Categories
Tasty dishes

Biryani

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Description:
Biryani also known as biriyani or biriani, is a South Asian mixed rice dish with its origins among the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. It is popular throughout the subcontinent and among the diaspora from the region. It is generally made with spices, rice, and meat. This is basically a Moglai dish. Mogal kings usually eat this type of dishes. Now a days it has become a very popular dish in most of nonveg people in Asia.

Origin:
The exact origin of the dish is uncertain. In North India, different varieties of biryani developed in the Muslim centers of Delhi (Mughlai cuisine), Lucknow (Awadhi cuisine) and other small principalities. In South India, where rice is more widely used as a staple food, several distinct varieties of biryani emerged from Telangana (Specifically Hyderabad), Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, where minority Muslim communities were present. Andhra is the only region of South India that does not have many native varieties of biryani.

According to the Delhi based historian Sohail Nakhwi, more than four thousand years ago, people in Central Asia started adding the meat of cows, buffaloes (beef) and goats (mutton) to rice, thus resulting in the dish that later began to be called Pulao, and a precursor to the modern day Biryani. The more well to do people used the meat of goat (it being more expensive) and the poorer people used beef (it being cheaper) As per author Lizzie Collingham, the modern biryani further developed in the Mughal royal kitchen, as a confluence of the native spicy rice dishes of India and the Persian pilaf. However, all the spices used in biryani were also grown in Persia and were also available to Arabs through trade. According to Kris Dhillon, the modern Biryani originated in Persia, and was brought to India by the Mughals. However, another theory claims that the dish was known in India before the first Mughal emperor Babur came to India. The 16th century Mughal text Ain-i-Akbari makes no distinction between biryanis and pulao: it states that the word “biryani” is of older usage in India. A similar theory—that biryani came to India with Timur’s invasion—also appears to be incorrect, because there is no record of biryani having existed in his native land during that period.

According to Pratibha Karan, the biryani is of South Indian origin, derived from pilaf varieties brought to India by the Arab traders. She speculates that the pulao was an army dish in medieval India: the armies, unable to cook elaborate meals, would prepare a one-pot dish where they cooked rice with whichever meat was available. Over time, the dish became biryani due to different methods of cooking, with the distinction between “pulao” and “biryani” being arbitrary. According to Vishwanath Shenoy, the owner of a biryani restaurant chain in India, one branch of biryani comes from the Mughals, while another was brought by the Arab traders to [Malabar]] in South India.
While the Middle eastern and Middle Asian versions of Biryani and Pulao are made on the tandoor, Biryani in the Indian subcontinent is made in a large metal dish with a narrow mouth called a “degh”
Main Ingredients:
Ingredients vary accord to type of meat used and the region the Biriyani is from. Gosht (of either chicken or mutton) as the prime ingredient with rice. As is common in dishes of the Indian subcontinent, some vegetables are also used when preparing Biriyani. Other vegetables such as corn also may be used depending on the season and availability. Navratan biryani tends to use sweeter richer ingredients such as cashew, kismis and fruits such as apples and pineapples.

The spices and condiments used in biryani may include ghee (clarified butter), nutmeg, mace, pepper, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander, mint leaves, ginger, onions, tomatoes, and garlic. The premium varieties include saffron. In all Biriyani, the main ingredient that accompanies the spices is the chicken and mutton, special varieties also use beef, and seafood. The dish may be served with dahi chutney or raita, korma, curry, a sour dish of aubergine (brinjal), boiled egg (optional), and salad.

Varities:
Biryanis are cooked in various different types and different places it is cooked diffenently.
In the kacchi biryani, raw marinated meat is layered with raw rice before being cooked together.It is also known as kacchi yeqni. It is cooked typically with chicken and mutton but rarely with fish and prawn. The dish is cooked layered with the meat and the yogurt based marinade at the bottom of the cooking pot and the layer of rice (usually basmati rice) placed over it. Potatoes are often added before adding the rice layer. The pot is usually sealed (typically with wheat dough) to allow cooking in its own steam and not opened until it is ready to serve.

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Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biryani

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Aralia elata

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Botanical Name: Aralia elata
Family: Araliaceae
Genus: Aralia
Species:A. elata
Kingdom:Plantae
Order: Apiales

Synonyms: Dimorphanthus elatus.

Common Name : Japanese Angelica Tree, Angelica Tree (In Japan it is known as tara-no-ki, and in Korea as dureup namu.)

Habitat: Aralia elata is native to E. Asia – China, Japan, Korea. It grows in thin woodland and thickets on rich well moistened slopes, 900 – 2000 metres in N. Hupeh.

