MACADAMIA NUTS - HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES: BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH MACADAMIA NUT TOPPING RECIPE

MACADAMIA NUTS

The Macadamia nut trees are native to Australia and indigenous to the rainforests of south eastern Queensland and New South Wales. They were a staple food of the Aborigines for thousands of years before they were found by the “white fella” in the shape of Allan Cunningham in 1828.  They were named after John Macadam, a chemist and member of the legislative Assembly for Castlemaine, Victoria. (Yes, the 4X Castlemaine) as he was largely responsible for them being cultivated.

  The two types of macadamia nut trees that grow in Australia are the Macadamia integrifolia or the smooth-shelled macadamia nut and Macadamia tetraphylia, the rough-skinned nut. Where their territories meet there are hybrids of these trees.

  They can grow to height of between 30 and 40 feet and can spread almost as wide, so they are not small trees. The very hard seed casing is covered in a green husk which splits open as the nut ripens. M .integrifolia has creamy white flowers, while M. tetraphylia has cream to pink flowers, none of which have petals; they are more like the male catkins of the hazel tree.

  The macadamia tree was introduced into Hawaii in 1881 and was used for ornamental purposes and reforestation. It can produce fruit after five years of being planted although it is generally not commercially viable until the tenth year. The nuts take 6 to 7 months to mature after the flowers drop and have to be left to ripen on the trees; they are then dried to produce the nuts we buy.

  The shells can be used as mulch as can the husks, which also make good fertilizer, so nothing of the nut is wasted.

  You can eat them as snacks in the same way the Greeks eat pumpkin seeds or passé tempo, or they can be used in cooking, for desserts, or main meals. They were once marketed in something called “almond coffee” although now hazel nut coffee is more popular. Unfortunately if you have an allergy to other nuts, such as walnuts, pistachios and pecans you should avoid macadamia nuts too. They can be used for ice creams, salads, roasts and casseroles and the dish below is a good starter or vegetarian main course with a baked potato and broccoli.

  They are full of vitamins and minerals and contain all 8 essential amino acids, as well as non-essential ones, and have particularly potent antioxidant properties. They help balance the Omega-6 and -3 fatty acids in the body and are rich in potassium, phosphorous, iron, magnesium and calcium, and also contain selenium, zinc, and copper. As for vitamins they have some B-complex ones, vitamin A and a little vitamin C. They contain tocopherols and tocotrienols which are derivatives of vitamin E, as well as phytosterols, for example sitosterol.

  Because they are high in fibre, they help prevent constipation, diverticular diseases, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, piles and reduce the risk of bowel cancer. They have the highest known level of palmitoleic fatty acid, which is found in beneficial fish oils such as that from salmon and mackerel, and which is at an even higher level than in olive oil.

  The Australians have done and are doing several research projects on the health benefits of the nuts, including a dietary trial to measure the part they can play in the reduction of the risk of heart disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, cancer and related diseases. One project is investigating their antioxidant potential and another is trying to determine the effect of the nuts in protecting the brachial arterial wall which is associated with arteriosclerosis. They can act as modulators of the immune system and they may reduce the incidence of heart disease, according to earlier trials. They can also lower blood cholesterol levels.

  For some reason they are not as popular in Britain as they are in Australia, South Africa, the US and the rest of Europe, although I remember eating them as a child and loving their taste.

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BUTTERNUT SQUASH WITH MACADAMIA NUT TOPPING

Ingredients

1 cup double cream

2 tbsps sage, finely shredded

1 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced and cut into three pieces

6 oz feta cheese, crumbled

6 oz mozzarella, grated

½ cup freshly chopped macadamia nuts

Method

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 3/ 325° F / 165° C.

Grease a deep oven proof dish.

Whisk together the double cream, sage, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper.

Layer half the feta and a third of the mozzarella in the bottom of the dish, and then put a layer of squash and again the rest of the feta and another third of the mozzarella.

Now add another layer of squash and pour the cream mixture over it. Top this with the rest of the mozzarella and put in the oven.

Cook for 45 mins or until the squash can be pierced with a skewer or knife.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

 

WORMWOOD HERB - HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES: HOW TO MAKE WORMWOOD TISANE

COMMON WORMWOOD, ARTEMISIA ABSINTHIUM, AFSANTIN IN URDU

Common wormwood is, like rue one of the bitterest herbs and has gone down in literature as a synonym for bitterness or something which is disagreeable in the extreme. It gets the name Artemesium from the goddess Artemis who was also the Roman goddess Diana. Legend has it that she found the Artemisia herbs and gave them to Chiron the centaur so that he could practise medicine. The Greek word ‘apsinthon’ means without pleasure, which is probably a reference to wormwood’s bitterness.

