Ujwala's Delicacies

Indian inspired all natural kitchen.

Jackfruit Napa cabbage rolls

The jackfruit is believed indigenous to the rain forests of the Western Ghats of India. It spread early on to other parts of India, southeast Asia, the East Indies and ultimately the Philippines. It is often planted in central and eastern Africa and is fairly popular in Brazil and Surinam.
Popularly known as Chinese cabbage, Napa cabbage is native to China. It has also earned a global presence in food cultures throughout all hemispheres. It is the most popular cabbage featured in supermarkets around the world. Napa cabbage is known for its signature barrel-shape and crisp, pale green, tightly-wrapped leaves with a white mid-rib and a dense heart. The outer leaves curve inward and are true green to pale green. The interior leaves and the heart is yellow to ivory colored. Its flavor is more subtle and pleasant than European head cabbage. The water content is also higher, creating a crisper and more refreshing texture.

Napa Cabbage has a mild flavor, that makes it excellent ingredient for a variety of salads and vegetable dishes. High in vitamin C with smaller amounts of calcium and fiber, this cabbage is predominantly grown in Asia and the United States. It is also a variety of Cabbage that medical experts regard highly for containing compounds known as indoles that have been associated with preventing some types of cancer.
Napa cabbage is available year-round.

Napa cabbage is the used in soups, slaws and stir-fries. It can be used in raw applications, braised, stewed and even grilled. Families in China would stock up on it during the icy winter months. Napa cabbage is still a mainstay of northern rural China’s winter home cooking. In addition to using cabbage in soups, salads, stir-fried dishes, Mongolian hot pots and dumpling fillings, Chinese traditionally preserve it in the form of kimchi and sauerkraut.

4 ingredient homemade whole-grain cake

A classic cake with all pantry ingredients. Skip store-bought pre cake mix. Go with your own organic ingredients or ingredients as stone milled whole grain flour, organic raw sugar or palm sugar. Know what you eat without missing the feel and flavor of cake.

No matter how many recipes you may see for “healthy” cakes, cakes aren’t healthy. However, some cakes are less unhealthy than others, and if you bake your own cakes, you can make substitutions to improve their nutritional profile. Choosing a homemade cake, substituting flour with whole-grain, white with brown or raw sugar for example, allows you to have a slice of cake without consuming the very high amounts of calories, fat, sugar and sodium found in many frosted cakes. Replace baking soda with Eno (fruit salt). Eno is available in Asian grocery stores. Eno is composed of 50% sodium bicarbonate, 15% sodium bitartrate and 35% free tartaric acid. It’s basic purpose is to get relief from acidity. Another way to use is in cooking as it causes the flours to rise and can be handy. Though it is marketed Eno as Ayurvedic fruit salt and healthy, it is not made out of fruit. Real health benefits are unknown. It contains 2.1g of sucrose per 5ml which makes not suitable for diabetics and low sodium diets.

While no cake is really healthy, you can make substitutions when baking to make the end result a little less unhealthy. If you aren’t making a white cake, use at least half whole-wheat flour, preferably whole-wheat pastry flour or white whole-wheat flour, to increase the fiber and micronutrients in the cake. Decrease the sugar by up to one-third, adding cinnamon or vanilla to bring out the sweetness of the cake while limiting the sugar it contains. Replace up to half of the fat in the cake with fruit or vegetable purees, like applesauce, pureed prunes, pureed beans or pumpkin puree. These will lower the amount of fat while increasing the fiber, vitamins and minerals in your cake. Choose a cake that doesn’t require frosting and top it with a sprinkle of chopped nuts, cocoa powder, powdered sugar or coconut for decoration.

Nepali (tibetan) Jackfruit momos

Momo is a Tibetan delicacy. It is type of dumpling filled with vegetables, cheese or meat, is one of the main menu items in all Tibetan and Nepali restaurants. Though traditionally filled with yak meat, in different areas of North east India, chicken, pork, goat and buffalo meat is used and eaten with a variety of sauces. It is similar to popularly known dish pot stickers in Western countries.

Tibet is situated in north of the Himalayas. Extensive mountain ranges to the east of the Tibetan Plateau mark the border with China, and the towering Himalayas of Nepal and India form a barrier between Tibet and India.

