शुचि की रसोई से
हिंदी वेबसाइट

Home of Ayurvedic and Vegetarian Recipes!

January 12th-2022

Makar Sankranti Special!

Dear Readers,

Makar Sankantri is celebrated all over India in various forms (on or about 14th January) like, Lohri In Punjab, Pongal in South India, and Khichdi in North India. Makar Sankranti marks the transition of Sun into Makar rashi (Capricorn). This is also one of the harvest festivals. Many people also go for bathing in Holy river Ganga.

sankranti

While most of the other Indian festivals are based on lunar calender, this festival seems to be an exception - it is usual to celebrate Sankranti on 14 January.

As is usually the case, for this festival also, the food is based on the weather. Sankranti falls in the Hindi month Magh (माघ) , which is the coldest time of the year. The food/ grains used for this festival are warm in tendency like, sesame, black til, jaggery, flax seed, etc. Try out some of these traditional, festive, dishes.

Read more abour Makar Sankranti

Happy Makar Sankranti,
Shuchi

    Cabbage carrot and peas

    Cabbage carrot and peas

    Cabbage, carrot, and peas are good source of vitamins and minerals and dietary fibers. Cabbage belongs to the same family as cauliflower, broccoli, mustard etc. They are all winter vegetables. In winters, along with cabbage, one can also find carrots and peas in vegetable markets.This is an easy to cook, light vegetable preparation. This dish is vegan, Vaishnava, and healthy for diabetics as this does not have complex carbohydrates. read more...

Pineapple Curry

  • Pineapple Curry

    Pineapple Curry

    Pineapple a delicious and healthy tropical fruit loaded with nutrients. It is one of the richest sources of Vitamin C, along with some other vitamins and minerals. Pineapple is also known to have antioxidants which reduce the risk of chronic diseases. This delectable pineapple curry is sweet and sour in flavor and has been made with coconut milk and very few spices. Read more...

New Book in Hindi - “स्वाद सेहत और शाकाहार“

  • Book

    New Book in Hindi - “स्वाद सेहत और शाकाहार“

    Dear Readers, my first book about healthy living and healthy eating, having many articles about Ayurved, scientific research based nutrition and 84 traditional healthy vegetarian Indian recipes has now been published. The book is in Hindi. We are hoping to have the English version in the near future. Here is Amazon India link to buy the book. .

The book can be ordered from following sites-

From Garuda's site-

From Amazon India-

From Flipkart-

Kindle version at Amazon USA-

Regards,
Shuchi

Vegetarian Protein | Protein and Indian food

Protein is one of the most talked about topics these days. People are often concerned about their protein intake. Many people think that vegetarians don’t get enough protein. Specially, those who have recently quit meat and moved over to a vegetarian diet have concerns about their protein intake.

What is protein?

Protein is a macro-nutrient which plays a critical role in the body and is essential for our health. It is required for growth of muscles, tissues, bones etc. It is also required for the healthy growth of nails and hair. Protein is made of a chain of ~20 different amino acids. While our body synthesizes some of these amino acids, it cannot synthesize nine amino acids; these 9 are classified as essential amino acids - and these are what we need from our diet. Protein is present in meat, milk, eggs as well as plant-based diets.

Three categories of protein

1. Foods having complete protein - are foods which have all the essential (i.e., nine) amino acids. Most meats, poultry, eggs and milk (dairy products) have complete protein. Soybean also has complete protein.

2. Foods having incomplete proteins- are those which have one or more than one amino acid missing from the protein. Most lentils, beans, nuts etc. are sources of incomplete protein.

3. Foods having complementary proteins- when two or more than two foods having incomplete proteins are eaten together, they compensate for each other’s missing amino acids and together provide all the 9 essential amino acids. Such a combination is categorized as having complementary protein. Some examples are rice and beans, wheat bread with peanut butter, lentils with bread etc.

