Spicy Mysore Vadas

 

I like spicy Mysore vadas which can be had as a snack or starter with green coriander chutney or garlic chutney or coconut chutney. Since I learnt to make dahi vadas in the oven I decided to see if I could use the same batter with added ingredients to make Mysore vadas.   

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup (150 gm) of Urad Dal (husked split black gram lentil)
• ½ cup (150 gm) of Moong Dal (husked split green gram lentil)
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder 
• 1 teaspoon Jeera / Cumin seeds 
• 1 inch of Ginger finely chopped
• 2  green chillies finely chopped
• 1 small red onion chopped
• 10 – 15 curry leaves shredded or roughly chopped.
• Salt as per taste

Method:

• Wash well and soak urad and moong dals for 4-5 hours or overnight. 
• Strain the excess water and then grind together in a food processor. Grind in small batches and add a table spoon of water to ensure it is loose enough to grind but the batter has to remain thick.
• Add ginger, onions, green chillies and curry leaves.
• Add the jeera, salt as per taste and baking powder
• Stir well to mix the batter.
• Preheat fan assisted oven to 180 C for 10 minutes.
• Prepare the cupcake moulds / tray by brushing the insides of each mould with any vegetable or olive oil.
• Spoon the batter in the greased cupcake moulds and bake for 15 – 20 minutes. 
• Check using toothpick if the centre is coming out clean it is cooked.
• Let them cool for 10 minutes and remove from the mould.

You will get 8 – 10 vadas depending on the size of your moulds.

Serve with chutney of your choice or indeed just on tis own as a snack with hot masala chai.

Dahi Vadas in the Oven

 I love having vadas but I do not do any deep frying at home. I only have them when I got out to eat. In UK, I used to buy the mendu vada instant mix pack where I would prepare the batter and make flattened vadas by shallow frying. It was an option since I could not go out often to eat it. However, when I moved to Australia, I have many Indian restaurants near enough so I do not need to make them myself. Indeed, I have also managed to get Mysore vadas and dahi vadas too. I still wondered if I could make vada at home without deep frying. Then I found a recipe which was about cooking the vada in the oven. This sounded good as I can not eat too many dahi vada and for just a couple it was always easier to eat out. Since I have not been out to eat for over a year, I decided it was time to give this oven recipe a try and enjoy guilt free Dahi Vadas.

Ingredients making vadas:

• ½ cup (150 gm) of Urad Dal (husked split black gram lentil)
• ½ cup (150 gm) of Moong Dal (husked split green gram lentil)
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Jeera / Cumin seeds
• 1 inch of Ginger finely chopped
• Salt as per taste

Method:

• Wash well and soak urad and moong dals for 4-5 hours or overnight.
• Strain the excess water and then grind together in a food processor. Grind in small batches and add a table spoon of water to ensure it is loose enough to grind but the batter has to remain thick.
• Add the jeera, ginger, salt as per taste and baking powder and mix it into the batter.
• Preheat fan assisted oven to 180 C for 10 minutes.
• Prepare the cupcake moulds / tray by brushing the insides of each mould with any vegetable or olive oil.
• Spoon the batter in the greased cupcake moulds and bake for 15 – 20 minutes.
• Check using toothpick if the centre is coming out clean it is cooked.
• Let them cool for 10 minutes and remove from the mould.   

You will get 8 – 10 vadas depending on the size of your moulds 

Ingredients for dahi vada:

• Prepared vadas
• Plain Greek yogurt
• Green chilli and coriander chutney
• Sweet tamarind and dates chutney
• Roasted cumin powder
• Red chilli powder
• Salt to taste

Assembling  the dahi vada:

• Once the vadas re removed from the mould place them in warm water for couple of minutes.
• Remove from the water and gently squeeze between your hands to remove excess water.
• Place one or two vada in a shallow bowl.
• Whisk some plain yogurt to make it loose. You might want to add a spoonful of water just to get it loosened to the consistency of custard. You can add salt to taste.
•  Pour the dahi over the vadas and cover them completely
• Garnish with some tangy tamarind and dates chutney and spicy green coriander chutney.
• Sprinkle some jeera powder and red chili powder.