  The plant has a tall flowering stem which can grow to 2½ feet tall and has silky white hairs on it and green-yellow flowers in July through to October. It likes shady places and is native to Britain, unlike the Roman Wormwood. Of all the wormwoods this Common one is the strongest and most bitter. It’s best to gather the tops when they are in flower and make a tisane with them, so you don’t become nauseous as you can if you make an infusion with the large leaves at the base of the plant. You can dry these flowering tops and store them for later use.

  Wormwood has been used in medicine for thousands of years and is mentioned in the Eber’s Papyrus, one of the oldest existing Egyptian herbals, dating from about 1552 BC. The ancient Egyptians used it for menstrual problems, for fevers, as a tonic and antiseptic. It was used by both Pliny and Dioscorides, who employed it to get rid of internal worms and for the digestion. In the Middle Ages in Europe it was used to remove tapeworms from the gastrointestinal tract. It is still used in parts of Italy today to stimulate the appetite, and in Pakistan it is used by the traditional healers, or hakims for liver problems, including hepatitis, to purify the blood, for jaundice, diabetes, skin diseases, to cure allergies, nausea and vomiting as well as a remedy for tetanus and as a brain tonic.

  The flowering tops have been preferred through the ages as they are not as strong or bitter as the rest of the plant, although the whole plant can be used. The base leaves which form before the stalk appears make a strong potion, and some of the old herbalists recommended these leaves for their infusions and tinctures. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that wormwood was an antidote for poisoning by toadstools, hemlock and bites from Sea Dragons. It is also supposed to be good for flatulence, and epilepsy as well as a wonderful digestive aid.

  There has been quite a lot of research done on A. absinthium, perhaps because of the notoriety it had in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries when it was used to make absinthe, the liqueuer that was subsequently banned in many countries. However it would seem that this infamy was undeserved, as it is neither a hallucogen nor addictive. However if you take an infusion of it the recommended daily dose is low, three wineglassfuls a day. It contains thujone which has a recommended daily dose of 3 milligrams and it should only be taken for a maximum of two weeks. Like the oil of the Chaste Tree, it contains pinene too.

  It may help patients with Crohn’s Disease, as it was reported in one small study that it has a “steroid-sparing effect” and improved the mood and quality of life of patients with that disease. It has potent antioxidant activities, and so research is underway to see if it can be used as a base for anti-cancer drugs. The freshly extracted volatile oil from the plant has anti-bacterial effects on some strains of bacteria, and it is effective against candida or thrush.

  It was believed that if wormwood was carried around the waist it would protect against harm, and it was used in psychic and spiritual work, to invoke benign spirits. The Physicians of Myddfai used it, mainly in combination with other herbs for a number of illnesses. Here are some of their remedies. The first is for fevers.

  “There are four kinds of fevers, deriving their origin from the summer, viz. latent fever, intermittent fever, ephemeral fever, and inflammatory fever. The fifth fever is typhus, and this kind proceeds from the brain. A latent fever is relieved by an emetic, a cordial, and cauteries. Thus it originates; from the over generating of tough humor in the stomach, from which results a distaste for food, and lassitude during summer. The mugwort, madder, meadow sweet, milfoil, hemp, red cabbage, and the tutsan, all these seven herbs enter into the composition of the medicine required. Whosoever obtains them all, will not languish long from a wounded lung, or need fear for his life. Any of the following herbs may be added thereto, butcher's broom, agrimony, tutsan, dwarf elder, amphibious persicaria, centaury, round birth wort, field scabious, pepper mint, daisy, knap weed, roots of the red nettle, crake berry, St. John's wort, privet, wood betony, the roots of the yellow goat's beard, heath, water avens, woodruff, leaves of the earth nut, agrimony, wormwood, the bastard balm, small burdock, and the orpine.

 Thy also believed in fasting and had different advice for each month; here is their advice for May: -

“Do not eat sheep's head or trotters, use warm drink. Eat twice daily of hart's tongue, fasting. Take a gentle emetic. Use cold whey. Drink of the juice of fennel and wormwood.”

They also thought that it would be beneficial as an antidote to a snake bite, (adders are the only native British snake)

 “For the bite of an adder. Mix the juice of the fennel, of radish, rue or wormwood, with oil, let the patient drink the same, or eat it.”

 The next remedy was for “ague” or fever, but the prayer or pater noster was to be said, perhaps in case the remedy didn’t work.

  “Drink the juice of rue in wine, swallow three grains of coriander, drink celery (apnium) in water, (sweetened,) and collect plantain whilst saying your pater noster, and drink it infused in wine and pepper. Take the juice of the mugwort bruised, the juice of the wormwood, and tepid oil. Then anoint your whole body on one side three days successively, and it will cure the ague for you cheap.”