In Indian food there is a whole range of food items eaten in combinations which provide complementary proteins. For example- daal chawal, rajma chawal, chole chawal, idli sambhar, badam ka doodh (milk with almonds) , raita, roti with lentils, roti with mangaudi ki sbaji etc. The list is long!

protein

Read more about Vegetarian and Vegan Protein

Sweets | Dessert | Mithai | Mishti

The most traditional and delicious Indian Mithai made with mainly wheat flour, ghee (clarified butter) and sugar without using any artificial ingredients. Try making Atte ke Laddu, Shakarpare, Aate ka halwa, and Choorma!

mithai

Sesame

Sesame seeds are extremely nutritious. Sesame seeds come in white, black or light brown varieties. Black sesame seeds are considered as more nutritious, but the white variety is more popular. Unhulled (with outer skin) seeds are more nutritious than the hulled seeds since they can have upto two times calcium than that in the hulled seeds. Sesame seeds are rich in calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and a variety of vitamins. The picture shows unhulled white sesame.

sesame

Read more about sesame

  • Baingan Aloo

    Patra

    Patra, also known as pataude (पतौड़े) in some regions of India, is a very popular steam cooked snack. This dish is made with Colocasia leaves (in Hindi the leaves are known as arbi ke patte). Patra is a low-calorie delicacy - it is steam cooked and then sautéed. Patras are usually served as appetizers. I am really thankful to my mother in law who shared this recipe and taught me how to make it and made it for us when we were visiting India....read more...

  • publications

    ChezShuchi Profiled in different sites!

    ChezShuchi website and Shuchi have been profiled in a variety of online magazines, newspapers, websites, forums, and social media platforms. You can read a variety of articles on Ayurveda, healthy living, healthy eating habits, gardening, spices and many more topics.read more...

  • Bajre ka Cheela

    Bajre ka Cheela

    Bajra, also known as pearl millet, is rich in carbohydrates and protein. It also has minerals such as calcium and phosphorus. Cheela is a Hindi word for fine pan cakes made with lentil paste or flours. This dish can be served for the breakfast or even as a brunch. I have added some vegetables in this preparation to make it healthier and tastier. This is a vaishnav and vegan dish. Try out this easy to make recipe... read more...

Some popular and useful articles on Chezshuchi

Vaishnav Food

Dear Readers,

Vaishnav refers to one who is related with Lord Vishnu. As per mythology, Vaishnav food is that which is loved by gods. There are three main categories of food-

  1. Satvik
  2. Rajsik
  3. Tamsik

Vaishnav food is considered as Satvik food. A satvik diet is based on fruits, dairy products if the cow is fed and milked in the right conditions, nuts, seeds, vegetables, legumes, whole grains etc.

Vaishnav food is vegetarian but does not include onion and garlic. In India, in most of the states, food which is prepared for offering to gods does not have onion and garlic.

There are several stories behind this exclusion. One version is that at one time fruits and vegetables were being served to gods. However, onion and garlic were left underground and were not the part of offering. From that time on they are not considered as auspicious.

Happy cooking,
Shuchi

  • samosa chaat

    Samosa Chaat

    Samosas are one of the most popular Indian snacks known all over the world. These are triangular shaped patties stuffed with spicy potatoes. For samosa chaat, crushed samosa is placed on top of a bed of cooked chickpeas and garnished with smooth yogurt, sweet-n-sour tamarind chutney, and green chutney. Now this yummy chaat is garnished with crispies and chopped coriander leaves.read more...

  • dal chawal roti sabji

    Balanced and healthy daily North Indian food platter

    Dal chawal, roti, and sabji is a perfect, healthy, balanced, delicious, 600 calories meal. This vegetarian food platter is a staple in North India. It has a combination of protein, carbohydrate, vitamin, minerals etc. In North India most families have a similar food platter in one of their meals. This lunch platter which usually consists of - a variety of dal(lentil/beans)... read more...

Dear readers, growing vegetables at home is becoming popular these days. There are plenty of reasons as to why people like to grow things in their own garden....Some people worry about the use of chemicals/ pesticides in vegetables and fruits, while others like to be close to nature, and find it relaxing to work in the garden. Some enthusiasts also grow rare and hard to find vegetables.... Whatever may be your reasons for thinking about growing your own vegetables; it should be fun for you, and not a chore...

Enjoy Gardening,
Shuchi

Read more about gardening..

Vegetable Gardening ideas-


Your Valuable Comments !!
Copyright Shuchi Agrawal © 2008-2030 Privacy Policy