Food As Medicine

Very sorry and be patient to read this lengthy posting.

But I felt it’s necessary for everyone, how the food act as medicine….

Food….!!!! That’s all the handsome needs of human. Without food, nothing. Our body is constructed by the food. At the age of new born baby we are 3 kg, now we are 70 kg. How this much enormous growth has happened? All by the food…. am I right …. ?

Food is a state to cure all the diseases, as same it is an important one for all sickness. While taking food the time, quantity, quality, nature, type has been considered to help for the quick assimilation. Digestion is strength, indigestion is a weakness (reason for all diseases-health disturbances) for our body. Digestion will be different from food to food, that mean gastric juice secretion gets differ, that’s the enzyme responsible for the digestion, alternately if we takes different food items that required more time to digest, results problem in digestion.

Taste is not in the food, its all about our tongue. Food are categorized into two, living food and non-living food.

Living food means cooking the food without destroying its nutritional values. In this category natural foods like vegetables, fruits, sprouts etc., are the best. All the food substances contain the sugar, but not these natural foods. Living foods are the best dietary food stuffs, it must be present in the diet menu those wants to burn their calories.

At the time of sprouting pulses the amount of protein, vitamins and minerals level gets increased, the sugar and fat level get reduced. Steaming is an excellent cooking method; it is not much disturbing the nutritional values. It exposes the ingredients added in that one and makes the digestion as easier.

Non – living food means a food hasn’t any nutritional value, totally a flat food. We can say all the deep fried food substances (potato chips, French fries), it’s all the venomous for our body.

Heart attack and Blood pressure are the most popular threatening malady of India. High intake of the fat and sodium both are responsible for these diseases. We all like the fat very much, we didn’t eat a food without oil floating on the top of any dishes, that much fond we are, with fat. is n't it ???? Alas...
Hormones are treated to butchery meat & poultry making a growth as faster than normal. It’s called as Hormone treated food, Example a meat weighs 2kg means, 1 kg is meat and another Kg is absolutely a hidden fat, which one marbled between the meat fibers.

We got happy if give away some ice-cream, chocolate like preservative food items to our children’s, how many of you know the hidden dangerous presents in that food?

Preservative foods are the dangerous one for our health, have high level of sodium content. On present day’s obesity is a common among the children’s and elders. As we eat more preservative foods, the chemical properties added in that will goes to our stomach, arrest the chemical reactions happening in our digestion time. It will not convert the fat to fatty acids and carbs to glucose. It will gift us the serious diseases like cancer, high blood pressure and more.

Any way you may observe my points, it’s a wonderful discourse recently I listened, share your views on it. Have right, proportionate food know your body before choosing the food.

Keep in mind choose the food items as per your work nature; minimize the quantity of food in the night time.

Eat healthy food, live long healthly…..

The Story of Tirunelveli Halwa

Tirunelveli is famous for delicious sweet halwa….. as you all know. It’s a great culinary creation and the visiting card to the inhabitant of Tirunelveli. Tirunelveli halwa is golden brown, has a jelly-like texture and contains a ghee, which gives its distinctively greasy appearance.Because of its divine taste, this sweet dish name spreaded all over. The Tirunelveli peoples are the relatives of alwa, they wouldn’t leave a day without tasting this elixir, even taken with Idli and Dosa.

But this three centuries old halwa have the interesting backdrop !!!!!

At first in Tirunelveli, halwa was introduced by the rajputraa peoples of Rajasthan who came to chokampatti (Tirunelveli province) for serving Jamindhars. Those cooks created and presented the wonderful alwa to chokampatti Jamindhar. Early days, the halwa was sold in streets by walk.

By the year 1882, Mr.Jegan Singh, a father of Halwa opened the first halwa shop in Tirunelveli named “Tirunelveli halwa”.

Ok it’s all the history……. We back….

Originally the word “Halwa” derived from the Arabian root means Sweet. The Tirunelveli Halwa is primarily made from wheat, sugar and Ghee. The right proportion of mixing the ingredients and the special recipe of this region are said to its parents.

