The recipes posted here are very simple, with no hard & fast rule, as I love to cook a variety but with ease. My dishes are such that it is nutritious & easy to cook. Of course one can always change the ingredients according to one's taste & availability. Do let me know which type of recipes are preferred, or in case you've any queries too. Feel free to comment.
It is quite
possible that the vegetables you and I buy from the local vegetable market,
are laced with pesticides. Consumers are increasingly becoming concerned
that these harmful chemicals are present in a worryingly high dose.
Before cutting or cooking any vegetable, we are taught to thoroughly
wash them with tap water, so that these chemicals get washed away,
making the vegetable safe for consumption. However, a study found that tap water was ineffective in ridding the
vegetable of excess pesticide residue. So, a more effective method which can be used to clean vegetables at home. In the study, he found that tap water was only 17-39% effective in
ridding vegetables of pesticide residue. In comparison, mixing 160 ml of
acetic acid (commonly found in vinegar or bought over the counter) with
4gms of baking soda and lemon juice from 4 lemons in 4 litres of water,
followed by washing the vegetables with tap water could reduce the
amount of pesticide residue in vegetables by 55-76%. “The effectiveness of Veggy wash was checked on five
pesticides—Dimethoate, lambda-Cyhalothrin, Flubendiamide, and
Profenophos which are widely used by farmers on the tomato, a vegetable
that finds high usage in Indian cooking as well as in salads for raw
consumption. While the tomato was the main focus of the published study,
these five pesticides find wide usage in other vegetables as well,”
reported. One major pesticide, Profenofos, which is used in a variety of
vegetables, is listed as ‘moderatley hazardous’ by the World Health
Organization, while the Central Insecticide Board and Registration
Committee, a body under the Government of India, has not recommended its
use.
For my other blogs, I'm giving the links below, feel free to view and comment too.
Wash & cut green chilies into small pieces. Soak tamarind in water for an hour & extract its pulp by sieving. Grind peeled onion, ginger & garlic to a fine paste & add to the chilies. Add 1/2litre of water to the chilies & pressure cook till done. Grind & sieve the boiled chilies. Discard skin & seeds. Mix tamarind pulp & chili pulp. Keep on fire, stirring continuously. When it thickens, add sugar & sauté for 10 minutes. The sauce is ready when dropped on a plate, it doesn’t flow easily. Remove; add salt, sodium benzoate & acetic acid. Fill it in dry bottles while still warm. Seal.
