Eggplant Dip / Baba Ghanoush / Baba Ghanouj

Those fat relatives have been throwing the same query every time when we meet them." Oh, they don't have the look of Gulf kids, are you making them slim? (Gulfilninnum vanna kuttikalanenne thonnilla, nee avare chappathi koduthu unakkukayano..? )" I am not bothered about those fat question marks, but wondering why those ladies are compelling kids to take rice? Keralites consume much rice regularly and get a big stomach as an outcome..mmm? Normally I wouldn't spend extra time for cooking kids' food, they are ready to eat chapathi / bread / rice given with hummus or garlic paste or with eggplant dip etc. They love middle eastern food , I believe that is the real healthy way of eating!

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Chammanthi Podi / Roasted Chutney Powder

Am scared to look at those serious faces! Years back, the picture was different. I have seen parents talking with others while waiting out side of a Dr's room, when I was a child.Nowadays people are more cautious and many don't speak to strangers, and some are stubborn to give a smile back. Moms from the previous generation are more innocent, who would never give up a chance to talk! When I look for mom, I can see she is seriously talking with a lady of her age! hm, what they are talking, may be discussing a recipe, or some family problems or about health..
Definitely , this recipe came through that way, shared by a Christian lady to mom during their chat in the hospital OP section.. :) This "roasted" version of chammanthi is good to keep for few days, or to send to your loved ones abroad..



Chammanthi podi Ingredients
coconut 2 numbers
small onions 10
ginger 2 " piece
garlic 4 or 5 cloves optional
tamarind 1 lemon size
red chillies 15 or as per taste
curry leaves 6 or 7 stalks
coconut oil 1 Tb sp



How to prepare
Chop small onions,ginger and grate coconut.
Remove seeds from tamarind.
Heat coconut oil in a heavy bottomed vessel.
Fry red chillies.
Add all other ingredients to this.
Stir continuously on a medium high flame.
Stir until the mixture reaches a nice brown / red color and crispy.
Remove from fire.
Allow to cool.
Powder them.
You can keep this for long in fridge, take with kanji, rice, dosa and idly etc.
The color depends on the chillies you use.
If you love dried prawns (unakka chemmeen), roast them and powder with this chammanthi podi...

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Garam Masala Powder

Garam masala powder Ingredients
Cloves / Karayampoo / Gramboo 2 Tbsp
Cardamoms / Elakka 20 (with the light green color outer cover )
Cinnamon / Karuvappatta 2 " pieces 10
Pepper corns / Kurumulaku 2 tsp
Fennel seeds / Perumjeerakam 1 tsp
Black Cardamoms 10 (with the black outer cover)
Bay leaves / Tejappatta 6
Nutmeg / Jaathikka 1
Star anise / Thakkolam 6



Dry roast all the ingredients together in a heated pan.If the spices are enough hot to touch with your hands, then remove it from the fire. No need to roast for long. Powder them together when it is little warm. Keep in an air tight container.



If you don't like, no need to add pepper corns and fennel seeds in this preparation. And if a recipe asks for pepper powder or fennel seeds powder with garam masala, you can add it according to the recipe, since this powder contains only less quantity of them and won't have that much effect.

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Hummus

Ingredients
chick peas - 1 can (cooked) or cook chick peas soaked in water till soft.
garlic cloves - 2
lemon juice - of 1 lemon
sesame paste(thahina) - 1 table sp or ground white sesame seeds.
salt - enough
olive oil - 2 tb sp


My daughter's dinner plate

method
Grind ingredients 1 to 5 altogether.Add little water which used to cook chick peas. Make a thick paste. Pour olive oil on top. Use with sandwich, chappathi, arabic roti(khubz) etc.
You can also make this without adding sesame paste. Instead of lemon juice add yogurt. And if you like to make it little spicy add 1 teaspoon pepper powder.

You can keep this for about 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. In freezer , keep up to one month.
Also this a best and healthy sandwich spread.

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How to prepare Garlic and Ginger paste?

Garlic
It is a well known fact that garlic is good to reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. For reducing fever associated with cold, it is good to take garlic rasam or soup.Garlic is good for Asthma patients too. It is also known for it's antibiotic effect.

See the Garlic Rasam recipe here.

Ginger
Ginger increases saliva, reduces gastritis and helps digestion. Taking fresh ginger juice is good when some one having stomach pain due to disorders related to digestion.Taking ginger daily also helps arthritic and diabetic patients too.Dry ginger is good for cough if taking powdered with black pepper and kalkkandams(sugar candy).



For preparing Garlic and Ginger paste,

Method 1
garlic big cloves 25
ginger 1 inch pieces 5
OR
Use the amount seen in the above picture.

Grind garlic and ginger together and freeze.When you use, keep the frozen garlic ginger paste in refrigerator for a while and cut the amount you like. Don't keep the paste out side of the fridge to use. I follow this method and the garlic I used is Chinese garlic. Indian garlic is very small in size.

Method 2
garlic big cloves 20
ginger 1 inch pieces 5
oil 1 tablespoon
vinegar 1 teaspoon
salt little

Peel garlic and ginger. Wash them and grind with 1 table spoon oil,1 tea spoon vinegar and little salt. Keep it refrigerated. You can add a pinch of turmeric too while grinding. You can use any oil for this, but Olive oil is good. If you use water for grinding, use previously boiled and cooled water. The shelf life of this paste is one month.

Normally if you prepare garlic and ginger paste without adding any of these, soon it gets a bluish green color. Some people wouldn't use it since they are afraid of food poisoning. Actually this is not harmful to us. Garlic contains sulphur and when it acts with the copper in the water (or with the utensils contained aluminum,iron etc) and forms copper sulphate. Also garlic contains chlorophyll (substance that gives green color to leaves) and this gives a greenish color change to garlic while reacting to temperature.

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