NEEM FLOWER POHA UPMA

 

 

 I'm really surprised to notice the significant transformation in my taste perception. Earlier,I deplored bitter dishes in my meal. But now, they have become an integral part of my menu . With abundant neem flowers in hand,I'm exploring diverse healthy recipes with it.Yesterday, I prepared poha upma,spiced up with neem flower podi. This podi is mostly relished with plain rice with a dollop of ghee.Dried neem flower is ground along with lentils,red chillies and other ingredients in preparing this podi or powder. I spattered the podi over the soaked poha in preparing this upma. Since its an instant version,I added jaggery and tamarind. If you want to stock this powder, then you need to skip these ingredients (jaggery and tamarind) to prolong the shelf lifeof the powder. 

INGREDIENTS FOR NEEM FLOWER PODI / POWDER :

DRIED NEEM FLOWERS- 3 TSP

URAD DAL- 2 TSP

GRAM DAL- 2 TSP

RED CHILLIES- 3 NOS

TAMARIND- Small piece

POWDERED JAGGERY- 1 TSP

FOR TEMPERING :

GHEE- 3 TSP

GROUND NUTS- 4 TSP 

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

ASAFOETIDA- 3/4 TSP

OTHER INGREDIENTS :

FLATTENED RICE / POHA -  1 1/2 CUPS

SALT TO TASTE 

PROCEDURE :

1. Wash,rinse poha thoroughly to discard the impurities. Allow the poha to soak in water for twenty minutes to soften it.

2. In a pan add a teaspoon of oil and roast neem flowers till changes colour and turns crisp.

3. In the same pan roast lentils,red chillies,tamarind and keep it aside.

4. In a mixer jar,take all the roasted ingredients and jaggery and grind to a coarse powder and keep it aside.

5. Prepare the seasoning in a pan with the ingredients cited above. Now transfer the soaked poha over this.

6. Sprinkle the neem flower powder,ground nuts over the poha and mix well.

 

NEEM FLOWER RASAM

 

 

 

 There is a big neem tree beside my house. The large branches almost protrude into my terrace. During summer,the strewn neem flowers cover up my entire terrace with a mild aroma. I collect the sun-dried flowers for incorporating ,it in a few recipes. I wash the flowers thoroughly to get rid of dust particles and dry it again to remove the moisture content. Besides rasam,I use these flowers in gojju- A tamarind based tangy gravy prepared in Karnataka. As you all know,neem has a plethora of medicinal properties. Hence, this rasam too has immense health benefits : home remedy for indigestion,bloating and stomach related ailments. 

 

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS :

DRIED NEEM LEAVES-  3 TSP

TAMARIND- GOOSEBERRY SIZE

TOMATOES- 2 MEDIUM

TURMERIC POWDER- 1/4 TSP

SALT TO TASTE

GHEE- 4 TSP 

POWDERED JAGGERY- 1 TSP

 

 

FOR TEMPERING:

 

MUSTARD- 1 TSP 

CURRY LEAVES- 2 SPRIGS

TOOR DAL- 1 TSP

RED CHILLIES- 2 NOS

ASAFOETIDA- 3/4 TSP

 

PROCEDURE :

1. Soak tamarind in warm water and extract syrup.

 

2. Add 2 tsp of ghee in a pan and roast dry neem flowers till it turns crisp.

3.. Wash and squeeze chopped tomatoes in the tamarind syrup. Add salt,turmeric powder and half the amount of asafoetida to the tamarind syrup and allow it to boil.

4. Prepare the seasoning with the ingredients cited in the column.

5. When the rasam starts to froth,add the seasoning,powdered jaggery and boil for a couple of seconds and switch off.

6. Now add in the roasted neem flowers to hot rasam and mix well. Don't boil the rasam after adding the roasted flowers.

The fastest way to chop carrots

I always find chopping carrots a grueling task. I stumbled upon this easy method in one of the Insta posts. If you don't possess food processor or chopper,then you can well resort to this amazing method. I used pressure cooker for steaming carrots. You can even steam it in rice cooker or steamer. Here is the method :

 

 

 

:

 

 

1. Wash carrots thoroughly and wipe it using a clean cloth.

 

2. Now peel the outer layer using a peeler.

 

3.Fill water in the pressure cooker and place a stand. Place a vessel on the stand.

4. Place the peeled carrots in the vessel and close the lid of the pressure cooker.

5. Place the pressure regulator on the vent pipe and steam for one or two whistles and switch off.

6. When the heat subsides,slowly remove the lid and take out the steamed carrots.

7. Now chopping steamed carrots is quite easy and time saving as well !