Plant Familys:
'via Blog this'
My efforts are to encouraged entire Sri Lankan people to Eat & Drink local stuff and make them available every corner of this tiny island with the international touch
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Curry Leaf Sambol
KARAPINCHA SAMBOL (CURRY LEAF SAMBOL)
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 cups curry leaves
- 2 tbsp shredded coconut
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- Small piece of ginger chopped
- 2 green chillies finely chopped
- 1/2 tspn mustard powder
- 1/2 tspn black pepper powder
- 1/2 Lime
- Salt to taste
Method
| Add chopped garlic, ginger, green chillies, mustard powder, black pepper to a food processor. Squeeze 1/2 of a lime and 1 tspn water to the mixture and grind well. Now add the curry leaves and a little bit of water and grind it further till it becomes a paste. Finally, add the shredded coconut, salt to taste and grind it until well blended (or you could mix with your hand). Enjoy with Rice and curry or Those (dosa). Karapincha (Curry Leaf) controls high blood pressure, heart disease , diabetes and high cholesterol. Therefore this is a very healthy sambol. http://herbs.lk/karapincha.html |
Iramusu Tea
| Cooling Tea ( Iramusu Tea) Regular and habitual consumption of Iramusu Hearbal Tea ensures the benefits in the long term. The beverage is made available in easy to use tea bags. Indian Sarsaparilla include Sitestarol, Amairina, Desinine, Hemidesterol, Salicylic-aldehyde, Leupiyol, Tannin and Saponin. It is has been researched that the Indian Sarsaparilla roots contain medicinal strength And the roots dried has a capacity of 0.225% of (essential oil.) In the ancient Indian literatures, the Iramusu has been mentioned as an important medicine. In 1984 it was admitted in the British pharmacopoeia. Indian Sarsaparilla is being used to purify the blood and helps develop a clean system. The herb includes Sarsapogenin and Smilagenin. Until recently sportsmen were using a banned steroid for their vigor and vitality but now as a substitute the Indian Sarsaparilla has been introduced to be taken legally. Iramusu (Indian sarsaparilla ) is a perennial twining or creeping herb with a woody fragant Rootstock. it has slender hairless stem variable dark green leaves ,greenish flowers In small compact clusters and narrow cylindrical fruits .The dried roots constitute The drug . | Benefits of Cooling Tea (Iramusu Tea )
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Belimal Herbal Tea
| Belimal Herbal Tea Regular and habitual consumption of Beli Mal Herbal Tea ensures the benefits in the long term Slimming your way to a healthy lifestyle. Though more prized for its medicinal virtues than its edible quality, this interesting member of the family Rutaceae is, nevertheless, of sufficient importance as an edible fruit to be included here. Beli Mal (Aegle Marmelos (L) Correa) is cultivated throughout India, mainly in temple gardens, because of its status as a sacred tree; also in Sri Lanka and northern Malaya, the drier areas of Java, and to a limited extent on northern Luzon in the Philippine Islands where it first fruited in 1914. It is grown in some Egyptian gardens, and in Surinam and Trinidad. Seeds were sent from Lahore to Dr. Walter T. Swingle in 1909 (P.I. No. 24450). | Benefits of Belimal Herbal Tea Totally natural Caffeine Free Beli Mal Ayurvedic Herbal Tea offers many medicinal benefits:-
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Thursday, November 3, 2011
Take the Eat Local Challenge! Be ready
Take the Eat Local Challenge!
 Take the Eat Local Challenge |
Take the challenge anytime! Just follow the steps below whenever you feel inspired to commit to a week of eating locally and seasonally. Whatever you choose, be sure to share your experience with EAT LOCAL FIRST. We want to hear from you!
How can I participate?
1. For one week, commit to the following:
- Spend 10% of your grocery budget on local food — grown within a 100-mile radius of wherever you live.
- Try one new fruit or vegetable each day.
- Preserve food to enjoy later in the year.
