Beware of Vit D3(for Vegeterians)

I wanted to share this in a seperate post though I blogged about it in my fat free milk post.  This post is for vegeterians who are conscious about eating meat in any form.  I was never in a doubt that basic things like Milk could be ever contaminated with animal products.    Here in US, lot of things are sold fortified with vitamins, iron, calcium and many more.  It took six loong years for me to find out that i have to be beware of animal products and know the technical terms like Vit D2 and D3.  Vit D2 is Vit D extracted from plants while D3 is extracted from Animals.

Vit D3 could be derived from slaughtered animals like fish, pig, cow.  It could also be extracted from sheep's wool where those animals are not slaughtered.

Vit D3 is added in Milk, orange juice, cottage cheese and many more products like milk powder.

It was tough to find alternates after i threw all the milk, yogurt all in a shot once i knew this.  Here are the list of rescues that I got to

1. Fresh farm milk sold at Sprouts Market.  It was expensive.
2. Cream topped milk from Traders Joe
3. Strauss Organic Milk from few stores., I was relieved once I started getting this milk from local Costco.  Thank God.  I felt like God heard me after i roamed around to get milk. 
4. Organic valley Milk - I still buy 2% of this milk which says D3 but they are from sheep's wool.  I called them and also emailed them to just that they are not from slaugtered animals.  There webiste also had this information.

Please email me if you want to know more details about this message.   You can also call the 800 number mentioned in your milk can or other products to find out the source of Vit D.

Thanks for reading. 

Malli Mix (Coriander Greens Mix)

I have been making this dish for so many years now and it tastes very rich and good.  Look would also be impressive.  One of my friend asked to post this recipe.

This green curry tastes very good with Rice and good with other grains like (Cracked wheat, steel cut oats, millet,quinoa)

What you need?

Tadka (mustard seeds - 1 tsp, cumin - 1/2 tsp)

Ghee or oil- 2 Tbsp
onion 1 (optional)

To Grind

Coriander leaves bunch - 1 or more
Green chillies as per paste
Ginger 1 inch
coconut - 1/4 cup or almonds - 12
cinnamon, cloves, cardamom spice mix as per taste

Prep work:

Wash coriander leaves and just pinch them into smaller pieces
Grind all the ingredients mentioned above and keep it ready

How to make?

1. Heat oil or Ghee, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, once they pop, add onion and salt.  Fry till transulent

2. Add the ground mixture and do NOT cover with lid,  Let it simmer.  It should become like a paste.

3. Cook rice or other grains seperately and let it cool.  Once cool, mix and you can optionally decorate with cashews/panneer or tofu  and some finely cut coriander leaves.

Sesame Seed Super Easy Mix over Rice/Grain

This is a super easy recipe which is very healthy.  It just takes 5 mins to prepare this.

What you need?

Sesame seeds - 3 Tbsp
Asofoedita-1/4 tsp
Urad dal - 3 Tbsp
Red chillies- 2 (Add more)
salt as per taste

How to make?

1. Dry fry sesame seeds seperately.
2. Dry fry urad dal and red chillies
3. Dry grind all the ingredients.

You can mix this on rice, cracked wheat, quinoa or any grain.  

Tip:

1. You can also dry fry Amaranth seeds (1 Tbsp) and add it when you grind the mixture.  Read more about Amaranth seeds.

Almond soft fudge(Badam Katli)

Reposting with more clarity on the ingredients!

Badam Katli has become a delight for all special occasions.   We like it for the simplicity of its look and for the great almond flavor.  

What you need?

Almond - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup (estimate)
Ghee - 4 Tbsp
Almond extract - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Cardomam powder- 1/2 tsp (optional)
Saffron threads - 1/8 tsp crushed in hot milk (optional)

Prep work:

Soak almond for few hours in hot water.

Test popping the almonds out, if it comes out easily then continue for all the almonds, if not, rinse the water and add hot water once again.

How to make?

1.Grind the almonds into smooth paste with little milk (milk is added to just grind) and measure with cup.

2.Measure Sugar to 1/2 of the measure of almond paste .

3. In a heavy bottomed pan, add little water and boil the sugar till it dissolves and comes to rolling boil.(bubble should form)

4. Add the almond paste and keep stirring on medium heat. Add 3 Tbsp of ghee at first after 8-10 mins. Continue to stir.  It might take 15-20 mins. Add 1 or 2 Tbsp of ghee at end to get the glossy look.  Mix in almond extract, cardomom powder and saffron if using and give a good mix.

5. Check by taking little paste in a spoon, allow it to cool for a minute and then make a ball, if it makes clean ball then we are almost done.  

6. Prepare a tray with little hot ghee evenly spread.  Pour the mixture into the tray.

7. Allow the mixture to cool.  After 5-7 mins, roll the mixture with rolling pin as thin as you like and cut them into desired shapes.

It stays well for few weeks. If you added lot of milk then it will get spoiled sooner. You can keep it refrigerated as well.  Enjoy the guilt free sweet!

Tips:

1. For every cup of almond, use 2-3Tbsp of ghee to get the katli.

2.  I usually play around with the sugar quantity.  We go slightly low on our sugar.  Feel free to explore the desired level for your family.  I just gave an estimate here.

3. I have tried with brown sugar instead of white sugar, katli's were chewy.