Dr. Mantena's Kitchen: October 2016

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Dr. Mantena's Special - Kandagadda Fry

It's been a while that I haven't uploaded this blog. I know some of you must be missing my updates. Anyway, here I am with yet another healthy and nutritious recipe as Dr. Mantena's Special - Kanda-gadda Fry. Kanda-gadda is known as an Elephant Foot Yam in English and it has great remedial effects on health. It is used in many traditional medicine systems and in Ayurveda it is used for numerous illness ranging from minor ailments cough, cold etc to improving the quality of sperm and for liver and spleen disorders. As a vegetable it is used to treat piles and haemorrhages. Especially, for women suffering from irregular periods or absence of periods, cramps and aches during menses consuming elephant yam does great deal of good for them as it creates balance in the hormonal system by increasing the oestrogen levels. Women suffering from menstrual issues are recommended to eat elephant yam regularly 7 days before their monthly cycle. This is going to do world of good for them.

Coming to our recipe now the kanda-gadda or Yam fry, it is simple and easy to make without consuming much time. Without making any further delay let's see what ingredients we need to make it.

Ingredients:

1. Elephant Yam (Kanda-gadda) - 1/2 Kg

2. Lemon - 1 big size

3. Coriander Leaves - 1 bunch

4. Mint Leaves - 1 bunch

5. Green Chillies - 4-5

Preparation time:

30 - 35 minutes

Method:

Before you know the preparation method, I would like to inform few things about elephant yam. Once you cut the yam with a knife you will understand whether it is tender or mature. If it is hard and mature, you boil them after making the slices for about 10 minutes and then follow the procedure below from point 2. If it is tender you can follow the under mentioned procedure without boiling. Mature yam needs little boiling because it itches the throat and tongue while eating if not cooked properly.

1. Take an elephant yam and cut as per your requirement as I took 1/2 kg for my recipe. Remove the skin of the yam with a scraper, rinse well in water and slice them into pieces as shown in the picture below.

2. Now rinse the coriander and mint leaves well in water, chop and grind into paste along with green chillies.

3. Then marinate the chopped yam with this green paste, squeeze a lemon over it and let it marinate for 10-20 minutes.

4. Switch on the stove, put a non-stick pan over it and apply little milk cream with a spoon as shown in the picture below.

5. Now take the slices of yam and fry on a pan for about 10 minutes with a lid covering the pan.

6. Once the yam turns golden brown, turn the slices upside down and let them cook for another 5 to 10 minutes. You should be little patient here as under cooked yam sometimes itches the throat while eating.

Here comes the healthy and nutritious "Kandagadda Fry" cooked in a healthy way without adding any harmful ingredients such as oil, ghee, salt, sugar, masala, tamarind and other spices. So enjoy your meals with these delicious fries.

Hope you like it. Keep watching the space for more updates.

# posted by Ram Godar : 7:22 AM 0 Comments

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Dr. Mantena's Monsoon Special - Sprouted Moong Tikki

Southern states of Andhra, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu of India are experiencing early monsoon rains this year. You must be wondering what rains have to do with our blog. Rain has some special connection with human food. Whenever it rains the human mind desires to have some hot tea, coffee and snacks. You see huge rush at the snack corners during rains.

One should be very careful about their diet during rainy season as the body is overburdened already fighting the viruses and infections during this time. Unable to control their temptation people eat unhealthy deep oil fried items like hot samosas, kachoris, mirchi bajji, pakoras etc inviting trouble to their bodies.

With little awareness and some effort one can enjoy monsoon season at home with healthy and delicious recipes without damaging our health. Today's update is one such step in this regards. Therefore, today's special in Dr. Mantena's Kitchen is " Sprouted Moong Tikki".

Sprouts are a part of regular food for Dr. Mantena's followers. One gets bored raw sprouts every day and therefore people skip eating them regularly. Instead of skipping you can make this kind of a variation and enjoy. So without wasting much time let's go into the making of this simple recipe.

Ingredients:

1. Sprouted Moong - 1 Cup

2. Coriander Leaves - 1 bunch (small)

3. Mint Leaves - 1 bunch (small)

4. Green Chilies - 3 to 4 nos.

5. Chickpea Flour - 1/4 Cup

6. Milk Cream - 2 to 3 tea spoons

Servings - 2 people

Cook Time - 15 to 20 Minutes

Method:

1. Take a cup of sprouted moong and green chilies and grind into thick paste adding very little water. Since sprouted moong contain plenty of water in it one should be very careful while grinding. The paste should not become watery as it will be difficult to form a tikki. First try to grind without adding water and add little water if needed. Do not over grind it but leave small granules of the moong as it provides a crunchy taste to the tikki. Dr. Mantena's followers do not need any explanation about sprouting but for others here is a brief. Soak half cup of moong in water for about 8 hours, rinse well and keep the moong in a sprout maker or in a container and cover the lid for about 14 to 20 hours for better sprouting. Since you are not eating raw 10 - 14 hours will also do. But remember the more larger the sprouts the more nutrient it is. Do not over sprout it as well. When the roots appear in a sprout that means it is over sprouted. Over sprouted will make the moong bitter. Sprouting sometimes is tricky as it does not come as desired due to quality of the grains and sometimes the weather also affects. I wish you good luck.