  Apart from being used in the making of absinthe, which is seeing a revival in the 21^st century, it is used in Italian Vermouth and in bitters which are used to aid digestion and cure hangovers. It was also used before hops for brewing beer.

  Some superstitions about wormwood were about seeing your future spouse if you took marigold flowers, a sprig of marjoram, thyme and a little wormwood, dried them in front of a fire and ground them together to a fine powder which was sifted through a piece of lawn, then mixed this with virgin honey and vinegar, and anointed yourself with it before going to bed on Saint Luke’s day, invoking the saint with these lines

   “St Luke, St Luke be kind to me,

     In dreams let me my true love see.”

You would see your “true love.”

  It is an effective insect repellant, and this verse from Tusser’s “July’s Husbandry” (1557) illustrates this well.

  “While wormwood hath seeds get a handful or twaine

    To save against March, to make flea to refraine;

    Where chamber is sweeped and wormwood is strewne

    What saver is better (if physick be true)

    For places infected, than wormwood or rue?”

   If you put sprigs of wormwood in cloth in drawers or wardrobes, your garments won’t be attacked by moths or other insects.

  Wormwood has gone down in literature and is found in the Bible in the Book of Lamentations, Chapter 3 verse 19 as well as elsewhere, and is synonymous with bitterness and misery with gall so we get the phrase “wormwood and gall” in later literature. For example, Hamlet hears this speech of the actor laying the queen in the play within a play

  Player Queen: “O confound the rest!

                           Such love must needs be treason in my breast;

                           In second husband let me be accurst!

                           None wed the second but who kills the first!” 

Hamlet:            “That’s wormwood!” (Act 3 scene 2)

Dickens writing in the 19^th century also uses the phrase in “Martin Chuzzlewit” chapter 55 “I have summoned you here to witness your own work… because I know it will be gall and wormwood to you.”

  Wormwood preparations should not be used for young children, pregnant or lactating women, or people with severe liver or kidney diseases.

 

WORMWOOD TISANE

Ingredients

1 oz of the flowering tops of wormwood

1½ pints boiling water

Method

Put the herb in a pan and cover with the boiling water. Leave to steep for 10 minutes then strain and set some aside for later use.

Drink only a wineglassful for digestion, or to calm down. You might want to add honey or other herbs to this, as it is bitter, but warming and aromatic. 

This has Taste and is a Treat(ment).

SNOW LOTUS: SPECTACULAR SNOW LOTUS - AN AMAZING HERB

SNOW LOTUS, SAUSSUREA LANICEPS AND OTHERS

Saussurea laniceps is the white snow lotus pictured here. There are twelve types of Saussurea which grow in China and Tibet and they are used in traditional medicine. They have been used for centuries but now there are environmental concerns regarding the use of Saussurea laniceps and medusa (the purple one pictured here). Saussurea laniceps and S. medusa grow at heights over 13, 000 feet.

  One of the problems is that tourists are picking them and taking them home as souvenirs of their trip, and as these plants are not fully protected, they are not breaking the law. They are protected only, it would seem on a sacred mountain in Tibet. The plants are harvested for their flowers, and so these are picked before the seeds appear, which means that the plants can’t propagate. The plants only flower once in a lifetime, so this is really bad news for their chances of survival.

   They are used for menstrual problems, headaches and stomach aches as well as to treat arthritis. In Tibet the flowers are combined with green tea to make Tibetan Taiyang green tea with snow lotus. In Tibet you can see the dried plants hung up in shops, ready to be sold either for medical use or to tourists.

   The Chinese are attempting to try sustainable harvesting of the plants and flowers, and are using Saussurea involucrata rather than S. laniceps as this grows all over China whereas the white S laniceps only grows in Sichuan, Sinkiang and Qinghai provinces. The plants are used medicinally and in cosmetic preparations. However the Chinese say they are beginning a programme and hope “with careful picking of the plants to ensure maintenance of the future supply of the herb.”

   There are 12 species of this plant in China and Tibet, but clinical trials have shown that S. laniceps has the most potent anti-nociceptive effect (which means it can inhibit messages from the brain telling the nerves that they are painful) followed by S. involucrata and the most potent anti-inflammatory properties of the three plants mentioned here. It would seem that all three possess different compounds which support their different uses in traditional medicine. New sesquiterpenoids and glycosides have been isolated from these plants and medical trials are continuing. They have antioxidant activities which come from the phenolic compounds and flavonoids found in the plants.

  Botanists have studied the wild plants, the plants in the protected area and those in Botanical Gardens around the world and have compared data which show that in he last hundred years, the S. laniceps has decreased in height by four inches. This has been ascribed to the fact that the larger plants have the largest flowers, so these are harvested, while only the smaller plants (with smaller flowers) are left to propagate. This could be really bad news for their continued survival, but as modern medical science advances, so other alternatives may be found for the cures these plants are used for currently.

