Bhakshanam

Clockwise : fenugreek powder, kasoori methi,seeds

Mistress of spices, Mythilli of vindhu has invited bloggers and non -bloggers for this great informative event, and while googling for information, i cleaned up so much about Fenugreek, it was like going back to college days where in we used to spend hours together in the college library reffering something which leads to something else.. ..out of subject, read the same, day and night just out of interest…no regrets if you dont score well in subjects… still you feel you are more informative than others. :-)

Now, i wish if somebody ask me ‘Do you know anything about Fenugreek?’ ‘Yes i know lot of things about fenugreek…

The Botonical name for fenugreek is Trigonella foenum-graecum, is actually one of the oldest cultivated plants. References to fenugreek were found in records from Egyptian tombs. The plant is indigenous to western Asia and southeastern Europe but it is cultivated throughout the Mediterranean, India and Northern Africa.

India and some parts of middle east uses fenugreek leaves(methi, menthya, uluva chappu) to make delicious dishes. The leaves are dried(Kasoori methi) and pinch of it is a real taste enchancer gives a total new flavor to the dish. The bittery flavoured seeds are aromatic when roasted.  An extract of the seeds is used commercially in artificial flavorings such as vanilla, caramel, butterscotch and especially maple.

I still remember few years back, one of my friend had asked me to take gulp of a tsp of fenugreek seeds with water for my periodical stomach aches. Trust me! It helps.  I never had a clue that fenugreek has a steroidal component which kills the pain to cetain extent.

The chemical composition of these seeds resembles that of cod-liver oil, which has similar substances that stimulate the appetite by their action on the nervous system, or produce a diuretic or ureo-poietic effect. Can avoid lot of UTI if we add it in our regular diet.

It is used in diabetes in conjunction with insulin. I have heard People who were not able to get control on excess of sugar in the blood, take gruel made of fenugreek seeds.  Its hard to drink, but a kind of boon for high diabetic lot.

Fenugreek relieves congestion, reduces inflammation and fights infection and contains natural expectorant properties.

Fenugreek seed is widely used as a galactagogue (milk producing agent) by nursing mothers to increase inadequate breast milk supply. This point if noted can be helpful for ‘to be mom’bloggers:)

I just found ample medicinal properties of fenugreek seeds. I did not want to make a Colbert report as Mythili said:). Just google as ‘Fenugreek’, load yourself with extra infomations.

In India it is mixed with yogurt and used as a conditioner for hair. That one was an odd point, but it helps doesn’t it?.

source : Internet

Most of you guys who are living close to green of nature where flowers are common, the same is very precious for us who are living in arid region of the world, though we are close to the nature but in terms of sand dunes rather than flowers. These are the pictures of one such speciality that was brought home few weeks back, taken care with atmost love and affection.

Adhering to the fact that gulf regions are dominated by Malayali expats, it is rough going for any keralite to take those first steps on these sands, after landing straight from greeny beds of Kerala.  I spent very few days in those green valleys of refreshing nature, after my marriage and landed in Bahrain few days later. The missing scene was not that hustle-bustle world of Bangalore, but those pleasent moments I spent in the quiet aromatic atmosphere of kannur. It was quite difficult for me to accpet the moment of truth, sand all over and around you in the other part of the world.

Okay enough of tumtum. The only factor that enlivened me in Baharain was flowers that caught my eyes. I was syndromic in looking for something i missed the most, back home.  I had swallowed the fact that the toughest thing i could ever find in this region is the flower.  As the cold and foggy december days arrived, flowers bloomed all over the gulf.  It was no less than an effort and commitment, to produce those long stretch of vibrant blossoms that decorates the pavements.  Workers, literally, had to lift up the flat and lengthy bed of soil and grass with small flowering plants,  planted on them and structured them beside the pavements.  Earth being sandy, they need to have a separate bed of fertile soil above the sand for the healthy growth of flowers.  With so much of technicality, almost every road in the city were filled with multicolored flowers in few days. That was one of the amazing moments i spent. Now that i have seen flowers, i was all the more excited, when my pal got me two roses on 14th of that hard-to-remember month.  The journey i started with lots of sand and little lovely flowers.

Flowers cost more than anything in this part of the world and so the word precious. These special warm guests shows up in our small home ocasisonally and we are gratified to have them wtih us and nurture them.

A stem of Liliun Stargazer was one such guest, from Abeer flowers and Plants in Doha, which  already had two fully bloomed flowers came home few weeks back. Borhan(florist) at abeer said that if the flower stick is taken care nicely by regularly changing the water, one of the three buds will bloom and one fine morning it did!

Pictures, more pictures…. of Lilium Stargazer!!

Garden information on this lily found at Nature hills and Dave’s Garden

Although, I have been brought up in a very permisive society of metro life, Mother's day was not so been very special to me till I reached collage.

My mother always been happy to recieve wishes on mother's day. She even used to remind me about the day, after marriage. Ah.. those shameless days. I had got used to forgetting lot of things.

After I became a mother I waited for last two years so that one day Nivedita will come up and wish me "Happy mother's Day"!!She did today with flowers.

Welcome All!!

Winter flower in Doha, Qatar

This is my first post.  I am so excited atlast i could post few things after nagging on with blog themes for more than a month.  I never thought i could settle on something.  Anyways, its not bad isn’t it? for somebody who is new to the blogging world. As an acknowledgement, i would like to thank all the food bloggers and especially, Indira from Mahanandi, for inspiring and introducing me to this whole new world.

Fine, so here i am to share my everyday dinners, lunch and breakfasts with fella bloggers, friends and family.  I am not a great cook as such,.. learnt cooking once i got married. Those times, say, a very crucial happy time, when i was a real pathetic cook, trying hard for a ‘decent cook’ certificate , but… assuming to be a ‘great cook’, i even wanted to compete in a cooking event.  Can anybody believe?  I mean you guys out there does not know the complete history.  One example was i learnt making simple Tea from, ofcourse, “who else it could be!!?”

Then came those days, when i started running pole to pole, looking for cook books and trying out new recipes,  trying to impress, ofcourse “who else it could be?”.  Then came the days of routine and experimenting.  Routine cooking has never been interesting, till i thought of blogging,on the other hand experimenting was disastrous.

But, my ”who else it could be?” was my support through out, being a taste master for my cookbooks, flexible and adjustable for routine cooking and guinea pig for my experiments.

This post is dedicated for him!!