Grandma's Kitchen garden tips

A very nice and useful Grandma's Kitchen garden tips, sent by Brig Thygarajan, obtained from the 'Deccan Herald'

======================= Kitchen doctor’s happy home

Radhika D Shyam

Deccan Herald ======================= Your kitchen, besides being the factory of all your yummy snacks and delicious food, is also a storehouse of many cures for various ailments.

The following remedies can be easily made from ingredients found in the kitchen. They work wonders, so go ahead and try these magic potions: 1. No more knee pain for grandma This household drink when taken regularly has proved to take care of mild and moderate cases of arthritis and similar non-specific joint pains. Ingredients: 100 gm methi seeds (fenugreek) 50 gm whole jeera (cumin seeds) 5 gm black pepper corns Method: Roast the above three ingredients together, just enough to facilitate easy grinding in a mixer. Cool and store in an air-tight bottle or container. Take 5 gm of this powder and boil it with 1 cup of whole milk for 5 minutes. This can be had with or without straining and with or without sugar. In case of diabetes, this drink can be sweetened by adding the leaves of Abrus Procatriousm commonly used by paan walas as a sweetening agent for their ‘meettha paan’ (betel leaf). It is not only safe but also takes care of respiratory problems. 2. TO TAKE CARE OF ACIDITY Ingredients: 1 inch piece ginger 1 clove 1 cardamom ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder A few coriander leaves 10-12 jasmine flowers (optional) Method: Mix the above ingredients in 1 ½ cup of water till it is reduced to 1 cup and then strain. This drink can be had warm or cool, for immediate relief. This is aromatic and very cooling. 3. STOMACH AILMENTS: Cure for pain, indigestion, constipation or diarrhea: Ingredients: 1 teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek) 2-3 mint leaves juice of half a lemon a pinch of pepper (optional) Method: Soak the methi seeds in a glass of water overnight or for 3 hours at least. Heat this water with the methi seeds and remove from flame as soon as it begins to boil. Cool and add mint leaves, lemon juice and pepper. 4. FOR HIGH LEVELS OF CHOLESTEROL LEVELS: Ingredients: 3-4 flakes of garlic 1 glass water Method: Crush garlic with hand on any hard surface along with the peel. Rinse these and soak in a glass of water, overnight. This water should be strained and given to the affected person – first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It lowers the cholesterol levels within a month. This garlic-water taken everyday keeps the problem in check 5. FOR DIABETES: Ingredients: 100 gm wheat flour 100 gm gum (of tree called ‘gondh’ – available with traditional grocers) 100 gm barley 100 gm black onion seeds (kalunji) Method: Put all the above ingredients in 5 cups of water. Boil it for 10 minutes and put off the fire. When it becomes cold, filter out the seeds and preserve the water in a glass jug or bottle. One small cup of this water should be consumed every day early in the morning on an empty stomach. This is to be continued for 7 days and to be repeated the following week but on alternate days, for a definite reduction in sugar levels. All the ingredients for the above mentioned remedies are cheap, easily available, non-toxic, non-addictive and healthy. There are no problems of the dates of packing or expiry. And most mportantly, they cause no side effects.