The Art of Seasoning

Heartier Choices

Every year since 1963 the American Heart Association designates February as American Heart Month, because heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women.

A very simple equation to make any food tasty is to add extra salt or sugar or saturated fat. The three exact ingredients that your cardiologist and dietician will ask you to cut down on, for a healthier heart. Then does it mean that if you cut down on the fat, salt or sugar, your taste buds take a vacation and you land up eating dull bland food?

Fortunately spices and herbs are excellent for taste enhancement and are heart friendly too.

The inspiration for many of my recipes, are from some special foods that I enjoyed when I was traveling abroad. I have given it a healthy twist, with the spice techniques that I learnt when I was growing up in India. After all, the soul of Indian cooking lies within the delicate art of using spices. It is not, which spices you use, but how you use them that makes a huge difference.

Aromatic Bean Stew a la Jamaican style

Last year I visited Jamaica and loved the spicy bold adventurous foods. I asked the chef for the recipe., The recipe called for 1 can of coconut milk. Since we all know that the high saturated fat in coconut is unhealthy. I decided to see if I can make this recipe without any coconut milk. Well the taste of this bean stew just turned out to be average. Nothing to be very happy about!
I experimented with the quantity of coconut milk and used the low fat version.  The recipe serves 8 and the quantity of coconut milk used is 1/3 can, which literally translates to about 1.5 teaspoon of lit coconut milk in every serving.
Bingo  I had great tasting Jamaican stew which was healthy too.

1 teaspoon oil
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon coriander seeds (whole)
1 teaspoon chili flakes
1 can tomato , diced and peeled ( 15 oz)
1 can garbanzo beans, low sodium (15 oz)
1 can kidney beans, low sodium (15 oz)
10-12 baby carrots
1/3 can lite coconut milk (15 oz)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 medium sized sweet potatoes or yams
1/2 cup water

Grate ginger and garlic and keep aside. Crush coriander seeds in a mortar pestle. Peel and Chop sweet potato into 2 inch cubes.
Remove  Garbanzo beans, kidney beans and baby carrots  from the cans and rinse in cold water, thrice. ( rinsing the canned beans three times at least removes the excess sodium, that is used in canning process)
Heat a thick bottom pan. Add oil and throw in the ginger garlic paste. Saute for a minute. Add crushed coriander seeds and chili flakes
Mix well and throw in the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for 40 minutes. Adjust salt and chili flakes as per taste.
Serve piping hot with brown rice or couscous

Hema’s Hints:
1. Mix and match different beans for variety.
2. Replace sweet potato with pumpkin or red potato

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Going Bananas

A bowl of diced banana with half cup of milk, sweetened with a teaspoon sugar awaited us everyday after school. After school snack was very simple when I was growing.
“Did you not get bored eating that everyday”, my daughter gasped!

“Not really” I smiled, “Sometimes I would sneak in an extra spoon of sugar or two, when my mother was not looking”. I never dared to complain about having the same snack everyday, because I knew what my mother would have said, “Stay hungry till dinner then”

Hygienically packed in its thick soft skin, full of nutrition, easy to digest, Bananas are one of nature's ideal snacks. It is perhaps the cheapest and the most extensively eaten fruit. Rich and poor, young and old alike relish the humble banana.

This humble fruit is a powerhouse of nutrition and good health. Cooked or ripe bananas are very well digested and the nutrients are absorbed well. This fruit is a fair source of B vitamins and calcium. It contains appreciable amounts of many trace minerals as well as fiber. Apart from this, the fruit has many important acids, enzymes and physiologically important chemical compounds.Banana is a good source of potassium, which is a vital mineral for muscle and nerve function. Potassium also helps to regulate blood pressure. They also contain a high level of natural sugar in both their fresh and dried form, which they release quickly into the blood stream. This explains why many athletes especially tennis players often eat banana before and in between competition.

Bananas should be stored at room temperature for ripening purpose. Do not keep it in the fridge as it prevents ripening of the fruit.

My late father would say that the banana flavor is at its peak, when it develops small black dots on them But once the banana has ripened, it cannot be kept for long as it spoils easily. Very often I land up with a couple of very ripe bananas, which is not enjoyed by any of my family members. I have found various ways to enjoy very ripe bananas. They taste great in banana milk shakes, or  fruit smoothies. But by far the best way to enjoy over ripe banana is banana bread.

My friend Sarita Chugh bakes the most divine Banana-Date cake with  cocoa. It is super moist from the bananas, with mellow sweetness from dates, and the perfect crunch on top of the cake with chocolate chips and nuts. By far this is the best tasting cake I have ever eaten and is loaded with nutritious ingredients too.

I recommend this cake as the perfect Valentine dessert. This year instead of buying roses or chocolates for your significant other, why not make this heavenly dessert?

Simply Divine Cake

1      cup dates, finely chopped
1 ½  cups water, boiling
1      teaspoon baking soda
½     cup unsalted butter
1      cup sugar
1      cup ripe banana pulp
2      eggs, lightly beaten
1      teaspoon vanilla
1 ½  cup all purpose flour
1      tablespoon cocoa powder
1      teaspoon salt
6      ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
½     cup walnuts or almonds, chopped

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease and flour 9 inch square pan. Keep aside.Mix dates and water, bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Cool, then stir in soda.

