Ragi Idli with Vegetables

A well liked recipe from a friend. Ragi is rich in Calcium and consuming it in the steamed form with vegetables makes it more palatable for those who are not used to its taste. This recipe does not use Ulundu / Urad dal.

Serves 4 people

Ingredients
 Whole Ragi 250 gms
Ladies finger 125 gms.
Parboiled Red rice aka Idli rice 50 gms
Fenugreek or Vendhayam seeds 10 gms or Two Tsps 
Grated vegetables of carrot, cabbage, capsicum etc -  75 gms
Sprouted peanuts (optional) 50 gms
Rock salt 2 tsp

Method
Soak everything except bhindi separately for 5 hours.
Use little or no water and grind ragi into a thick paste.
Grind rice and fenugreek seeds into a thick paste.
Slice ladies fingers into thin circles and grind it into a smooth paste without adding water.
Add salt.
Blend everything together.
Set aside for 4 hours.
Add vegetable gratings and sprouted peanuts
Pour out small sized idlis on idli plates.
Steam in medium flame for 20 mins
Switch off, remove idli plates and make sure they are cooked.
Wait for 5 minutes to cool off .
Scoop and serve with Cbutney.

Healthy Snacks

Healthy Behl with green gram sprouts, (grated) raw mangoes, carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper and  (finely chopped) coriander leaves, mint leaves, tomatoes, onions, spring onions, green chili ,rock salt and jeera powder. 50% vegetables by weight and remaining can be puffed rice. Ingredients to be mixed just before serving.

Healthy Sandwich. The same combo above can be sauteed lightly and used as a filling in whole wheat sandwiches. Can skip a few ingredients but sprouts can stay. Best served grikked

Date Nut Laddoo. De-seed, warm and knead the dates. Toast, cool and blend the nuts coarsely. Mix both, knead well and make the balls. Better to avoid peanuts. Also good to use just two types of nuts like almond+cashew.

Peanut Laddoo Toast, cool and remove skin from 1 cup of peanut. Add three fourth cups of grated jaggery and  a dash of flax seed powder and quarter tsp of cardamom powder. Blend to smoothness and make into balls. No need to add ghee.

Sesame Laddoo   Toast and cool 1 cup of sesame seeds. Add three fourth cups of grated jaggery and  a dash of flax seed powder and quarter tsp of cardamom powder. Blend to smoothness and make into balls. No need to add ghee.

Green Smoothie

Ingredients (per person)

2 Bananans sliced
2 dates chopped and de-seeded
A handful of edible greens (of one kind or many) chopped fine.
Two table spoons of shredded coconut  (optional)
Half a glass of water
A Powerful blender and a juicer jar

Method

Add bananas to the juicer jar first.
Dates next.  Then greens. And coconut if you like. At last, half the water.

Blend in pulse mode for 90 seconds. Add remaining water and blend at high speed for another minute or so until it becomes fine and smooth. Serve with a spoon.

Adjust proportion of ingredients to suit your taste.

Note: Avoid drinking smoothie with the same type of green every day.

Lemon Ginger Tea

Ingredients (per person)


half  inch piece of ginger cut into small chunks
juice from quarter lemon
2 tea spoons of brown sugar
1 glass of water

Method

Heat water. Add ginger pieces. Bring to rolling boil. Add brown sugar. Switch off and cover with a lid. Let it be for 5 minutes. Filter and serve.

Sun Cooked Salads - Formula

I use this formula for the raw veggie salad.
1 part = 50 gms

Base:

• 1 part sprouts
• 2 parts of a creeper or climber variety vegetable. Grated or very finely chopped. This would be typically, anything that ends in a 'gourd' -   (bitter gourd is an exception :) Bottle gourd and Snake gourd taste good. So do Chayote/Chow-chow and Flat beans. All these veggies are alkaline and provide a good amount of fiber. Pick your favorite.
• 1 part of one of these - grated or finely chopped.
  
• carrots
• beans
• beets 
• turnips
• cabbage
• broccoli
• baby corns
  

Seasoning:
A combination of 

• Finely chopped cilantro or basil to taste
• Finely chopped tomatoes - 2 medium sized per person may be a good start
• Fresh coconut gratings or a dash of lime but not both
• One tea spoon of ginger juice per person

The Mix: 

Mix the seasoning to the base. Gently press the surface with a spoon to make it compact. Close with a lid and let it sit for 10 minutes. The juices from seasoning ingredients will get soaked up by the vegetables.

No need to add salt or pepper.

First few times, everyone makes the mistake of making more quantity than needed because adding just one carrot, for example, looks less. Since we them raw, we need to chew them a lot more than cooked food and hence very less quantity of each ingredient is enough.

Variations:

• Adding 2 Table spoons of grated radish per person will perk up the salad.
• Those who have access to gooseberry can add it for a more salty flavour.
• Instead of sprouts, you can add a third vegetable or greens or fresh peas to the base.
• In summer,  adding cucumber to the seasoning makes the salad more juicy.
• In winter, finely chopped onions can be added if you like that flavor.

