home made cultured ghee and health benefits of ghee | what Ayurveda and modern research say about ghee

Ghee is pure butter fat, also called as butter oil because it is made after clarifying butter. Ghee comes from milk fat (dairy) and can be of 2 types, one is uncultured ghee which is made by skimming all fat from whole milk and clarifying the fat directly to make ghee, but in most Indian homes you will find the cultured ghee.

Cultured ghee is made by skimming all the cream from whole milk, culturing the collected cream with yogurt culture (just like setting yogurt) and when the cream gets sour (cultured sour cream) it is whipped to separate the milk fat which is actually cultured butter. When this cultured butter is clarified by heating, it becomes cultured ghee with the most delicious aroma and taste..

We love our homemade ghee and would do anything to ensure we get good quality ghee if we can't make it at home. Mothers and grandmothers make ghee and collect to gift it to their kids who live away from them, to ensure they eat well and stay healthy. It has become a part of our culture to shower love by adding a spoonful of ghee in the curry or daal on the table. A pot of melted ghee on the dining table is a must have condiment or supplement during family dining.

It is notable that ghee is a good mix of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids and the smoking point is 485F (251C), it indicates ghee is the best suited fat for cooking at high temperature and it has stable saturated bonds.

It is not a surprise that this wisdom and culture around ghee goes back to Ayurveda. Ghee is considered cleansing, toning and nourishing for the system. There is a lot of modern evidence to support the truth behind the super food qualities of ghee.

Ghee contains Butyric acid, named so because it was first discovered in butter, Butyric acid helps maintain a healthy intestinal microbiome, it is actually secreted by many probiotic bacteria in the gut if the person has a healthy intestinal microbiome. This is one of the reasons why probiotic bacteria are considered essential for overall health. 

Butyric acid is also found in good amounts in butter and Parmesan cheese, it helps in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and helps in colorectal cancer.

Butyric acid is known to lower blood cholesterol as well as triglycerides, that indicates it is a potent anti inflammatory agent (read more here). Ghee (and butter too) is definitely a heart healthy fat. There is a reason why ghee and butter eating communities stay healthy.

It is difficult to find good sources of ghee now a days so making it at home is the next best thing.

The resultant ghee stays solid in Indian winters and starts melting as summer approaches, going through different stages of solid-liquid state, some globules of solid fat always found floating even in summers. Daanedar ghee (ghee with some solid fat globules) is a good test of pure ghee.

How to make ghee at home...

There are 2-3 ways to make ghee at home. 

1. You can buy cultured white butter from any organic source and melt it to clarify and make ghee. Strain the ghee to separate the solids before storage.
2. You can buy heavy dairy cream, add yogurt culture to it and let it get sour by keeping it at room temperature for about 4-8 hours. Then churn or whip to separate the fat that makes the cultured butter. This cultured butter can be melted and clarified to make ghee.
3. The third method is the way most of us Indian make our ghee. The whole milk is scalded and then cooled (in refrigerator). A layer of malai (clotted cream) gets formed when we rest the scalded milk overnight, this cream is collected and yogurt culture is added to it. One can collect the clotted cream for 3-4 days and then add the cultured yogurt so a good amount of butter can be made. The cultured sour cream is then churned to separate the butter which is then clarified. I am listing the detailed steps of this process.

The cream is cultured (which we call dahi jamana) till it gets slightly sour and smells wonderfully of rich yogurt. Then the yogurt is churned using a hand blender or in a food processor. Chilled water is added to the sour cream (malai ki dahi) to churn so the butter floats when separated.

Step 1 in the collage below shows how the white butter separates from the liquid buttermilk after the churning process. The true buttermilk comes from this process, we call this cultured buttermilk as mattha or kachhi lassi (lassi without fat). 

Step 2 shows the white butter which has been spooned out directly into a stainless steel pan (kadhai), some of the liquid buttermilk separated even after skimming the butter. It can be drained before clarifying the butter. 

Step 3 shows how the white cultured butter starts melting when we heat the pan. 

Step 4 we already see the butter getting clarified after heating. 