“Invasion of ingredients, many varieties of alwa’s are available around us, Our Tirunelveli alwa is best among all”

Correct fermentation of wheat milk awarded crumbleness, tiny holes and sharp taste, authentically prepared halwa will last more than 15 days. The combination of ghee, cashewnuts and nutmeg emanates celestial flavour to the alwa. The Thamirabarani river water is the husband for Tirunelveli alwa, the copper content in this water embraced and giving heavenly taste to the sweet dish.

After its we all know why the halwa has become synonymous with the city, enjoy the taste while visiting to halwa city …....

Disappointment – A measuring device

Disappointment = Failure, how do you par both the words????

A disappointment is the only obsession makes our lovable work (aim) to hate. It’s true…

I say, this all turns out because of the minute slipups and the overconfidence/ overexpectations of our side. Being the food consultant, I know - how the critic from the gourmets, talented chefs that arises the good number of times, taken that as part of my development and my team consistency. Funny is, sometimes the food critics developed without knowing the authenticity of the dishes. Whatsoever as my surface I am considering that as a measuring device to scale my weakness and strengthness…..

A noble friend of mine, shared the good will thought of what he enjoyed on the TV Channel recently, once a great scientist Thomas Alva Edison’s,18 years old laboratory was gutted by fire, but no troubleness on his face. Instead of worrying, he said calmly, my 18 years of mistakes are gutted by fire.

Ssssshhhhh ‘’’’’ However, its clear, corrective measures from the disappointment will lead to success path…

Match for coffee

Coffee Paniyaram

I developed this paniyaram recipe, something different for the evening snack with the coffee. Just try it out in your house !!!!!!

Ingredients

Raw Rice – 200g
Urad dal – 50g
Coffee decoction – 75ml
Milk – 250ml
Sugar- 100g
Soda bi Carbonate – a Pinch

Method

1.Soak the raw rice and urad dal separately for one hour
2.Grind the both for separately and let it for leavening for about 5hrs.
3.Add the sugar, the coffee decoction and milk.
4.Make it as a pouring consistency. Cook it as like above Kara paniyaram.
5.But be careful, the paniyaram should not burn and the heat of the oil.

Real Taste of Paniyaram

Paniyaram

I heard lot about this paniyaram and tasted that in different taste and flavour. But this time, I visited to my friend house at Karaikudi, the authentic Kara paniyaram served with the breakfast; the taste was totally different from the earlier one.

At once the taste spurs me to collect the recipe from my friend’s maam and now blogged it for my readers use.

Kara Paniyaram

Ingredients

Raw Rice – 250g
Urad Dal – 175g
Oil – For Frying
Dry Redchillies- 5nos
Curry leaves- 1 sprig
Asafoetida- a pinch
Salt- as needed
Ginger- 1tsp
Mustard Seeds- a little
Soda Bi Carbonate – a little
Small Onions – 3 cloves
Turmeric Powder- a pinch

Method

1.Soak the raw rice and the urad dal for an hour. Grind the both like a pouring consistency.
2.Prepare the fundamental masala for the Kara paniyaram with oil, dry redchillies, ginger, Mustard seeds, small onions, curry leaves, Turmeric powder, and asafoetida. Make it as a fine paste.
3.Mix the masala and the batter well. Add the salt and soda bi Carbonate into it.
4.Heat the oil in a specially made paniyaram vessel, drop the batter in the hot oil.
5.Turn the side of the paniyaram after 2 minutes. Cook it with care, if the heat is too, the inner of the paniyaram will not cook properly.

Yes its taste awesome for the spicy lovers, prefect accompaniment for the typical south Indian breakfast and evening snack. Dish it out huahahahah !!!!!!!!

Deep Fried ......

