HOW TO MAKE GAJAR KA HALWA ( CARROT HALVA): EASY AND TASTY RECIPE

CARROT HALVA OR GAJAR KA HALWA

This is a delicious dessert which is very healthy too; it is good for the eyesight and to strengthen the body and immune system. Traditionally in Pakistan it is given to strengthen the heart and its functions. You should use tender young carrots though, not old woody ones.

CARROT HALVA

Ingredients

1 kg carrots, cleaned and grated

2 green cardamom seeds, crushed

2 tbsps butter

100 gr dried dates, stoned and cut into small pieces

50 gr sultanas

2 tbsps honey

1 glass sugar

2 tbsps rose water

1 litre milk

Method

Steep the dried date pieces and sultanas in hot water for ½ an hour.

Melt the butter in a pan and put in the cardamom seeds for a minute. Add the carrots and cook for 5 – 7 mins.

Now add the milk and stir well then when the milk begins to boil, add the sugar and honey. Stir well to mix, cover and cook for 10 mins.

Remove the lid and add the dried fruit and rose water, stirring well to mix.

Turn the heat down to low and stirring continually; cook until the carrots are tender (about 20 mins).

Remove from the heat and serve hot or cold.

You can garnish this with coconut and cut it into wedges if you like.

Desiccated coconut and chopped peanuts can also be added to this with the dried fruit for a more interesting flavour.

If you drink hot milk with this carrot halva it is very good for the stomach and the digestive system.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

WHAT IS KAMPILLAKA OR KAMALA? THE MONKEY FACE TREE: HEALTH BENEFITS AND USES OF MALLOTUS PHILIPPINENSIS

MALLOTUS PHILIPPINENSIS, KAMALA, MONKEY FACE TREE

Mallotus means ‘fleecy’ and this name was given this tree because of the hairs on its fruit. It is sometimes erroneously called the Monkey Puzzle tree, but this is the usual name of the genus Araucaria araucana, which is unrelated to Mallotus philippinensis. As its name suggests it is a native of the Philippines, and also of India, Pakistan, Myanmar, China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Australia. In some parts of the world for example in India it grows to a height of 10 metres, but in other parts of the world, it grows to a height of 20 metres.  

   It has been used in traditional medicine since at least 1000 BC and is mentioned in the ancient Indian medical texts. Traditionally it is used to get rid of intestinal worms and is one of the best herbal remedies for this. This has been shown to be the case by modern medical research which has also vindicated other traditional uses of this tree. All parts are used and in recent years the stems and flowers, as well as the fruit have been tested for their medicinal properties.

  The leaves are pounded into a paste and applied to wounds and they have maturant properties, this means that they draw pus out of wounds. It would seem that the fruit is used most, in traditional medicine, although research has shown that the flowers and bark have useful properties too.

  The tree is an evergreen which flowers in February and March, and the white flowers die to turn into fruit covered with a layer of crimson hairs. One study conducted by K Moorthy et al and published in 2007 concluded “Test results would tend to corroborate the folk belief that the flowers of this plant are efficacious against respiratory infections and would justify its further investigation.” The same study also stated that the bark “may be used for treatment of several infectious diseases.” (“Phytochemical screening and antibacterial evaluation of the stem bark of M. philippinensis var.Tomentosus” 2007)

  The fruit has undergone numerous studies and it has been found to contain many acids which are listed below with their properties.

·        Gallic acid: this has anti-inflammatory properties as well as being antibacterial.

·        Caffeic acid: has the same properties as gallic acid and is also an anti-fungal agent.

·        Ferulic acid: this has anti-inflammatory and antifungal properties.

·        Cinnamic acid: is an antifungal and anthelmintic and also gives protection against infections by pathogenic micro-organisms.

·        Salicylic acid: this is an antipyretic and can be used externally as an antiseptic and antifungal for a variety of skin problems.

It also contains chlorogenic, vanillic and o-coumaric acids.

  In Ayurvedic medicine the leaves are used for their bitter, cooling properties and to increase the appetite. The fruit is used as a purgative (too much of it causes vomiting and nausea) for its wound healing qualities, as a maturant, a carminative (it gets rid of the problems of flatulence) an alexitic (a substance which resists poison and a preservative agent used against infectious and contagious diseases) and is used in cases of bronchitis and other respiratory diseases and for stomach problems which includes enlarged spleens. It is also believed that it gets rid of stones in the kidneys and other organs.  The powdered fruit is also used to cure eye diseases and to remove tapeworms from the intestines.

  The oil from the seeds and fruit is used as a hair-fixer and added to ointment, while the remains or seed cake after the oil has been extracted is used as fertilizer. As the roots can also yield a dye for wool and silk (orange-brown) no part of the tree is wasted. Even the trunk or stem can be made into paper and this is the required quality for writing and printing paper.

  The tree and its parts contain bioflavonoids, saponins which are glycosides that have anti-inflammatory properties, and all the parts especially the fruit have potent antioxidant properties, which might be why it is used as an aphrodisiac in some cultures.