Description:
Aralia elata is an upright deciduous small tree or shrub growing up to 10 m (33 ft) in height at a medium rate. The bark is rough and gray with prickles. The leaves are alternate, large, 60–120 cm long, and double pinnate. The flowers are produced in large umbels in late summer, each flower small and white. The fruit is a small black drupe…CLICK & SEE THE PICTURES

It is not frost tender. It is in flower from Aug to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects.Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: acid and neutral soils.

It prefers deep loamy soils in partial shade, but will grow in poorer soils and in full sun. The plant is sometimes cultivated, often in a variegated form, for its exotic appearance.

Aralia elata is closely related to the American species Aralia spinosa, with which it is easily confused.
Cultivation:
Landscape Uses:Specimen. Prefers a good deep loam and a position in semi-shade but it also succeeds in a sunny position. Requires a sheltered position. Plants are hardier when grown on poorer soils. Prefers an acid soil. Dormant plants are hardy to at least -15°. The young growth in spring, even on mature plants, is frost-tender and so it is best to grow the plants in a position sheltered from the early morning sun. A very ornamental species, there are a number of named varieties. It is usually a single stemmed shrub, spreading by means of suckers. This species is closely allied to A. chinensis. Special Features: Not North American native, Blooms are very showy.

Propagation: 
Seed – best sown as soon as ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 – 5 months of cold stratification. Germination usually takes place within 1 – 4 months at 20°c. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse for at least their first winter. Once the plants are 25cm or more tall, they can be planted out into their permanent positions, late spring or early summer being the best time to do this. Root cuttings 8cm long, December in a cold frame. Store the roots upside down in sand and pot up in March/April. High percentage. Division of suckers in late winter. Very easy, the suckers can be planted out direct into their permanent positions if required.
Edible Uses: Young shoots – cooked. They can also be blanched and used in salads.

In Japan, the shoots (taranome) are eaten in the spring. They are picked from the end of the branches and are fried in a tempura batter.

In Korean cuisine, its shoots called dureup are used for various dishes, such as dureup jeon, that is a variety of jeon (pancake-like dish) made by pan-frying the shoots covered with minced beef and batter.

Dureup namul, also called dureup muchim is a dish made by blanching dureup seasoned with chojang (chili pepper and vinegar sauce).

It is also common to eat Aralia elata as Dureup bugak, fried shoots of the plant coated with glutinous rice paste, usually served along with chal jeonbyeong, a kind of pancake made by pan-frying glutinous rice flour. …...CLICK & SEE : 
Medicinal Uses:
Anodyne; Cancer; Carminative.

The roots and stems are anodyne and carminative. All parts of the plant are used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthralgia, coughs, diabetes, jaundice, stomach ulcers and stomach cancers.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aralia_elata
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Aralia+elata

Categories
Herbs & Plants

Rosa Canina

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Botanical Name:Rosa Canina
Family:Rosaceae
Subfamily: Rosoideae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division:
Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Rosales
Genus: Rosa
Species: R. canina

Comon Name:Rosehip,  Dog rose

Etymology:
The name ‘dog’ has a disparaging meaning in this context, indicating ‘worthless’ (by comparison with cultivated garden roses) (Vedel & Lange 1960). It was used in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to treat the bite of rabid dogs, hence the name “dog rose” arose. (It is also possible that the name derives from “dag,” a shortening of “dagger,” in reference to the long thorns of the plant.) Other old folk names include rose briar (also spelt brier), briar rose, dogberry, herb patience, sweet briar, wild briar, witches’ briar, and briar hip.

*In Turkish, its name is ku?burnu, which translates as “bird nose.”
*In Swedish, its name is stenros, which translates to “stone rose.”
*In Norwegian, its name is steinnype, which translates to “stone hip.”
*In Danish, , its name is hunderose, which translates as “dog rose.”
*In Azeri, its name is itburunu, which translates as “dog nose.”

Habitat: Rosa Canina is native to Europe, including Britain, from Norway south and east to N. Africa and southwest Asia. It grows in the hedges, scrub, woods, roadsides, banks etc.

 

Description:
It is a fast growing deciduous shrub normally ranging in height from 1-5 m, though sometimes it can scramble higher into the crowns of taller trees. Its stems are covered with small, sharp, hooked spines, which aid it in climbing. The leaves are pinnate, with 5-7 leaflets. The flowers are usually pale pink, but can vary between a deep pink and white. They are 4-6 cm diameter with five petals, and mature into an oval 1.5-2 cm red-orange fruit, or hip.

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The branches bearing two inch (5cm) wide white to pale pink flowers in June followed by glossy red egg-shaped hips in autumn. These are good for rose-hip syrup, or provide excellent bird food in winter.