Tips for serving:

• You can sweeten the yogurt with a little sugar instead of salt.
• You can also add garlic chutney to the garnish.
• Fresh chopped coriander can also be used to garnish the dahi vada.

 

 

Palak Paneer

I have a love hate relationship with this veggie dish. It mostly feels to bland and more so when some recipes use cream in the making. I also have been put off by what I have identified as too many steps to preparation of it. I tend to use palak (spinach) in another recipe of mong dal with palak. Again, I have not made it in ages for it ends up slightly bland. Maybe I am being stingy in the spicing or is it that I forget to add more to counter the natural bland taste of the ingredients. This time when I got a bag of small palak and almost forgot it in the fridge I decided to make sure it does not get thrown away and salad is not an option as it is not hot enough during the day to just have a large salad for dinner. And surprise there was also some paneer in the fridge… maybe the universe is saying make the damn palak paneer! I looked up a few different recipes and decided to mix them up and come up with my own.

Ingredients 

• 250 gm of paneer cut into pieces to the size you want
• 120 – 150 gm of palak (leaves only)
• 1 medium red onion thinly sliced (you can use brown or even white onion)
• 2 medium green chillies finely sliced
• ½ inch ginger finely sliced
• 5 – 6 cloves of garlic sliced (optional)
• 1 large tomato chopped 
• ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
•  Salt to taste
• 1 table spoon of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

Method

• Wash and drain the palak. Boil water and add the palak and blanch for a minute. Drain and put aside to cool.
• Into the pain add the oil and cumin and sauté till it starts browning.
• Add the sliced onion, ginger, chillies and garlic and sauté the masala till onions are translucent. Remove half of the masala into a plate and cool it off.
• To the left-over masala in the pan add tomatoes and continue cooking till tomatoes are soft and breaking up.
• Put the cooled palak and the onion ginger garlic and chilli mix in a food processer and grind it coarsely. Many recipes call for very fine grinding but I prefer coarse to retain some texture.
• Once the tomatoes are cooked add the spices and cook for a further few minutes till the oil is released from the cooked masala.
• Then add the ground palak into the masala. Stir well and add a couple of spoons of water to loosen the mixture. Cover with lid and cook for a about 3 – 5 mins on medium heat so that the palak is fully cooked. 
• Add the paneer and stir well. Again, cover the pan and leave to cook for a few minutes so that the paneer gets warmed up and absorbs the spice flavours.

Tips to Serve

• Add a table spoon of cream / malai or butter and stir well. 
• Garnish with some fresh chopped coriander.
• Serve with naan or paratha or roti.

I must say the spicing was exactly right. I added some butter to get a richer taste. The taste was hot and tangy and I was very happy with the overall flavour. 

Whole Bhindi Sabji (whole Okra)

 

This is one of my favourite vegetables and my eyes light up at the sight of the bhindi sabji. It is cooked in many different ways in many countries of the world. It is also called lady’s fingers (the green seed filled pod that is edible). The variety is slightly different in Australia than in India and UK. The vegetable is thicker and bigger than what I have been used to in the past. When I first saw it here I wondered if it would be actually tender. I was pleasantly surprised that it is nice and soft but the seeds do tend to be bigger. However, I find this thicker skin variety does not suit my stomach and have had to resort to using the Indian variety as that come in frozen packs. This recipe is similar to the bharva bhindi but since I have frozen bhindi and cannot cut and stuff it, I have to crisp the bhindi with enough masala to coat the bhindi.

Ingredients

• 300 gm of whole small bhindi
• 1 large onion
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger
• Half spoon of cumin seeds
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt to taste 
• A pinch of sugar
• Half tea spoon of red chilli powder
• Half teaspoon of turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons of coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon of cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon of garam masala
• 1 tablespoon of sattu atta or besan/gram flour
• Some lemon juice to taste
• Chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Preparation

• Chop onion – half it and then cut lengthways in about ½ to 1 cm chunks. These will cook down but still be visible and form the part of the masala around the bhindi. Chop ginger too into match sticks.
• Heat the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. It will heat up within a few minutes with the seeds darkening in colour. 
• Next add the chopped onion and ginger and sauté for a couple of minutes.
• Add the bhindi into the pan. Leave the lid off the pan when cooking. 
• Once the bhindi is half cooked add the salt, sugar, chilli powder, coriander and cumin powder, turmeric and the sattu atta /besan/ gram flour.
• Continue cooking with occasional stirring till the bhindi is cooked to almost crispy and spices plus the sattu atta and onions has blended to coat the bhindi.
• Add the garam masala last and cook for a minute longer.
• Add lemon juice and freshly chopped coriander to garnish.