This process of clarifying is very crucial for those who are lactose intolerant. The ghee should be cooked till all the solids get nicely browned and settle down. Stirring the mix a few times helps clump the brown solids together and settle down. You can see in the step 4 that there is a white layer on top of the bubbling ghee that is actually whey protein. The other protein called casein settles down from beginning and later when we cook the ghee further to clarify, even the whey protein settles down and browns. All this browned solid should be removed completely by straining if the ghee is being made for a lactose intolerant person. 

Rest of us can enjoy the brown solids by mixing it with sugar and nuts or any other delicious use. I often add it to my daals or rajma.

The clarified butter gets a golden hue once cooked well. Straining it well and storing in either glass jars or stainless steel jars ensures the ghee stays good for long time.

The ghee starts getting solid after 2-3 days of making it.

Most of the times I save some of the white butter to have it with our millet rotis and the buttermilk is enjoyed fresh. If the cultured cream gets too sour we use this buttermilk to make kadhi. Many families have a tradition to make kadhi whenever butter is churned and ghee is made.

Milk and milk products play a major art in our everyday food in India. Although now many people have started reporting being intolerant to milk, but they still can consume ghee safely.

Immense benefits of ghee suggest we must include it for our everyday meals. Those who don;t consume ghee everyday should try and maintain a healthy gut flora. Infact the countries where ghee is not a traditional cooking fat the populations depend on butter and probiotic foods to maintain healthy gut. Butter has most of the benefits that ghee has but contains lactose and other proteins that may cause health problems to 'some'. See how someone experienced that clarified butter is good for her lactose intolerant kid.

I asked Dr. Sangita Borgave from Pune about ghee and she enlightened with many more wonderful qualities of ghee as described in Ayurvedic texts.

Dr. Borgave says Ghee is a highly revered food article in Ayurveda which has many interesting properties. The most superior type of ghee is cow’s ghee but one can find descriptions of ghee made from the milk of many animals like , buffalo, sheep, camel, horse etc.

Qualities of ghee according to Ayurveda 

1. Rasayana: This term means nourishing all the tissues in the body. In Ayurveda after detoxifying the body with Panchakarma, Rasayana  formulations are given to nourish all the tissues and cells in the body.
2. Madhur: Ghee is sweet in taste. There are six types of taste in the body and Madhur or sweet is the first of these.
3. Dipana: Ghee is one of the best natural digestives and appetite stimulants. The concept of Agni is very important in Ayurveda as this science believes that a weak Agni is the cause of all diseases. Ghee strengthens the Agni, improves digestion and appetite and therefore helps nutrients to reach the tissues.
4. Chakshushya: Ghee is beneficial to the eyes. It strengthens the eyes and eyesight. It is used to treat various eye problems. ( SK: I remember my grandmother making kaajal using ghee).
5. Sheeta: Despite increasing Agni, ghee is cooling in nature. Most herbs which improve the Agni and digestion are hot but ghee is an exception.
6. Decreases Vata and Pitta: Of the three Doshas or elements in the body i.e. fire, wind and water, ghee helps control and decrease the former two. So those who suffer from excess body heat should always use ghee in their diet.
7. Beneficial to the complexion/Enhances beauty: Consuming ghee regularly leads to a healthy glowing complexion.
8. Ojaskara: Oja is an important but complicated concept in Ayurveda. Basically Oja is a substance found in very minute quantities in the body. It contains the best qualities of all the seven tissues of the body. Depletion of Oja leads to several mental and physical diseases and is difficult to treat. Ghee directly nourishes Oja and so should be a part of daily diet.
9. Benefits the voice/speech: Ghee helps build a strong and clear voice. Ayurveda uses ghee to treat many speech disorders.
10. Smritikar/Medhya: Improving memory/increasing intelligence.  Ghee is a very good natural  brain tonic. It should be eaten regularly by children, people in intellectual professions and old people.
11. Aayushyakara: Ghee actually increases the life span. Many studies have clearly shown that consumption of healthy fats like ghee increase the life span, promote longevity.
12. Strengthening: Helps in generalized weakness and general debility post illness.
13. Vrushya: Improving fertility and libido. Ghee is said to be similar in consistency to Shukra or semen. So all Ayurvedic treatments of male infertility, and such problems will include ghee. Ghee also helps women conceive and have a healthy pregnancy and smooth delivery.

