FENUGREEK LEAVES AND SEEDS
Continuing with my food trail, I thought I should bring center stage the lesser known plants and herbs, which are powerhouses of wellness but were ignored for long. Such wonders do require resurrection.
(In my write up, I’d be using the word 'Methi' for Fenugreek leaves.)
In this category, I'd place F for fenugreek leaves (methi). In my parents' household, my mother would cook methi with potatoes during winters as a routine. Once a week that is. It flourished in our kitchen garden. It is another matter that her children showed no inclination to eat it, because of its sharp and slightly bitter taste. Children anywhere in the world act squeamishly when parents cajole them to eat something hardly appetizing but considered good on other accounts. Amusingly have children ever cared about 'other accounts?’
However, dear mother's culinary ingenuity would make us eat the yesterday's preparation in an indirect manner. She would knead the cooked methi in wheat flour and make paranthas for breakfast, served with sweet and creamy homemade curd. The bitterness neutralized, the olfactory element enhanced, the green textured paranthas used to be delicious. Sometimes she would knead the stuff in maize flour and make rotis. The taste of hot Makki di roti with melting butter on it used to be heavenly.
Over the years, after myriad experiments, interactions with friends, I learnt about doable extensive uses of methi with interesting results. The exercise strengthened my culinary repertoire no doubt.
New researches have shown that fenugreek leaves and seeds have multiple health benefits and should be consumed in some form or the other.
In Indian cuisine, its leaves or seeds have been extensively used in various preparations for ages. Only in our modern avatar of fast foods coupled with the paucity of time it has been somewhat relegated to a lowly position.
However, slowly it is regaining its rightful place in the food fraternity.
Here are some of the dishes we prepare with Methi:
1. Methi with potatoes cooked as a vegetable dish.
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| Google images this and above |
2. The real Indian curry, we prepare with black gram flour and curd, which gets its green look and mouthwatering aroma with finely cut methi leaves lightly roasted with Tadka. When fresh methi is not available seeds or dry leaves are substituted.
3. Indian style chicken cooked with methi leaves.
4. Cauliflower vegetable dish cooked with some methi leaves to aid its digestive process.
5. Methi pakoras and tikki fried after mixing with black gram flour.
Some of the accepted benefits of consuming methi, I will briefly list below:
1. Its regular consumption is said to reduce inflammation in the body, which causes many health issues.
2. Its water-soluble fiber aids digestion and reduces constipation and other internal inflammations.
3. Its use promotes heart health. It reduces cholesterol and triglycerides in the arteries.
In conclusion, one can say that methi is a wonder plant. If its consumption can reduce the number of countless pills we pop up as part of our routine, then why not try this.
Dear ladies, it is just an initiation or an introduction to exploring something healthy. Search the Internet. You can find the treasures of knowledge about it. It’ll amaze you.
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