All I wanted to know about Antioxidants!

I been upto a lot of things lately and definitely this is not the post I want to resume my writing with.
I was reading about Green Teas (as I have started drinking it instead of regular tea) and that directed me to read about antioxidants. This topic, like many others, had always been dwelling in my mind but its just today that it surfaced and I thought this is good to write about.

I want to write down about it in the language that I can clearly remember and explain others.

What is oxidation:

What I knew - Rusting of iron or a peeled apple turning red is related to oxidation. So definitely oxidation is a chemical reaction, that is related to oxygen (as the name suggests) and could be slower or a faster process. Definitely it is not good as nobody likes a rusted iron or a peeled apple that had turned red. :)

What I learnt - Oxidation never occurs on a painted iron object or not on the Apple that has skin, which means, it occurs when some kind of cells\molecules come in contact with oxygen. As we know any burning process requires Oxygen and so does the food (glucose) in our body requires oxygen to ignite itself and generate energy that body requires for functioning. We also burn the energy resulting into heat that can damage cells. This process is nothing but oxidation.
The damaging of the cells actually occurs because of the electrons that are generated during these reactions of molecules and oxygen. These free electrons are also called as free radicals.

Prolonged damaging of cells can cause serious injuries.
 
Effects of Oxidation:

What I knew - Nothing

What surprised me - As the oxidation\burning can occur anywhere in the body, the effects could also been at any place or of any kind. Here is the list which is literally shocking and if we correctly know how tackle the oxidation we can at least eliminate a good chance of these disease ever happening and lead a healthy life. (source- http://www3.amherst.edu/~dmirwin/Reports/BetterHealth.htm)

• Deterioration of the eyes, which contributes to blindness.
• Inflammation of the joints (rheumatoid arthritis).
• Damage to nerve cells in the brain.                   
• Acceleration of the ageing process.
• Increased risk of coronary heart disease, since free radicals encourage low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol to adhere to artery walls.
• Certain cancers, triggered by damaged cell DNA.

What are antioxidants ("free radical scavengers"):

What I knew - I should eat antioxidants like berries to have healthy life.

 

What I learnt - These are the chemicals that are responsible for removing the free radicals that cause disease. Many vitamins act as antioxidants. Antioxidant supplements do not work as well as the natural sources of them found in vegetables, fruits, etc.
Antioxidants block the process of oxidation by neutralizing free radicals and themselves become oxidized. That is why there is a constant need to replenish our antioxidant resources.

 

Sources of antioxidants:

 

Type	Source
Allium sulphur compounds	Leeks, onions and garlic.
Anthocyanin	Eggplant, grapes and berries.
Catechins	Red wine and Tea.
Cryptoxanthins	Red capsicum, pumpkin and mangoes.
Flavonoids	Tea, green tea, citrus fruits, red wine, onion and apples.
Indoles	Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.
Isoflavonoids	Soybeans, tofu, lentils, peas and milk.
Lignans	Sesame seeds, bran, whole grains and vegetables.
Lutein	Leafy greens like spinach, and corn.
Lycopene	Tomatoes, pink grapefruit and watermelon.
Polyphenols	Thyme and oregano. Grapes, all berries
Beta carotene	Pumpkin, mangoes, apricots, carrots, spinach, parsley.
Vitamin C	Oranges, blackcurrants, kiwi fruit, mangoes, broccoli, spinach, capsicum and strawberries.
Vitamin E	Vegetable oils (such as wheat germ oil), avocados, nuts, seeds and whole grains.
Copper *	Seafood, lean meat, milk and nuts.
Selenium *	Seafood, offal, lean meat and whole grains.
Manganese *	Seafood, lean meat, milk and nuts.
Zinc *	Seafood, lean meat, milk and nuts.

* Need only in small amounts.
 

• Know it right and do it right !

Stuffed Tomato ( Barwan Tamatar )

I hope everyone is enjoying Summer. Especially in Seattle the weather is getting awesome and its going to be same for next 2 weeks. I hope we do not get rain any more. 