Medicated ghees are used to treat a vast number of diseases in Ayurveda but as one can see even simple, plain cow’s ghee is useful in innumerable number of ways. 

Ghee should be a part of everyday meals as it has always been in our homes, else we will be forced to take it as a supplement. Yes ghee is so healing and nourishing it helps prevent many diseases if we take it everyday. 

Thankfully ghee suits everyone including the lactose intolerant if clarified well. Make some ghee yourself using either cultured heavy cream or home made cultured butter. 

   

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another detox smoothie with pineapple, pomelo and bhumiamlaki (Phyllanthus niruri), a liver tonic herb

This common garden weed called as Bhumiamplaki in Hindi (Phyllanthus niruri) or Chanca piedra has immense medicinal properties and is a very potent liver tonic. It helps prevent stone formation in kidneys too (source) and is actually beneficial in many more conditions (read more).

I have myself seen it being used to heal the liver after jaundice in my family, fresh herb liquidized with water is given to the patient everyday for a week or so and one notices a difference. Since this herb bhumiamlaki grows profusely in the garden I sometimes pluck and add it to my smoothies.

 It is the most easy thing to do as the herb doesn't need any preparation before being added to smoothies or juices. This is the season of grapefruits (pomelo) too and the generous tree in my garden is weighed down by several of those heavy citrus fruits. See the article I wrote for Down to Earth about pomelo and how it is used across the country.

I use them a lot in my salads and smoothies.

Some slices of pineapple are always there in my freezer and come handy when making smoothies or the pineapple soup that I love so much.

Recipe of pineapple and pomelo smoothie with bhumiamlaki 

ingredients for one serving... 

one fat slice of pineapple
one cup of pomelo segments cleaned
handful of bhumiamlaki leaves and tender stems (all parts of the plant are edible)

procedure ...

Blend to make a smoothie. There will be a mild bitter aftertaste in this smoothie but this is one of those smoothies that work wonderfully to detoxify the system.

Make this smoothie with orange or sweet lime if you don't get pomelo, some citrus fruit makes this smoothie much more enjoyable.

And see how just three ingredients make this smoothie a perfect recipe to detox.

You can add a little ginger too if you have been experiencing DOMS after heavy workouts.

Get the fruits prepared and frozen if you want the smoothie ready quickly. Or just enjoy playing with ingredients before you blend your smoothie. It is great any which way.

This smoothie may taste a little bitter if the pomelo has a slight bitterness too, Bhumiamlaki has slight bitterness too so the combined effect may make this smoothie taste slightly bitter. Add more pineapple in such a case and the smoothie will still be great.

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sweet potatoes in the season | sweet potato hash browns and apple and sweet potato slaw salad recipes

I bought some nice and plump pink skinned sweet potatoes a few weeks ago, first lot of this season as I can't wait for the sweet potatoes from my garden. The leaves are getting lush and spreading like wild fire now, I use the sweet potato leaves to make a stir fry and add them to my besan cheela sometimes, but the tubers have a charm few can resist.

I make many interesting salads using sweet potatoes. This carrots and sweet potato salad has become a favourite since I cooked it on a farm by instinct, and this sweet potato and beets salad is another favourite. Sweet potato and water chestnuts both have the same season so it makes sense to combine them for salads too. You would love this sweet potato pudding we call shakarkand ki rabdi, a dessert made without sugar.

This season I made a shakarakand ka halwa for Diwali special of my Down to Earth column and the rest of the sweet potato was grated to have fun with it. I instantly posted the picture on instagram it looked so pretty. The grated sweet potatoes helped me make a gluten free breakfast on a weekend. It was quick yet delicious sweet potato hash browns made in almost one batch on my dosa griddle.

