Cinnamon not just a spice

Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus cinnamomum. It has a warm sweet flavour. The best cinnamon is cylon cinnamon. Much of the cinnamon sold is cassia cinnamon which is not good for health.
Cylon cinnamon is considered true cinnamon. It comes from the plant Cinnamomum Zeylanicum. An alternate name is Cinnamomum Verum.
The term cassia never refers to cylon cinnamon but rather to cinnamomum cassia and cinnamomum burmanii.
Cylon Cinnamon is typically more expensive than any of the cassia versions. True cinnamon and cassia come from the same family of plants, thus they share many characteristics. What they don't share is their coumarin content. Coumarins are naturally occurring plant components that can be quite toxic in large amounts. The toxicities tend to affect the liver and nervous system most directly.
The levels of naturally occurring coumarins is considerably low in cylon cinnamon and does not cause a risk to health.
But the levels of coumarins in cassia is higher and may pose a risk to some individuals, if consumed in substantial amounts on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, there is no way to tell the difference between cinnamon powders that have been made from cylon/true cinnamon versus the cassia cinnamon. If you are buying cinnamon powder, I recommend purchasing a cinnamon product that identifies the source of its cinnamon or calling the manufacturer. In case of purchasing sticks, you can identify true cinnamon from cassia.
True cinnamon stick is light brown in colour. The bark is thin and you maybe able to see multiple layers of a thinner bark.

This picture will help you recognize true cinnamon.

Cassia cinnamon is darker in colour and it is one piece of thick bark layer. It will not show any multiple layers of any kind.

So now I hope you understand cinnamon better and will know which cinnamon to buy.

Cinnamon is considered to be a spice used to enhance the flavour of food. But that is not all. Cinnamon has a whole lot of benefits.

Not only does cinnamon help in reducing weight it also helps in cleaning your blood. Eating honey and cinnamon cures heart problems, cholesterol, skin problems, colds and stomach problems.

• In one spoon of honey mix a little cinnamon and eat it to   help cure coughs and cold.
• In lukewarm water mix cinnamon powder and make a       paste. Put this paste on your forehead to get relief from headache. 
•  Mix cinnamon powder and honey in lukewarm water to make a paste and apply this paste on the part of the body which is experiencing pain. Pain will reduce considerably.

• In one cup of lukewarm water add a t spoon of cinnamon powder and drink this. This will help in reducing joint pains.
• If you have an itching problem mix equal amounts of         cinnamon powder and honey to make a paste. Apply it on the affected area for 10 minutes. This will help reduce the itch.
• Adding a little lemon juice in cinnamon powder and           applying it on the face will reduce acne and pimples.
• Mix a little cinnamon powder in 1 table spoon of honey and take it to reduce stomach pain and acidity. It will also help in digesting the food.
• Apply a paste of cinnamon and honey to your chappati and eat it . This will prevent your arteries from getting blocked  and reduce the chances of a heart attack. 
• It also helps to reduce cholesterol. Take two table spoons of honey and three tspoons of cinnamon powder in half a  litre of lukewarm water and drink it regularly. preferably  in the morning when you wake up.
• Scrubbing your teeth with a paste of honey and cinnamon three times a day will help reduce tooth ache.
• If you are stressed or tensed, take a spoon of honey and cinnamon. It will help you relax.
• Eating a spoon of  honey and cinnamon mixed in equal     amounts will help increase your hearing ability.
• Boil a spoon of tea and cinnamon powder in one glass of water. then add a table spoon of honey and drink it about half an hour before breakfast and before sleeping at night. Doing this regularly will help reduce fat and will not allow it to accumulate in your body. This will reduce weight.

So you see, Cinnamon is not just a spice but a treasure of goodness.

Mhanni

Today I would like to share a sweet and sour dish that we eat with rice. We call it mhanni (मा ह णी ) in punjabi and khatta (ख टा ) in pahari.
Ingredients:

1 big bowl of kale chhole(black chick peas) soaked overnight
1tsp turmeric
1tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp jeera (cumin)
2 tsp corriander powder (dhaniya)
1 tsp garam masala
4 table spoon besan (gram flour)
salt to taste
2 table spoon amchoor powder (dried mango powder)
2 table spoon sugar
1.5 ladle of oil
1 lt of water
Serves 10-15 people

 

That's the size of bowl i used. My black chick peas are sprouted but you can use overnight soaked ones too.

In a big wok put in 1.5 ladles of vegetable oil. I use safola. You can use any veg. oil of your choice. If you have a big ladle then 1 ladle is enough.

When the oil is warm enough put the flame on low and add in the jeera. I used 2 spoons.

As soon as the cumin seeds start to crackle put in the turmeric.

Now add in the dhaniya powder. Do it quickly otherwise you may burn the spices.

quickly add in the chilli.

give the spices a stir. Remember to keep the gas on low flame all the time.

 Add in the besan and saute it until it gives off a distinct  smell. Remember not to burn it.

Now add the kale chhole and saute it for a minute.

This is what it should look like when you saute it.

Add in the salt. I put in around 1.5 spoons.

Now add in a litre of water and bring to a boil by putting the flame on high.

Now add in the amchoor powder and stir.

Now add in the sugar. Stir it till the sugar has dissolved. You can now taste the dish. Add in more of salt, sugar and amchoor powder according to your taste. It should be sweet and sour. Now put the flame on low and let this dish simmer for 45 minutes. Keep stirring in between. In the meantime clean your kitchen do the dishes or just watch t.v and relax. After 45 min. the mhanni should be slightly thick in consistency. Put the flame off and garnish with coriander leaves. Enjoy this dish with rice and dal makhani.

