just do temper with mustard or cumin seeds, turmeric, hing, red chili powder or green chilies, garlic or garlic powder … ginger sometimes … make a big diff!

Lemon juice and curry leaves if available

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Just kasuri methi sprinkle at end. Just dry pudina sprinkle after you turn the Gas.

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my favourite simple dal tadka is panch phoron and garlic, with a bit of lime squeezed in at the end

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You can use hing as tempering with ghee... and some dried red chillis.

Another tempering which I like is, paanchforon, green chilli, turmeric, tomatoes and onion

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A few tips I've picked up -

* Use chopped garlic instead of minced, it's more flavourful and adds a bite

* replaced regular dried red chillies with the Tamilian variety that's sun dried in yogurt.. adds a nice tang

* A pinch of hing (asafoetida) to the regular cumin-garlic-chillies tadka instantly takes me home to my childhood. YMMV.

* If you don't like chunky tomatoes in dal (I don't) drop a whole tomato into the dal at the time of cooking. Before giving tadka, scoop it out, peel the skin (it will fall off easily) and mash the boiled tomato through a strainer adding the pulp directly into the dal so you get the flavour but not the chunks.

* Always use desi ghee for the most flavourful tadka.

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I make very simple recipe for both yellow moong / red masoor. In a pressure cooker, I heat oil, add some chopped ginger (green chillies optional as we don’t use chillies), some curry leaves, fry for a few seconds, add whole jeera, haldi, amchur. Then add some chopped tomato and mix. Add salt, add the washed & soaked dal, add water to cover and more, close the cooker and cook on high for a whistle, then on low for 2 whistles. Comes out nice and creamy. Garnish with coriander.

I also sometimes cook without the cooker, directly in saucepan or pot but it isn’t so creamy then.

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Add jeeravan masala to any dal, it elevates the taste.

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Add heeng to the tempering. Also, it is preferable to soak all dals for a few hours before cooking and discarding the soaking water, helps prevent bloating and dyspepsia.

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Add salt-cured, dried raw mango slices or fresh raw mango in the dal

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May be just me, but yellow butter adds a certain taste and creaminess that ghee doesn’t. You can add a blob of butter while finishing. Also, just a touch of lemon juice and toasted quasoori methi/ birista(deep fried onions).

One of my tricks with dal is to keep switching three ingredients -- coriander, curry leaves and garlic. I add one at a time, or two, then change the next day. I also alter the thickness of the dal from time to time. And at times I make spicy dal with onion garlic tomato ginger all fried well together. By playing around with these various options the dal tastes different each time.

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1. Add tomato / garlic / mint / coriander stalks for a variation

2. sometimes when our tastebuds are dead, I make a simple yellow dal with just masoor + a dash of moong (to give it creamu). no tadka except jeera, broken chillies and a generous pinch of hing tempered in ghee

3. If medically allowed, add sauteed methi / palak / moringa OR any seasonal greens to the dal and give simple tadka

4. We regularly make dal in summer esepcially with water based sabjis called THovve (in local kannada language) with veggies like lauki / mangalore cucumber / chayote squash/ ridge gourd/ turai (simple saute the veggies with cumin mustard tadka), add the cooked moong dal , salt, a dash of lime juice and a handful of grated coconut. no onion no garlic no tomato and this tastes yum with steamed rice / hot phulkas.

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Whatever kind of dal you're making, mix in a tsp - a tbsp (depending on the quantities) of karindi to it 5mins before you turn off the stove. Karindi is a thondekai (ivy gourd), and sometimes carrot pickle/ relish available at most North Karnataka stores. It has a soothing, palate cleansing, almost kombucha-ey flavor to it, just makes everything lovely.

I also stir in 'Ranjhaka' sometimes, which is a delicious, flavorful, pulpy red chilli paste. But if your husband has medical issues, then use at your discretion. It's rather strong..

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Parsee Moree Daar.

Boil any yellow or pink dal.