Luckily October has finally brought some cheer and we are enjoying our weekend breakfasts in the garden. Some tea was brewed, eggs were fried and jars or peanut butter and Apricot chutney were brought out. The sweet potato hash browns were so delicious we did not need the peanut butter. The Apricot chutney suited really well with the porous hash browns that held together beautifully, thanks to the rice flour I used for binding.

ingredients for sweet potato hash browns 
(2 large breakfast serving along with fried eggs and preserves etc)

scant 2 cups of grated sweet potatoes (washed but not peeled Indian sweet potatoes)
1.5 tbsp rice flour (or use a mix of chickpea flour and oat flour, use buckwheat if fasting)
salt and pepper to taste (keep the salt light if a savoury condiment is being served with it)
ghee or butter or olive oil to shallow fry (1-2 tbsp for a batch of 6-8 hash browns, we had leftovers too)

procedure 

Mix all the ingredients together and let it rest for 5 minutes till the griddle heats up. I used my cast iron dosa griddle and made all the hash browns in 2 batches.

Using your fingers, lift a handful of the grated sweet potato mix and spread over the greased hot griddle and flatten it using a spatula. Drizzle ghee to let it brown on one side. Flip and let it brown on the other side too, some crispness sis desired here so cook till you feel it is good for you.

Make your tea and fried eggs on the other side and serve immediately.

Next time I am going to serve these with some sour cream or a quark dip. These sweet potato hash browns were so crisp they can be served as canapes.

Adding buckwheat flour makes these hash browns as crisp as the rice flour version but take care not to add too much flour. The hash browns are crisp on the outside with a soft center though you can bake them to more crisp texture. 

I had some more grated sweet potatoes so I mixed it with some lime juice, dash of balsamic and honey and refrigerated it planning to make a salad next day. I love raw sweet potatoes and this salad was intended to be made along with some mung sprouts.

But the next day I felt like a fruity salad for lunch and tossed up this slaw salad along with some finely shopped green apple and a popped amaranth and mixed seeds trail mix. Mung sprouts would have tasted great too but after adding one whole apple it became a good quantity for my lunch, hence the sprouts were dropped.

I was not planning to share this salad on the blog but I liked it a lot and clicked pictures. You could add any roasted seeds mix to it and get a good crunch in it too.

This apple and sweet potato slaw is a salad that can be made as a meal, as a sandwich filling or even as a topping for canapes.

Thee is nothing special in this salad but do take care to let the sweet potato seep into the lime-balsamic-honey dressing for a few hours before tossing up the salad. Add the chopped apples, the trail mix and some EVOO, toss and serve immediately. I may not add EVOO next time I make it but you can go with what you like.

Hope seasonal produce inspires you too to cook something new every season and you keep reinventing the same old food in new ways. It does bring some cheer every season trust me.

I hope these recipes will be useful for those who are fasting for Navratri too.

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easy to make trail mixes for Navratri fasting and healthy snacking | recipes of 3 trail mixes using popped amaranth, fox nuts and assorted seeds and nuts

Nuts and seeds are great nourishing foods but many of us don't use them enough in everyday meals. There are many traditional recipes of pestos, chutneys, curry powders and even snacks made with seeds like sesame, poppy seeds or flax seeds, but since we look for quick recipes we often miss using seeds in our food.

Nuts have a better chance as we all love roasted nuts and they are available comparatively easily too. After all a bowl of roasted cashew or almonds is handy and one finds them easier as finger foods. But then we Indians eat a lot of namkeens (savories) with our tea and coffee are we are slowly becoming a huge consumer of packaged chips, rice or corn based crispies and wafers.

If your family consumes these products you might like to shift to trail mixes with seeds, few nuts and some added puffed rice, popped sorghum or popped amaranth and popped foxnuts (makhana) etc.

These trail mixes are a great way to keep away from unhealthy snacks. These are very good for travel also, we always pack some of these for our travels and never ever buy any snacks while traveling. I believe we should be a little more careful while traveling not only to eat healthy foods and snacks but not to buy anything packaged in plastics. When the tourists demand plastic packaged foods the local shopkeepers stock it and it starts a chain reaction of demand and supply, littering all the peaceful places with plastic packets and water bottles. Carrying our own snacks makes much more sense.

We don't have to think much about when and how to include seeds because there are many ways we can easily add some proteins and good fats in everyday meals.