Tell me how it was ;)

Retirement

Day before yesterday me and my family went to Simla to attend the retirement ceremony of my eldest brother in law Mr. Ambika Sharma. Here in Himachal Pradesh it is a custom to celebrate the retirement of any person in a Govt. job. It is celebrated on a large scale. Now I had always thought why people celebrate their retirement??? First of all you are going to be jobless and your source of income is going to stop. What is there to celebrate? So my mother in law explained to me that they celebrate because a person is retiring with dignity and he/she has no bad records against him/her. He/She has done their job well and made a name for themselves. Thus the celebration.

Shimla was cold and when we reached it was raining and had snowed a little too.

 It took us 7 hours to reach Simla.

Now if you visit Simla or Dharamshala in March and April, you will find some trees with red flowers. These trees are called Bra trees in pahadi( I know the name is a bit weird). The flowers of these trees are a bit sour and they are eaten in the form of chutney over here. It is said that if a person has a low HB count then these flowers are really good to increase your HB count. I will post the recipe for the chutney and the scientific and english name of the flowers soon. Sorry for the poor picture quality.

When we reached the venue, it was decorated like a wedding reception. There was a stage set with a podium and a DJ and dance floor too. That is me with my brother in law Mr. Ambika Sharma.

Anshul my nephew gave a speech telling us about his father's achievements and honouring him

There was a cake cutting ceremony after the speech.

Then everyone gave him gifts. This was followed by dancing and then dinner. We had a fab night and enjoyed the party. Though I couldn't attend the ceremonies of the next day, I heard that it went great too. The next day my brother in laws colleagues threw a lunch party for him which was like a farewell party.

So this was my first retirement ceremony which I attended and found it very amusing.

Shahi Paneer without onions and garlic.

Now even I take help from the net when I need some recipe but what I noticed is that most of the recipes are serving two or four or six the max. Now ours is a joint family and we are all together 16 members so I really used to get confused when ever I consulted the net for a recipe. I had to do maths and I hated that. So in my blog you will find recipes serving 20-25 people and my recipes are based on approximation . You can add or subtract a few things according to your taste.

It was my son's birthday a few days back and I had prepared dinner for 20 people. Among all my dishes everyone liked my shahi paneer a lot and since it is Navratri we aren't eating any onions or garlic. So all the dishes were made without using onions and Garlic.

Ingredients:
Amul frozen paneer 800 gm
You can use 1kg fresh Paneer too
6 Large tomatoes
pureed in the blender
Vegetable oil 2 small ladles (kadchhi)
Handful of cashew nuts (half a cup)
Handful of almonds (half a cup)
Handful of rasins (half cup)
Amul cream 1 small pack
2 tspoons cumin seeds (jeera)
2 cassia leaves (tez patta)
Turmeric 2 tspoons
Deghi Mirch 3 tspoons
Coriander powder 3 tspoons
Garam Masala 3 tspoons
Curd 6 serving spoons
Cinamon powder 1tspoon
Sugar 1-2 tspoons
Salt according to taste
Coriander leaves half a cup for garnishing

Method:

Now if you are using the frozen paneer cut the packets and put the cubes of paneer in boiling water with 1 tspoon of salt.
If you have bought fresh paneer, cube it and do the same. simmer for 4 mins. This will make the paneer soft. Strain the paneer and set aside.

Take a large wok and put in 2 small ladles of oil. When the oil is hot enough put in the cassia or tez patta leaves.

 Now add in the cumin seeds. Be careful that the seeds don't burn or turn black

Now add in the pureed tomatoes. From the picture you can get an idea of the ladle I used. Now saute the tomatoes on low flame.

Meanwhile put half a handful of cashews and almonds in half a cup of milk and blend it in the blender

After blending it will look like the picture above. It is better if you soak the cashews and almonds in milk for 30 mins before you blend it. If you forget that is also ok. You can do it instantly too. So no problem relax.

Meanwhile the tomatoes will start to leave oil like shown in the picture

Now add in the turmeric

Then the deghi mirch. In this pic you will get an idea of how big a spoon I have used and I put in 3 heaped spoons of the spices.

Now add in the dhaniya powder.

Stir in the spices for 1 min on low flame

Now add in the cashew almond paste and stir till it is nicely blended in the tomatoes. You will have to keep stirring because the paste tends to stick at the bottom of the wok

Now add in the Amul cream

small pack is what I used. Keep the flame low at all times and keep stirring because this tends to stick at the bottom.

Now add in one tspoon of sugar and stir.

now add in 1 tspoon of salt. Stir again.

Now add in 6 ladles curd. That should be around 1.5 cups of curd.

Stir the mixture for a minute. If you feel the mixture is too thick you can add in a little milk. The consistency should neither be too thin nor too thick.

now add in half a cup of sliced cashews

Take half a handful or half a small bowl of rasins and wash them.

Put in the rasins and stir. Put in the garam masala. Now at this point you can taste the curry and add in sugar or salt according to your taste. If you feel you can add in deghi mirch also if you feel it is less spicy. Sometimes the curd may be sour and so the curry is sour. So put in sugar accordingly. The taste should not be too sweet or sour. This is the point where you should depend on your taste buds.

Now add in the strained paneer and mix well. If you feel the curry is too thick you can add in water accordingly.

Now sprinkle 1 tspoon of cinnamon powder.

This is the cinnamon I use. I find this the best. Cover the wok for 3 minutes and in the meanwhile clear up your kitchen. You must have made a mess by now.

This is what the end product will look like. You can now garnish this with coriander leaves. I am sorry I forgot to click a picture of the end product. But believe me it tastes really good.

Do try this recipe and tell me how it went. 

Happy Cooking!!!