Kokum Slush - Home Bar

Abot Kokum

The kokum is native to the western coastal regions of southern India and is rarely seen beyond this area. Even in India it is used only in the regional cuisines of Gujarat Maharashrta and several southern states where large glasses of kokum sherbet are downed during parched summer months. In this region the sweltering heat demands refrigerant (cooling) ingredients in food and drink. Kokum is well known to counteract the heat

Other Names
black kokum, cocum, kokam, kokum butter tree, mangosteen oil tree
French: cocum
German: Kokam
Italian: cocum
Spanish: cocum
Indian: kokam, kokum


Value:

· Kokum fruits contain rich amounts of anti-oxidants that bind with free radicals and prevent oxidative damage to body cells. They also promote cell regeneration and repair.

· Kokum juice is especially popular during scorching summer months as it has a cooling effect on the body and shields the body against dehydration and sunstroke. It also helps in bringing down fever and allergic reactions.

· Kokum seeds contain a high percentage of oil that freezes to form Kokum butter. Kokum butter is extensively used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry as it works wonders on dry, chapped, sensitive, irritated or burnt skin.

· Kokum butter is rapidly gaining popularity over cocoa butter as an intensive skin moisturizer.

· Due to its soothing and healing properties, it is also applied directly to wounds and infected areas on the skin.

· Kokum butter is rich in healthy fats like stearic and oleic acids and can also be used as edible oil.

· Extracts from the Kokum fruit are traditionally used to relieve gastric problems like acidity, flatulence, constipation and indigestion.

· Kokum juice is a healthier and far more refreshing option as compared to commercial bottled drinks. It acts as an appetite stimulant and also has anti-helmintic properties.

· Ayurvedic medicine also uses Kokum infusions to treat piles, dysentery and infections. Kokum is known to strengthen the cardio-vascular system and stabilize liver function.

· The hydroxycitric acid present in the fruit fights cholesterol and curbs lipogenesis, thus aiding weight loss.


So next time you are in an Indian store just grab a bottle of Kokum syrup and try this out !!!!


  Ingredients

1 1/2  cup Kokum Syrup

2 Tsp Black salt

2 Tsp roasted cumin powder

8 Tbsp Sugar

3 cups Crushed ice

Garnishing

2Tbsp Mint - finely Chopped

OR

4Tbsp Pomegranate kernels

Blend kokum syrup, roasted cumin powder, black salt, sugar and crushed ice in a blender until slushy

Pour into stemmed glasses and serve decorated with a sprinkling of pomegranate kernels / mint

Serve immediately

Note: This makes 4 glasses, so you can add subtract ingredients according to the measurements you want 

Telba (Ethiopian flaxseed beverage)

Telba (Ethiopian flaxseed beverage)

Source: http://www.whats4eats.com/recipes.r_bevtelba.html

Serving 4-6

1 cup Flaxseed
6 cup Water
1 to 2 T Honey

Heat a cast-iron skillet over low heat. Add flaxseed and dry roast, stirring for about 5-10 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool. Place flaxseed in a spice grinder and grind to a powder.  Sieve into a bowl. Add water and stir.  Let set for about 10-20 minutes to allow solids to settle out.  Strain into a pitcher. Add honey and chill.

Notes: Telba Firfit: Mix telba with broken up pieces of injera bread and heat. Serve as a side dish. Telba is a mild laxative

Ethiopian Cuisine -Injera

Hey Guys.........Hope you had a lovely long weekend...just as I did by visiting the Capital and it was great doing nothing apart from trying various cuisines and sight seeing, Our friend at D.C eats out on a daily basis and had the top picks for us.....So today I am posting in one of the never ever tasted before cuisine I had

Ethiopian cuisine characteristically consists of spicy vegetable and meat dishes, usually in the form of wat (or wot), a thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread, which is about 50 centimeters (20 inches) in diameter and made out of fermented teff flour ( which is the base of the vegetables in the picture above, Apart from the base they also give a couple of them rolled up for the meal) 
Ethiopians eat with their right hands, using pieces of injera to pick up bites of entrées and side dishes. 

Teff Flour:


The word teff is thought to have been derived from the Amharic word teffa which means "lost," due to small size of the grain and how easily it is lost if dropped. It is the smallest grain in the world, measuring only about 1/32 of an inch in diameter and taking 150 grains to weigh as much as one grain of wheat. The common English names for teff are teff, lovegrass, and annual bunch grass.
This whole grain is high in protein, carbohydrates, and fiber. It also has a great amino acid profile, including all 8 essential amino acids (the building blocks of the human body). This means its protein is high quality, like milk or meat. It is also rich in calcium and iron. It is free of sugar, too, meaning it has no sugar content



Teff Injera Recipe


1 lb - of Teff Flour
3 cups of luke warm water
1 teaspoon of yeast *

In a bowl take in teff flour with 3 cups of water along with 1 teaspoon of yeast, mix well with hand


Set aside overnight for fermentation to take place.