Here are a few ways we can add seeds in our meals.

1. Sprinkle some roasted seeds on your salads for extra crunch and added dimension to the flavours. Adding seeds (or nuts) to fruit salads lowers down the Glycemic index further and makes it fit for most diabetics and weight watchers.
2. Make a salad dressing with seeds or herb pesto made of any of your favourite herbs. This sesame seeds salad dressing is a much loved recipe in my home. 
3. Make a paste of poppy seeds, melon seeds or cashew to thicken Indian curries and gravies. It is a great way to supplement protein in vegetarian diet.
4. Replace fries, chips and packaged namkeens with roasted nuts and trail mixes. Balance the trail mixes by adding dried fruits like raisins and make them lighter by adding popped amaranth, puffed rice or roasted flattened rice (roasted poha) and season as you like. Keep the trail mixes in air tight jars for the tea time treats. Replace cookies with these trail mixes too.
5. Use more nuts and seeds to make dips and pesto. Use them to make your regular sandwiches and wraps. Toss salads and pasta using them. 
6. Make nut and seed butters and use them in various ways. Most people love peanuts butter or cashew butter. I make mixed seeds butter too and we find it really versatile. Will share my recipes soon.

Coming back to the trail mixes, I am sharing 3 recipes of trail mixes today. Each one of them is so good they are almost addictive. But once you eat a little bigger serving of these you would skip the next meal automatically. This is the beauty of low glycemic index snacks, they fill you up for a longer time period.


1. Honey-lime-pepper peanut and seeds mix 

I have used a mix of peanuts, chironji and sunflower seeds here. You need an oven to make this one, a microwave can also be used.

ingredients..

100 gm roasted peanuts
200 gm large sizes seeds like sunflower seeds, melon seeds and pumpkin seeds etc
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp white pepper powder

procedure 

Split the roasted peanuts and remove the skin.

Mix everything together and let it stand for 10 minutes till the lime juice and honey mix soaks the nuts and seeds.

Spread over a baking tray lined with silpat and bake at 170C (preheated) for about 30 minutes. Check once and bake some more, the seeds will be completely dry but not crunchy when baked. They get crunchy once cooled.

If making in microwave, follow the procedure of this roasted cashew.

Store in airtight glass jar when cooled to room temperature.

2. Flax seeds-coconut flakes namkeen trail mix 

ingredients 

200 gm flax seeds
100 gm mix of chopped almonds and walnuts
50 gm grated dry coconut
70 gm raisins
1 tsp sea salt or pink salt (sendha namak)
1 tsp pepper powder

procedure

I made this in a pan and it took only about 10 minutes.

Dry roast the flax seeds on medium heat till they start crackle and look puffed. Using a thick base pan will be good for this purpose.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except raisins) together and dry roast for another couple of minutes or till the coconut flakes get firm and crisp.

Take the pan off the stove, add the raisins and mix well. Cool down to room temperature.

Cool and store in glass jars.

3. Seeds and popped amaranth trail mix 

This trail mix can also be made in a pan. Though roasting the seeds in an oven or microwave is also an option.

ingredients 

200 gm popped amaranth
100 gm sesame
100 gm flax seeds
50 gm melon seeds
25 gm sunflower seeds
25 gm pumpkin seeds
50 gm peanuts +1 tsp ghee
50 gm fox nuts (makhana) optional
70 gm sweet anardana seeds or raisins
sea salt or pink salt (sendha namak) to taste
pepper powder to taste
1 tsp or 4-5 gm amchoor powder

procedure

Heat a thick base pan (kadhai) and dry roast all the seeds separately. Collect them all in one large mixing bowl as they are the roasted.

Roast the peanuts with ghee on low flame till done. Now add the anardana seeds and roast for a few seconds before pouring this mix into the bowl with roasted seeds. This allows anaradana seeds to dehydrate a little.

Fox nuts will also be roasted with a little ghee, I used caramelised makhana to make it this time.

Now add the popped amaranth, salt, pepper and amchoor powder to the warm mix of seeds and peanuts and give it a good mix. The salt and pepper adheres to the surface because of the little ghee used for peanuts when we mix it all while still warm.