2. Track your progress using the Eat Local Challenge scorecard which we will introduce soon.
3. Send EAT LOCAL FIRST your completed scorecard or submit your story about eating locally.
Later send in your scorecard and/or story. If you submit a story, we just might include your experience in a future issue of EAT LOCAL FIRST by Pubudu Blog
10 Ways to Eat Locally
How to Eat Locally
 Shop weekly at your local farmers market. |
10 Ways to Eat Locally
1 Shop weekly at your local farmers market or farm stand
2 Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and get weekly deliveries of the season's harvest
3 Buy from local grocers and co-ops committed to stocking local food
4 Support restaurants and food vendors that buy locally produced food
5 Preserve food from the season — freeze, can, dry — to eat later in the year
6 Throw a "Locally-Grown Party" and serve all local food
7 Grow your own food in your yard or community garden plot
8 Visit local farmers and "u-picks"
9 Ask your grocer or favorite restaurant what local foods they carry
10 Visit the Eat Local resource web pages
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Gotukola Kanda
Gotukola Kanda
Bunch of gotukola and scrapped cocunut
I wanted to make something as ordinary as Gotukola Kanda worthy of a blog entry. Kanda (or porridge) has become part of our breakfast lately, as a healthy alternative to cereal. When I’ve run out of Gotukola I have also tried a mix herb kanda (Hathawariya, Karapincha and Polpala) picking most of it from my mother’s garden. You could say that Gotukola Kanda is #1 in our home.
Gotukola is a perennial which roots at the nodes as it spread across the ground. It has kidney-shaped or fan like leaves. The size of which could vary according to soil and amount of sunshine recieved. Gotukola is known to be a plant with medicinal value, and is heavily used in the practice of Ayurvedhic medicine. Also known as Pennywort it is a popular herb used in South American, Indian and Chinese herbal folk medicine. It’s believed to be a cure for rheumatism, urinary disorders and inflammation. I grow them in a pot at the back of my kitchen. A handfull from that is not adequate so I usually buy a bunch from the Supermarket.
Ingredients:
- Small bunch of Gotukola, picked, washed & drained
- 1/4 cup red rice
- 2 garlic
- 3/4 cup grated coconut
- salt
Coconut, handful of red rice and garlic
Method:
I bet you could do this in just 20 minutes. Keep the rice on the fire wih just enough water to cook, add garlic, halved and salt. While it cooks grate the coconut and chop the bunch of Gotukola. Add to the liquidiser and add water to the half way mark and blend. Strain the liquid and add to the rice on the stove, let the porridge simmer for about 4-5 minutes. Take it off the fire and let it stand for another 5 minutes before serving.
Serve with yummy Kithul Hakuru! or plain.
Ranawara Herbal Tea
Ranawara herbal Tea
Regular and habitual consumption of Ranawara Herbal Tea ensures the benefits in the long term. The Herbal Tea beverage is made available in easy to use tea bags.
Cassia Auriculata Linn Ranawara Plant contains Senapickrine, Sponhine and Glucocie.The leaves and stems of the Ranawara plant contain Auksemeethial Anthorokvinon and is rich in Tannin. The plant in addition contains Emodian, Sitothrol and Rutin and the flower of the plant contains Auricacasidin, Kaemferol and Sitosterol
Benifites of Ranawara herbal Tea
- Ranawara Ayurvedic herbal Tea gives the clear complexion.
- Ranawara herb acts as an agent in restoring sexual vitality, increases sperm count, and counter acts ejaculatory disorders.
- Ranawara herb is used as a treatment for diabetes
- Ranawara Ayurvedic herbal Tea is also effective in relieving urinary problems, assists in stomach cleaning and restoration of the skin to its natural glow.