Munthiri Kothu

Munthiri kothu is golden, yellow in colour, it’s an authentic sweet and favourite evening snack in the Tirunelveli and the surrounding areas. It’s a easy sweet preparation, I am sure the fine prepared munthiri kothu can keep it for a month, the taste will initiate you for the second time preparation.

Munthiri Kothu means “bunch of balls”. You can see that from this picture it is a bind with each one.

Ingredients

Green Gram Flour – 250g
Jaggery – 200g Cup
Cardamom – as required
Cloves – two
Ginger Powder – a pinch
Maida – 200 gram
Rice – 60g
Lemon Yellow colour – a pinch
Grated Coconut – 1 tbsp
Oil – For deep frying
Ghee – 2 tbsp

Method

1.Fry the green gram and rice with cardamom and cloves in medium fire, coarsely grind the gram mixture.
2.Make thick Jaggery syrup; add the grinded powder and ginger powder, grated Coconut, little ghee, mix all these ingredients well.
3.While it is in little heat, make even size balls. Prepare the batter with maida and lemon yellow colour; dip the balls in this batter.
4.Deep fry it in hot oil.
5.It is a wonderful evening snack; take along with tea or coffee.

I recommend you, Taste it after a day or few hours it has been prepared.

On the Barrage !!!!

This time my cooking experience was on the river barrage, comes out with the new striking Meen Puli Kulambhu (Fish in Tamarind Curry) recipe.
It was highly acclaimed by the onlookers, watch this interesting preparation on AMN TV (2.00pm) for this diwali special.......

Thalavai Nattu Unavugal (Seemai Virundhu)

There is a reason for you to visit “Sathya Park and resorts” Tuticorin for the three day long grand diwali food festival on “Thalavai Nattu Unavugal” held between 16 sep 09 and 18 sep 09. This food festival have all the long forgotten village recipes and innovative recipes from the land of Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Virudhunagar, Kanyakumari, Ambasamudrum, Uvari belts.

Tuticorin kara meen Soup, Thalavai Thakali soup, Vadi thanni, Payaru thalippu, Thaen Kozhi, Kulachal Meen Manga Curry, Border Parotta, Sultan Biriyani, Puhari Thengai Pal Biriyani, Urulai puttu, Veg Eral Kulambhu, Ambai Kai Khurma, Nei paruppu thalippu, Madurai meen varuval, Kai khurma are the exotic dishes from our ancestors land.

The sweets like Chendur Panchamirtham, Mascoth Halwa, Amirtha vadai, Kal Khona, Jeerani Meethai will taste as like the ambrosia.

Visit and taste my masterpiece recipes !!!!!

Experience our ancestors style……


Venue Address - Sathya Park and Resorts, Maravanpuram, Tuticorin

For Reservations - 09600921985

Buffet Priced - Rs.180 / per person (including all taxes)

Time - 7.30 pm – 10.30 pm

Tamilian Food

By the food habits of the tamilians, one can easily assume the nature of the particular communities movement. The food habit depends on the lifestyle, environment, livelihood, social status, economic level of the people.

There were the tremendous changes in the food culture of the peoples over 100 years. Nowadays the tastes of the foods are taking in count rather than the health care factor. So the good health care village recipes are forgotten by the modern culinary world. Boiling, Steaming, Frying, deep frying, grilling these are the common cooking methods used by the Tamil peoples.

The word ‘Cooking’ means preservation. The tamilian houses would face any directions, but they are more particular of the directions of the house kitchens, their kitchens should face either northeast or southwest directions.

One can identify the truth if closely watch the food habits of the tamil peoples. Frying, boiling, grilling, deep frying are the cooking methods commonly used by our people. The deep frying stuffs have been seen the rapid growth since 60 years. In Tamilnadu, the groundnut oil highly used for the deep frying was introduced by the vijayanagara dynasty. In this generation, the people are more eager to taste the deep fried dishes, so that cause the dishes prepared by steaming, boiling and without oil are diminishing fastly nowadays.