This trail mix with popped amaranth seeds is the most popular in my home. I make it with some puffed rice added or some more nuts depending on the requirement.

Here I have added some puffed rice too and the peanuts are roasted along with a tadka of curry leaves and mustard etc. The recipe and seasoning can be adjusted according to taste and requirement. I love adding curry leaves to such trail mixes and even make it with puffed rice whenever we get it.

I use many of these trail mixes to top my salads too. It is very convenient to have a well seasoned and flavourful trail mix that can lift a plain salad made of boring fruits that you may not like eating on their own. Sometimes I just mix some mung sprouts and may be some yogurt and make a quick meal for myself. We do need some of these options sometimes. I am sharing one such recipe next.

Till then, make these trail mixes and stock up the pantry with some nice healthy tea time snacks.

 Throw away those plastic packets of chips and kurkure. You and your family deserves better.

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kachhe kele ke kabab | raw plantain patties | vegetarian kababs

Vegetarian kababs are much revered for their meaty texture and protein content. Many meaty vegetables can be made into delicious kababs along with some lentils, chickpeas or even cooked beans. Lentils provide a textural base while the fibrous vegetables add the meatiness to these vegetarian kababs and they are great in their own way.

There have been times when I have chosen a vegetarian kabab over the meat kababs as the flavour variation can be very interesting sometimes in the vegetarian kababs. We keep making Kathal ke kabab and kachhe kele ke kababs quite often, but these kababs happen only when the vegetable in question has to be finished and we are in no mood to eat subzi.

Lentil and nut kababs are made occasionally when we make it a meal with some salad. I even make chickpea kababs quite often to use up any refrigerated boiled chickpeas. Only sooran ke kabab is made on special occasion of Diwali as a tradition and we look forward to it.

This time a young client of mine who is a beginner cook wanted a detailed kachhe kele ke kabab recipe and some raw plantains were going almost black in the fridge. There was no excuse why I should not post a recipe for the girl.

I got them plantains peeled and boiled with chana daal (split chickpeas) to make kababs but again the boiled mix kept waiting in the fridge for 2 days. Finally I made the kababs for a late weekend breakfast. Yes that is not a traditional kabab time but we can decide our own foods at home. Just some chutney and tulsi ginger chai was great with these kababs.

The resistant starch in the raw plantain (kachha kela) and a good mix of complex carbs and proteins in the chana daal makes these kababs perfect for breakfast if you consider the nutrient profile. That day after this late plantain kabab breakfast we had a grapefruit smoothie for lunch, a couple of teas later in the evening and did not feel like eating any food till dinner time.

ingredients
(makes 8 kababs, we had leftovers too after the heavy breakfast)

4 medium sized raw plantains (kachhe kele)
50 gm chana daal (split chickpeas)
salt to taste
1/2 tsp coarse pepper powder
1/2 tsp fine cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp finely chopped onions
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger root
1 tsp minced garlic cloves 1 tsp
minced green chillies to taste
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander greens
ghee to shallow fry (2 tbsp for 8 kababs)

procedure 

The hard variety of raw plantains take longer to cook and the slender ones cook faster, so I normally use soaked chana daal for slender plantains and raw unsoaked chana daal for hard plantains. This time I had some mature hard plantains.

Peel the plantains using a potato peeler so most of the fibrous skin is retained. Peel off only a very thin layer, removing any blackened parts well. Slice the plantains in 1 inch thick pieces.

Rinse the chana daal and mix with plantain slices, put these in a pressure cooker, add salt and 1/2 cup water and pressure cook till done. It takes about 10 minutes after the first whistle. Cool, open the pressure cooker, discard any extra water and mash the mixture. Normally all the water is soaked up while cooking.

Add the rest of the ingredients (except ghee) and make a dough. If the mix feel too watery you can add some sattu (roasted chickpea powder) and adjust seasoning.

Now this dough (mix) can be refrigerated for 2-3 days easily, kababs can be fried when required.

Divide the dough into 8 parts, shape into kababs and shallow fry on a hot griddle with drizzles of ghee, till browned on both sides.