In d bagaar we use jeera, 1 green chilly,3cloves of garlic, curry putta.,salt n hing,huldee.

Sometimes use 1/4 of an onion, instead of garlic.

My sardarni- bff uses Rai,ginger, ,tomatoes,huldee n hing.

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Simplest recipe for daal .

Masoor daal ( pink). 1 katori

Moong daal 1 teaspoon

Soak for 15 -20 mins.

Add the following and pressure cook.

Tomato cut in 2 halves. No need to chop fine ,once cooked, its easy to remove the skin and mash along with the daal.

Pressure cook. And churn/ or mash well.

Add salt, curry masala/ jira powder/pepper powder/ rassam masala , about 3 cups water and boil on low flame till you get a nice aroma.

Tadka is optional.

Jeera, lasun,hing, haldi tadka in ghee.

Consistency of daal is watery more like rassam but if you want thick daal, reduce water qty.

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Moong Dal

Adding ginger grated on top just before taking it off flame for moong dal

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Using whole garam masla for moong dal for tadka...

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Bengali style yellow moong daal with lauki

Ingredients

Yellow moong-3/4 cup (soaked in hot water for an hour)

1 cup of cubed bottle gourd (lauki) or winter melon

1/3 cup of grated fresh coconut

1.5/2 inch ginger root peeled and grated or ground

1 tsp of whole spices (combo of black mustard and methi)

A smidge of hing

Salt and sugar to taste.

1 or 2 red chilis

Mustard oil to cook.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add red chilis. When the chilis are smoking and almost burnt, turn off the heat. Add coconut. Sauté coconut over medium heat. Add seasoned (salt and sugar) lauki. Sauté until lauki has a char and coconut smells nutty. Add soaked daal. Add 3 times more water. Add hing and salt. Pressure cook up to 3 or 4 whistles. You want pliable lentil grains, but not completely mushy. Once the pressure releases, bring the daal back to a boil. Finish off with one more pinch of hing and the grated ginger. This daal has a very little back note of bitter. Instead of lauki, you can add chayote squash or leafy greens to it or fried karela fritters for a more robust bitter punch.

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Tuvar Dal

Toor daal only garlic and jeera tanka goes well

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I boil arhar with loads of garlic, whole chilli, haldi and salt and some desi ghee. Chopped palak is optional...but lovely. Tarka is desi ghee, whole jeera, red chilli .more garlic and hing. I love it. My friend from Agra who taught me this ( to complement the Bangali begun bhaja she learnt from me) thickens it with aata. I do not. This thick daal was so comforting in Delhi winters.

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One variation I’ve learnt is Sorakaya Pappu or Lauki Dal..

1 cup tur dal

1 cup cubed lauki

1 cup chopped tomatoes

Green chillies

Ginger

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves

Steam the lauki with salt and haldi and set aside.

In a cooker.. add oil/ ghee. Give tadka with rai, jeera, udad dal, hing , haldi, green chillies, curry leaves, ginger.

Add the soaked tur dal , chopped tomatoes, 2-3 cups water and cover.. 2 whistles shd be good.

Once the pressure settles, open the cooker and mix well,

Return to the stovetop, add the lauki, add salt and cook for 5-7 mins till the lauki mixes in ,

Add chopped coriander and serve over hot rice and ghee.

This is made on festival days in my house.. so no onions / garlic. Feel free to add if you like it that way,

This is great in the summers as it’s light on the tummy.

I also make Mango dal.. similar to the above recipe.. but skip the tomatoes and add 1/2 cup grated raw mango once the dal is cooked and boil for just a minute or two.

We make this for Ugadi when mangoes just make an appearance in the market.

Masoor Dal

Bengali style red masoor daal

Soak 3/4 cup of red masoor in hot water while you prep.

