Vegetable Pickle

Vegetable pickle is high in dietary fiber along with vitamin A and C. Raw pickles may offer additional health benefits. According to author Rebecca Wood, pickling can make vegetables more digestible, neutralize naturally occurring anti-nutrients, and replenish the gut flora needed for smooth digestion. Wood notes that the unpasteurized pickles eaten on a raw food diet are more healthful than pasteurized varieties, because the heating process destroys the helpful micro-flora that grows during the pickling and fermenting process.

It’s thought the first pickles were produced over 4,000 years ago using cucumbers native to India. Ever since, people around the world have touted their nutritional value, and even healing power.
And, while the idea of pickled vegetables may sound vaguely distasteful, this ancient form of preparation and preservation can actually give really delicious results. The idea of pickling is to create an environment that is inhospitable to the microbes, which would normally cause food to decay.
This is usually done using a combination of salt, acid, and/or fermentation with bacteria. In some cases, spices, oil, and sugar are also added.   This is the original pickling method, which has been an essential part of healthy human diets for thousands of years.
On the one hand, the fiber in pickled vegetables is roughly the same as with cooked vegetables. Fat soluble vitamins, such as A, D, E and K, are also retained during pickling and thus providing extra nutrition.

Ingredients:

3 cups of water, 1 ½ cup white vinegar, 4 tbsp salt, 2 tbsp white sugar, one glass jar of 3 liters, 4 -5 medium size carrots, 3 turnips, 3 small beets, 2 medium size cauliflower, 5-6 cloves of garlic.

Method:

Wash, peel off and cut all the vegetables into pieces except cloves of garlic.

In the glass jar put these vegetables tightly till the brim.

Mix the water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a separate jar.  Shake it well.

Pour over the vegetables.

Leave the jar in the Sun for one afternoon and then put it in the refrigerator.

Black Carrot Kanji Drink

Black carrots are a rich source of anti oxidants and nutrients.  They are a great anti dote to LDL (bad cholesterol).  Black carrots are appetizing, good for digestion and have vitamin B.  They are rich in calcium, potassium and iron in them.  Black carrot juice is an excellent blood cleanser and it is good for eye sight and blood circulation. Due to its highly fibrous nature, it keeps the alimentary canal clean.  It acts as a moistening agent and tones up the skin.  It is good for treating acne.

Kanji is a popular drink made in the Northern India during the winter and spring as that is when the black carrots are available in the market.  It is a drink with a fermented aroma so everyone does not like it.  It is highly nutritious and is very good for stomach.

I remember I never liked it in the childhood but as time went by I acquired the taste for it.   Kanji should be taken in moderation (not more than two glasses a day) even if you like the taste of it.  It is very simple to make.  Kanji can be preserved only for a week.

Ingredients:

6-7 black carrots, 3 liter water, 4 tsp brown mustard seeds (rai), 4 tsp rock salt, 2 tsp red chili powder.

Method:

Wash and peel off the carrots.  Cut into pieces lengthwise.

Grind the mustard seeds and mix with salt and red chili powder.

Mix all the ingredients in a glass jar or a terracotta pot but never in a metal pot.

Stir well.  Let it sit in sun for three days.

Shake the jar 5-6 times a day.  It should be ready in 3 days.

Check the taste before serving.

Stir well and pour into a glass with 2-3 pieces of carrots.

Makka Roti(Corn bread) with radish and fenugreek

Makka in Punjabi stands for maize and roti is Indian flatbread.  Generally makka roti is eaten during the north Indian winters along with sarson ka saag(mustard greens).These are prevalent during the North Indian winters.  

If you prefer to eat Makka roti with some twist, try it either with radish or with fenugreek leaves or a combination of both.  In this case you don’t need mustard green to accompany this makka roti.  You can enjoy this with lots of butter and yogurt.  Makka roti is unleavened bread and the lack of gluten makes it hard to roll out and make it like a traditional roti.  My mother and grandmother made this hard to make roti with their bare hands like a magician.  I don’t have that magic in my hands so I decided to experiment making the makka roti between the zip lock bags.  It is rightly said all is well what ends well.

Ingredients:

Makki Ka Atta (Corn Flour) 2 cups, salt 1 tsp, ajwain (Carom Seeds)  1 tsp,  Wheat flour ½ cup, grated ginger ½ tsp,  peeled and grated radish (muli) ¼ cup,  cleaned, washed and chopped methi leaves(fenugreek leaves) 1 cup, hot water ½ to 1 cup, cooking oil for frying, butter or ghee to accompany the cooked roti.

Method:
 Mix the salt, ajwain, ginger, radish and fenugreek leaves to the corn and wheat flour.
 Mix everything well. 
 Add in hot water, about ¼ cup at a time.

 Knead to make it a pliable so that you are able to make a ball.
 Take a plastic bag/Ziploc and cut it open. Place it on your rolling surface and wet it       .
 Place the ball and add a few more drops of water on top.

 Now press gently on the ball and flatten it with your palm evenly.
Carefully remove from the plastic and place on a hot griddle or tawa.

 Allow it to cook on the bottom.
 After a couple of minutes, put a few drops of cooking oil on top and flip.
 Cook the other side as well and take it off the flame and serve hot with a blob of butter or ghee and yogurt.