Naan and its varieties

I love naans and often get ready made ones which just have to be warmed in the oven or under the grill. However, I am conscious that it is made with plain flour / maida and is there for less healthy than whole meal flour or roti atta. The reader is free to use which ever flour they want to use. This recipe makes 5 naans. You can make these fresh ones under the grill or on the flat gridle / tawa.

Ingredients:

• 300 gm of Plain flour / whole meal flour / roti atta
• 2 heaped tablespoons of plain yogurt at room temperature
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• ½ teaspoon of sugar
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil or any vegetable oil
• Warm water as required
• 2 teaspoons of ghee or butter

Method:

• In a shallow bowl – mix flour, salt, sugar and oil. Mix to ensure it is evenly spread.
• Add the yogurt and mix it into the flour.
• Now add small quantities of warm water to bring the dough together. The dough needs to be soft and kneaded for a few minutes. Then take a few drops of oil on the palm and gently knead the dough so it is covered in the oil. 
• Cover with a lid or cloth and leave it to prove for half an hour minimum. I have often left it for a couple of hours without any problems.
• When ready to cook give the dough a quick knead and divide into 5 equal parts. 

Tawa Cooking

• If cooking on a tawa you need to start heating it before you roll out the naan.
• Take the ball of dough and press it between your palms to flatten and then cover with flour ready to roll.
• Place on the flat surface / chakalo / patlo (dusted with flour) and roll it out with a rolling pin to a circle of 15 - 17 cm in diameter.
• (If you make with maida or plain flour and the dough is sufficiently soft you can use your fingers to shape the naan without having to toll it out.)
• Now that the tawa is hot place the rolled-out naan on to it. 
• As the surface starts to lose it raw look turn over the naan.
• In a couple of minutes check and you will see that there are darkened spots. Time to turn is back and let the other side cook. Most often you will see the naan balloon out as air fills it out.
• Remove from the tawa and place between folded layers of tea cloth to keep it warm.

Grill Cooking

• For using the grill – place a foil over the tray under the grill and start the grill to warm it up.
• When the naan is rolled out place it on the foil and return the tray back under the grill.
• Again, as you see it getting cooked and dark spots emerge remove the tray from under the grill and turn over the naan. Replace the tray back under the grill and let it cook. You should be able to see the air creating bubbles on the naan.
• Remove the naan from the tray and place between folded layers of tea cloth to keep it warm.
• Apply small amount o ghee or butter as each one is done.

Variations of the Naan

• You can sprinkle kalonji / nigella seeds on to the rolled-out naan and pat it down.
• You can sprinkle til / sesame seeds on to the rolled-out naan and pat it down.
• You can sprinkle poppy seeds on to the rolled-out naan and pat it down.
• You can sprinkle slithers of garlic on to the surface of the rolled-out naan and gently run the rolling pin to press down the garlic. Alternately you can mix the garlic into the dough just before you start rolling out.
• You can sprinkle coriander leaves on to the rolled-out naan and pat it down.
• You can also sprinkle cheese over the naan once it is cooked and melt the cheese under the grill.

Home Remedies Menopausal Issues

 Once the oestradiol cream did its work, I was told KY Jelly was my only option if my drying episodes recurred. I wondered what have women done for centuries? Suffered? Or came up with home remedies? Surely women in families have talked to their daughters and vice versa, for am sure not everyone has a lack of sexual health care within their homes. As I have said before my sex education and information about sexual health was nil until I studied as a nurse and even so there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm of this topic in cultures like that of the Indian Subcontinent. This is what got me thinking and writing in the blog.