2. Finely chop coriander leaves and mint leaves and keep it a side.

3. Take the grounded moong in vessel, add chickpea flour and half of the chopped coriander and mint leaves and mix.

4. After mixing them well, take some paste in your hand and make the shape of a ball and roll over the chopped mint and coriander leaves and press as shown in the picture below.

5. Now light on the flame and put a non-stick pan over it and let it heat for some time. Take a spoon of milk cream and spread all over it as shown in the picture.

6. Now place the tikkies all over the pan and cover the lid for about 5 - 10 minutes. Let them cook on a low flame. Remove the lid and turn over the tikkies to cook on the other side.

7. Now the delicious and healthy tikkies are ready. Serve hot with or without chutney and enjoy. The milk cream gives great colour and aroma to your tikkies. You can eat as many tikkies as possible without any trouble to your stomach. If served hot you don't miss the salt and you do not even think about the oil.

Keep watching the space for more updates.

# posted by Ram Godar : 7:07 AM 0 Comments

Monday, May 23, 2016

Dr. Mantena's Special - Ragi Dosa

Dear Friends! I am back with yet another South Indian delicacy as today's 'Dr. Mantena's Special - Ragi Dosa.' It is very popular in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh. The unique feature of Ragi Dosa is its nutrition quotient and the crispy-crunchy taste of Dosa. Finger millet or Ragi is a rich source of Calcium, Iron, Fiber and other nutrients. It is usually a heavy food and takes long time to digest. One or two Dosas provide you the energy for the whole day.

I had been to Bellur Village of Karnataka and happened to eat a crispy Ragi Dosa at Kamat Restaurant. The dosa was so delicious that I always visit Kamat for Ragi Dosa every time I go to Bellur.

I published few varieties of dosas in my previous blogs and were very popular among health aspiring readers and followers of Dr. Mantena Satyanarayana Raju. The major reason for success of Dr. Mantena's kitchen is it's unique way of cooking healthy food on the guidelines of Dr. Raju's cooking style. Usually dosas are made adding plenty of oil and masalas. Ragi dosa is normally made with lot of oil. I took every possible step to make this dosa healthy without losing its authentic taste. We enjoyed it very much and I hope you will also try it out and do send your feedback. So without making any delay let's go into the details of ingredients and making of Dosa.

Ingredients:

Ragi / Finger Millet Flour - 2 Cups

Brown Rice Flour - 1 Cup

Black gram - 1/2 Cup

Yoghurt - 1 Cup

Water - 3 to 4 Cups

Procedure:

1. Soak half cup of black grams for 3 to 4 hours and grind into fine paste as shown in the picture below. The quantity multiplies to one cup after soaking.

2. Take two cups of ragi flour in a bowl, add a cup of rice flour, grounded black grams, yoghurt in it. Stir well and mix all these flours adding 3 to 4 cups of water. Cover the lid and let it ferment for 6 to 8 hours. Soak overnight if planned to make a breakfast. Some people make instant dosas without fermenting but I prefer to ferment as the batter becomes sour enhancing the taste of dosa. Adding yoghurt to the batter adds extra tinge to the taste.

3. Once the batter is fermented, put on the stove and let the non-stick pan to heat for a while. Pour the batter in the middle of the pan with a ladle and rotate in a circular motion as shown in the picture below.

4. Now cover the lid and let it cook for some time. As we are not going to cook on the flip side, covering the lid will help in cooking dosa on both sides.

5. Here comes the crunchy, crispy, delicious and healthy ragi dosa ready to be served with chutney. Try this at home and do send me your comments. Keep watching the space for more updates.

# posted by Ram Godar : 8:21 AM 0 Comments

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Dr. Mantena's Special - Palak Minupa Vadiyala Kura

Hello Friends! I am back with yet another Dr. Mantena's special recipe ' Palak Minupa Vadiyala Kura.' This is a very simple recipe that takes less cooking time and easy preparation. Palak or Spinach is good source of iron, vitamins and other minerals and so is minumulu (black grams).

When I published the post on preparing Minupa vadiyalu I mentioned how this recipe comes handy when the vegetable prices go up. The prices of vegetables are at peak in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and people are cursing the Government for failing to curb the rising prices of vegetables. Had you prepared and stored the vadiyalu, instead of cursing the Government you would have cooked recipes smartly like we did during this phase.

When you are cooking salt free recipes there is no better vegetable than spinach. Spinach is rich in sodium and therefore the tongue doesn't complain about missing the salt. Minupa vadiyalu gives great crunchy taste and good flavour to the food. So without wasting any time further lets go into the ingredients and making procedure.

Ingredients:

Spinach - 4 bundles

Minupa Vadiyalu - 1/4 Cup

Green Chilies - 3 to 4 nos.