BUTTERCUP ( CROWFOOT) - HISTORY OF USES - BEWARE OF BUTTERCUPS

BUTTERCUP, CROWFOOT, RANUNCULUS FAMILY

Buttercups are also called Crowfoot and are a common sight in Britain and the rest of Europe as well as the other continents, with different members of the family sprouting in waste land, meadows and lawns. They are names Ranunculus in Latin as a reference to the fields and meadows in which they are so often found. The buttercup family includes the Greater and Lesser Celandines, clematis, wolfsbane and larkspur.

  They grow along with daisies and are often found on lawns in Britain. As a child I liked to pick the flowers and hold them under people’s chins to see if they liked butter. If they did the colour of the buttercup would be reflected on their skin.

  Animals tend to avoid buttercups because they have an acrid taste and contain a poisonous toxin, protoanemonin which is a potent irritant and causes mouth ulcers and inflammation. Canny beggars in Europe used to use the buttercup to raise blisters and keep the sores open in order to attract more sympathy, and of course, money.

  In 1784 a Mr. Plunkett used buttercup leaves as “cure” for cancer. They are supposed to be effective if made into a plaster and put on the forehead to relieve a headache, and were also used to cure gout. The juice from Ranunculus acris the Meadow Buttercup was used to remove warts.

Corn Buttercup

  Ranunculus arvensis, the Corn Buttercup was thought to be extinct in Britain until it was discovered growing in Shropshire in July 2010. This one has a spiky seed head which gives rise to its names of Devil’s Claws and Hellweed. All buttercups produce around thirty seeds in each seed pod, and these, too are avoided by grazing animals.

  The yellow glossy colour of the buttercup is enhanced by the orange of its pollen and the colour attracts honeybees and other insects which pollinate it.

  Ranunculus bulbous contains a juice which provokes sneezing and this has been used to clear the sinuses and to cure some types of headache. This buttercup has a swollen bulbous part at the base of the stem, hence its name, and its juice can produce blisters if rubbed into the skin, so be careful next time you are tempted to pick a glossy buttercup.

DRUMSTICK TREE - TRULY AMAZING TREE: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF DRUMSTICK TREE: DRUMSTICK CURRY RECIPE

DRUMSTICK TREE, HORSERADISH TREE, BEN OIL TREE, MORINGA OLEIFERA

The Drumstick tree has some truly amazing properties, both medicinally speaking and ones that help people in their everyday lives in hot countries. It is not to be confused with the Monkey pod tree, which has similar pods also called drumsticks. It is native to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, although it now grows in tropical areas in Africa and South America.

   It is one of Nature’s marvellous medicine trees with every part good for something. The leaves are amazingly nutritious and it is hoped that they could be the answer to malnutrition, as they possess, gram for gram, three times as much potassium as bananas, seven times the vitamin C content of oranges, 4 times the amount of calcium in milk and twice the amount of protein in milk and eggs, and four times the amount of vitamin A found in carrots. The leaf powder which is given to children suffering from malnutrition and breast-feeding mothers to promote lactation contains all 8 essential amino acids. The fruit contains the minerals magnesium, calcium, iron, vitamins A and C as well as some B-complex ones. The bioflavonoids found in parts of the tree include kaempferol and quercetin.

  Apparently it was known and used by peoples of the ancient world, including the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians. The seeds are brown and triangular in shape, and are used to purify water in Sudan and Malawi, and their oil is also used in perfumes and hair care products. The oil can also be used as a salad dressing, or as lubricating oil. They may be eaten raw, and are said to taste like peanuts, or roasted or powdered and made into a tisane. They are also used in curry dishes.

  The trees can be used to make living fences, and the crushed leaves are used in households for cleaning purposes. The wood produces a blue dye; while the gum that exudes from the trunk when it is cut is has the same uses as tragacanth (gond katira) and the powdered seeds are used to clarify honey and sugar cane juice. The leaves are a good source of biofuel, and the flowers can be made into a tisane or eaten as a vegetable and added to sauces (in the same way as kachnar buds). They are also processed and made into effective pesticides. The young fruit are used as green vegetables and can be pickled while the older fruit are used in sauces. Paper can be produced from the wood pulp of the tree and the tree is also used for fuel, making good charcoal.

  Apart from having highly nutritious leaves, the fruit is also a healthy nutritious addition to a dish, but it also has some remarkable medicinal uses, some of which have been supported by medical research. For example the fruit has a hypolipidemic affect on the fats in the organs which are excreted. The tree has potent antioxidant qualities and seems to have anti-cancer potential, as well as being able to detoxify the body. It has antibiotic qualities as well as pain killing ones, can lower high blood pressure and has antibacterial properties.

