Eat Your Dals without Bloating and Belching

 Being trained in the allopathic system, I was always uncomfortable with the fact that allopathy doesn’t address the cause of a disease and correct it, instead,  symptomatic treatment is given. This type of treatment maintains the diseased state, and brings in side effects of the medicines that have to be taken for long time.

The Biological doshas

The ancient science of Ayurveda recognised the existence of three doshas (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) that determine the process of life, growth, and decay. Each dosha is derived from a different natural element. Vata corresponds to air, Pitta to fire, and Kapha to water. These Doshas are the three primary life forces in the human body, and every deficiency, disease, or disorder is primarily caused due to a shift in the optimum levels of these Doshas.

Vata dosha

Vata is the air or wind Dosha. It is responsible for movement in the human body, making it a very important Dosha since the other two Doshas are found to be incapable without the presence of movement. So in effect, it regulates the functions of Pitta and Kapha as well.

Common vata disorders include flatulence, tics, twitches, aching joints, dry skin and hair, nerve disorders, constipation, and mental confusion. The Vata Dosha is manifest primarily in the abdominal cavity below the navel – colon, pelvis, pelvic organs, as well as the thighs, skin, ears and brain.

Lentils and stomach problems

Consumption of  pulses, like beans, lentils, and peas can cause gastrointestinal symptoms, such as bloating, gas, and stomach cramps. That's because pulses contain large amounts of indigestible carbohydrates (fibers) that are fermented in the GI tract resulting in the formation of gas.

It is better to consume dals during daytime , but moong dal is light and easily digestible, so it is okay to have it at night. Actually moong dal helps balance the digestion process. Soaking or spouting the lentils  make them much easier on the digestive system. Soak them overnight or at least for 4 hours. Throw away the water in which it is soaked and give the beans/lentils a good rinse before cooking to wash away those gas-producing carbohydrates.

While cooking

When using the pressure cooker, do not close the cooker straightaway. Put the water and beans/lentils in the cooker, put on flame and let it boil. You will see the surface being filled with froth. 

Remove this froth with a ladle.

 Then you can add salt and other condiments, close it and pressure cook.

Apart from alleviating the stomach discomfort on eating the preparation, I have even found an improvement in the taste.

Bengal Gram (Chana Dal) Halwa

This is an awesome sweet dish which is very easy to make.

Ingredients

1 cup Bengal gram (chana dal)

1 cup water

¾ cup sugar OR jaggery

½ cup grated coconut

½ tsp cardamom powder

1 tbsp cashew nuts

1 tbsp Kismis (raisins)

1 tsp ghee

Instruction

- Wash and soak chana dal for about 6 hours. Pressure cook with 1 cup water for 8 minutes. Cool and open.

- Heat a thick bottomed pan, put the cooked chana dal and sugar. It becomes watery now. Keep stirring on low flame.

- When it becomes thick, add grated coconut, cardamom powder, cashew nuts and kismis. Mix thoroughly and remove from fire.

- Smear a plate with ghee and pat down the halwa. When it cools down slightly, cut into pieces.

- Can be served immediately, or after refrigeration.   

Dosa with sago

 This has an awesome flavour and texture that I just love.

Ingredients

2 cups rice ( for 10 dosas)

1/3  cup beaten rice

2 tbsps sago

2 tsps fenugreek seeds

Salt to taste

Instruction

-          Wash and soak all the ingredients except salt, for about 6 hours. Grind to a thick batter and allow it to ferment overnight

-          Add salt, mix well and make dosas. If the batter has not risen well after fermentation, add a pinch of baking soda to the batter.

-          Serve with coconut chutney.

Banana Bread

 This bread is easy to make; it is soft, with nice aroma, heavy and quite filling. You can have it with fresh cream, butter, or jam.

Ingredients

1 cup refined flour

1 tsp baking powder

¼ cup oil

1 egg

1 banana mashed

¼ cup milk

2 tbsps jaggery

1 tbsp melon seeds (optional)

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds (optional)

Instruction

-          Sieve the refined flour with baking powder and keep aside.

-          Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

-          Beat the egg, add the mashed banana and oil, beat again.

-          Add the jaggery, milk, and mix well. Finally add the refined flour with baking powder, the melon seeds and mix.

-          Pour into a baking box lined with baking sheet, spread pumpkin seeds on the surface.

-          Put inside the pre heated oven and bake for about 40 minutes, till a tooth pick when inserted, comes out clean.

Phirni

 

I tasted this awesome sweet dish in Libya in late 1980s when we went to a friend’s house on Eid. I just loved it, took the recipe from her, and it is a common item at home. This is prepared with rice, sugar and milk, just like the rice kheer is prepared. But phirni is made with broken rice, it is always served cold after refrigeration, and fried cashewnuts and kismis are not added.

Ingredients

Rice can be washed, dried, ground roughly and stored in air tight bottles to prepare phirni any time.

3 heaped tbsps of broken rice

6 cups milk

1 cup sugar

A few strands of saffron soaked in water

¼ tsp cardamom powder

A pinch of edible camphor (optional)

¼ tsp nutmeg powder (optional)

Instruction

-          Add ½ cup milk to the broken rice in a bowl and keep aside.

-          Bring the remaining milk to boil. When it boils, add the rice milk mixture to this and mix well.

-          Reduce the flame and keep stirring in between till the rice is cooked and it thickens, which takes about 15 minutes.

-          Now add sugar, mix well, keep on low ire, stirring in between till it thickens again ( another 10 minutes).

-          Add the cardamom powder, saffron, edible camphor, and nutmeg powder. Stir well and remove from fire.

-          Let it cool, then refrigerate and serve.

Kerala Barotta

 From childhood I have relished this dish in hotels. Later when I moved out of Kerala, I learned to make it at home.

                                                    Barotta with egg curry and banana raita

Ingredients

2 cups refined flour

Salt to taste

2 tbsps oil

About ¾ cup water

Instruction

-          Knead the refined flour with salt, 1 tablespoon oil and water. Keep adding the water slowly to make smooth dough. Cover and keep aside for 10 minutes.

-          - Divide the dough into two portions. Spread one into a big rectangle. Smear oil on the whole top surface and along the longer side, fold it like making sari pleats.  Coil this rope like dough into a round and spread with a rolling pin into a large round. See this tchnique below:

-          Heat thava on medium flame and cook the barotta from both sides, applying oil on both surfaces.

-          Serve hot with egg curry.

Baingan (Brinjal) Bhaja

This is an easy and delicious preparation that goes well with rice or chapatti. I learned this from my daughter’s Bengali classmate.

            You can see some potato wedges also being cooked alongside, for my potato lover husband 

Ingredients

2 large sized brinjals

Salt to taste

½ tsp turmeric powder

¼ cup oil to shallow fry

Instructions

-          Wash and dry the brinjals. Slice them into 1 cm thick pieces

-          Sprinkle turmeric powder and salt on both sides and spread on a plate. Keep the plate slightly tilted so that the water that comes out collects at the lower side of the plate and can be discarded.

-          Heat oil in a thick bottomed pan on high flame. Now reduce the flame to medium and drop the brinjal slices.

-          When the bottom side is cooked, turn them upside down and let the other side also get cooked.

-          Remove them from the pan and serve hot with rice or chapatis