Finely Chop-

1 clove of garlic

1/2 of a shallot

1 Roma (medium sized) tomato

You will also need

2 green chilis or 2 dry red chilis

1/2 cup of finely chopped cilantro

Spices (you have a choice)

You can go with a combo of spices that we call panch (five) foron. These are Cumin, nigella, mustard, methi and fennel. You’ll need a tsp of this

OR you can go with 1 tsp of cumin seeds OR 1 tsp of nigella seeds.

Method. Heat 1 Tbsp of mustard or neutral oil in your pressure cooker. Add chilis/ and spices of your choice. Add a bit of turmeric powder. Add onion and garlic. Cook it down. Add salt and tomato. Add soaked daal. Add 3 to 4 times the amount of water to daal. Season the daal with salt. Pressure cook. In both prestige and Hawkins, I let two whistles escape. Let the pressure release naturally. Add chopped cilantro. We are aiming for a light/ brothy/ and well seasoned daal with a back note of heat.

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Simplest recipe for daal .

Masoor daal ( pink). 1 katori

Moong daal 1 teaspoon

Soak for 15 -20 mins.

Add the following and pressure cook.

Tomato cut in 2 halves. No need to chop fine ,once cooked, its easy to remove the skin and mash along with the daal.

Pressure cook. And churn/ or mash well.

Add salt, curry masala/ jira powder/pepper powder/ rassam masala , about 3 cups water and boil on low flame till you get a nice aroma.

Tadka is optional.

Jeera, lasun,hing, haldi tadka in ghee.

Consistency of daal is watery more like rassam but if you want thick daal, reduce water qty.

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Add turmeric, hing and pre dry roasted Panch Puran and Curry Leaves to the dhal as you boil it. Use a lot of Garlic. I don’t mince or slice it. Instead I smash a whole lot of Garlic Cloves, take the skin off and gently fry it in a little ghee, add it to the dhal. This releases the flavour and you get bits of soft garlic in the dhal. Lastly, I chop up two medium preserved lemons(deseeded) and add this to the dhal. You can add green mango instead. I add the salt at the very end, just to make sure the dhal is not too salty.

Losing Weight: Gooseberry (Amla) Juice

An attempt to increase immunity led to some interesting results - one of which was unintentional weight loss. Sharing it here in case it is useful to someone. :) 

Fresh Amla Juice on Near-Empty Stomach

1. Take 1 fresh amla. One amla per person. I always buy them from the organic shop. 
2. Chop, remove seed, and grind in a mixie.
3. Add a glass of water, keeping the fibre. 
4. Drink on an empty stomach every morning. We used to have our tea at 6.30, then have this juice at 8.30, and breakfast at 9. So technically empty stomach before and after - that is key. 

Amla increases metabolism and fat breakdown apart from being super-high on Vit C. All 3 of us lost weight in a few months, which I didn't expect. BMI readings showed reduction in fat percentage also. Also, I didn't have a single episode of my allergic sneezing throughout this time. 

Warning

• Amla reduces blood sugar. So please check with your doctor if you are diabetic/have kidney or any other issue you are under treatment for. 
• Amla is "cold" as per Ayurveda. So in winter it may cause cold-like symptoms in some people. Please stop/check with a doctor if you experience any side effects. 
• If you are already slim/have low fat, may not be a good idea to have this regularly - you don't want to lose all healthy fat. We have stopped daily consumption, reduced to once a week, after breakfast. 
• Check with your doctor first if you are under any sort of medication.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. This is just something that happened as a side effect of taking amla for immunity, for 3 of us. May not work for everyone. If you indeed lose weight, do let me know. :) 

Reducing Gas/Bringing Back Appetite

Rasam/Buttermilk

Excellent recipe by Satya Sadasivan! 😀 I have used it for my husband who develops bloating/complete lack of appetite every time he takes antibiotics - this is the only thing that works. 