  In the Ayurvedic system of medicine it is said to cure or prevent around 300 diseases and in India the seeds are used to cure impotency and erectile dysfunctions, and to prolong a woman’s sexual activity. Parts of the tree are used to maintain regular menstruation and it is thought of as a “Mother’s herb”. It is used to reduce inflammation caused by rheumatism and arthritis, and a paste is applied to the forehead to stop headaches and joint pains.

  It is used to cure obesity, for all types of skin problems, diabetes, fever, eye problems, digestive disorders, respiratory tract problems, including to clear mucus and to stop coughs. It is said to stimulate the blood circulation and the nervous system, and to prevent infections of various sorts.

  Medical research is still being done on this tree and all its parts, but given that the leaves are so nutritious, it seems clear that they should be used in powder form for those in developing countries suffering from malnutrition.

DRUMSTICK CURRY

Ingredients

12 drumsticks, peeled and cut into 5 cm pieces

4 onions, thinly sliced

6 green chillies, slit lengthways

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

oil or ghee for frying

tamarind (imli) pulp for 4-5 seeds

1 tbsp dry fried and ground cumin seeds

2 green cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed

1 tbsp coriander seeds, dry-fried and ground

1 stick cinnamon or pieces of cassia bark

1 tbsp turmeric (haldi), powdered

1½ inch piece of ginger root, peeled and finely chopped

a few curry leaves

1 tbsp lemon juice

½ pint coconut milk

 Method

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onions, garlic, ginger and chillies and fry for 5 mins.

Add the spices and cook for a further 3 mins.

Now add all the other ingredients apart from the imli pulp and half the coconut milk.

Cook over a low heat until the drumsticks are tender.

Add the tamarind pulp and simmer for a further 5 mins.

Add the rest of the coconut milk, bring to the boil and then remove from the heat and serve with roti, naan or plain boiled rice.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

WHAT IS SATTU - HOW TO MAKE SATTU AND SATTU DRINK

SATTU; A REALLY REFRESHING DRINK WITH A DIFFERENCE

Along with skanjveen, tukh malanga and gond katira, sattu is a deliciously different drink which is a great thirst-quencher for sweltering summer days. It’s lemon barley water Pakistani-style. 

You can also add ground yellow dhal (channa dhal) or use wheat instead of barley if you prefer. The recipe below is for fresh barley.

SATTU

Ingredients

100 gr barley seeds

To prepare the barley: -

Soak the barley overnight in water, then the next day, drain them and leave them to dry in the shade.

Heat a heavy-based pan over a low heat and add the dry barley seeds and dry fry them until they turn brown. Be careful not to let them burn.

Remove them from the heat and allow them to cool before grinding them to a fine powder.

You can store the powder in an airtight container until you are ready to use it.

Sattu Drink for 1 glass

1 tbsp sattu (prepared as above)

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

sugar to taste

water

ice

Method

Mix the sugar into the water well, add the lemon and sattu and mix together, add ice and serve.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

WHAT IS CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA? CHONG - OUR UNIDENTIFIED 'VEGETABLE': HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA: CHONG WITH MINCED BEEF RECIPE

CHONG, CARALLUMA FIMBRIATA

Chong or perhaps chonga is used as a vegetable where we are in Pakistan, although it is not well known in other places it would appear. It is a strange-looking thing when you first see it sitting in a greengrocers, or at leas, we thought so. Neither of us had any idea what it was, so the vegetable seller kindly informed us that this was chong (in Urdu). Apparently it is called danda thor in Punjabi. I wanted to taste it, whatever it was, so my husband spoke with the greengrocer, who called his wife to ask her how to cook it. Her recipe is given below.

  We have been trying to find out what it is called in English for about a year, and finally discovered that it is a succulent cactus, having found photographs online. We know what it is used for here in this part of Pakistan, but were surprised when we discovered that it is used for weight loss in the West. A friend told us that when he was younger he would pick this plant and eat it raw as he was walking as it stopped his hunger and quenched his thirst too. I later found that tribal people have used it for centuries to quell hunger on a day’s hunt.

  Our greengrocer says that it is good to purify the blood when it is eaten as a green vegetable (although it is bitter like karella or bitter melon, so the juice needs to be removed prior to cooking) and it is also good for skin problems and diabetes. It can be made into a pickle or chutney, but we have only eaten it cooked, as the juice is very bitter.

  It is a member of the Asclepiadaceae family, so is a relative of Indian sarsaparilla, and has star-shaped flowers which are unpleasantly pungent, but which are very attractive as they can be purple, black, yellow, tan maroon, red or black. Here they grow on the mountains although in India they grow more freely it would seem, on any patch of waste land. We didn’t see them in other parts of the Punjab, but that may be because the people of Lahore think they are too sophisticated to eat what other websites say is “famine” food. Here it is sold at the greengrocer’s when it is in season and it is expensive as, like kachnar buds and falsa it is picked by hand and those that pick it might have to spend a long time looking for spots in which it grows.

