Herbal Hair Wash Powder or Seeyakai Powder (சீயக்காய் தூள்)

Women take great pains to grow and maintain their hair, which forms an essential part of feminine beauty. In India, women endowed with thick dark tresses are considered fortunate! Every young girl loves to have bouncy, thick, lustrous hair. Traditionally, women put in great efforts to prepare herbal oils and powders for hair care. My grandmother never allowed us to use 'shampoo' when we were young and always used homemade hair wash powder for washing hair. Herbal hair wash powder is better and safer for hair care as it does not contain chemicals. Let us see how to make it.

Ingredients:

Shikakai (Acacia concinna) – 1 kg (சீயக்காய்)

Green gram – ½ teacup or 100ml measure (பச்சைப் பயறு)

Raw rice – 1 teaspoon (பச்சரிசி)

Rose petals – a few (ரோஜா இதழ்கள்)

Hibiscus flower – 3 no (செம்பருத்தி பூ)

Lemon rind – 2 to 3 no (எலுமிச்சைத் தோல்)  

Sweet flag – 3” piece (வசம்பு)

Note: Sweet flag is added to prevent infestation by weevils and other bugs.

Method: Dry all the ingredients in the hot Sun for 2-3 days. Grind them into a fine powder in a neighborhood flour mill. You may store the powder in a clean, dry, airtight container.

How to use: You may apply coconut oil or herbal hair oil to the scalp. Start applying oil little by little, covering the entire scalp. Massage your scalp with finger tips and allow the oil to stand for 1-2 hours or overnight. Mix herbal hair wash powder in little water to make a thick paste. Wet your hair and apply this paste to the scalp. Massage gently and wash off the powder by rinsing your hair in running water. Please note that this powder will not lather like shampoo. You need to use generous quantities of water to wash off the powder. 

Caution: Make sure that the hair wash powder doesn’t enter your eyes, as shikakai (Acacia concinna) may cause eye irritation. 

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Clear Vision!

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Root Cause Analysis

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Communication !

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Thavala Vadai (தவல வடை)

'Thavala vadai' (தவல வடை) is made with a mixture of different dhals and hence, it has a distinct taste as against ‘medhu vadai’ (மெது வடை) made with urad dhal alone. Thavala vadai makes a good snack item along with coconut chutney. However, you can make this vadai as part of festival menu, preferably without onions. This recipe was taught by my grandmother and it works great for me. Give it a try!

Ingredients: (Makes approximately 12-15 vadas)

Bengal gram dhal/ channa dhal – 1 big hollow ladle or 75ml measure

Red gram dhal/ Toor dhal – 1 big hollow ladle or 75ml measure

Black gram dhal/ Urad dhal – 1 big hollow ladle or 75ml measure

Salt – to taste

Asafoetida – a generous pinch

Dried red chilli – 2-3 no (adjust to taste)

Curry leaves – a few

Oil – for deep frying

Onion – 1no, chopped finely*

*You may use shallots (சாம்பார் வெங்காயம்) instead of onion. Peel and chop shallots finely and add to the vadai batter.

Thavala Vadai (தவல வடை)

Method:

Fig.1: Thavala Vadai Batter

Wash and soak the dhals in sufficient water for at least four hours. Later wash the dhals once again and drain the water completely. Grind the dhal with salt, red chilli and asafoetida into a thick batter using the mixer-grinder. DO NOT add water while grinding. Transfer the batter to a bowl, add curry leaves and chopped onion. Mix well (Fig.1). 

Fig:2 Shape the batter into a vadai

Heat oil in a kadai on medium flame and check if the oil is ready by dropping a small quantity of batter into it. If the oil is ready, the batter will fry and rise to the surface. Shape the batter into a ‘vadai’ (வடை), like a round patty on a plantain leaf. You may also use a thick plastic sheet for this purpose (See Fig.2). Wet the sheet with water, place a tablespoonful of batter and flatten it slightly. Remove it from the sheet and drop it gently in hot oil. 

You may be able to fry 3-4 vadas simultaneously, depending on the size of the vada you make. Turn the vadas over and cook on both sides, till the vadas become golden brown in color. Remove the vadas and place them on paper napkins for the excess oil to drain. Continue to make vadas till you use up the batter fully. You may store the vadas in a hot case. Serve hot with coconut chutney.

