Panaka(Kannada) is usually prepared on Sri Rama Navami a Hindu festival, celebrating of the birth of Lord Rama. Panaka or Panakam (Telugu) is a sweet drink prepared with jaggery, lemon and pepper. This is an Indian version of lemonade and uses jaggery instead of sugar. Jaggery is a rich source of iron due to the process involved, using iron utensils. It is considered by some to be a particularly wholesome sugar and, unlike refined sugar, it retains more mineral salts. Moreover, the process does not involve chemical agents. Indian Ayurvedic medicine considers jaggery to be beneficial in treating throat…
Cucumber Pancake/ Cucumber Rotti Recipe
Given a chance I would eat this everyday for either breakfast, or lunch or dinner. This is how fond I am of this Cucumber Rotti. It is easy to prepare, uses readily available ingredients, does not require any fermentation and the taste is delicious. It is light tasting and also healthy. It is also a good way of using up the cucumbers lying around. This is a variation of the Cucumber Dosa that I have made before. This is traditionally eaten during breakfast. If you are skeptical of the taste of cooked cucumber then let me assure you that…
Moong Daal, Vegetables in Chole Masala
Now that I have managed to grab your attention with the title, let me explain what this dish it all about. This is a curry in which cooked split moong daal and vegetables of choice are simmered in tomato, onion based gravy and flavored with Chole Masala. This is a one pot dish which has goodness of lentils and vegetables. This is also a good deviation to try from the usual Chana Masala. I learnt this recipe from a friend and colleague Ro. Now both Ro and me work in the same office but in different groups. Both…