  Studies have been done which seem to prove that little chong is a great aid to weight loss diets, as it contains HCA10 (hydroxyaltrate) which has been proved to contribute to weight loss without stimulating the central nervous system as some weight loss drugs do.

It contains pregnane glycosides which appear to block the activity of citratelyase which is an enzyme that builds fat in the body and also it may block the activity of Melonyl Coenzyme A which means that fat formulation and build up is also blocked, so the body is compelled to burn off the fat reserves it has accumulated so speeding up the body’s fat loss. Furthermore these glycosides may inhibit the hunger sensory mechanism which is found in the hypothalamus, a “primitive” part of the brain.

  Chong also combats fatigue, so you can use it without feeling a loss of energy and you get lean muscle mass by eating it regularly. Trials reported weight loss after 1 month of taking capsules containing Caralluma fimbriata. Hopefully, when this is proved, people will start growing their own chong as I wouldn’t want to be deprived of this vegetable because it is a weight loss product for obese Westerners.

CHONG WITH MINCED BEEF

Ingredients

½ kilo chong

1 tbsp salt

½ kilo minced beef

2 onions, finely chopped

4 tomatoes, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 inch fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 tbsps lemon juice

1 handful of fresh coriander leaves, finely shredded

6 green chillies, finely chopped

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp ajwain or thyme

1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric (haldi)

8 whole black peppercorns

1 tbsp chilli powder

salt to taste

1 cup oil

Method

To prepare the chong: -

Wash the chong very well and separate the pieces, discarding the root. Pound it a little but not too much, then put one tablespoon of salt over it and rub it into the pieces of chong with you hands, so that it is well mixed into it. Leave this for half an hour to remove the bitter juices.

After half an hour, squeeze the chong to remove the excess juices. Then wash it in cold water two or three times so that all the bitter juices are removed. Put it in a strainer or sieve and leave to drip.

Cooking

Heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic, ginger, black peppercorns and cumin seeds, and fry them for 30 seconds then stir in the onion and fry this for 1 minute. Add the minced beef and green chillies, stir and fry for 5 minutes.

Pour in 1 cup of water the turmeric, ajwain or thyme, chilli powder, coriander seeds and salt to taste. (Remember that some salt will have remained on the chong, however well you washed it.)

Cook this until the water is gone, then add the chong and tomatoes, stirring well to mix. Cook this still stirring for 5 – 7 minutes.

Add 2 glasses of water the lemon juice and the garam masala, stirring to mix.

Cover the pan and let it cook for ½ hour over a low heat or until all the water has gone and the oil floats to the top.

Remove from the heat, and then add the fresh coriander, cover for a few minutes so that the flavours mingle and settle and serve with naan or chapattis.

To get the best out of this dish, serve with natural yoghurt.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

LEMONS - COOLING DRINKS, REMEDIES AND BEAUTY TREATMENTS

Handy Tips for Using Lemons

Lemons are exceedingly nutritious, and we can use them for things other than cooking. Here are some of the traditional uses for lemons and the leaves from the tree in Pakistan.

  Don’t throw away the peel, as for one thing you can get rid of any discoloured or rough skin on your elbows or heels by rubbing the lemon halves that you have squeezed into them.hhhjjj

   Mix the same quantities of lemon juice and salt, shake the mixture and use it to remove stains from cloth, including white clothes and tablecloths.

   Mix ¼ tsp of salt with 1 tsp lemon juice and rub it onto your teeth to whiten them. If you also rub this mixture onto bleeding gums, it will stop this problem.

   If you want your hair to shine, after washing and rinsing your hair, add some lemon juice to a little water, rub this onto your hands and run them through your hair, leaving it to dry naturally.

   If you have eaten burning hot food and have mouth blisters, put 1 tbsp lemon juice in 1 glass of water and rinse this around your mouth.

   If you have bad breath or a wound in the gums, mix1 tbsp lemon juice with 2 tbsps rose water and rinse your mouth with it - spitting it out and not swallowing when you have run it around your mouth for a while.

   If you have a sore throat, or hoarseness, mix 3 tbsps lemon juice which you have heated first, with a tbsp honey, and take some on a spoon and suck it over the course of a day.

  For this remedy you need four types of salt and dried lemon peel. You dry the peel in the shade, and when it has dried you grind it to a powder, and mix it with table salt, black salt, sea salt and lake salt (sambar in Urdu). Store this in an airtight jar and take a pinch after you have eaten so that you don’t suffer from indigestion or other stomach problems. This is very good for those who suffer with stomach pains in the lower abdomen region which lead to either constipation or diarrhoea.