The Rasam Version

Ingredients

• Tamarind
• Whole pepper
• Jeera seeds
• Ghee
• Mustard seeds
• Curry leaves
• Salt

Procedure

1. Make some tamarind water with a small lemon-sized ball of tamarind mixed in water. 
2. Lightly roast half a teaspoon of fresh pepper and half a teaspoon of jeera each, without oil. 
3. Grind and make into powder. (I usually make a few spoons of this and keep in a bottle to save time. Both equal quantities.)
4. Boil the tamarind water. Add half a teaspoon of pepper powder and half a teaspoon of jeera powder. Boil it well. Add salt as needed. 
5. Now add seasoning and switch off - some mustard seeds and curry leaves spluttered in some ghee. The ghee is important - it reduces vaatha (gas) in the body. 
6. Drink well before your mealtimes, so the gas goes out and you develop appetite before your meals. 

The Buttermilk Version

The faster one. :) 

Ingredients

• Buttermilk
• Whole pepper
• Jeera seeds
• Ghee
• Mustard seeds
• Curry leaves
• Salt

Procedure

1. Mix half a teaspoon of pepper powder and half a teaspoon of jeera powder in some buttermilk. (see above - you can make and keep the powder ready in a bottle). Add salt as needed.
2. Now add seasoning - some mustard seeds and curry leaves spluttered in some ghee. The ghee is important - it reduces vaatha (gas) in the body. 
3. Drink well before mealtimes so the gas goes out and you develop appetite before your meals. 

Ginger/Salt/Lemon

A tip from an Ayurvedic counselor.

1. Chop 1/4 tsp fresh ginger with a pinch of rock salt and a squeeze of lemon or lime and consume 20 minutes before eating.
2. This makes you burp usually, and it is supposed to kick-start your digestion.

Do  you have any tips that worked for you? 

Banana Walnut Cake

Super simple cake! And has some nutrition too :) And you can modify and make many variations easily. AND it's a fantastic way to use over-ripe bananas. :)


Ingredients

1. 1.5 cups flour (Maida. I try and mix a bit of millet flour in it - but if you want it very sweet, stick to maida)
2. 1 cup white sugar (I mix some brown sugar in it. I also reduce sugar and add raisins instead)
3. 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 1 teaspoon baking soda
6. 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
7. 1 egg
8. 3 very ripe bananas. There's a trick I learned from an expert - store overripe bananas in the freezer. Thaw them and use - they become super-sweet! So you can cut down on the sugar. More bananas, less sugar. You can add more than 3. 
9. Some walnuts. Heat them a little, it reduces the bitterness. Cool and break into small pieces.
10. Baking paper, if you have. 
11. A deep baking tray. You can also use the long bread tray like in the picture. 
12. A dry sieve for the flour

Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven at 180 degrees. If you are using a convection oven, set to Convection mode. 
2. Sieve the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together, and keep aside. This is to ensure they mix well. You do this for all cakes. 
3. Beat the egg until fluffy.
4. Smash the bananas into pulp. You can leave it slightly chunky, that's fine. 
5. Melt the butter. 
6. Now mix flour, egg, sugar, bananas, butter, vanilla essence, walnuts - and raisins if you have. 
7. Line a deep baking tray with baking paper. If not, you can apply butter and then sprinkle some flour on it. 
8. Pour into tray evenly. 
9. Bake for 30 mins at 180 degrees and check. If a toothpick/fork comes clean, it is ready. If not, bake for another 10 mins. 
10. Cool and cut! This cake tastes even nicer the next day if you keep in fridge. 

How to lose weight, raise your immunity/energy levels

The best thing I have ever done for myself is go to a Nutritionist. Life-changing to say the least. In addition to the increased energy and fitness, it also saves me a lot of money in medical expenditure later, because prevention is cheaper than cure. :)

This is not a crash diet or a drastic change from a typical Indian diet, I am having all food groups, and I don't starve - so it is easy to sustain all my life. Sharing some of what I learned from her, and have been applying to myself since this May. I went to Qua Nutrition, but am sure there are many such places. There are many diets these days, different bodies react differently, I am just sharing one that worked for me. :)