There was a food script of peppercorns, ghee, tamarind, spinach and meat in sangam literature. The historians witnessed the food script of Italika (Idli), Dosa, Adhirasam in the vijayanagara regime inscriptions. In ancient devotional literatures speaks on sarkarai pongal, paniyaram, Ilavattam (ladoo), Appam, ellurundai etc., the famous tamilian cooking method Steaming was introduced by the Indonesians at the time of their voyage.

The hard food substances are boiled. Adding jaggery, palm jaggery to the boiled grains called as payasam. Mixing heat molasses to the pounded flour, gives desire shapes and taken as sweets (Ma urundai). Grinded and Pounded flour are cooked in the steaming process (Idiyaapam, Idli, Kozhukkatai etc,).

Sugar molasses are poured into the flour and after that deep frying dishes like Adhirasam, munthiri kothu are prepared. Adding spicy masalas to the flour and it has been made to deep fry called as Bhajji, vadai etc.

The word “KaiKari” includes both the vegetables and chillies. In15th century AD chillies are imported from the Chile country. At that period tamilians used black pepper corns (Karunkari) to enhance the spiciness, pepper corns are highly used in the meat preparation, so that still now the meat preparations are called as (Kari) in tamil. Vegetables, meat products etc., are flavoured with the spices and tempered it later; it can be used as curries or as accompaniments.

Lala Mithai Stall introducing new sweet dishes to the Tamilnadu. They are the hindi speaking peoples brought to Tamilnadu by the Nayak kingdom of Madurai. Sugar, wheat, ghee, gram flour are the main ingredients of their sweet preparations. The Nadar community peoples are using jaggery and palm jaggery instead of sugar for their sweet preparations, their sweat stalls are called as Mithai kadai.

Recipe

Puli Kai

(Juicy vegetables in hot tamarind sauce)

It’s a village style preparation. Farmers use this as a dip of their food, while going their farmland. It’s a good match for ice biriyani.

Ingredients

Gingelly oil - 2tbsp
Urad dal - 1/2tsp
Garlic cloves - 5 nos
Red chillies - 3nos
Small onions - 50g
Brinjal - 2nos
Ash gourd - 50g
Ladies finger - 50g
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 11/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Tamarind - Small lemon size

Method:

1. Cube the vegetables. Dissolve the tamarind into thick paste.
2. Heat oil, temper it using first 3 ingredients, add the small onions & garlic, and stir it. Add the masalas, fry it for few seconds.
3. Add the vegetables. Pour the tamarind puree in it. Season it with salt. Cover it and simmer the fire.
4. It has been well cooked after five minutes, serve it hot with rice or ice biriyani.
5. Garnish with fine Cilantro.

Tailpiece

It’s a delectable one, the tangy taste and juicy vegetables added in the curry goes well with all kind of South Indian food. Ice Biriyani I mentioned here the water added in the remained boiled rice in the house before go for the sleep at night that has to be used for the next day meal. It has sour taste.

Mushrooming Catering stalls / Institutes

Yes, you could see that while you walk around the streets and bazaars!!! Still you baffling, I mean the minnow catering institutes mushrooming every nooks & corners of the cities. With little equipments easily obtaining the approval and starting the catering institutes, even though don’t have any basic necessity. How the examining body tendering recognition to the worthless institutes..????...!!!, it’s one of the standing questions …

Beauty of such institutes are getting awesome admissions every year, institutes offering various sops to grab the admission. I don’t know how the student’s are easily trap on their words, without viewing any originalities. Products of these institutes are being short in all basic etiquettes, in this cause, hospitality world suffering for the effective manpower.

Model facilities and good infrastructure catering colleges are now in pitiable conditions. All are well placed, then where the students are??? Alas..!!!

Fabricated stories about the catering course, one of the key ground for the downfall of choosing the course among the students. Hotels would be flexible on their policies on recruitment especially on the basic remuneration.

Hospitality industries urging, “Effective sources” then assist the catering colleges/universities on setup the training modules through forming the forum. It has to be compiling on their modern day needs.