Tomato is such a universal ingredient. We can make tomato soup, chutney, ketchup, salsa. Its widely used in salads, Indian curries and sabzis, raitas and what not. I cannot imagine a day in my kitchen without tomato. 

Not only food, but when it comes to home gardening Tomato, I believe, must be the most grown vegetable.

Some fact about tomato:

1. If you want to store tomatoes for a week or so , buy a little unripe tomatoes so that they stay longer. If you plan to use them quickly then buy the ripest as these are richest in vitamins.

2. Botanically tomato is a fruit but its considered as vegetable.

3. A particular nutrient found in abundance in tomatoes, lycopene, has made many headlines for its disease fighting abilities. Lycopene is also acts as antioxidant.

4. Tomato is rich in Vitamin C (antioxidant), A (improves eye health) and Vitamin K (strengthens bones)

 most red tomatoes as these are richest in vitamins. Sunburns can be cured by applying the tomato juice.

5. Lycopene is also believed to be a natural sunscreen which is really amazing. 

Enough of the information, the bottom line is eat tomato and be healthy. Here is one recipe which contains around 80% of tomato in it. This sabzi looks good, tastes good and gets done in about half an hour , depending upon how much are you making ;).

Ingredients:

For stuffed tomato sabzi with 10 medium sized tomatoes

Fresh Roma Tomatoes or Any medium sized tomatoes - 10

Grated Dry Coconut - 3/4 Cup 

Cooked and mashed Potato - 1 Cup 

Indian Style Cottage Cheese (paneer) - as required

Garlic - 3-4 Cloves

Ginger - 1" piece

Red chili powder: as per taste

Salt : as per taste

Lemon Juice -as per taste

Cumin Coriander powder (dhaniya jeera) to taste

Oil, Mustard Seeds. Cumin Seeds and Curry leaves for seasoning (tadka)

2-3 tsp Oil to saute the stuffing

Fresh coriander for garnishing

Method:

1. Wash tomatoes. Open the tomatoes carefully by slicing the tomatoes from top (as if removing its head). 

Remove the kernel of the tomatoes with the help of a spoon and keep it in bowl. Sprinkle the inside of  tomatoes with salt and keep aside. Also keep the tomato heads, we will need this in step 2.

2. Blend together the coconut, ginger, garlic, tomato pulp and tomato heads (from step 1) to form a paste. 

3. Heat oil in a skillet and add to it the paste from step 2. (We can divide the paste and use only the portion that is necessary to hold the mashed potatoes, the rest we can use later) Add salt as per taste to it. Also keep in mind that we have sprinkled the tomatoes with salt. Add chili powder to taste. Saute for a minute and then add potato mixture. Mix well, cover and cook for another minute. Now the stuffing is ready.

4. Now stuff in the paneer into the tomatoes to create a little base in it. Then fill the rest of the tomato with the potato stuffing.

5. In the same skillet, heat oil again. Now add mustard seeds and once they sizzle add cumin seeds and curry leaves. Lower the heat and add the remaining paste, if any. Saute for a while and add all the spices as per taste. now add the remaining potato mixture. Add salt and lemon juice, mix, cover and let it cook for 2 minutes. Adjust spices. 

6. Now add the stuffed tomatoes and let them cook for about 10 - 15 minutes or till they become soft but not mushy at all.

7. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with parathas of any kind.

Tips:

1. Paneer is totally optional. Adding this enhances the presentation and adds a little cheesy taste to sour taste of tomato.

2. The stuffed tomatoes can be garnished with grated paneer, spring onion cuts, raisins, or even cashews.

A cute quote from one of my blogger friends (Spusht)

"Knowledge is knowing Tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad :) 

Schezwan Fried Rice

Finally after lots of visits to the Indian store, last week I could get a bottle of Schezwan Sauce. Ohh I thought I got lucky. Haha not really, a friend of mine told me that she got one and hence I ran the other day to grab one for me. I am not sure if this is something which is also found in China but in India its popular in making of a Chinese food. One can make this at home as well but I prefer this ready made version ;).

I wanted to make Schezwan noodles but somehow my taste buds craved for the rice.