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Coconut-Ginger Chutney (தேங்காய் இஞ்சி சட்னி)

Ginger is a spice that is widely used in Indian cuisine. It is rich in B complex vitamins, iron, manganese and magnesium. Ginger has a spicy and pungent taste. It is used in native medicine for its anti-inflammatory, ant-infective, anti-emetic and anti-flatulent properties. In addition, ginger juice is a good appetizer. My grandmother used to recommend ginger extract mixed with honey for good digestion. Though ginger is used mainly as a flavoring agent, it can be used to make pickle, pachadi, chutney, mixed rice and thokku. You can add ginger to soups and juices! Coconut-ginger chutney makes a healthy alternative to your routine menu. Try this out.

Ingredients: (Serves four)

Coconut – half of a small coconut, grated or the white coconut meat cut into pieces

Bengal gram dhal – 1 teaspoon

Urad dhal – 1 teaspoon

Green chilli – small, 1 no

Ginger – 5” piece, peeled, cut into pieces

Salt – to taste

Oil – 2 teaspoons

Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon

Curry leaves – a few

Coconut-Ginger Chutney (தேங்காய் இஞ்சி சட்னி)

Method: Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a kadai, add Bengal gram dhal and urad dhal, and fry till the dhals turn golden brown. Switch off the fire.

Grind coconut, fried ingredients, green chilli, ginger and salt with required amount of water in to a fine paste. Heat oil in a tadka pan or spice pan (தாளிக்கிற கரண்டி), add mustard seeds and once they start to sputter, switch off the fire. Add the seasoning to the ground chutney. Garnish with curry leaves. Serve with idly, dosa, adai, appam, kuzhi paniyaram or uppuma.

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Easy Vegetable Sandwich

After a month of hectic professional work, I am happy to start serious blogging once again! Nearly a decade ago, electric chapatti maker became popular in Chennai. One would find the typical stall selling chapatti maker, complete with demonstration crew in almost every exhibition or fair. In the deft hands of the demonstrator, pulkas would puff up in no time on the machine! I was also bitten by this bug, and bought one promptly, with the hope that the new addition to my kitchen will save time.

Indeed, it did save time and pulkas puffed up as demonstrated, albeit after a few failed attempts. But, there was one small glitch! The pulkas never tasted the same as those made on direct fire. Heeding to the popular demand at home, I shifted to the traditional way of making pulkas and the chapatti maker joined the ranks of several unused kitchen appliances such as automatic vegetable cutter, electric blender and coconut grater etc.

Nonetheless, I have been trying to put the chapatti maker to use for quite some time and found some sensible ways of using this machine! If you have run out of cooking gas, you can use the chapatti maker for making dosas/adai. I also find this appliance quite handy for making sandwiches and I intend to share the method with you. This vegetable sandwich is indeed simple, and can be made with a regular tava as well. You can serve it as a snack or make it for breakfast. Here we go.

Ingredients: (For 1 sandwich)

Bread slices – 2 numbers

Tomato ketch-up – 1 tablespoon

Tomato slices – 4 No*

Onion – sliced, 1 teaspoon

Salted butter – 1 teaspoon

Grated cooking cheese – 1 teaspoon*

Salt – to taste

Pepper powder – to taste

Oregano – a pinch (optional)

*You may use sliced cucumber, capsicum or radish, lettuce, tomato and onion in desired combination and quantity.

*You may use one cheese slice instead of grated cooking cheese.

Easy Vegetable Sandwich

Method: Spread butter on one bread slice and tomato ketch up on the other slice. Arrange the vegetable slices on the buttered side. Sprinkle salt, pepper powder and oregano on the vegetables. Top it with grated cheese or cheese slice. Place the other bread slice on top the first one, with the ketch-up side touching the vegetables.

Prepared bread slices

Preheat the chapatti maker. Light goes off once it is ready. 

Electric chapatti maker!

Now place the sandwich on the bottom plate (Fig.1).

Fig.1: Place the sandwich on the bottom plate

Close the top plate over it (Fig.2). Wait  for 10-15 seconds.

Fig.2: Close the top plate over the sandwich

Lift the top plate and rotate the sandwich 90⁰ and close the top plate over it once again. 

Fig.3: Sandwich turned golden brown

Wait for 10-15 more seconds. Lift the top plate, and you will find the golden brown sandwich. Remove the sandwich, cut it into halves and serve hot. Your easy vegetable sandwich ready in a jiffy!

How to clean the appliance: Once you finish making sandwiches, switch off the electrical supply and the let the machine to cool. Later, wipe the cooking surfaces with a damp cloth and allow it to dry. Bring the top and bottom plate together. Unplug the appliance and store in a dry place until next use.

Note: You may use the standard dosa tava instead of chapatti maker. Heat the tava on medium flame and place the sandwich on it. Wait till the bottom slice turns golden brown. Turn over cook the other slice in the same way. Remove from the tava.

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