It’s very hard to hear for me, teaching is the place for rest. We are the teaching community sole accountable for producing the hoteliers. We are ten fold more action then how we had been in the industry. Still rounding the old basic sauces, training modules & manuals etc, update the current trends and equipped them on it. Internal bias between the tutors resulting ward off the significant teachers from all the movements. We are the people only calling Catering as a professional course, but our community has not done anything for that.

Oh God…… Save the catering art from the hands of all the odds…..

Oblation

Last week I was invited by my friend to his village, the reason they were offering to his household deity. I went with him, it’s a temple in the bank of Thamirabarani river. Very serene location, swinging roots of huge banyan tree,mesmerizing gentle breeze. I really attracted by the location. My chum and myself sat on the bolder over there, start chatting while I turned back a granny and few ladies of my friends family preparing for some food stuffs.

Peeled the small onions, grinded the coconut with few spices use of the grinding stone in the temple. What kind of the preparation, I asked that women, they answered, it is the Kozhi Kulambhu (Chicken gravy), which offered to the deity. I start watching, because they have very few spices and ingredients in their platter.

Fried the shallots in the gingelly oil, added the pasted coconut masala, Country chicken pieces, little turmeric powder, few tomatoes in it. No chilli powder, coriander powder in this gifted recipe. It’s a very fast preparation. Just covered that one, after few minutes they removed the lid. The aroma of the chicken blended in the wind and tingled my nose. Finish this curry with tempering.

It’s not much spicy. I really wondered of the speedy preparation and the masala used in it. That day I had a plateful of rice and nearly ½ kg of chicken.

mmmmmmm……. I am coming to my point. After I turned to my place, I shared my experience to my team mates. Karthic said, this recipe and the masala used in the curry is totally new. We will dish out that recipe in our kitchen. At once my smile arises, my territory flooded with the action. We dish out that new village recipe.

Taste, aroma of this curry made all my team mates to lick his own fingers. At the end they are in the mess of the name of this dish, I named it as “Padappu Kozhi Kuzhambu”.

Recipe

Tulsi Karuppati Kozhukkatai
(Rice dumplings with Palm Jaggery & basil)
It’s an exotic dumpling preparation, dish it out at home!!!!!!!!!

Ingredients
Rice flour – 250 g
Palm jaggery – 150 g
Tulsi leaves – 2 tbsp
Cucumber Seeds -1 tsp
Coconut gratings – 50g
Cashewnuts – 1 tbsp
Salt – a little
Sultanas – 1 tbsp
Cardamon – ½ tsp
Water -1 cup
Directions
1. Take 3/4 quantity of palm jaggery diluted it with water. Boil for few minutes until it turns thick.

2. Mix this palm jaggery dilution with the rice flour; add few Tulsi (basil) leaves and a little salt in it. Make smooth dough. Combine the remaining all ingredients for the stuffing (including the Tulsi & some Palm jaggery gratings).

3. Make the even sized balls, put the depression in the centre, fill it with enough stuffings.Cover it well, do one by one like this. Steam it for 10 minutes.

4. Once you take out from the steamer, dips the dumplings in the thick Palm Jaggery syrup.

5. Now surface of the Kozhukkatai coated with syrup, looks thick black in colour.

6. Arrange it in platter neatly; garnish the top with few coconut gratings.

mmmmmmm.......... Its rich, appears more gorgeous and tastes delicious...

Soon I will post the pictures for my next recipes.

Cookery Show on Vaigai TV

On Sunday 23 Aug 2009, I hosted the cookery show on Vaigai TV for Vinayagar Chathurthi special line-up. I prepared a wonderful Kozhukkatttai called “Tulsi Karuppati Kozhukatti”mainly conscious for the health. In this show, I added,”Tulsi is an elixir of life, it promotes the life longevity also it reduced the blood sugar level and the cholesterol level in the blood of the diabetes patient.