- Acts as an agent in easing discomfort in women during menstruation
In Africa the herb has been used for treating body aches, eye irritations, diabetes and venereal disease.
| Ranawara | |
| Vernacular Name: Sinhala: Ranawara; Eng: Tanners cassia,Tam: Avarai, Avirai, | |
| Propagation: By seeds. | |
| Parts Used: Roots, bark, leaves, flowers, seeds. | |
| Chemical Constituents: Emodin, chiysophanol, rubiadin. | |
| Uses: The roots are astringent, cooling, alterative. depruative and alexeteric, and are useful in skin diseases, leprosy, tumours, asthma and urethrorrhoea. The bark is astringent and alternative, and a decoction of this is used as enemas and gargles. The leaves are depurative and anthelmintic, and are recommended for leprosy, skin diseases and ulcers. The flowers are used in diabetes, urethrorrhoea, nocturnal emissions and pharyngopathy. The seeds are astringent. Sour, cooling, constipating, depurative, aphrodisiac, anthehnintic, tinea stomachic and alexeteric, and are useful in diabetes, chyluria, ophthalmia, dysentery, sided diarrhoea, swellings, abdominal disorders, leprosy, skin diseases, worm infestations and chronic purulent conjunctivitis. | |
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Yams
Yams
Creamy or firm when cooked, yams have an earthy, hardy taste and usually a minimal amount of sweetness. Although they are available throughout the year their season runs from October through December when they are at their best.
There are approximately 200 different varieties of yams with flesh colors varying from white to ivory to yellow to purple while their thick skin comes in white, pink or brownish-black. Their shape is long and cylindrical (oftentimes having offshoots referred to as "toes") while their exterior texture is rough and scaly. There is great confusion between yams and sweet potatoes in the United States; most of the vegetables labeled "yams" in the markets are really orange-colored sweet potatoes.
This chart graphically details the %DV that a serving of Yams provides for each of the nutrients of which it is a good, very good, or excellent source according to our Food Rating System. Additional information about the amount of these nutrients provided by Yams can be found in the Food Rating System Chart. A link that takes you to the In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Yams, featuring information over 80 nutrients, can be found under the Food Rating System Chart.
- Health Benefits
- Description
- History
- How to Select and Store
- How to Enjoy
- Individual Concerns
- Nutritional Profile
- References
Protection against Cardiovascular Disease
Yams are a good source of vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 is needed by the body to break down a substance called homocysteine, which can directly damage blood vessel walls. Individuals who suffer a heart attack despite having normal or even low cholesterol levels are often found to have high levels of homocysteine. Since high homocysteine levels are signficantly associated with increased risk of heart attack and stroke, having a good supply of vitamin B6 on hand makes a great deal of sense. High intakes of vitamin B6 have also been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.
Yams are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. Since many people not only do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, but also consume high amounts of sodium as salt is frequently added to processed foods, they may be deficient in potassium. Low intake of potassium-rich foods, especially when coupled with a high intake of sodium, can lead to hypertension. In the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) study, one group ate servings of fruits and vegetables in place of snacks and sweets, and also ate low-fat dairy food. This diet delivered more potassium, magnesium and calcium. Another group ate a "usual" diet low in fruits and vegetables with a fat content like that found in the average American Diet. After eight weeks, the group that ate the enhanced diet lowered their blood pressure by an average of 5.5 points (systolic) over 3.0 points (diastolic). Dioscorin, a storage protein contained in yam, may also be of benefit to certain individuals with hypertension. Preliminary research suggests that dioscorin can inhibit angiotensin converting enzyme, which would therefore lead to increased kidney blood flow and reduced blood pressure.
A Look at Yam, Diosgenin, and Menopausal Symptoms
Many consumers have found products in the marketplace that promote wild yam or wild yam extracts as substances that can help provide a natural alternative to hormonal replacement in women who have reached the age of menopause. Many of these products are provided in the form of creams that can be topically applied. Even though the food itself is not usually promoted by natural products companies, these yam-containing products have sparked interest in the relationship between yam and menopause. Yams do contain some unique substances called steroidal saponins, and among these substances are chemicals called diosgenins. Because of similiarities between diosgenin and progesterone, questions were initially raised about the ability of our body to convert diosgenin into progesterone, but research has shown that the answer here is clearly no. Diosgenin does, however, have an impact on hormonal patterns in studies involving animals, and may be helpful in lowering risk of osteoporosis, although we don't as yet have any human studies in this area.
