Moringa Magic

It was an email sent to me that impelled me to  delve into more information on this miracle tree and in so doing,(thanks to the internet ) I was awe- strucked  getting to know invaluable facts about it’s the rich  resources.  The  Moringa  tree  is extraordinary. It  is  is extensively  cultivated and harvested throughout the year in most of the African and South Asian countries.What is so extraordinary about this tree is, that  every part of  it is  enriched with nutrients and medicinal values: the leaves are full of antioxidants, the oil in the seeds can be used for cooking purposes and making cosmetics .According to a moringa cultivator, whose moringa  cultivation is documented by the discovery channel on You Tube, the  roots could  be used as tea and the juice extracted from the scrapped trunk could be applied on bruises and cuts. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

All of  us  in the family love the vegetable ‘drum sticks ‘ , the moringa pod . I grew up being familiar  with the  moringa tree, which stood in the front yard of  my parents' home, ( this was  another reason why I became curious to know more about it). My late mother cooked delicious food using the leaves and the pod .During the month of fasting , she used to make rice porridge, with moringa leaves added to it. We enjoyed  it’s unusual flavour. Even the people from the neighbourhood used to  come over to our garden to pluck moringa leaves. In later years, due to unavoidable circumstances, the tree  had to be cut down. It’s a pity we never knew the significance of the tree then..Perhaps had we known, the tree would be still  in sight,  in front of the ancestral home.


Here is a recipe for  a delicious delicacy using the moringa pod ( drumsticks)

Hearth  and Soul Blog Hop

Amateur Photographer

Say Cheese ! click ! click!

I have been trying my hands at various subject matters lately. The most recent one I focused was taking photographs from a digital camera. In the recent past, whenever I found something of importance, I’d ask my daughter or my son to click a picture of that particular interest.  Although highly enthusiastic, it took me a while to  pay attention to every little details of the camera. Nonetheless, with a lot of patience, I was able to grasp the tactics and the techniques of how to handle the digital camera. This in general has benefited me a lot .And I am thankful to my children, who assisted me throughout the ‘learning progression’. 

Odds And Ends

While clearing some odds and ends from the cupboard ,I came across an old copy of my favourite magazine.I was surprised and kept wondering why I  had  preserved this particular one. After having finished my task and out of sheer curiosity, I clutched the ‘aged’  magazine and sat in a cosy corner to browse. As I was flipping through  the brittle pages, one particular page caught my attention. A  couple of lines in the  paragraph of an article was highlighted. I bent over to read the content which   interprets  as follows ’to retain the strength of old books , sprinkle grey ash between pages’. ‘This will prevent the pages from becoming brown and brittle’ .Then I remembered and realized that this paragraph had caught my attention previously too, and that was the reason I had highlighted  the text with a marker pen,probably to read again.If only I had seriously experimented the highlighted tips at that time , almost certainly, my ‘preserved’   magazine too, would have  been  all white and clean.

Learning Through Activity

_{Recently,my nine year old,took part in his class ‘paper recycling' competition. Although ,he didn’t win, he gained something by duly participating. He learnt the concept of reduce, reuse, recycle. We noticed his sudden interest in collecting empty cardboard boxes. One day he truly got upset when I discarded  some empty boxes into the garbage bin.}


I wondered what a nine year old wanted to do with his cardboard collection, when I sat with him during his ‘project work’,using bits and pieces of cardboard scraps. I was really  amazed at what I saw. He had converted some of these  boxes into something spectacular.


My husband and I are grateful to the teachers for focusing on a wonderful theme like ‘Recycling’  and making it  possible for our child to fully understand the meaning  behind the main objective.Moreover,creating innovative ideas and teaching them through activity makes learning an enjoyable experience.

helicopter waiting for take off....

A Scrumptious Delight

Baked eggplant (brinjal) is another recipe that I have tried and tested. And  have listed it as a top favourite. I first experienced the taste of this delicious dish at a friend's dinner and persuaded her to give me the recipe.I am so grateful to her for passing it over to me. Very recently I read something similar to this, under the title ' moussaka'. I wonder if this is the  same recipe ,with a slight twist. This eggplant curry is presumed to be from the Middle East. But I must admit, I never got to know the original name given to this delectable dish. The first time I tried it,a few years ago,didn’t turn out quite well as expected. After several attempts, I gradually learnt the technique of getting it  right. This is eaten as an accompaniment, with flat bread or rice. I reckon  this my specialty and with great  pleasure,treat my family and my circle of friends to a scrumptious dish on special occasions. 

In a baking tray assemble as many  layers of  onions,tomatoes,green chillies and slightly fried eggplants.Sprinkle a good amount of lemon juice,and add salt according to taste.Bake in hot oven until done.

                                   Baked Eggplant –A scrumptious delight

My Blog Updates

These days I have managed to update my page. It’s not that I blog daily. I simply found an easy way to do that. I have  made up my mind to write  about various topics,(the usual rantings in the household) about six to eight of them and save it on my computer. Each day I take one topic that I have already documented and post it on my blogger page. So that it wouldn't take much of my time and energy. I have also taken a keen interest in taking pictures of my new recipes, with the intention of  blogging  about it. To me, this is uplifting. This perception motivates me to try my hands at different recipes adapted by different cultures and learn to cook even better.

Cooking Tapioca

The tapioca root

Tapioca is a staple food in some countries and is used widely as a thickening agent mainly in foods. This is a good source of food for people who are allergic to gluten.Tapioca is  free from gluten.It is widely known in my native land that tapioca and ginger (both are  kind of roots) are not compatible and could cause catastrophic results when cooked together or eaten on the same day.Whether this is a  fact or not, I still don’t know, but continue to believe this myth  to this day.

Whenever  tapioca is used at home , I make sure that ginger is not added to any other  food for a day or two.The last time I  cooked it,the children didn’t quite like the taste.I had simply boiled  and served it with scrapped coconut and a chilly sambol,something closer to a chutney. I always wondered how tapioca would taste if it was cooked in some different way,other than boiled, which is the usual  and the most common method of cooking tapioca  in my home country. So taking that into consideration, I decided to make something  different and exceptional  this time, when my husband bought some from the grocer.

I remembered ,a few weeks  ago, I had watched the making of kofta on TV, which was telecasted  in the  middle eastern food channel. Kofta is a middle eastern and asian dish . It, is made of ground  meat: most commonly  lamb or beef with a variety of spices added . It is  similar to meatballs. They can be eaten fried, grilled or poached. And that was the recipe I decided to try, ’topiaco kofta-minus the meat . With the vegetarian recipe  in mind,I reached  for the bag of tapioca and headed toward the kitchen.Once done, everyone relished them.

Flattened and shaped into patties

Sizzling in hot oil

All done and set to eat 

For the above savoury dish,I used mashed tapioca,onions,green chillies,red chilly flakes,salt and lime juice.Mix well and form round patties using the fingers.Chill them in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.The patties must be firm and not soggy.Then dip in beaten  eggs and coat with bread crumbs before frying in hot oil.

Tip: you can even replace tapioca with  good old potatoes.Mash coarsely the boiled tapioca,add butter,pepper and salt.