Pakistani Lemons

  If you have a stomach pain, take the same weight of black peppercorns and fresh lemon leaves, grind them together and mix in water, and the pain will be relieved very quickly.

  When you get bitten by an insect such as a mosquito, rub lemon juice into the affected area to stop the itching and prevent lumps forming. You can also cover yourself in lemon juice to prevent being bitten.hhhhhhjj

  To prevent wrinkles and signs of aging of the skin, maze equal quantities or lemon juice, rose water and glycerine and put this on your face at night before you go to sleep. Wash it off as normal in the morning.

   If you have had a particularly hard day and need to get rid of the sweat and dirt, put 2 tbsps lemon juice in the bath and it will help remove the grime and body odour.

   Peel some lemons and break them into natural segments, then thread yarn through each piece and hang them to dry in the sun. When they are completely dry grind them to a powder then mix this with 4 times the weight of sugar or sugar and salt, and store the mixture in an airtight jar. Take a pinch after each meal to aid the digestion and make the stomach strong and healthy. It will stop nausea too.

   If you want a glowing complexion, mix 3 tbsp of milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice, and put it on your skin with cotton wool. Wash it off after half an hour and feel your skin glow.

  Of course if you cut a fruit such as an apple which discolours quickly on contact with oxygen, you can coat it with lemon juice so that it keeps its colour.

   Benefits of Skanjveen

Skanjveen is not just a refreshing drink but it has health benefits too as it can help those with jaundice and stop sickness and diarrhoea. If you want to prevent yourself getting these problems, drink one glass in the morning and one in the afternoon, and to make this drink more effective use misri rather than normal sugar.    

How to Store Lemon Juice

In a sterilized glass jar or bottle with a tight fitting lid, pour in lemon juice to almost the top, then add 1 or 2 tbsps of almond oil to cover the surface of the lemon juice. 

When you want to use the lemon juice, the oil will separate and should be poured into something clean. Use as much juice as you need to then put the almond oil back on top of it and make sure the top of the jar or bottle is securely fastened once again.

How to Make Lemon Sharbet

This will help you if you are on a weight loss diet, and is very refreshing on sweltering hot days, as well as cooling the body internally.

Ingredients

1 kilo sugar

½ litre fresh lemon juice

Method

Put sugar in a pan and add one glass of water to make a syrup. Stir well over a low heat until when you take a spoonful of the syrup and let it fall from the spoon it falls in one line. Then add the lemon juice, stir well and when the liquid boils remove it from the heat.(Don’t over heat or it will become sour.)

Let this cool and when cold bottle it and store for later use.

To drink: - 1 glass of water to 1 tbsp lemon sharbet over ice.

If you are on a weight loss diet, drink one glass every morning instead of breakfast.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

DAISY - EYE OF THE DAY - A BENEFICIAL LITTLE FLOWER

COMMON DAISY, BELLIS PERENNIS

This daisy is common on lawns in Britain as well as in fields, woods and at the sides of motorways. It is a low growing plant with white petals that are often tipped pink, hence another of its names, “strawberries and cream.” In Welsh it is called Llygadd y Dydd or Eye of the Day, which is what Chaucer, writing in the 14^th century, calls it,

   “Well by reason men call me

     The Daisie, or else Eye of the Day.”

In the Dark Ages, when there were no citrus fruits such as there had been in Britain in Roman times, oranges and lemons for example, daisy roots and leaves in a strong decoction were used to prevent scurvy and conditions which resulted from lack of vitamin C. However the strong decoction made from daisies for this purpose needs to be taken over a long period of time to be effective. It is not necessary today when grapefruit, pommelo and other citrus fruits are in plentiful supply.

  Gerard writing in the 16^th century called it Bruisewort as it was used for bruises and sprains, as mallow is more commonly these days. He recommended it for “alle kinds of aches and paines,” for curing fevers and for inflammation of the liver as well as “alle the inward parts.” In 1771 Dr. Hill wrote that an infusion of the leaves was good against “Hectic Fevers” and we know that in the 14^th century daisy was used in ointments for gout, wounds and fevers. The leaves have an acrid taste and cows and other animals avoid them as do insects, so the infusion was also used as an insect spray.

  An infusion of the flowers and leaves was given to alleviate rheumatoid arthritis and liver and kidney problems. The distilled water made from the plant was used for inflammation of the liver and kidneys.

  This European daisy is invasive in North America where the indigenous daisy is the Ox-Eye Daisy. In the US the common daisy is regarded by the USFDA as generally regarded as safe and there is a possibility that it might help in the treatment of HIV. When used with Arnica montana or wolf’s bane it can help bruising and trauma, and also, when the 2 are combined it can stop excessive bleeding after a woman has given birth. However, not much research has been carried out on this common little plant.