Traditionally momo was the symbol of either a party in progress or someone having food in a restaurant. Momos were made at homes occasionally and during special occasions. Momo, the Tibetan delicacy. This dumpling, filled with vegetables, cheese or meat, is (along with the Thukpa or noodle soup) one of the main menu items in all Tibetan restaurants. In reality, this food is shared with cultural cousins in the Indian Himalayas, Bhutan and Nepal. But Tibetans continued to be seen as the owner of the momo brand.

Now things are changing (at least in Delhi and many northern cities) with the Indianization of momos. Many Tibetan’s are opening a roadside shack selling momos. Today there are several road side stalls in Delhi, Dehradun, selling momos. In north-west Delhi new stalls emerged with a wide variation of momos. The common feature is that these stalls are all owned and operated by Indians.

Happy Thanksgiving

The culinary minds of America have turned to warm family kitchens and full dining rooms, and Ujwala’s Delicacies is no exception. That’s right, it’s Thanksgiving Week!

Thanksgiving borrows from traditional harvest festivals celebrated throughout the world, and naturally that means that food is a big part of it. Unfortunately, as can often be the case when merging new-coming and traditional cultures, Americans of Indian descent often feel themselves torn between abandoning their traditional cuisine and adopting Western recipes outright in order to celebrate or making their usual foods and missing out on the delicious fun of the season.

With me, you never have to make that choice. My Indian Thanksgiving recipes match the best of my homeland with the flavors of fall for a Thanksgiving experience that fit right into the American celebration without losing the feel or flavor of India. For example, I’ll show you how to bake a whole Tandoori chicken for an Indian twist on the traditional Thanksgiving poultry, Tofurkey and Paneerky rendition for a vegetarian option.

As usual, my authentic Indian recipes never call for any ingredients from a can, box, or freezer. Every element of my healthy Indian food recipes is homemade from natural ingredients, adding that healthy, aromatic, and unique quality only found in home cooking. Whether you’re a native of India looking to celebrate your heritage in your new home or a Westerner wanting to broaden your horizons, you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for on my Indian recipe blog.

I’m thankful you found your way to my Indian food blog, and I hope I can make your observation of our most delicious holiday better than ever.
https://ujwalasdelicacies.com/thanksgiving-dinner-recipes/

Desi style all vegetarian homemade tofurkey

The vegetarians at your table will undoubtedly love it if your dinner features something they can eat, especially a dish that recalls the traditional poultry they’ve given up. Nonvegetarians can enjoy knowing that vegetarian dinners, even those that aren’t 100 percent organic, take less of an environmental toll than meat-centric suppers. Tofurkey is definitely the best-known brand of veggie-based turkey alternatives; it’s handcrafted from tofu to look somewhat turkey like, and even stuffed with a vegetarian stuffing. But it’s far from the only option. Downside of buying store bought Tofurkey is there aren’t many certified-organic meat alternatives out there. Use your own certified-organic tofu and ingredients when you make at home.

Try something different with Thanksgiving dinner this year, make it meatless. It’s like a Thanksgiving present for the planet. A study of the veggie-loving Adventist community in California found that even nonorganic vegetarian diets used 2.9 times less water, 2.5 times less energy, and 13 times less fertilizer than meat-centric eating. Go organic and the benefits get even bigger. Your body will thank you, too, if you swap out the meat for a Tofurkey.

A Portland, Oregon man has millions of reasons to be thankful today and its all thanks to his creation 20 years ago, Tofurkey.

Seth Tibbott is a millionaire many times over because of the faux turkey made out of tofu. Tibbott was among the few vegetarians in the US in the 1970’s, but those vegetarian side dishes and salads just weren’t as appealing as a real turkey, the traditional thanksgiving centerpiece.

Tibbott started experimenting with more appetizing ways serve soy. He created pumpkins stuffed with soy and even gluten roasts, but no one seemed to bite. Then Tibbott, a professional soy crafter, came up with Tofurkey roasts in 1995.

Rava laddu with palm sugar

Rava laddu is south india’s common sweet made for festivals, weddings, gatherings, pujas.

