Ujwala's Delicacies

Indian inspired all natural kitchen.

Authentic south indian mint, cilantro chutney

The aroma of mint (Pudina) activates the salivary glands in our mouth as well as glands which secrete digestive enzymes, thereby facilitating digestion. This is the reason mint is extensively used in the culinary arts.

Chutney’s are staple food in Southern India. A variety of combinations are made. Aromatic mint, flavorful cilantro combination makes tasty and healthy chutney loaded with iron, vitamins and anti oxidants. Traditionally, chutneys are eaten with rice and ghee poured on top. Chutneys also go with snacks as sakinalu, janthikalu or karappusa.

Mint is a great appetizer or cleanser, and it promotes digestion. It also soothes stomachs in cases of indigestion or inflammation. When you feel sick to your stomach, drinking a cup of mint tea can give you relief. While traveling long distances via plane or boat, the menthol oil derived from mint can be very soothing for nausea and related motion sickness.

Whole-wheat naan

The warm, puffy, oval-shaped flatbreads pretty much are served at Indian restaurants now a days. Making your own naan from scratch and oh my goodness… The puffy, heat-blistered texture…homemade ones will truly knock your socks off. You will not believe how much better this tastes than takeaway naan. It is incredibly easy to make too. It’s the perfect accompaniment to my Kale, mustard greens saag or chicken butter masala – or dal makhani. Or stuff it with meat or veggies (or both) or turn it into a wrap. Naan will make you fall in love with Indian food over and over.

Naan is a soft and pillowy Indian-style flatbread traditionally made in a tandoor oven, or cylindrical clay oven. The dough gets slapped against the walls of the tandoor, where it adheres and bakes quickly over a burning fire. If you don’t have a tandoor, don’t worry. It’s possible to make naan at home and replicate the high heat and charred flavor of a clay oven by using a very hot cast iron skillet or in the oven at your home.

Plain or with a little extra flavor of garlic, melted ghee, onion, sesame or poppy seeds… It makes homemade naan more Yum!

Brussels sprouts hara bhara cutlets

The Holiday Tradition Begins

A common Christmas holiday feast consists turkey, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, honey-glazed ham, Brussels sprouts and is not complete without Christmas cake made of dried raisins, candies peel, almonds, apples and whiskey.

Brussels sprouts don’t normally elicit a positive reaction from many people. Take a chance this holiday season to cook up more yummy recipes featuring Brussels sprouts. And every season, these recipes convert more and more people into Brussels sprouts lovers! These veggies are full of fiber and vitamin C, making them a nutritious addition to any meal!

My first experience with Brussels sprouts was cutting them and cooking in tomato gravy. But bitterness turned me off for few years until I had made these cutlets. Ever since I’ve been enjoying them and experimenting with various preparation styles.

The plant that was bred to be the Brussels sprouts we know today probably originated in Ancient Rome. It wasn’t until the 13th century that they were grown in Belgium, and, hence, were named for the county’s capital. Interestingly, the word Brussels came from the Dutch word “Broeksel” meaning “home in the marsh,” and marshes provide a very similar environment to where they now grow on the Central Coast, near ocean inlets, or sloughs.

Sulfurous little Brussels sprouts made their debut in our area in the 1920s when newly arrived Italian farmers began planting them along with artichokes. By 1940 the acreage was significant, and today several thousand are grown in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties. The tall stalks yield dense buds that resemble mini cabbages that thrive in the cool, coastal fog and have a slightly bitter taste that can sweeten when frosty temperatures hit.

In fact, the area is so well suited to Brussels sprouts that up until 1993 there was a Brussels sprouts festival sponsored by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The festival went on for 12 years before it was uprooted for dwindling attendance. There were Brussels sprouts on pizzas and in ice cream (possibly the entire reason for the demise of the festival) and attendees who couldn’t bear to eat them were encouraged to whack them with golf clubs and hit targets. Since then, a more diverse variety of produce has been planted on the coast, making Brussels sprouts less significant, and their celebration has taken a backseat to that of garlic, strawberries, artichokes and olives, which all have their own festivals in our region.

About three-quarters of Brussels sprouts production is slated for the frozen food aisle, with only about 15% harvested for consuming fresh. But like most vegetables, Brussels sprouts yield the most nutrients when eaten fresh and raw; steaming, sautéing and roasting are second best. Brussels sprouts contain high levels of vitamins C and K, as well as significant amounts of potassium and feel-good B vitamins that give you energy and a sense of well-being. They are high in protein—2 grams for only ½ cup cooked. However, they are missing certain amino acids so the protein is incomplete unless eaten with a serving of whole grains. They also contain tons of fiber and sulforaphane, a phytochemical touted for powerful cancer-fighting properties.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Whole-grain pasta in pumpkin, tomato sauce

Did you know?

… a pumpkin is really a squash?
It is! It’s a member of the Cucurbita family which includes squash and cucumbers.

… that the Irish brought this tradition of pumpkin carving to America?
The tradition originally started with the carving of turnips. When the Irish immigrated to the U.S., they found pumpkins to be plentiful and they were much easier to carve for their ancient holiday.

… that pumpkins are grown all over the world?
Six of the seven continents can grow pumpkins, including Alaska. Antarctica is the only continent that they won’t grow in.