• She prepared my diet based on a comprehensive blood and urine report, my lifestyle, calorie-needs and metabolism. So it is best that you see a nutritionist yourself if you have specific needs or issues. What works for me may not be what is good for you. I am trying to share what is possibly generic and applicable to all. 
• I had slightly high cholesterol, had put on weight, and I was pre-diabetic in May. When I did my tests in September, my HbAIC (mean sugar level) had dropped from 6.3 to 5.6 in 3 months, just via diet and exercise. And I had lost weight and built muscle. 
• Weight alone is not a good indicator - if you have built muscle mass, your weight may remain the same but you look more toned and slimmer. If you diet is not balanced, you may lose muscle, in which case you weigh less but look flabby and saggy. 
• At the end of 3 months she made me repeat my blood and urine tests and then decided whether I am doing better - not just by my weight-loss or "feeling fine". :)  
• Feeling fine does not always mean you have great numbers in your medical reports, that is not a good indicator always. You get symptoms only when things have worsened.

Diet

• The key thing here is portions. I am actually having more variety of foods, but smaller quantities of each.
• For every meal, I make sure I have some form of protein. 
• The immediate effect I felt after starting this diet is a rise in energy levels. I used to feel tired very often earlier, given my workload. 
• When I travel I now know what foods to choose. My nutritionist also gave me choices when some foods won't be available. 
• Sweet cravings happen when you are low on micronutrients like magnesium - a good diet gives you those micronutrients via healthier options like walnuts and pumpkin seeds so it reduces your craving for sweets. 
• I still have tea and coffee (3 glasses max), but if you can stop it is good. I use jaggery instead of white sugar. I still have the occasional sweet and dark chocolate. 
• There are loads of foods that are good for you, this is not the complete list. You can find a lot of information online. The key thing is to develop an awareness of what you are eating and how it satisfies your nutrition needs. 

Morning

• I have 5 almonds soaked overnight in water, and peeled. Raises your good cholesterol levels, which in turn reduces your bad cholesterol.
• She also asked me to have methi water - soak a teaspoon of methi seeds in a full glass of water overnight. Have only the water first thing in the morning. This helps balance your sugar levels and cholesterol. I believe methi also cools the body. Some people may have reactions to this, so you need to try and check. Discontinue if you have bloating or other symptoms.
• I exercise every morning - either a 1-hour walk, or strengthening exercises at the Sports fitness centre I go to. So I have been asked to have 2 dried figs or 2 dried prunes also so that I don't exercise on an empty stomach. 
• Ideally you should not have tea/coffee - or have a 20-min break before you have it. Stopping tea completely didn't work for me. 
• To have during my exercise I take a cup of green tea with lemon in it, in a bottle.
• Breakfast is my usual 2 dosas/idlis/parathas/oats, or 1 omelette once a week. Different things throughout the week. And with breakfast I have 2 boiled egg whites every morning. This ensures I have good protein in the morning, keeps me full and energized all morning. My dosa recipe, which contains millets also. 
•  I have been asked to have 2 Omega 3 Fish oil capsules.

Mid-morning

• Around 10.30 - 11 (half-way between 2 meals) I have 10 cranberries or a spoon of pumpkin seeds. All good fats and micronutrients that the body needs. 
• Along with a fruit. This mid-morning meal ensures I am not overly hungry by lunch-time, and so I need less food at lunch-time, I don't over-eat. And fruits eaten by themselves ensure the nutrition is better absorbed by the body. Add 2 pinches of cinnamon powder to the fruit to lower blood sugar if that is a need. 