Of course, you can ask me the questions “How about the palm Jaggery ? it Contains high level of sugar, how can the diabetes patients can take it”?

Other than sugar content in the palm Jaggery, it has more fibers and minerals, because it is a concentrated one. Also it is rich source of iron and vitamin C.It gives strength to the children’s and good for clearing throat infection.

I posted this exotic Kozhukkatttai recipe in my Recipe Column.
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My first Shooting experience at Courtallam

Courtallum known as “Natural Spa of South India” located at the western hills bordering Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Courtallum streets are more colorful by the stuffs like banana chips, chicken fry, yummy parotta’s, mascoth halwa.

Arousing water falls, glooming sky, damp breezing, drizzling this is what the climatic conditions enthralled us.

OK, I had the cookery show shooting for the television channel Air Media Network on 29 AUG 2009 at Courtallam.The General Manager of saaral resorts Mr.Sai Ram, trusted me and supported for this cookery show.

Surprisingly, my first show was adorned by the film Actor and MLA Mr.S.Ve.Sekar. He tasted my preparation “Appalam Kuzhambu” (Pappad curry) and he mesmerized by the taste of this dish. Crispy fried Pappad and boiled chickpeas stirred up in the typical hot masala.

“It’s the hot and spicy preparation, perfect match for this chilling climate” he said.

About Me

I am Chef Raj Mohan M.S, born in Ambasamudram (Tamilnadu), South India. During my school days, I had the practice to go to my brother’s show room. A typical Parotta stall was located just opposite to my brother’s shop. I watched kneading the Parotta dough, the way they were swinging the Parotta and how the Parotta get pumped after it was cooked. I was attracted in the style of swinging the Parotta moreover I attracted towards the smell of “salna.” I encouraged myself to learn the preparation. When I got time I spent time to be in Parotta stall and later lay my hands on this preparation. The Cooking interest added me the new energy and led to catering dreams. I naturally inherited my mother’s cooking skills in my family.

Once I finished schooling, my father understood my interest on catering and I joined Subbalakshmi Lakshmipathy College of science, Madurai, completed my graduation in Hotel Management & catering Science.

The way I prepared the superb “biriyani” for mass of a people is the unforgettable moment for me till now.

After finishing my catering studies, I took up a job at catering colleges as a culinary instructor. I am the Head in the Catering department of Mary Matha College of Arts and Science, Periyakulam (Tamilnadu) since 2009. Here I am facilitating my students on the world wide cuisines, especially our Indian cooking. At present, we are digging up the ethnic dishes of deep South Tamilnadu and trial is on run to set up the recipe as cuisine for commercialization. This initiation makes the students to learn the traditional dishes of their own places and creates passion in the profession. We are at the end of our experiment and I will soon declare that to my blog readers. It is the ladder for my students to host a week long food festival in “Traditional Food of Tamil Nadu” at 1000 Oaks, Pune, Sathya Park & Resorts, Tuticorin in 2009 and following the food event in Fortune Pandiyan. All these made me to know my untiring research work in traditional Tamilnadu food. Since 2010, I have been presenting long running cooking segment in Radio Mirchi FM, Madurai. 

My prominent Guru and a wonderful cook is my mother Mrs.Shantha Mohan. She is the most aspiring person for my cooking interest. Even now she teaches her recipes and unravels all my doubts in cooking. Her interest on cooking and inspirations bring me as a chef today.

Eventually I introduce my devoted LAUGHING CURRY team Chef Karparaja, Chef Arumugam, Chef Murugan, Chef Vinod, Chef Ramesh Kumar, Chef Madasamy, Chef. Balaji and Chef. Nadesan- they are my strength and great supporters of my new endeavours.

Contact me at : rajmohanraghavan@gmail.com

Welcome All Foodies!!!!!

Its the new interesting food blog, the collections and experimentations of my new authentic recipes with my travel experiences while hunting the forlorn ethnic recipes, also I will share all my new ventures and queries of my blog readers.