Invasive species
Dog rose is an invasive species in the high country of New Zealand. It was recognised as displacing native vegetation as early as 1895 although the Department of Conservation do not consider it to be a conservation threat.
Cultivation:
Succeeds in most soils. Grows well in heavy clay soils. Prefers a circumneutral soil and a sunny position with its roots in the shade. When grown in deep shade it usually fails to flower and fruit.  Succeeds in wet soils but dislikes water-logged soils or very dry sites. Tolerates maritime exposure. The fruit attracts many species of birds, several gall wasps and other insects use the plant as a host A very polymorphic species, it is divided into a great number of closely related species by some botanists. The leaves, when bruised, have a delicious fragrance. The flowers are also fragrant. Grows well with alliums, parsley, mignonette and lupins. Garlic planted nearby can help protect the plant from disease and insect predation. Grows badly with boxwood. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.
Propagation:
Seed. Rose seed often takes two years to germinate. This is because it may need a warm spell of weather after a cold spell in order to mature the embryo and reduce the seedcoat[80]. One possible way to reduce this time is to scarify the seed and then place it for 2 – 3 weeks in damp peat at a temperature of 27 – 32°c (by which time the seed should have imbibed). It is then kept at 3°c for the next 4 months by which time it should be starting to germinate. Alternatively, it is possible that seed harvested ‘green’ (when it is fully developed but before it has dried on the plant) and sown immediately will germinate in the late winter. This method has not as yet(1988) been fully tested. Seed sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame sometimes germinates in spring though it may take 18 months. Stored seed can be sown as early in the year as possible and stratified for 6 weeks at 5°c. It may take 2 years to germinate. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle. Plant out in the summer if the plants are more than 25cm tall, otherwise grow on in a cold frame for the winter and plant out in late spring. Cuttings of half-ripe wood with a heel, July in a shaded frame. Overwinter the plants in the frame and plant out in late spring[78]. High percentage. Cuttings of mature wood of the current seasons growth. Select pencil thick shoots in early autumn that are about 20 – 25cm long and plant them in a sheltered position outdoors or in a cold frame[78, 200]. The cuttings can take 12 months to establish but a high percentage of them normally succeed. Division of suckers in the dormant season. Plant them out direct into their permanent positions. Layering. Takes 12 months

Edible Uses:
Edible Parts: Flowers; Fruit; Seed.
Edible Uses: Coffee; Tea.

Fruit – raw or cooked. It can be used in making delicious jams, syrups etc. The syrup is used as a nutritional supplement, especially for babies[238]. The fruit can also be dried and used as a tea. Frost softens and sweetens the flesh. The fruit is up to 30mm in diameter, but there is only a thin layer of flesh surrounding the many seeds. Some care has to be taken when eating this fruit, see the notes above on known hazards. The seed is a good source of vitamin E, it can be ground and mixed with flour or added to other foods as a supplement. Be sure to remove the seed hairs. The dried leaves are used as a tea substitute. A coffee substitute according to another report. Petals – raw or cooked. The base of the petal may be bitter so is best removed. Eaten as a vegetable in China. The petals are also used to make an unusual scented jam

Medicinal Uses:
The petals, hips and galls are astringent, carminative, diuretic, laxative, ophthalmic and tonic. The hips are taken internally in the treatment of colds, influenza, minor infectious diseases, scurvy, diarrhoea and gastritis. A syrup made from the hips is used as a pleasant flavouring in medicines and is added to cough mixtures. A distilled water made from the plant is slightly astringent and is used as a lotion for delicate skins. The seeds have been used as a vermifuge. The plant is used in Bach flower remedies – the keywords for prescribing it are ‘Resignation’ and ‘Apathy’. The fruit of many members of this genus is a very rich source of vitamins and minerals, especially in vitamins A, C and E, flavanoids and other bio-active compounds. It is also a fairly good source of essential fatty acids, which is fairly unusual for a fruit. It is being investigated as a food that is capable of reducing the incidence of cancer and also as a means of halting or reversing the growth of cancers. Ascorbic acid in Dog Rose shells (vitamin C, 0.2 to 2.4%).