Lunch

• 15 mins before lunch and dinner she has asked me to have a glass of water with a spoon of apple cider vinegar in it, for fat-burning. I keep forgetting this. :) 
• Lunch is: 
• 100 gms rice/millets/2 chapathis (You can vary over the week. We completely switched to millets because it's bringing down my husband's sugar levels significantly, he is diabetic, on insulin. I make it like rice - 3/4th glass any of the millets + 1/4th glass rice. With a pinch of salt. Just add less water. I also lost weight after I stopped wheat. Some of us are gluten-intolerant and we don't know that - but if you lose weight it means wheat didn't really agree with you. I do eat parathas and rotis occasionally)
• 100 gms any kind of dal/rajma/chickpea/chicken/fish/paneer/mushroom/tofu (any protein basically - have a different one every day if you can)
• 100 gms vegetables (try to have a variety)
• 100 gms chopped salad (tomato/cucumber/capsicum/carrot/onion etc - just cut in strips or chunks and add a dash of lemon on it. Actually quite easy to have. Very important - fibre is key in losing weight)
• 100 gms low fat home-made curd (very important to make the curd at home - the bacteria might be mostly dead in most shop-curds that have been kept for a while. Getting the right amount of stomach bacteria is a very critical part of a good diet - if your digestion isn't happening well, everything you eat is of no use, because the body isn't absorbing the nutrition. Get one of those ceramic jars (jaadis) you get in road-side stalls, which people use to make pickles - curd sets better in it because it retains heat. Get the first culture from someone who makes curd at home, sometimes shop curd won't work)
•  Chew on some jeera after the meal if you have a tendency to bloat. Keep in mind that if you have never had salad you may have bloating for a few weeks until your body gets used to it. I had that problem. But now I can eat any amount of salad and I am fine.)
• 100 gms is a small katori. Measure initially until you get used to it. 

Mid-afternoon

When you start feeling hungry again. 

• 10 pistas
• 1 fruit - a different one from the morning. The idea is to have a wide variety of fruits. Have different ones every day if you can. Just one each. 

If you have a huge gap between lunch and dinner, you can also have some sprouts/khakra/curd in between - the idea is to not feel ravenously hungry for dinner and then overeat.

Dinner

• I started having my dinner at 6.30 PM a month ago - and it changed my life. :) I lost a kilo - and I have more energy to work/take my calls during the evening. The idea is to finish your food 3 hours before you sleep so everything is used up, not stored as fat. This is not something the nutritionist told me, it is just something I tried out because some of my friends do it. I had a mental block about having dinner so early, but got over it once I started doing it - now I enjoy the feeling of going to sleep feeling light.
• 1 spoon of apple cider vinegar in water 15 mins before dinner.
• Dinner for me is a repeat of lunch. But if you are the kind who likes to have a different meal, you can do that too. All you need to keep in mind is that you have this combination:
• 100 gms carbs
• 100 gms protein
• 100 gms vegetables
• 100 gms salad
• 100 gms curd

• Soups are also a great way to get nutrition in. My basic soup recipe, which I got from my friend Vinisha, is very simple. Fry some chopped onion and garlic, add the vegetable/dal, add water and cook. Cool and grind, and boil again and add some herbs. Even pepper is enough. A dash of lemon at the end will make almost any soup tasty. If you add cooked tofu or mushroom in it, you have your protein. And adding some cooked millet noodles in the soup will make it a complete meal. 
  

Bed-time

• If you feel hungry, have a glass of milk with turmeric in it. 
• I have one walnut before bed. 
• If you have digestive issues, have some saunf tea. Pour boiling water in a glass with 1 teaspoon of saunf. Let it remain for 10 mins and then have the water.

Sleep

• Good sleep is very very key  to losing weight. You should get at least 7 if not 8 hours of good sleep. The less sleep you get the more chances of putting on weight, especially around tummy.

Exercise

• Exercise is very very key. Diet alone is not enough. You can do simple things. A full one hour walk is one of the easiest ways to lose weight. Low intensity, long-duration exercise. I believe visceral fat starts breaking down only around the 45th minute. You can walk at a normal pace. This worked for me, I lost weight. I only do this on alternate days, but if you can do every day it is even better. I keep a timer for 30 mins on my phone, and then walk back from wherever I have reached. I walk early mornings. 
• Alternate days I do muscle-strengthening exercises. Floor exercises mostly. Very important as you grow older, especially for women. Any gym instructor can teach you this. Or do yoga. 