If you want a smooth kabab like galouti you can blend the kabab mix in food processor and skip adding onions.

Serve with chutney of your choice. We had it with kachri ki chutney and amla dhaniya patta ki chutney.

Kachri is a tangy tart small melon that lends well to chutneys with loads of garlic and chillies. Amla was chutnified with some dhaniya patta (coriander greens) and chillies.

Here is a picture of kachri, the melons (Cucumis pubescens) that grow all over India wherever there is arid soil.

More on this small melon later. It will be good to know that dehydrated kachri powder is used as a meat tenderizer and some mutton kabab recipes use the kachri powder for the purpose.

It was a coincidence that a kachri chutney came up with a raw plantain kabab, kachhe kele ke kabab as we call them.

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jaggery coated almonds | easy to make natural unprocessed snack

Caramel coated and chocolate coated nuts you must have eaten a lot and must have exchanged as gifts too. Jaggery coated almonds are a better way to consume sweetened nuts without the emulsifiers and preservatives in the industrially produced coated nuts.

Come winter and North India starts stocking up nuts although it is much more sensible to keep eating nuts throughout the year. But there is a tradition of making panjeeris and laddus using an assortment of nuts in all North Indian families, some spices and edible gum etc is added to prepare oneself for the colder climes that we pretend to enjoy a lot.

In fact our winters are just a respite from the dreaded sultry summer that seems to drain all energy from us. Mangoes are the only solace. And then we enjoy our winters with rich foods of all sorts.

I made these jaggery coated almonds for another reason. I added a few spices to the jaggery syrup to help my frequent headaches and I am glad it is proving good. Long back a friend of mine had suggested a panjeeri made of almonds, poppy seeds and pepper corns when she came to know about my migraine. I remember I was breastfeeding Mithi during that time and used to be hungry all the time. I just started taking a few raw almonds, a spoonful of poppy seeds and a few peppercorns and chewing them all together for a while. Making a panjeeri felt too much work but when this mix helped my migraine I started stocking up this panjeeri and religiously had a spoonful everyday with milk.

But then life kept throwing other challenges and I forgot doing all of that, so much so that I couldn't even remember this magical almond panjeeri that had helped me some 15 years ago. Recently I asked friends on my facebook wall about migraine cures and one of those suggestions was about a panjeeri. It took me back in time and brought back my old panjeeri recipe.

I add a bit of nutmeg too to the panjeeri whose recipe is simple. Raw almonds, poppy seeds, black peppercorns and nutmeg are powdered together in mixie and kept in airtight jars. I make about 200 gm at a time and keep refreshing the stock as it takes just about 5 minutes to make it. If you want the recipe of this panjeeri you can ask in comments, I will update the exact recipe here.

This time when I made these jaggery coated almonds I thought of using some of the pajeeri ingredients so this snack helps me with the bigger issue too. The good news is that it has been working fine. But this snack is for everyone and can be made without these spices too.

ingredients 
(enough to last a month for a family of 2 if they eat sensibly)

250 gm raw almonds
150 gm jaggery
50 gm poppy seeds
5 gm (2 level tsp) ginger powder, you can add more
dash or nutmeg powder
dash of clove powder
pinch of salt

procedure 

Dry roast the almonds on very low heat for about 10 minutes. Cool.
You can roast for longer if you like very crunchy roasted almonds.

Chop the jaggery using a sturdy knife. I use my cleaver for this sweet job :-)

Transfer the chopped jaggery to a deep pan (kadhai) and add just 2 tbsp water to wet the jaggery so it starts melting.

Now place the pan over stove and start stirring it once in a while. The jaggery melts and starts simmering. After about 5 minutes the jaggery mix will start bubbling and then frothing.
The syrup is ready.
To test the readiness of syrup you can drop a small droplet in chilled water and check it. The droplet should get solid immediately. Take off the stove.

Now add all the spices and poppy seeds in the jaggery and mix vigorously. Add the almonds too and stir to coat them all. Keep stirring till the mix looks dry and all almonds are coated. It takes just a couple of minutes.

You may get some loose dry jaggery mix at the bottom of the pan but that is okay. It will be like a spiced sugar you can add to your cereal.