Once fermented , mix well 

Preheat pan, and leave on low fire


Take a laddle ful of the fermented dough and pour in a circular motion, same as a pancake


Cook it from one side only, takes about 2 minutes.


Remove injera carefully and set aside on a plate to cool down before eating.


* If this is your first batch of injera, use the teaspoon of yeast; but if you plan to make injera regularly, then save about 3 soup spoons of the mix for your next injera. This will act as a self rising yeast on your next batch of injera; save it in your fridge it will stay for over a month. This is the same process of saving some of your current dough for your next batch of sour dough cakes or cookies

Baked Beans

I am sure we all love baked beans....buy tins to store it in our pantry.....but its so very simple n easy to try it at home.....It never struck me to post this off....But Thanks to Pragya Goyal for her lovely comment

pragya goyal - nice!! u r sharing your recipes with all...thanks.
One of your recipe of soyabeans..(i think its called baked beans) is really nice and i have tried it a few times....we ate that at your home once before a ddd workshop


All you would require are


1 cup Soya Beans - soaked and boiled
1 small Onion , finely chopped
2 green chillies - finely chopped
1Tbsp Oil
1tsp red chilly powder
Salt to taste
3/4 cup Tomato sauce / ketchup
Bread Slices
Cheese


Heat oil in a pan and add in green chillies and onions, saute until the onions turn light pink
Add in the beans , mix well
Pour in Tomato sauce , add in salt and red chilly powder.Mix well
Let it be on a low flame for 3 - 4mins 


To Serve:


Method1:
You can toast the bread spread a layer of the bean mixture and sprinkle it with grated cheese and serve 


Method 2:
Follow Method 1 and place it inside an oven / OTG for 2 mins or until cheese melts - do not keep this in an microwave else the bread might get soggy


Method 3:
Place the toasted bread in a tawa ....spread the bean mixture and sprinkle cheese , and cover the tawa for 2 mins until cheese melts......remember to have it over medium - light flame so that your bread does not burns 


Method 4:
Toast bread - spread mixture and instead of grated cheese you might add chunks // small cubes of cheese / panner.....and sprinkle it with a little chaat masala....tastes chatpata


Method5:


Grilled Bake Bean Sandwich


Place 2 slices of bread on a board and a cheese slice on both
Spread in some bean mixture, top this with another bread slice
Heat a pan on medium flame and drizzle some olive / vegetable oil 
Place both the sandwiches and cook until both sides are evenly browned
Remove once done, cut in half and serve

COMMENTS

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Puja

Poached Figs with Rose Syrup - Dessert

Serves 4

200g Sugar
1 orange, grated zest & juice
6 cardamom pods, just crushed
8 ripe figs
1Tbsp rose syrup ( you can find the same in Indian store - try Haldirams, Roohafaza....)

1Tsp Gulkand - dried rose petals
Plain thick yogurt

Put the sugar, orange zest and juice and cardamom pods into a pan with 250ml cold water

Heat gently until the sugar have dissolved and then bring up to the boil for a few minutes.
Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the figs

Cook for 6-8 minutes until the figs begin to soften, remove the parchment and then remove the figs form the syrup to a serving plate

Drizzle in the rose syrup while warm

Mix Yogurt with Gulkand and serve it along with the figs

Note:

If you want it more sweeter carry on simmering the syrup for another 7-8 minutes to reduce t, add the rose syrup and drizzle it over the figs

You can also eliminate the curd and serve it with a dollop of cream for a complete dessert

Food Signatures

FOOD SIGNATURES !!!

This is interesting info... 

You are what you eat, so eat well. A stupendous insight of civilizations past has now been confirmed by today's investigative, nutritional sciences. They have shown that what was once called 'The Doctrine of Signatures' was astoundingly correct. It now contends that every whole food has a pattern that resembles a body organ or physiological function and that this pattern acts as a signal or sign as to the benefit the food provides the eater. Here is just a short list of examples of Whole Food Signatures. 

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and science shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes. 

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food. 

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food. 

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function. 

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys. 

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body. 

Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .... It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them). 

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbersof sperm as well to overcome male sterility. 

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. 

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Grapefruits, Oranges, and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts. 

Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.



'The news isn't that fruits and vegetables are good for you, it's that they are so good for you, they can save your life .'