Menopause

• Diet and exercise do help with menopausal symptoms. The body loses its protective estrogen shield and so you develop all kinds of vague illnesses. 
• Include soya products in food, like soya bean, tofu etc a couple of times during the week. Preferably natural forms, not processed.
• Flax seeds and chia seeds are also good, do alternate days. 
• Nettle leaf tea is supposed to reduce hot flushes. 
• The entire diet and exercise listed above balances your system, so it also reduces menopausal symptoms. 

All the recipes in this blog are healthy, except for the cakes. :) Please comment/mail if you know of healthy recipes I could try out or any useful tips. Thanks in advance!

Also see: https://noodlesandmangopickle.blogspot.com/2018/11/diet-plan-to-reduce-cholesterol-raise.html

Christmas Cake

Last year I finally baked my very first Christmas cake! 😋😃 All thanks to Aarathy, my friend, who is also my baking teacher and inspiration. She bakes this every year for Christmas. This cake is based on this recipe, with some modifications. I've also added some tips from all my trials and errors, and from my friend Philomena who bakes tonnes of cakes every Christmas. It is actually quite simple, don't be fooled by the number of steps. The only thing you have to be really careful about is the caramel. 

Note: Ideally you should keep this cake for a week at least, covered in foil, for the taste to mature. So plan accordingly. :) 

Step 1: Soaking dry fruits

Some people keep this for 2 days, but the longer you keep, the better. Some keep it for months - I did, for 6 months - and once for 1.5 years. :) You can use rum, brandy, or whiskey. 

Utensil: Tall glass bottle

Soak the following in a glass bottle in brandy/rum/whiskey. Keep it tightly closed, and shake the jar everyday. Some people also add figs and other fruits, this list is completely your choice - don't add things that could get sticky. You will find a lot of mixes online.

1. Caramelized orange peel, chop into small pieces
2. Caramelized cherries, chop into small pieces
3. Candied ginger, chop into small pieces
4. Seedless raisins - add different varieties
5. Crushed vanilla pods, a few 
6. Black currants
7. Star Anise

Step 2: Baking

Utensils

1. Any oven. Note that convection ovens may not give you a crispy dark brown outer layer, but will cook evenly. 
2. It is worth investing in measuring cups and measuring spoons. For half cup, one-fourth spoon etc, the whole set. You get really pretty colourful plastic and ceramic ones these days. Am sure you get them online too. 
3. A big fairly deep pan. This cake rises a bit, so needs some depth. 
4. A sieve for the maida and spices
5. Big glass mixing bowl
6. A small deep bowl to beat 5 eggs
7. Egg beater. I prefer the one in the shape of a spring, like this. 
8. A pan to caramelize sugar
9. Baking paper if you can get. Also called parchment paper. If not, you can just butter the pan and add some maida and shake it off
10. Electric beater. This makes it easier to mix - you can also do this with your hand, but make sure you beat well.
11. Ladle with long handle to add water to the hot sugar syrup
12. Keep some Burnol and ice ready - in case you burn your hand while making caramel. Just a precaution - I will explain how to prevent this. 😁

Cake

1. All Purpose Flour / Maida – 2 cup / 240 grams
2. All Purpose Flour / Maida – 2 table spoons for tossing dry fruits
3. Sugar – 1 1/4 cup / 250 grams
4. Soft Unsalted Butter – 250 grams
5. Eggs – 5
6. Baking Soda – 1/2 tsp
7.  Baking Powder – 1 tsp
8.  Salt – 1/2 tsp
9. Dry Ginger Powder / Chukku Podi – 1/4 tsp
10. Cinnamon Powder / Pattai Podi – 3/4 tsp
11. Cloves Powder / Krambu Podi – 1/4 tsp
12. Nutmeg Powder – 1/4 tsp  (Buy nutmeg and roast and powder if you don't get this)
13. Cardamom Powder / Yelakai Podi – 1/4 tsp
14. Vanilla Essence – 2 tsp
15. The soaked dry fruits - 2 tbs, or a generous quantity - your choice, if you like your cake heady
16. Cashew nuts, almonds, walnuts - totally 200 gms. Roast the walnuts a bit, otherwise has a bitter taste. Put them in  a packet and crush a bit.
    