Wild yam also has some history of traditional use in herbal medicine, especially Chinese herbal medicine, as a botanical that can affect organ system function. While the focus here has been on kidney function, wild yam (or Chinese yam) has also been used to support the female endocrine system. For example, there has been traditional use of this root in conjunction with lactation. We've only seen one high-quality, peer-reviewed research study in which women were actually given wild yam (in the form of a topical cream) to determine the impact of this plant on menopausal symptoms. Although this research showed some very limited benefits from the wild yam cream--and no side effects--none of the symptom changes were statistically significant. In summary, we'd say that there's no research evidence to support the claim that yam has special benefits when it comes to menopause, but that more research is needed in this area because there is a clear connection between yam, diosgenin, and endocrine function that is not yet understood.
We'd also like to add some information about yam and vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 has been an especially popular supplement with respect to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in women, especially in conjunction with the depression that can be triggered by PMS. Some companies have also advocated the use of this vitamin for menopausal symptoms. One cup of baked cubed yam contains 15.5% of the Daily Value for B6, and we rank yam as a "good" source of vitamin B6 for this reason. In research studies, however, the dose of vitamin B6 required for help with PMS depression is about 50-100 milligrams--many, many times the Daily Value level of 2.0 milligrams. So if you're a woman, even though yam might be a food well-worth including in your meal plan in conjunction with PMS, the amount of vitamin B6 that you'd be getting from this food would be insufficient (by itself) to reach the therapeutic level shown to be helpful in research studies.
Blood Sugar and Weight Control
Yams' complex carbohydrates and fibre deliver the goods gradually, slowing the rate at which their sugars are released and absorbed into the bloodstream. In addition, because they're rich in fibre, yams fill you up without filling out your hips and waistline. And one more benefit, yams are a good source of manganese, a trace mineral that helps with carbohydrate metabolism and is a cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defences. You've just got to hand it to Mother Nature; when she brings forth a food, she makes sure it integrates everything needed to contribute to your health and vitality.
Yams are members of the Dioscoreae family. Depending upon the yam variety, of which there are about 200, its flesh may be of varying colors including white, ivory, yellow or purple while its thick skin may either be white, pink or brownish-black. Their shape is long and cylindrical (oftentimes having offshoots referred to as "toes") while their exterior texture is rough and scaly. Yams have a very starchy and slippery texture and when cooked, will either be creamy or firm, depending upon the variety. Their taste is earthy and hardy, with most varieties having minimal, if any, sweetness. Specific types of yams include Dioscorea alata (Hawaiian yam), Dioscorea batatas(korean yam) and Dioscorea esculenta (sweet yam).
Chances are this does not sound like the description of the "yams" that you had for Thanksgiving dinner. That is because most of the vegetables that are labeled "yams" in the United States are really orange-colored sweet potatoes. When the moist-fleshed orange-colored sweet potato was introduced into the United States in the mid-20th century, producers wanted to distinguish it from the white-fleshed sweet potato that most people were used to. They adopted the word "yam" fromnyami, the African word for the root of the Dioscoreae genus of plants. While there are attempts to distinguish between the two, such as the U.S. Deparment of Agriculture's labeling requirement that the moist-fleshed, orange-colored sweet potatoes that are labeled as "yams" also be accompanied by the label "sweet potato", for many people this does not help to clarify the distinction between the two very different root vegetables. Yet, once you experience the distinct taste and texture of the real yam you will definitely know the difference, appreciating each of these root vegetables for their unique qualities.