   The daisy symbolizes gentleness and is a favourite flower of children who love to make daisy chains with them. In the past these chains were hung around young children’s necks to stop faeries taking them and leaving changelings in their places. The chain itself symbolizes the sun, earth and circle of life, so they must be joined when the chain is long enough to be worn around the child’s neck.

   People used to like to have daisies in the garden to keep malevolent faeries away from their homes. Daisies are often used by young people who imagine themselves to be in love, as they pluck the petals from the daisy one by one while saying “He loves me, he loves me not” until the last petal has been plucked, so showing whether or not the object of their affections returns their love or not. There are other superstitions with rhymes in different countries in Europe, but all have a sense of the prophetic power of the daisy.

  The great Romantic poet, William Wordsworth wrote several versions of “To a Daisy” and here is the first stanza of one: -

 

“In youth from rock to rock I went
 From hill to hill, in discontent
 Of pleasure high and turbulent,
 Most pleas'd when most uneasy;
 But now my own delights I make,
 My thirst at every rill can slake,
 And gladly Nature's love partake
 Of thee, sweet Daisy!”

 

 

HART'S TONGUE FERN - INFORMATION: BENEFITS AND USES OF HART'S TONGUE FERN HERB

HART”S TONGUE FERN, SCOLOPENDRIUM VULGARIS, OR ASPLENIUM SCOLOPENDRIUM (LINN) OR PHYLLITIS SCOLOPENDRIUM

The Hart’s Tongue Fern is native to Europe and there is a variety of it in North America, Phyllitis scolopendrium var.americana which is smaller than the European variety. It’s a member of the spleenwort family, Aspleniaceae and grows in Asia too and parts of North Africa, and prefers moist, shady places. It can grow in woods and along river banks, as well as in walls. I have a vague memory of the leaves not having a pleasant smell when bruised, and I avoided the fern as a child because I didn’t like the waxy feel of its leaves which are shaped like the tongue of the red deer, or so it was thought, hence its name. Perhaps I didn’t appreciate it because it grew on damp walls on buildings I didn’t particularly like, such as public toilets.

   It was known to the ancient Greek physician Galen (c 130-210 AD) who is deemed to be second only of the ancient Greek physicians to Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine. He used it in remedies for dysentery and diarrhoea because of its astringent qualities, in an infusion, made from 2 ounces of the leaves to 1 pint of water. This was later used by medieval physicians to remove obstructions of the spleen and liver.

  Dioscorides, writing his Materia Medica in 1 AD remarked that the leaves tasted bitter, and recommended it being drunk with wine as an antidote to snake bites and for diarrhoea and dysentery.

   The fronds can be harvested in summer and dried for later use. If dried, it can be made into an ointment for scalds, burns and piles. It was one of the five great capillary herbs along with the maidenhair fern which is a common house plant in often growing in pots in British bathrooms.

  The mediaeval herbalists called it lingua cervina or deer’s tongue in their old herbals. Culpeper writing later, in the 17^th century says “It is a good remedy for the liver” and goes on to include its benefits to the spleen and “the heat of the stomach.” He continues: -

  “The distilled water is very good against the passion of the heart, to stay hiccough, to help the falling of the palate and to stay bleeding of the gums by gargling with it.”

  It has been used to ease gout, clear the eyes, heal fresh wounds (juice from the leaves) reduce fevers and to get rid of warts and pistules in early European traditional medicinal systems. It is mentioned in Michael Drayton’s (1563-1631) poem, Poly-Olbion, Song XIII, referring to its use for removing stones and gravel from internal organs, “hart’s tongue for the stone.”

  It has been the subject of some clinical trials which suggest that it may be effective for digestive disorders as Culpeper thought, and that it may increase production of urine as well as soften stools (as senna does) and it may stimulate the bowel to contract and empty (in which case it would be good for constipation and piles perhaps).

  The physicians of Myddfai had this recipe for remaining chaste, (not involving the chaste berry), presumably for a woman rather than a man.

  “If you would always be chaste, eat daily some of the herb called hart's tongue, and you will never assent to the suggestions of impurity.”

   Apart from having remedies for ailments, these old physicians also gave dietary advice and here is what they had to say for the

“Month of May. Do not eat sheep's head or trotters, use warm drink. Eat twice daily of hart's tongue, fasting. Take a gentle emetic. Use cold whey. Drink of the juice of fennel and wormwood.” It isn’t clear whether this refers to the herb or the deer’s tongue, but whichever, it wouldn’t have made much of a meal; an austere diet, to be sure, but one that was perhaps followed by the adherents of the physicians of Myddfai in Wales.