How To Make Sour Cream At Home

You find them in dips, you find them in dressings and you even find them in desserts. Sour cream has become our favourite relish, ever since we have gotten too familiar with the American and European cuisine. Used majorly as a condiment in culinary preparations hailing from Europe and North America, sour cream is traditionally used as a topping for baked potatoes, it also serves as a base for some creamy salad dressings, and used as a main ingredient in Chicken Paprikash or a Stroganoff.

Interestingly, sour cream also plays a key role in baking. American style doughnuts, biscuits and scones, all use sour cream as a significant ingredient.  Added in the baking mixture of cakes, and cookies, sour cream gives a distinct flavor to the sweet delights. One can also see a dollop of sour cream on top of waffles and with addition of strawberry jams. A characteristic Central American breakfast or Tex-Mex cuisine would always have serving of crema (a variant of sour cream) as a staple. However, in India the tangy relish is most commonly used as a base for various kinds of dips for chips, nachos, wedges or crackers. 

The traditional preparation of sour cream is drawn out by fermenting the cream that was skimmed off the top of milk on moderate temperature. The lactic bacteria developed in the fermentation process gives the cream its characteristic tang and thickness. With about 18 percent butterfat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, regular sour cream contains about 23 calories in one tablespoon.

Here’s how you can quickly prepare  sour cream for yourself at home for a nice Sunday brunch.

The fat around the tummy is the easiest to gain and sadly

The fat around the tummy is the easiest to gain and sadly, the toughest to shed. It is known as the visceral fat, and some amount of it is required to provide cushioning to the organs, but too much of it can pose a major risk to your health. Consultant Nutritionist Dr. Rupali Datta shares, “There is a strong co-relation between belly fat and cardiovascular

diseases. We have heard of apple and pear-shaped bodies. Those who are apple shaped have a considerable amount of body weight around the abdominal area and are at a higher risk of developing cardio-vascular diseases." There are a couple of factors that contribute towards belly fat and you need a combination of a good diet and regular exercise to get rid of the extra pounds. In some cases, the hidden reason for a bulging belly may be an unrelated factor like stress or sleep deprivation. Here are six secrets to losing belly fat that you may not have known.

Simply cutting down on your carb intake may not be sufficient.  You also need to look out for the Glycemic Index. Glycemic Index (GI) measures the impact of different food items on our blood sugar levels. Bangalore based Nutritionist Dr.Anju Sood  explains the consequences of having foods with a high glycemic index, “It is a matter of how you mobilize the fat you consume which will affect the visceral fat accumulation. The moment you load up on high glycemic index foods, your blood sugar levels spike up suddenly. This excess sugar would eventually be stored as fat, and result in a bigger belly. Low glycemic foods do not cause sudden sugar spikes, they delay your digestion and are also rich in fiber.” So, load up on  nuts, legumes and vegetables without starch  and steer clear of potatoes, white rice, white bread and sugary canned juices as much as possible.

Fiber take a long time to digest, hence it gives you the feeling of fullness and prevents you from binging on other high-carb foods. Consultant Nutritionist Dr. Rupali Dutta suggests, “You must include high fibre foods such as leafy vegetables and whole grains in your diet. Whole grains have a positive impact in maintaining satiety. Eat a lot of beans, brown or whole grain rice, nuts and dry fruits to maximize on your fibre intake.”

Most of our Indian meals are high on carbohydrates which may make you lose out on the adequate protein intake, but proteins are essential. There is a good reason why all nutritionists and fitness experts always stress on increasing your protein intake. It boosts metabolism, reduces your appetite and controls several weight-regulating hormones. High protein intake increases thelevels of satiety (appetite-reducing) hormones such as GLP-1, peptide YY and cholecystokinin, while reducing the levels of the hunger hormone called ghrelin.  Proteins take the longest to digest, which aids weight loss. Eggs, oats, broccoli, poultry, fish almonds and milk are great sources of protein.

