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.

Millet based Porridge/Kanji - Salted

Ingredients:

1. 2 tsp of ragi / finger millet or thinai / foxtail millet powder - Roasted.
2. 1/2 glass of butter milk
3. 1 gl;ass of water
4. pinch of rock salt 
5. seasoning (mustard seeds, curry leaves roasted in very little oil)
6. 1/2 tsp of corriander powder (optional)

Method:

• Roast millet powder on low flame in a dry thick bottomed vessel until you can smell it.  You can also pre-roast in bulk and store in an air tight container.
• Blend or beat buttermilk to a smooth consistency and keep aside. 
• Take water in a thick bottomed vessel, add millet powder and mix into a smooth solution.
• Switch on the stove and cook until the mixture boils well for a few minutes.
• As it cooks, add corriander powder.
• Switch off the stove, add salt, seasoing and butter milk and mix well.

Serves one person.

Millet based Porridges / Kanji - Sweet

Ingredients:

1. 2 tsp of ragi / finger millet powder.
2. 1/8 glass of coconut milk or 2 table spoons of coocnut grating
3. 1 gl;ass of water
4. 2 tsp of brown sugar
5. 2 elaichi crushed (optional)
6. A pinch of dry ginger powder (optional)

Method:

• Extract 1/8 glass of coconut milk from fresh coconut. If that is too much work, just blend a few pieces of coconut into a fine past and keep aside. 
• Take water in a thick bottomed vessel, add millet powder and mix into a smooth solution.
• Switch on the stove and cook until the mixture boils well for a few minutes.
• As it cooks, add elaichi powder and dry ginger powder
• Switch off the stove, add brown sugar and coconut milk/paste and mix well.

Serves one person.

Calcium Smoothie

This is also very rich in iron and lecithin.
 
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of fresh curry leaves juice

1 cup of coconut milk (fresh if possible)

2-3 Tsp of cane sugar or other unbleached sugar
A pinch of cardamom if you like 

Method:

Blend curry leaf juice and coconut milk well.

Add sugar, mix well and serve.

Fruit Smoothies / Kheers

These are very filling and can be had even as a meal!

Candidates:

Papaya or Mango or Dates.
If you try other fruits and it tastes good, please let me know :)

Ingredients:
1 cup of fresh pulp of fruit

1 cup of coconut milk (fresh if possible)

2 Tsp of cane sugar or other unbleached sugar 
A pinch of cardamom if you like

Method:

Add all ingredients except sugar and blend them well.

Add sugar, mix well and serve.

Cooking Greens - ever so slightly..

Masala option 1
Saute half an onion and one tomatoewith a little salt.
Add some daal water to this mix and boil with coriander powder, rock salt and pepper powder.

Masala option2
Cook 2 table spoons of toor dal with enough water to a paste consistency.
Grind 1 Table spoon of coconut, half tea spoon of cumin seeds and quarter green chili (per person) into a smooth paste.

Preparing Greens  
Wash half of a medium bunch of greens and chop them fine
Bring a tiny layer of water to rolling boil.
Switch off the stove, add the greens, one small whole tomato and cover with lid. The whole tomato is supposed to preserve the minerals in greens.

Mixing
Add masala to the greens and mix well. I use a hand blender to mash them up a little.
When done add seasoning (I use mustard seeds, urad dal, cummins, curry leaves spluttered in very little oil) to the mix.

Serves one person.

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.