  The Monkey Face Tree, Mallotus philippinensis, clearly has many health benefits for us as modern medical research has borne out.

YELLOW HIMALAYAN RASPBERRY: MEDICINAL BENEFITS AND USES OF YELLOW HIMALAYAN RASPBERRY

YELLOW HIMALAYAN RASPBERRY, RUBUS ELLIPTICUS

The Yellow Himalayan raspberry is a shrub which is native to the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Vietnam, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and the Philippines. It has become naturalized in Australia, Hawaii, the West Indies, tropical Africa and tropical South America. In Hawaii it is an invasive species. It grows in a straggly way to reach about 3 metres tall and has toothed, wide leaves with hairs on them and the stem has prickles. It is, as the name suggests, a yellow raspberry, and a close relative of the red raspberry and the blackberry or bramble (all of which are members of the rose family of plants), so it will come as no surprise to know that it tastes very like a red raspberry. It has white flowers which having been pollinated, produce yellow berries. In Pakistan it is used as a living hedge and goats feed from the leaves and fruit if they get to it before people do.

    The fruit has laxative properties, and is used in traditional medicine in Tibet for a number of purposes. The whole plant has astringent properties and has been used to reduce fevers, especially typhoid. The inner bark of the Yellow Himalayan Raspberry is used as a kidney tonic and an anti-diuretic. The juice extracted from the root has also been used for fevers, gastric problems (including infant colic when the young shoots are used too), diarrhoea and dysentery and the root paste, applied to wounds promotes healing. The fruit juice is also used to bring down the temperature of a fever and for colic, but is good for sore throats and colds too. The inner bark is said to help when the senses are weakening and when people have seminal or vaginal discharge. In summer it is used to promote sweating as a diaphoretic, and as a diuretic, and as the fruit is fibrous it aids the digestive processes.

  Modern scientific studies have found that an alcoholic extract of the root of the Yellow Himalayan Raspberry has antioxidant properties and antimicrobial ones. It was also shown to have anti-inflammatory properties when tested on rats in the lab. Ten new triterpenoid saponins have been found and research is continuing into this plant.

   Triterpenoids seem to decrease anxiety and improve the mental functions of mice when tested in a lab, and they help heal wounds by boosting the antioxidant activities in the wounded area.

AUTUMN OLIVE: MEDICINAL BENEFITS AND USES OF AUTUMN OLIVE

AUTUMN OLIVE, ELAEAGNUS UMBELLATA

The autumn olive tree is a member of the Oleaster family of plants, and is native to Asia including the Himalayan region, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, northern China and Japan. It is also known by many names including ghain, barnmerwa, kenoli and kancoli. In English it is also known as Japanese Silverberry, Umbellate Oleaster, and Autumnberry which it was named as by the US Department of Agriculture. In the States it is mostly viewed as an invasive species which is threatening native flora, and is classed as a “severe threat” in Kentucky and Tennessee. It was introduced into North America as an ornamental plant sometime around 1830, and its seeds, which are contained inside its red fruits or drupes, have been widely distributed by birds and foxes.

    It can grow to a height of between 3 to 5 metres, and have leaves that have silvery scales on the undersides. It has silvery white flowers which are funnel-shaped and fragrant, then, in the autumn the red berries make it a good food tree for birds. The fruit and seeds are edible and can be used in jam, jellies and preserves as well as eaten raw. The have a sour-sweet taste and are a little like pomegranate seeds, or perhaps like morello cherries. The fruit contains vitamins A, C and E, minerals, phosphorous, magnesium, calcium, potassium and iron as well as the essential fatty acids and bioflavonoids. It is also rich in the carotenoids, lycopene, which is currently of interest to medical researchers as it has exhibited possibilities as a deterrent to heart disease and cancers of the prostate, cervix, the gastrointestinal tract, and possibly ovarian cancer. (The lycopene content in the autumn olive fruit is 17 times higher than that in a tomato.) Other carotenoids the berries contain are B-carotene, phytoene, and a- and b-cryptoxanthin. The fruit also contains malic acid like the crab apple and when fully ripe has glucose and fructose present.

   When under-ripe the fruit has astringent qualities, and in traditional medicine the flowers are used as a cardiac tonic, for their astringent qualities and as a stimulant. The seeds are said to be good for coughs, and the oil from the seeds is used to treat afflictions of the lungs.

   The berries can be dried and stored to use in fruit teas or tisanes, and the flowers can also be made into a tisane with the leaves. However as little research has been done on this tree yet, it is advised that women do not take it when pregnant, as there is insufficient data on it as yet.

   The tree itself can be used as a hedge as it has thorns on its spurs and deters animals from trespassing. It also fixes the nitrogen content in the soil and is good as a nursemaid for less hardy plants such as young walnut trees until they become established. You can make a jelly with the fruit if you follow that given for Rowan berry jelly, although you do not need to use pectin.