This is an addictive snack trust me. Be warned and be prepared for people stealing it from the jar. Keep it safe if you don't want kids getting loosies after eating too much almonds and adults refusing to have dinner after handfuls of jaggery coated almonds for evening snack.

Ration it. All good things are rationed in life. Jaggery coated almonds are precious.

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tasting a handpicked menu by Chef Vincenzo at Travertino, the fine dining Italian restaurant at The Oberoi Delhi

It is always a pleasure to meet Chefs who have worked in professional kitchens for decades and have trained with great Chefs in their journey. There is always something to learn from them seeing their food and work philosophy. Last weekend I met a Chef who hails from Naples and has trained under celebrity Chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Maurizio Morelli in his career spanning 20 years.

Chef Vincenzo de Tuoro is the Chef de cuisine at Travertino, the fine dining Italian restaurant at the lobby level of The Oberoi, New Delhi. Travertino was launched in association with Hotel Hassler, Rome and the professional team at the restaurant is also recommended and placed by Hotel Hassler to maintain authenticity of the cuisine and the impeccable fine dining experience. How fascinating is that. You get to experience Italy in the heart of Delhi.

The restaurant gets its name from Travertine which is an Italian stone that resembles marble. Travertine is the theme of Travertino and you feel it in the accents all over. The detailing is very understated.

And the food speaks to you softly. It still makes me happy even to think about what we had at Travertino. Chef Vincenzo came and explained to us the way he likes to combine fresh ingredients and colours in his food. We were to witness some invigorating uses of herbs and sauces, salads is leafy form and even in blended form.

The sun dried tomato paste that came with the crusty bread was made with some roasted aubergines we were told and it was such a light and flavourful spread for the bread.

A very simple platter of crostini with just a fat slice of fresh burrata, half of a cherry tomato and a baby amaranth was served, it was simplicity doing justice to the fresh ingredients. Wonderful thought behind it I must say.

 Simpler things gave way to more complexity, more colour and more burst of flavours. The grilled Kerala jumbo prawn came with a floral wreath of salad and drippings of onion-mustard and avocado based creamy dressing. Beautiful presentation and fresh flavours where you choose your flavours for each bite. Smear it with dressing, pick up the choice of greens, microgreens or even flower petals for salad and make your bite perfect, that kind of a platter it was.

The Parmesan cheese tortelli came with a sprinkling of fresh celery and Parmesan consomme was poured over them. The best way to serve any stuffed pasta I feel, the celery was a fresh whiff with Parmesan.

Next was Orecchiette with kerala prawns, crab shavings, beets crisps and some fresh dill. A warm broccoli and cabbage soup was poured over it and it became a medley of fresh flavours of dill with seafood. Pasta a teeny bit too al dante for my taste but great flavours.

Pan seared Chilean Bass was served with a side of creamed broccoli and Pecorino quenelle. Some thin julienne of radish and carrot over the perfectly seared fish and a warm red cabbage soup poured over it. This was a treasure of flavours at multiple levels.

The best thing is, Chef served very small servings for us on our request. That was a blessing because we did not feel stuffed after eating such a lavish spread. Their normal servings are mush larger.

Travertino has a wonderful luncheon menu called Epronto which is a 2 or 3 course meal served quickly at a set price of 1700 or 2100 Rs plus taxes. The Ala carte menu is quite extensive for relaxed meals.

Desserts were served and we had to dig in. Tiramisu was indulgent and sinful, one of the best I have tasted. I loved the Hazelnut ice cream (home made) and the slow baked Belgian dark chocolate cake which was a dense and rich cake. The pink cannolo with raspberry and mascarpone was well done, but not my favourite.

This is the place where you eat with all your senses and feel indulged even when you don't stuff yourself with food. Thanking Chef Vincenzo for the fine sensibility and this pleasant treat to us.

Chef Vincenzo conducts masterclasses too and I am looking forward to attending a few of those classes myself. It was a wonderful experience to talk to him about his way of cooking, using some fresh local ingredients and the best of cheeses, some imported and some procured locally. Would love to learn more from him in future.

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