The hips yield ascorbic acid and are of the greatest value when given to young children. Rosehip tea has a mild diuretic and tonic effect, and the fresh petals can be made into a delicate jam. Rose hips are rich in Vitamin C and are traditionally made into conserves and puries. They were collected from the wild during World War II when citrus fruit was scarce. They will help the body’s defenses against infections and especially the development of colds. They make an excellent spring tonic and aid in general debility and exhaustion. They will help in cases of constipation and mild gall-bladder problems as well as conditions of the kidney and bladder. One of the best tonics for old dogs. Dog rose hips reduce thirst and alleviate gastric inflammation. The hips are taken internally in the treatment of colds, influenza, minor infectious diseases, scurvy, diarrhea and gastritis. A syrup made from the hips is used as a pleasant flavoring in medicines and is added to cough mixtures. A distilled water made from the plant is slightly astringent and is used as a lotion for delicate skins. The seeds have been used as a vermifuge. The fruit of many members of this genus is a very rich source of vitamins and minerals, especially in vitamins A, C and E, flavanoids and other bioactive compounds. It is also a fairly good source of essential fatty acids, which is fairly unusual for a fruit. It is being investigated as a food that is capable of reducing the incidence of cancer and also as a means of halting or reversing the growth of cancers.

Other Uses:
Plants make a dense and stock-proof hedge, especially when trimmed. 

Dog rose in culture
The dog rose was the stylized rose of Medieval European heraldry, and is still used today. It is also the county flower of Hampshire.

Known Hazards: There is a layer of hairs around the seeds just beneath the flesh of the fruit. These hairs can cause irritation to the mouth and digestive tract if ingested.

Disclaimer : The information presented herein is intended for educational purposes only. Individual results may vary, and before using any supplement, it is always advisable to consult with your own health care provider.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_canina
http://www.bucknur.com/acatalog/product_10286.html
http://www.actahort.org/books/690/690_13.htm
http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Rosa+canina
http://www.herbnet.com/Herb%20Uses_RST.htm

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Categories
Healthy Tips

Petroleum Jelly Can Save Your Money & Time

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If you have petroleum jelly in the house, one of these 31 tips could save you money — and time.

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For Personal Grooming

Moisturize your lips and more If you don’t want to pay a lot for expensive lip balm, makeup remover, or even facial moisturizer, then your answer is a tube of petroleum jelly. It can soothe lips, take off foundation, eye shadow, mascara, and more. It will even act as a moisturizer on your face.

Make emergency makeup:

Oh no! You’ve run out of your favorite shade of eye shadow. What do you do now? It’s easy — make your own. Add a bit of food coloring to petroleum jelly and apply as usual. This is a quick way to make stopgap blush, lipstick, or eye shadow.

Lengthen the life of perfume:

You’ve picked out a great scent to wear on your night out, but it’s got to last. Worry not. Dab a bit of petroleum jelly on your pulse points. Then spray on the perfume. Now you can dance the night away and not worry about your perfume turning in early.

Remove a stuck ring:

Is your wedding ring stuck? Trying to get it off can take a lot of tug and pull. Apply some petroleum jelly and it will glide right off.

Soften chapped hands:

If you’re constantly applying hand lotion to your tired, chapped hands, but then taking it off again so you can get more work done, try this tip. Apply a liberal amount of petroleum jelly to your hands just before you go to bed. By morning, they’ll be soft and smooth.

No more messy manicures :

During home manicures, it’s hard to keep the nail polish from running over on your cuticles. Petroleum jelly can help your manicures look more professional. Dab some along the base of your nails and the sides. If polish seeps off the nail during the manicure, all you do is wipe off the petroleum jelly and the sloppy nail polish is gone.

Smooth wild eyebrow hairs:

If you have runaway eyebrows — the ones where the hairs won’t lie flat but curl up instead, control the wildness with some petroleum jelly. Rub a dab into your brows. They’ll calm down and behave.

Stop hair dye runs:

There’s nothing more embarrassing than a home hair color job gone awry. Imagine finishing applying that new auburn shade to your tresses when you notice that you’ve dyed your hairline and part of your forehead too. Next time, run a bit of petroleum jelly across your hairline. If dye seeps off your hair, the petroleum jelly will catch it.

Heal windburned skin:

You’ve just had a glorious hike through the countryside in autumn. And as much as you enjoyed the changing colors of the season, the hike has left you with an unpleasant souvenir: windburn. Grab a jar of petroleum jelly and apply it liberally to your face or wherever you’ve been chapped. The jelly helps relieve the pain.

Help prevent diaper rash:

It’s so heartbreaking to hear a baby experiencing the pain of diaper rash. Help is just a few moments away. Petroleum jelly sets up a protective coat on the skin so the rash can heal. No more pain.

No more shampoo tears:

Thinking of buying special no-tears shampoo for your child? Forget about it. If you have some petroleum jelly, you have the solution. Rub a fair amount into your baby’s eyebrows. It acts as a protective shield against shampoo running down into his eyes.

The Following Links will give you more Uses: Around The House For the Do-It-Your selferTaken From :Extraordinary Uses For Ordinary Things
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