I thought maybe I should ask my friends if they have some handy tips as they are in my age group. Surely someone has had this issue, got tips from older women in the family for self-care. Again, I was surprised to find the reluctance to talk about it. I got one who laughed and asked if I was being serious? She was done with menopause and of course, she had no problems and does not need any care.

Another asked questions which was helpful as she was asking the right things. This was more of what the problem could be but focused on problems maybe with infection of urinary tract. Another came back with the name of one commonly used cream but with a rider that she did not have personal experience but got the info from a gynaecologist.

One came spoke to me separately but the rest just ignored the message. This friend actually talked about keeping the perineum and vagina clean and using a special wash which also helped to moisturise the area. Some others I spoke to were not reluctant to talk as long as it was focused on my issues. There was not much contribution regarding remedies.

One of my friends came up with some good information and I was pleased. She stated these remedies have been used by the ladies in her family and that she tells her patients about these remedies too.

• Take a teaspoon of fenugreek seeds. Wash thoroughly and soak overnight in a small amount of water. In the morning on an empty stomach drink the water and eat the seeds.
• Take about 5 -6 almonds wash well and soak overnight.  These will have to be skinned and eaten. The water in which the almonds were soaked should be thrown away.
• Other vegetables which should be regularly consumed are fenugreek leaves, tindora (ivy gourd), moringa pods (cooked with lentils). These help in hydrating the mucous membranes. Moringa powder is also now available and a table spoon can be added to cooked food like lentils. I will have to check what other foods are useful too.
• I do know soya has a high oestrogenic effect but I am allergic to it and so have to avoid it. Soya and soya products if you can tolerate will also help during menopause.
• Apply a drop of olive oil which is thicker than coconut oil daily to the vaginal and perineum. When experiencing burning avoid using toilet paper, wash and dab dry with a small towel and apply the oil every time you pass urine.

So, I started the fenugreek seeds and almonds daily along with applying olive oil after shower and I can say it has been working well. However, a word of advice the fenugreek seeds can sometimes be hot for the body. Suggestions are to have them with some yogurt or not having it daily. I have reduced it to twice a week. Aside for the oestrogenic effect the fenugreek is good for stabilising blood sugar reducing cholesterol and blood pressure too. If a small amount helps with these other issues too then it is worth a try.

All these have been tried but one needs to remember that not every remedy will suit everyone. For example, soya is seen to be very helpful but I am allergic so unable to take it. Indeed, now a days most processed foods have some form of soya in it. So, try carefully, speak to your doctor if he /she is sympathetic and interested in holistic care.

A Tale of Dry Fanny Woes

 Connective Tissue disease throws new curve ball every so often and sometimes it is hard to discern symptoms that are from the disease or this is something totally unrelated that the body has dreamt up. This blog follows on from my Time to Talk About Menopause.  Post-menopause is a gift that keeps giving and one of them is dryness of the vagina and perineum. It makes for a painful intercourse and also if the dryness extends to the perineum it will burn and pain when urine touches it and when you wipe your self dry. Oh yes you might not notice till the dryness extends outside the vagina if you are not having sex…. For after all your libido is most likely down and you cannot be bothered to have sex. However, with connective tissues which is also another gift that happily keeps updating symptom list you can have drying of mucous membranes like eyes, mouth and of course vagina and perineum.

With is background information I tell my tale of dry fanny woes. I noticed this dryness of the perineum and wondered what happened. With some contortion and a mirror, I could see that the perineum as dry, in fact there was a white patch as it was so dry. I had been applying some tea tree cream as it is anti-inflammatory as well. It seemed to get better after a few days. This went on for a few months and then it would not help so started applying some coconut oil which again was not thick enough to last long and so continued the pain and occasional itching which also comes from drying of surrounding skin as well. Eventually gave in and went to my GP and as I described the dryness and a white patch he goes, ‘thrush.... get something off the pharmacist’ all without looking at my face let alone my fanny! Am like ‘but it is not itching or having any flaking or discharge’ and he says get stuff for thrush.