In mixing bowl, cream together butter and 1 cup of the sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and blend until smooth. Mix flour, cocoa, and salt.
Add flour mixture and dates to creamed mixture and beat together until blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Mix together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, chocolate chips and walnuts. Sprinkle over top of cake.

Bake for 55 minutes, or until cake tests done.

Cheery Comfort Foods

Last week I was down with a bad case of flu. I instantly reached for my edible security blanket. The special food, which makes me feel cozy, calms me down and convinces my insides that everything is going to be all right. This edible security blanket is simply Comfort food. Food that slips down your alimentary canal with a relaxed, ‘‘Aaahhh.’’ The same sound that your feet make, (if only you could hear them), when you kick off the stilettos for your bathroom slippers, and feel at home again.

There is an universal connection to comfort food eaten all around the world. It’s all to do with food that slips down the throat easily, that doesn’t require much cutting or chewing.  Hot, nourishing, something you can slurp.  The immediate answer to a runny nose and a bout of homesickness. For an American it would be macaroni and cheese, for a Scottish it would be oatmeal and clotted cream, and for an Indian it would be Rice and bean porridge Kitchadi
When the world -- or the weather -- seems harsh and cruel, here are some of my favorite comfort food recipes to cuddle up with and help bring a smile back to you, your friends, and family.

Kitchadi
 This special food transports me to another time, another me, and brings back emotions of warmth and caring. Every time anyone in our family came down with cold or cough my grandma would make this rice and bean porridge. She would carefully grind the spices and make this humble dish, which had unique healing powers. The yellow split bean are very easy to digest and quick cooking.
Here is my grandma’s version of the humble Kitchadi
1 cup rice
¾ cup split yellow moong beans
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon whole black pepper
1 garlic clove (chopped)
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 teaspoon brown sugar or jaggery
5 cups boiling water
Salt to taste
Wash the rice and bean mix and drain in a colander.
Make a coarse mix of cumin, black pepper in a spice grinder (or Coffee grinder used only for spices) In a thick bottomed pot add all ingredients except lime juice.
Cook on high heat for 5 minutes, without any lid. Add lime juice and lower heat. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and cook for 15 minutes on low heat. Remove from heat but do not remove lid for next 10 minutes. The steam will finish the process of cooking.Garnish with chopped carrots and Serve with a dollop of ghee
Hema's HInts:
For variety add 1 cup frozen peas.

Creamy Tomato Soup
Comfort food is basically a taste memory of childhood. When I was growing up in India, I loved to read books written by Enid Blyton. She was as popular as J K Rowling is now. Enid Blyton wrote adventure and mystery series.  Some of my favorite books written by Enid Blyton were Famous Five, Secret Seven, and Malory towers. The most charming part of these series was the kids would solve mysteries and have fun adventures with a lot of the wonderful food. I would be mesmerized by the treacle pudding, trifle puddings, scones, marble cakes these adventurers would eat. My mother, being a strict vegetarian would never cook these foods at home, as all these recipes called for eggs.
Once I was very sick and I refused to eat Kitchadi that she had made for me. I insisted on having creamy tomato soup and croutons just like the kids in Enid Blyton series. I felt like royalty getting soup in bed. ( One of the rare occasions when my mother gave into my tantrum) Here is my mother’s version of creamy tomato soup without any cream. (My mother was not very fond of cream)
1 16 oz chopped tomato can
1 tablespoon peanuts
1 tablespoon coconut
1 inch ginger
1 green chili
Salt and pepper to taste
Make a paste of peanuts, coconut, ginger and chili with ¼ cup water.
Add chopped tomatoes to make a smooth puree
Add the tomato mix with 2 cups of water and boil for 3-5 minutes.
Add salt and pepper and serve piping hot with crouton
Hema's Hints:
For protein rich soup add a can of lentil soup to this mix

Sheera
There are some days, so bad, so stressful, and so overwhelming, that there is not a friend on this Earth, not a backrub on the planet that could unknot your neck muscles. It is on days like these I turn to food for comfort. I vividly remember when I was in seventh grade, my friend, Jayashri and I, had been, unfairly singled out in our class as troublemakers. We had to run an extra mile at lunch break. That evening I went to my friend’s house and we moaned and groaned about how unfair life was. Her older sister who was had just come back from college, got tired of hearing us whine. She made this aromatic cream of wheat pudding to help heal our bruised ego. It is no wonder that when the going gets tough, we turn to foods that remind us of happy times in our youth! So whether you're nursing a bruised ego, a broken heart or a common cold, it's comfort food that comes to the rescue. This special pudding always calms me down and helps me put things in perspective. 
1 cup cream of wheat
1/3 cup ghee or unsalted butter
4-5 cloves
1 cup sugar
½ cup almond powder
8-10 cardamom pods
¼ teaspoon saffron thread
2 cups milk
Heat ghee or butter in a pan. Add cloves and wait untill it puffs up. Add cream of wheat and roast for 10 minutes on low heat. Keep aside.
 In a pot add milk and saffron and bring it to a boil. Add the roasted cream of wheat and stir vigorously to remove any lumps. Cover and cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Add sugar and mix well. Cover the lid again and let the steam finish the process of cooking. Discard the peel of cardamom and make a coarse mix of the seeds. Finally, add almond powder and cardamom powder and mix well.
Garnish with dried cranberries and serve piping hot.
Hema's HInts:
Add 2 cups chopped pineapple instead of saffron to this recipe for a refreshing flavor