Ingredients:

Basmati or regular Rice: 2 Cups, Cooked

Vegetables that go in Chinese food like Carrots, Capsicum (red and green), cabbage, onion, broccoli florets. The quantity can vary as per liking. Some people like more veggies some do not. Some do not like broccoli, so its optional. But carrots, capsicum and onion are the must to have).
Fresh Firm Tofu : 7-8 Cubes
Garlic : 3 cloves, finely chopped
Soy Sauce: 2-3 tsp
Schezwan Sauce : 2 tbsp
Siracha, red chili sauce: as per taste
White Vinegar: 2-3 tsp
Spring onion: Greens for garnishing, whites mix with other veggies
Salt: per taste
Oil

 

Method:

1. Break the Rice lumps and separate all the grains. (For this, put some oil into the rice while cooking it and do not cook it in pressure cooker. Use either microwave or cook directly on the burner. Use rice after it cools down completely).

2. Dice onion , wash broccoli florets, chop spring onion, and julienne rest of vegetables.

3. Shallow fry the tofu cubes to maintain its firmness after adding them to the rice.

4. Heat oil in a pan and add onions, garlics, Saute for few seconds and then add other vegetable. Saute for a while but make sure you main the crispness of the vegetables. The crunchiness tastes better than the softer version of the veggies.

5. Now add sauces and vinegar. Saute again.

6. Add tofu and mix delicately.

7. Now add the rice and salt and mix everything well. Adjust the sauces.

8. Cook for 2 minutes and garnish with spring onion greens.

Tips:


You can cover tofu with cornflower paste and then shallow fry, but its optional.

Wiltons Cake Decorating Class

              Its time to share what I was doing for the past whole month. Since I got busy now on weekdays (due to my job, obviously) all I am left are only weekends to write new posts. And when it gets to weekend my body joints start yelling at me and ask me not to do any work. Precisely I get too lazy. But my love towards my blog gets my hands working and I get motivated to write something.


Well for the last month I did not post any thing. And that's only because I was busy even on weekend. It was Wilton's Cake Decorating Class. Oh man it was fun learning experience. And I am going to share it here.


Many of you might have already taken this class , heard about it or are right now wondering who is Wilton....!!!  :) Well lets start with it then.


Wilton is a number one Cake Decorating company. They are the best in cake baking, cake decorating supplies and ideas. They conduct these classes in many of the local stores. The classes are programmed by Wilton and the instructor is trained and asked to follow the process that's is set by Wilton.


What will you learn ?

Basically Wilton cake decorating classes come in 4 levels. It goes from basics to advanced. First one being basic, here you will learn

• tips to perfectly bake your cake, techniques to store cake, how to cut cake
• how to make icing, what are different consistencies for icing and what to use when
• make different flowers, make leaves, rose flower, using the most popular star tip and what all we can do with it, borders
• decorating cupcakes
• drawing pictures on your cake, writing on the cake (use of piping gel for this)

Isn't that enough for a newbie like me. The stuff you learn in basics class is not hard and can be learnt easily at home. But then who will motivate you to do this at home :) :). I know there are hand full of girls out there who can do this at home as well but it was  sheer fun for me to go there, look at other's decorations, their creations and then of course the value able tips that you get from the instructor.

How can one learn at home ?

I said this can be done at home because each class comes with a kit and a plan book. Kit is where you find all the tool you need and book is where you get to read all the instructions and then its easy...

Where are these classes conducted ?

Search for these classes in any of the local craft store. Here at my place these are conducted by Joann and Michaels.

Tips for purchasing the supplies and enrolling in the class ?

All these craft stores have a huge coupon program. Some things you should do if you want to enroll in the class and also want to save some bucks :)

• Subscribe for the coupons on the website of these local stores.
• Go to the store and get the booklet of the classes. Here you might come across the discounts for the classes.
• On some special days like "Open House" the class could be at half of its price. I was luck to grab this deal.
• You always get 40 to 50% of coupons and always always use it towards your purchases of supplies. Saves a lot.
• Find a partner. You can share your tools and help each other during the class.