Although it is uncertain from which country yams originated, yams are one of the oldest food plants known. They have been cultivated since 50,000 BC in Africa and Asia. In addition to these continents, yams also currently grow in the tropical and subtropical regions of North and South America.
Yams are one of the most popular and widely consumed foods in the world. They play a staple role in the diets of many different countries, notably those in South America, Africa, the Pacific Islands, and the West Indies.
As noted in the Description section, oftentimes the root vegetable that is labeled in the store's produce section as a yam is not truly a yam but is a variety of sweet potato. Therefore, if you want to buy a real yam, you should ask someone in your store's produce department who can let you know the actual origin of the vegetable in question. As yams are not widely available in the United States, you may find that your store does not carry true yams although you are certain to find them in many Asian and African food markets.
Choose yams that are firm and do not have any cracks, bruises or soft spots. Avoid those that are displayed in the refrigerated section of the produce department since cold temperature negatively alters their taste.
Yams should be stored in a cool, dark and well-ventilated place where they will keep fresh for up to ten days. They should be stored loose and not kept in a plastic bag. Keep them out of exposure to sunlight or temperatures above 60°F (around 15°C) since this will cause them to sprout or ferment. Uncooked yams should not be kept in the refrigerator.
A Few Quick Serving Ideas:
Puree cooked yam with a little milk and season with tamari, coriander, cumin and cayenne.
As yam has an earthy, deep taste, it nicely complements darker meats such as venison.
Add chunks of yams to your next stir fry or pan of roasted vegetables. Roasted yams, fennel, onions, and mushrooms are a delicious combination.
Research has shown some nutritional advantages to roasting over boiling when it comes to yams, so if you are deliberating over these two cooking methods, we recommend that you choose roasting. At the same time, however, when it comes to a potentially problematic substance like phytic acid (phytic acid can sometimes block absorption of desirable nutrients like zinc and iron), a wet-heat cooking method might be helpful. Because steaming is a wet-heat method that avoids submersing the food in water and risking excessive leeching of water-soluble nutrients, we recommend steaming over boiling when using wet heats (and we always stick with steaming in our own yam recipes).
Yams should be cooked rather than eaten raw.
Yam is not a commonly allergenic food, is not known to contain measurable amounts of oxalates or purines and is also not included in the Environmental Working Group's 2010 report "Shopper's Guide to Pesticides" as one of the 12 foods most frequently containing pesticide residues.
Yams are a good source of dietary fibre, potassium, vitamin C, manganese and vitamin B6.
In-Depth Nutritional Profile
In addition to the nutrients highlighted in our ratings chart, an in-depth nutritional profile for Yams is also available. This profile includes information on a full array of nutrients, including carbohydrates, sugar, soluble and insoluble fibre, sodium, vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids and more.
Introduction to Food Rating System Chart
In order to better help you identify foods that feature a high concentration of nutrients for the calories they contain, we created a Food Rating System. This system allows us to highlight the foods that are especially rich in particular nutrients. The following chart shows the nutrients for which this food is either an excellent, very good, or good source (below the chart you will find a table that explains these qualifications). If a nutrient is not listed in the chart, it does not necessarily mean that the food doesn't contain it. It simply means that the nutrient is not provided in a sufficient amount or concentration to meet our rating criteria. (To view this food's in-depth nutritional profile that includes values for dozens of nutrients - not just the ones rated as excellent, very good, or good - please use the link below the chart.) To read this chart accurately, you'll need to glance up in the top left corner where you will find the name of the food and the serving size we used to calculate the food's nutrient composition. This serving size will tell you how much of the food you need to eat to obtain the amount of nutrients found in the chart. Now, returning to the chart itself, you can look next to the nutrient name in order to find the nutrient amount it offers, the percent Daily Value (DV%) that this amount represents, the nutrient density that we calculated for this food and nutrient, and the rating we established in our rating system. For most of our nutrient ratings, we adopted the government standards for food labeling that are found in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's "Reference Values for Nutrition Labeling."
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