So now I am at the pharmacy asking to talk to the pharmacist and hoping to get more sense. She asks me more questions than my GP and says maybe you need something thicker than oil and why not try Sudocream and you can apply if a few times (well I could apply the oil too many times but…) So, I pay for a small tube to try out and see if it helps. So off I went and religiously applying this white paste and happy as of course now the urine does not touch the naked perineum. Oh, ladies have you ever experienced the contortions we can do when weeing to avoid the dribble of urine on to the perineum. Bending forward and raising your butt at the end is a useful way if anyone was wondering. This helped for a couple of weeks and then we were back to square one.

Return trip to the pharmacy and this time a different lady who again went through the umpteen questions by now I was getting adept at describing the symptoms. She comes up with - if it hurts have you tried something with a bit of anaesthetic? Then she picks up a tube of haemorrhoids cream. I am like, ‘are you sure one can use this for my symptoms?’ She says of course you can use it we do tell people it is safe to use. Now I was pretty desperate so I nodded and went of with yet another useless cream. A word of warning to people who are not up with their pharmaceutical knowledge the haemorrhoids cream is to reduce the size veins which are bulging and thus reduce blood flow and the anaesthetic acts on the nerve endings to reduce pain. Now these would have little effect on the dry mucous membranes whether due to lack of oestrogen or connective tissue disease. If ever any one gives you this for your fanny kindly refrain from taking it. All it caused was even worse burning on application.

By now I was dreading passing urine and upending myself to avoid the trickle of urine that I was not quick enough to catch on the tissue. Time to go to the GP again and this time go to the wife of my GP who also works there. I say to her, I need you to actually physically look as I cannot diagnose what I cannot see properly. I said her husband had just said thrush with his head down. And so did my rheumatologist for that matter. Now this usual po-faced lady is giggling. I am like sure she is going to take the piss off her husband when she gets home. She asks about why I have had no smear test and I said cannot be bothered. (But that’s another story where they are not competent and appear to dig for oil than take a smear… and I am not bothered to find someone else.)

Then comes the well know lie on the couch and spread them. She gets a speculum out and I tense as she does not have a gentle touch. Says to me all the mucous membranes are red and dry. Her diagnosis is post-menopausal dryness and treatment is oestradiol cream twice a week for 3 weeks and then review. She does not like giving HRT so I am not to expect to continue this beyond the time it clears the dryness. Funny she never asked me about how did I not realise this extreme internal dryness as intercourse would be excruciating. She is a lady doctor who I have seen providing perinatal care and the serious lack of examining the sexual health and indeed the giggling was strange. She totally discarded my suggestion that it could also be due to my autoimmune disease. Well I was happy I got some medication and that would resolve my symptom.

So, oestradiol cream was duly applied twice a week. If you have never had to apply this maybe I should explain. There is a syringe which you screw on to the opening of the cream tube. Then you squeeze the tube to fill the syringe which is a fixed amount. Then you lie back and insert the syringe into the vagina and empty it. Hope you have a helper handy to take the syringe, wash it and put away as you need to lie flat for a while. The dryness seemed to get less along with less pain and burning. During this time, I had a migraine and had ibuprofen for a couple of days. Suddenly the last remnants of the symptoms vanished. Therefore, I think it was a combination of lack of oestrogen and local inflammation that caused my symptoms.

Went back for the review and po-face was back when I said I have ibuprofen and the last of the dryness went. Instead of showing concern and acknowledging there could be a dual reason she just clamed up and lectured me about how dangerous ibuprofen was and that I should take paracetamol before I try ibuprofen (all not necessary as I have been having ibuprofen for over a decade and am well versed with its effects and side effects). Ah she does not like being proved even partly wrong this one! So, after care was less amusing to her. I could have the cream for another week or so and then I should keep KY Jelly handy.

How very helpful and caring this whole experience has been … NOT. My problem though hard for me was actually not that serious and that as a nurse I had such a poor experience what happens to others?  I think we ladies should stop being shy and demand that we get support, care and treatment as required for our whole body and not just with bits that people are comfortable with. This lack of care from health staff leads to women being ashamed to talk about real and very traumatic reproductive organs diseases.