During the class ?

• Take pictures and videos for your future reference
• Take pictures of the cakes decorated by others on the last day. You get to learn a lot from each of them
• Try to reach to the class at least 10 minutes ahead of time. This is to good seats. :). I never made it :(
• Ask questions to the instructor
• Ask questions to your friends out their
• And Have Fun .............. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well here are some pictures from my class....

This one is by me :)

And here are by others.......

 

Vegetarian Thai Basil Rice

I am a great fan of flavors. And when I discover something that is new to me I desperately want it to try on my own. I know this does not happen all the time but the desire is always there ;). But this time I could make it happen. I prepared this dish in a week just later after I tried it.

Have you ever wondered using basil in cooking? At least I never thought of it until in the last week when I ordered this aromatic dish, Thai Basil Rice. Basil is one of the key ingredients and a must present ingredient in the Thai kitchens.

I simply love Thai cooking, the flavours and the ease with which it is prepared. Its quick , required handful ingredients and no extra or tiring preparation, yet tastes so good. As many of you know all the dishes in Thai cuisine use lots of vegetables. This makes it healthy. To add to this we have Tofu (which is a protein power pack).


When I started eating this dish I decided that I am definitely going to try this. It had so less ingredients and just the aroma of basil. I knew this is simple to cook. I searched (Binged/Googled whatever :)) and found out the key of this rice. First, it required the Jasmine Rice, which is abundantly used in Thai cooking. And this sure makes a difference as this rice had a different texture and had  a property to stick together but was not sticky. And of course the Basil leaves. In India we worship the basil tree but never used it in cooking. Often it is used in homemade medicines but never in cooking (at least to my knowledge, (I may be wrong)). Thai basil leaves are bigger than the Indian Basil. You can get these in any Asian store both rice and leaves.

Non vegetarian eaters can enjoy this rice with chicken and fish oil. Here is the vegetarian version :). And I am so happy with the outcome of my recipe.

 

Ingredients:

Jasmine Rice - 1,1/2 Cup
Fresh Basil Leaves - 20-25 (if they are full size) or three bunches
Tofu Cubes - 500 gms
Capsicum - 1 Cup, Julienned
Onion - 1 Cup, Julienned
Garlic - 4-5 cloves, minced
Green Chillies - 2, chopped finely
Salt - per taste
Soy Sauce - 1/2 tbsp
Oil - 2-3 tbsp
Cucumber for garnishing


The original recipe calls for using fish sauce but being a vegetarian I had to find something else. I searched a lot on Internet and found there are some vegetarian replacements available for the fish sauce. I remembered the taste of the rice and I decided to try out tamarind water :) And you know what, it worked very well .

Tamarind Juice - 1-2 tbsp

Method:

1. Rinse the rice before cooking. To cook Jasmine Rice add 2 Cup water to the rice. Add little salt. Bring it to boil and then reduce the heat to low, cover it with a lid and cook for another 15-20 minutes or till the rice is entirely cooked. Then turn off the heat and keep it covered for another 10 minutes. Keep it to cool.

2. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry tofu till it turns a little brown. We need to do this so that the tofu cubes remain intact. Once done keep them aside.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add garlic and saute a little. Then add onion for 1 minute and add capsicum. saute for another 3-4 minutes. Keep burner on high flame. Make sure the veggies are not overcooked.

4. Gently add tofu and basil leaves and stir.

5. Add Soy sauce, tamarind water and salt per as per taste.

6. Now add the jasmine rice and stir evenly.

7. Cover for 2-3 minutes. Garnish it with cucumber and serve.

Tips: 

• @Veggie lovers - Make this more healthy by adding broccoli, carrots, snap peas..whatever veggie you like. :)
• @Perfectionists - In the first attempt you will not get a perfect idea for the number of basil leaves to be used, which is OK. :) . Enjoy !!!!!!!!
• @Non-vegetarians - use fish sauce and chicken.

Sending this to Serve it - Stir Fried Event (Denny's page), Hot and Spicy Treats