For Caramel:

1. Sugar – 1/2 cup
2. Water - One cup

Method:

Efficiency Tip: As and when you finish with one utensil, measuring spoon/cup, bottle, jar etc, keep it back in cupboard/fridge, wherever it belongs. That way you will feel less hassled because the table/kitchen counter won't be crowded, and you don't have to waste time cleaning up afterwards. :) If you are lucky enough to have helpers, get them to clean up vessels too at every step. 

1. First make the caramel mix and keep it aside, since it needs to cool. Take sugar in a sauce pan and heat it on low heat. Now it will start to crystalize. Keep stirring and it will slowly start to melt. Keep heating on low heat, keep stirring, until suddenly it froths up and becomes this nice dark colour. When it starts smoking, take it off the heat. 
2. WATCH OUT . Be very careful when you add in water. Water will splash when you add it to the hot sugar syrup - and this is a very painful burn. Use a ladle with a long handle and slowly add water, little by little. 
3. Stir well so it mixes and does not solidify. Note that if you add more water the caramel will solidify later. 
4. Now put back on the fire, and stir until the whole mixture has the consistency of honey. Set aside to cool.
5. If it solidifies later, heat a bit and add some water. 
   
6. Take dry fruits in a bowl, squeeze out some of the brandy, and toss it with flour. The fruits should be completely covered with maida. This is to prevent the dry fruits from sinking to the bottom of the cake. Set aside. 
7. Sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spice powders altogether and set aside. This is to ensure they spread evenly.
8. Melt the butter in a pan. 
9. Beat the five eggs in a separate bowl, and use the egg beater to make it fluffy.
10. Now switch on the oven and heat it at 180 degrees for 10 mins. If you have a Convection oven, set to Convection. I do this at this time because otherwise it cools down by the time the mix is ready. 
11. In a big mixing bowl, add melted butter, sugar, vanilla and beat using an electric beater till it is creamy.
12. Now add the eggs into the butter-sugar mix in the bowl and beat again till creamy.
13. Now add in half of the flour mix and half of the caramel. Fold gently.
14. Now add remaining flour and remaining caramel and fold again.
15. Add in dry fruit mix and fold gently.
16. You can also add a little of the alcohol from the dry fruit mix if you want your cake headier. Don't add too much - you could get a headache if there's too much alcohol in the cake. This cake should ideally be a little moist. 
17. Take the cashew, almond, walnut, toss in a tsp of maida and mix in. This is to prevent them from sinking to the bottom.
    
18. Take the big baking pan and line it with the baking paper. If you don't have that apply butter on the pan, sprinkle some maida on it, spread and throw off excess. This is to prevent the cake from sticking on the pan.
19. Pour this in the prepared pan and bake for 30 mins at 180 degrees. Check at 30 mins with a tooth pick. If it has cooked well, the tooth pick will come out clean. If not, keep for some more time. I have a Convection oven, other ovens may need slightly longer. 
20. Remove it and let it cool. Now invert it and peel off the parchment. Slice and serve. 
    

Storage

• This cake tastes better the longer you keep it. And you don't have to keep it in the fridge. 
• Apply some of the brandy/rum/whisky from the soaked fruit mix on all sides of the cake. 
• Wrap well in aluminium foil and keep it in a cool dry place. You can put it in a zip lock bag. I keep it inside the oven itself if I am not using it. People keep it in a cupboard for months too. The pic below is the bottom of the cake. 😀

Tell me how it came out, post pics. 😊 And always eager to learn tips, so please add them in the Comments section, thank you!