Soups

 Clear Soup

This is an instant, light soup.
 

Ingredients:

Small cubes of beans
Shredded carrotShredded cabbage
Fresh peas
Adequate amount of water

Method:

Boil vegetables in water.  Add corriander leaves, salt and pepper to taste. Serve

Pumpkin Chick Peas Soup

Serves 4
Ingredients:
Half a small pumpkin cut into small cubes without skin
2 cups of pre-soaked and sprouted Chick Peas
6 Tomatoes
1 Potato
2 inch piece of ginger
1 Large Onion (optional)
2 Table Spoons of Omam (Ajwain / Carom)

Method:
Steam pumpkins, potatoes and chick peas together for 10 minutes (10 minutes after steam begins to come out)
After cooling, take roughly half of the steamed contents and mash it in a blender or manually.
Cut onions and tomatoes into small pieces.
Grate ginger.
In a pot, saute onions by adding a little salt. No oil is needed.
Add Omam/Carom to onions.
Add grated ginger.
Add cut tomatoes. Saute.
Add some water, cover and let the mix simmer for 3 mins.
Add mashed veggies and let it simmer for 2 mins
Add rest of the pumpkins, potatoes and chick peas.
Add salt to taste and simmer for 5 mins.

Cucumber Tomato Soup

Serves 4 cups

Ingredients:
1.5 cups Cucumber juice (blended without using water)
1 cup Tomato juice (again, no water)
2.5 cups of Water
2 Table Spoons of roasted, powdered Jeera
Cut corriander leaves
Salt to taste

Method:
In a pot, heat cucumber juice for 2 minutes.
Add tomato juice and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add water and simmer till bubbles appear.
Add Jeera powder, salt and corriander leaves.
Switch off the stove after 1 minute.

Stew Recipes

A couple of stew recipes.

Stew 1
Chow Chow - 1 medium piece
White pumpkin - 150gms
Sprouts - one handful
Carrot - 1 medium
Potato - 2 medium
Tomato - 3-4
Coconut - Handful
Coriander leaves - handful
Cumin - 1tsp
Green Chillies - for taste
Salt - for taste

Cut the chow chow, white pumpkin, carrot, potatoes into small pieces (1 cm cubes), steam along with sprouts.
Grind the tomato, coriander, cumin, green chillies, and coconut and add to the steamed vegetables.
Add salt to taste.
Splutter mustard seeds and urad dal, add to the mixture, sprinkle some curry leaves on the top and enjoy with rice or chappati

Stew 2
Carrot - 1 piece
Ridge gourd - 1 medium
Broad Beans/Sprouts - a generous Handful
Toor dal - 1 tsp
Coriander - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - handful
Coconut - handful
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Green chillies - for taste
salt for taste
Mustard seeds and urad dal for seasoning
Curry leaves - a few

Peel the ridge gourd and keep its skin aside. Cut the ridge gourd and carrot into 1 cm cubes. Steam along with sprouts/broad beans. Roast the toor dal, coriander, ridge gourd peels for about 4 mins on low flame. Grind it into a paste along with coconut, coriander leaves, cumin, green chillies. Add this paste to the steamed vegetables and add salt to taste. Add mustard and urad seasoning, sprinkle some curry leaves and enjoy this yummy green stew with rice or chappati.

Dry Vegetables as Side Dish

Candidate Vegetables:
● Banana Flower
● Banana Stem
● Beans
● Beets
● Bittergourd
● Cabbage
● Carrots
● Cauliflower
● Cluster Beans
● Flat Beans
● Greens
● Potatoes
● Raw Papaya.
● Red Radish
● Red Pumpkin
● Snake Gourd

● Beans + Carrots - more beans, less carrots
● Beets + Cauliflower - in equal measure, cut into small cubes and florets
● Cabbage + Carrots + Fresh Peas - more cabbage, carrots and peas in equal measure

Method:
1. Cut veggies into small cubes or thin shreds or florets. Or grate them if you like.
2. Load them on a steamer and steam for 10-15 minutes. (For small quantities, 7 mins should be enough)
   When cooking cruciferous veggies (like cabbage, cauliflower etc), it is good to add some grated ginger.
3. Heat a Kadai and smear its bottom with a quarter tsp of oil.
4. Add your favourite seasoning. ( I do 1/2 a tsp of mustard and upon its
popping, add 1 tsp of channa dal, 2 tsp of urad dal, 1 red chili, a pinch of
hing, a pinch of turmeric, and lots of curry leaves).
5. Add the vegetables, mix in and immediately switch of the stove.
6. Add salt to taste, preferably sea salt or rock salt.
8. Switch off the flame and after 5 minutes of cooling, add a cup of grated
coconut if you like.

Colourful Rotis

Best to avoid adding salt or ghee or oil while mixing dough.

Beets Roti (1 kg of beets can provide juice for 1.5 kgs of wheat flour)
● Cut or shred one medium sized beetroot into small pieces.
● Extract juice using a blender and filter it.
● Blend dough by adding only this juice to wheat flour.
● The dough should be a little harder than usual to make it easy to roll it out.
● Roll into small rotis and cook both sides without oil or ghee.