Black grams - 1 tea spoon

Curry Leaves - 5 to 6 leaves

Cook Time: 15 to 20 minutes

Serving: 1

Procedure:

1. Take 4 bundles of fresh spinach rinse thoroughly in water and chop into small pieces as shown in the picture below.

2. Put on the stove and roast black grams in a non-stick pan till brown adding chopped green chillies and curry leaves.

3. Add spinach and let it cook for 15 minutes on a low flame with lid on. Open the lid and sauté it in between.

4. Dry roast the Minupa Vadiyalu in another pan and add it to spinach and cook for another five to six minutes on a low flame.

5. Now the Palak Minupa Vadiyala Kura is ready. Serve hot with phulkas and enjoy.

Keep watching the space for more updates.

# posted by Ram Godar : 9:43 AM 0 Comments

Friday, May 13, 2016

Dr. Mantena's Summer Special - Butter Milk

Hello Friends! I am back with yet another summer special - a Tangy Butter Milk. Butter Milk in India is known by different names. Chaas in Hindi, Majjiga in Telugu, Majjige in Kannada, Mor in Tamil, Ghola in Bengali and Taak in Marathi etc. Unlike the names, the process of making this drink is common in every state. It is a very simple drink with less ingredients consuming less time. It only needs some yoghurt, water and salt. Adding sugar instead of salt makes it a Lassi, which is popular in Punjab.

It is one of the major drinks served in every part of India during summer. It is a regular drink in rural India.

I recently been to Sinhgarh fort, 30 kilometers away from Pune, Maharashtra with some of my friends. Apart from exploring the view of nature and the glory of Sivaji Maharaj we cherished the 'masala taak - a tangy butter milk' sold by the local villagers. It was spicy and tangy butter milk sold in earthen pots. They have added green chilies, mint, coriander leaves, black salt and cumin seeds to it. Apart from spices the yoghurt stored in earthen pot with pure creamy buffalo milk was giving great taste to the butter milk.

So today's special in Dr. Mantena's Kitchen is " a masala taak - a tangy butter milk" with Dr. Mantena's twist. So get ready to note the ingredients.

Ingredients:

1. Yoghurt - 500 gms

2. Mint Leaves - 10 nos.

3. Coriander leaves - small bunch

4. Cumin seeds - 1 tea spoon.

Serving: 5 glasses

Procedure:

1. Take a blender or mixer grinder and pour the yoghurt in it.

2. Roast the cumin seeds and crush into fine paste using a mortar pestle.

3. Add this crushed cumin seeds and mint leaves into the jar and blend it for some time.

4. Now pour the blended yoghurt in a big vessel and add 1 litre chilled water from a earthen pot and your tangy butter milk is ready. Some people strain the butter milk as the small pieces of coriander and mint leaves come in the way to your throat. It is completely optional to strain as I personally prefer not to strain.

A sour yoghurt is ideal for making this drink as we are not using any kind of salt. Buttermilk with salt increases the thirst instead of decreasing it. If it is too sour adjust the taste by adding some more water. So, enjoy your summer by drinking this kind of drinks to beat the heat.

This is an ideal drink after having a meal of wheat phulkas, rotis made of jowar and ragi as the water contents in these foods is less compared to rice meals as we use dal, sambar, rasam etc.

Before concluding let me make it clear that only water can quench the thirst and there is no match for water in this regards. During summer, we normally drink more water but not enough. Since the body easily gets dehydrated we need to replenish the level of water in the body. These juices and drinks are just to deceive the cunning mind and send water into the body. These are very useful tricks to hydrate children and adults even.

This is it for now. Keep watching the space for more updates.

# posted by Ram Godar : 8:58 AM 0 Comments

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Dr. Mantena's Summer Special - Cucumber Lemonade

Dear Friends, I have been uploading a special drink every summer if you remember. We throng to juice centres to enjoy special drinks and juices to beat the heat. In this fast paced world making a juice at home is a hectic thing. But if you have little patience we can make wonderful summer drinks at home that serves taste as well as health. If you observe the juice stalls you find unhygienic atmosphere around with flies all over. You can make and serve some healthy and hygienic drinks at home for the entire family. There is no better drink than water to quench the thirst and no better fluid supplement than water for your body. But the cunning mind ask for something cool and sweet when exposed to sun and heat during summer. Children don't drink water unless they are too thirsty. These juices are just to cheat the cunning mind and take water in the form of juices.

Today I have come up with a easy and quick to make kind of juice popularly known as 'Cucumber Lemonade'. It hardly takes ten minutes to make and is really healthy and tasty as well. So, Let's go into the ingredients and making without wasting any time.

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 2 nos.

Lemon - 2 nos.

Honey - 1 Cup

Making Time - 5 minutes.

Servings - 2 people

Preparation:

1. Take two tender cucumbers, peel off the skin, chop them into pieces and put them in the blender of mixer grinder as shown in the picture below. Cut the side edges of the cucumber and throw them away as they may taste bitter.

2. Squeeze two lemons into the mixer grinder.

3. Now finely grind the cucumber in a blender or grinder and take it in bowl/vessel as shown in the picture below. If the cucumber is tender it contains more water and less pulp.