Coconut palm sugar is a sugar substitute that seems to be gaining popularity in the market. It is made from sap that is extracted from the coconut tree. The taste of pure coconut palm sugar is similar to brown sugar. For cooking purposes, it has a very low melt temperature and an extremely high burn temperature so it can be used baked products in place of sugar.

Manufacturers of coconut palm sugar boast its low glycemic index, claiming it is a better choice for people with diabetes than regular sugar. Glycemic index (GI) is a measure of how a food raises blood glucose (or blood sugar) compared to a reference food (usually glucose or white bread). In the United States, we do not do official GI testing. So, GI numbers for the same food can differ depending on your source.

It is okay for people with diabetes to use coconut palm sugar as a sweetener, but they should not treat it any differently than regular sugar. It provides just as many calories and carbohydrates as regular sugar: about 15 calories and 4 grams of carbohydrate per teaspoon. So, you still need to account for it when planning meals.

10 minute, 5 ingredient Dalia, brown sugar laddu

Celebrate your delicious style with this 10 minute recipe. As the festive season inches closer, the need to include sweetness and deliciousness in your life becomes inevitable. Dalia is made of chickpeas. They are nothing but roasted split chickpeas. Making of Dalia is an interesting process. Chickpeas are soaked for several hours. Then roasted on low flame for a long time in large barrels. At the end color changes to light yellow and texture is crunchy. Flavor is quiet enhanced by this process. Resulting Dalia is ready to eat. Make sure to use fresh ghee. Without realizing fresh ghee significantly enhances aroma and taste.

Enjoy and have a festive Diwali!

Diwali is upon us!

One of the holiest days in Hinduism, Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil and is cause for the biggest celebration in Indian culture. As the Sanskrit word diwali literally translates to “festival of light”, celebrations across India (and, increasingly, the world) feature candlelight processions, fireworks, gatherings and food.

Of course, no celebration in any culture would be complete without food, and that’s where I come in. As Indian culture spreads abroad, more and more people (like you, for instance) are looking for healthy Indian recipes to make from fresh, never-frozen, never-canned ingredients. As a native South Indian, I grew up on truly authentic Indian food and continue to cook it for my family and friends. Just as I use only the freshest ingredients, I want to pass that on to the world; you’ll never have to open a package to cook any of my recipes. I am committed to using whole grains and natural ingredients in my recipes, and those looking for low-carb and low-sugar Indian food without sacrificing genuine Indian recipes will find a haven here.

I’ll be posting one recipe per day throughout the Diwali season to help you celebrate in delicious style. Whether you’ve come to my Indian cooking blog merely out of cultural curiosity or as a source for your next family meal, you’ll find nothing but the best Indian recipes.

Enjoy and have a festive Diwali!

Enjoy diwali recipes here – https://ujwalasdelicacies.com/diwali-recipes/

Spaghetti squash kheer

Kheer is Indian gods favorite prasadam (offering to god). It is essential sweet made at every puja, festivals, weddings and other occasions. Kheer has many names depending on region – payasam, payasa, Khiri, payesh and payox. The word payasam is derived from payasa, meaning milk and fereni in Persian.

Next time you make payasam, replace vermicelli with spaghetti squash for low card and low sugar alternative.

Kheer is a rice pudding made by boiling rice or vermicelli with milk and sugar garnished with cardamom, saffron, cashew nuts, pistachios or almonds. It is typically served during a meal or as a dessert. Also offered to god on festivals and pujas.

With cooking, spaghetti squash flesh falls away from the inner cavity into strands reminiscent of spaghetti. These “spaghetti” strands are crisp and mildly sweet in flavor. You can surprise and delight young children by showing them how this vegetable transforms with cooking.

Acorn squash, mint soup – stock-free, vegan, gluten-free

“Squash” comes from the Narragansett Native American word askutasquash, which means “eaten raw or uncooked.”

Acorn squash is aromatic and sweet with a light nuttiness that is enhanced by roasting. Look for squash with a slight patch of orange which indicates maturity. Too much orange means it is overripe unless it is the golden variety.

One of the first published recipes for pumpkin pie (Pompkin Pudding) was in Amelia Simmons’ 1796 cookbook, American cookery. This the first cookbook to be written by an American and published in the United States.