Greens Roti
● Take a bunch of greens like Palak and cut them into smaller pieces. (AVOID
mint, coriander and methi since they have a very strong smell/taste.)
● Extract juice by adding a little bit of water.
● The rest of the steps are the same as Beets Roti.

Banana Roti (mainly. for kids since it is a Carb-Carb combination)
● Take one small ripe banana and mash it.
● Blend it with enough wheat dough by kneading it in.
● Roll into small rotis and cook both sides without oil /ghee.

Mixed Vegetable Roti● Prepare very fine shreds of mint, coriander, moringa leaf, carrots, radish,
cabbage.
● Add these vegetables to wheat flour.
● Add a pinch of hing and turmeric.
● Add water, knead dough, roll out and cook both sides without oil/ghee.

Sprouting This and That

Green grams/Payaru/Moong Sprouts

Soak 2 tablespoons per person of Whole green grams/ Payaru. After 6 hours, wash it and change the water. After 12 hours of soaking, wash it and put it in a muslin cloth or a vessel and leave it for sprouting overnight. When the white sprout is 2 inches long, it packs the most nutrients.

Sprouts taste good when mixed with grated coconut and brown sugar/ jaggery.
Adding salt and pepper and grated veggies is another way to eat.

Moth Beans/Nari Payaru/Matki Sprouts
Same as above :)

Grains and Greens

Red Beaten Rice/Aval/Poha - with Veggies

Take 1 small cup of unpolished red beaten rice per person and run it very quickly through the blender to just break it into medium sized granules. To this, add a cup of grated coconut and finely chopped tomatoes. Sprinkle just enough water or coconut water to soak and mix well. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Candidate vegetables for adding into the mix:

• Grated Beets
• Grated Carrots
• Sprouts
• Grated radish
• Grated Cucumber
• Anything else you like!

Add one or more of these to the mix.
Add rock salt and roasted cummin-pepper powder to taste.
Set aside for another 10 minutes so the taste blends well and serve.

Red Beatern Rice/Aval/Poha - Sweet

Take about 1 small cup of unpolished red beaten rice per person To this, add a cup of grated coconut, one Table spoon of brown sugar and a pinch of elaichi powder.  Sprinkle just enough water or coconut water to soak. Mix well.  Set aside for 20 minutes so the taste blends well and serve.

Sun Cooked Snacks

Stuffed Tomato
Cut a full tomato into 4 petals without cutting through it.

Mix roasted jeera powder, rock salt, pepper powder, grated coconut and finely chopped coriander. Stuff this mixture inside the tomato and leave it for 1 hour for the taste to blend. Enjoy the raw snack!

Fruit Platter

Fruit Salad

Select sweet, juicy fruits.

Papaya – 1/3rd
Banana- 1/3rd
Seasonal Fruit – 1/3rd

Can be eaten with grated coconut or pieces of coconut, dates and brown sugar.

Papaya Bowl

Split a papaya into two equal halves.
Clear out the inner whitish parts.

Scoop out with a spoon and eat.
Can add fillers like coconut, dates, bananas etc.

Green Juices for the Morning

Serving size per person: Juice + Water = 100 ml
 
1) Gooseberry Juice
Deseed 1 gooseberry. Grind it in a small blender and strain the pulp. Add 75 ml of water.

2) Mint Juice
Wash 5 fresh mint leaves and grind it in a small blender with some coconut water or plain water. Dilute the paste by adding more coconut water or plain water and serve.

3) White Pumpkin Juice
Peel , chop white pumpkin (approx. 125 gms per person or 5 one inch cubes) and grind it in a blender. Strain the pulp and add equal amount of plain water or coconut water.

4) Banana Stem Juice
Chop 2"  of banana stem and grind it in a blender. Strain the pulp, add water.

5) Arugambul / Bermuda grass Juice
Get a fist full of fresh Arugambul. Wash, cut and blend in mixie with coconut water. Strain. Add plain water or coconut water. .

6) Manathakkali / Black Night Shade Juice
Get about 10 big leaves, fresh from the plant. Wash, cut and blend in mixie with plain water or coconut water. Strain, add more water if necessary.

7) Vallarai / Brahmi / Pennywort Juice
Get about 11 leaves. Wash, cut and blend in mixie with coconut water. Strain, add more water if necessary.

Raw Food - Veggie Salad Recipes

Thank you Archana for sharing  some raw food salad recipes from practical session by Arun Sharma

Quantities mentioned are for One person 
Add ginger juice if you like it hot. 
Grated Gooseberry can be added instead of salt.


1. Capsicum-Cauliflower Salad
    Capsicum 100gms
    Cauliflower 200gms
    Tomato 100gms
    Grated coconut 50gms
    Chopped corriander leaves 50gms

2. Carrot-Cabbage wtih Sprouts Salad
 Carrot 1 portion chopped
 Cabbage 2 portions, nicely chopped
 Sprouts  1 handful 
 Grated coconut  2 handfuls
 Corriander leaves chopped, 1 handful