Yes, you heard us. Shunning fats completely may not be the best idea as fats make up the majority of your cell walls andare instrumental in balancing hormones. Not all fats are bad, one must know the difference. Consuming healthy unsaturated fats like avocado, olive oil, coconut, fish and nuts and seeds, not only keeps you satisfied but also stimulates the fat-burning process in your body.  Dr. Sood recommends, “Around 15 to 20 percent of your calorie intake has to be fat, out of which 50 percent should be from visible origins (ghee, butter, and oil) and the remaining half from invisible origins which are already present in the food you eat. Recent studies have noted that you need to have 3 parts of poly-unsaturated fatty acids and 1 part of saturated fats for optimum health."

When you are sleep deprived and low on energy you automatically inch towards comfort foods that are high on sodium and carbs. Lack of sleep also slows down the metabolic activity.  The two hormones working in this process are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is the hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, your body produces more ghrelin . On the other hand, leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating. When you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin in your body. Increased amounts of ghrelin, and less leptin may lead to weight gain. Dr. Rupali says, “ You need eight hours of good quality sleep daily. People might argue that it is not essential, but sleep deprivation along with damaging your health, may also induce weight gain.”

Tried all possible exercises to lose belly fat but no desired results? You probably need to calm down. Stress induced weight gain is becoming a popular phenomenon these days, and a certain hormone called cortisol may be tagged as the culprit here.  Shilpa Arora, Macrobiotic Nutritionist and Health Practitioner, explains, “When you are tensed, the body releases cortisol as a result of which there is a rise in the insulin levels in the body. This results in a drop in the blood sugar level and that's why you crave high carbohydrate and sugary foods.” The body releases chemicals in response to the food you eat, which might have a calming effect, and this is how you may end up gaining those few extra and unwanted pounds around your belly in an attempt to beat stress.

How to Check if Your Honey is Pure or Adulterated

Honey can be a wonderful alternative to your refined sugar which is just a source of empty calories. This lovely ingredient made by nature can not only sweeten your life but it is also abundant in minerals, nutrients and living enzymes. If you want to enjoy the benefits of using honey, you must consider its purity before buying. The biggest problem with honey is its quality. It can be quite a challenge to find good, pure honey. Like many other food commodities, adulteration is common. It is easy to cheat you as commercial honey can often be mixed with glucose solution, high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients you may not even know about. Sometimes, when you open the jar of honey and hear a little 'pop' sound that could signal that the honey has been adulterated as some fermentation process may have take place inside it. 

The best quality of honey comes from bees and not factories and so, a good starting point would be to read the ingredient label. Look out for words like 'raw', 'natural', 'forest honey' or 'organic' - they may be safer than regular honey. But, since food regulations remain a bit dodgy, you can never be too sure and this may not be a foolproof way. So, can you really tell the difference between real and fake honey? To know the truth, test it at home. Here are some easy tricks to check its purity and ways to spot adulterated honey. 

Place a small amount of honey on your thumb and check if spills or spreads around like any other liquid. If it does, it may not be pure. Pure honey is thick while impure honey will be runny. Pure honey sticks to the surface it is applied to and doesn't drip away. Moreover, the taste of impure honey may linger due to the presence of added sugar.

Take a teaspoon of the honey and put in a glass full of water. Fake or adulterated honey will dissolve in the water while pure honey which has a more dense texture will settle right at the bottom of the glass as lumps. The same is the case with blotting paper or a white cloth. If you pour pure honey on the two, it will not get absorbed or leave stains. 

You may have not known this, but pure honey is inflammable. Although, we'll request to you observe utmost caution while performing this test and do it at your own risk. Take a dry matchstick and dip it in honey. Strike the matchstick against the matchbox. If it lights, your honey is pure. If it doesn't light, it may be adulterated and may also contain some amount of moisture added while contamination. 

Mix a tablespoon of honey, some water and 2-3 drops of vinegar essence together. If this mixture foams up, there's a very high chance that your honey may be adulterated. 

If you heat pure honey, it will caramelise quickly and not become foamy. But, in case of impure honey it may not caramelise and become bubbly on heating. 

A lot of the differences between pure and adulterated honey can also be identified just with the naked eye by examining its physical properties. Pure honey is dense and trickles only into a stream. It has a soft texture, will never separate into layers and offers a distinct sweet aroma. Raw honey, which is honey in its purest form, often leaves a slight tingling feeling or a mild burning sensation in your throat when consumed.

How to Make Ghee at Home

Ghee or clarified butter is one product that generates the most amount of familiarity as it is one of those essential elements that every Indian household possesses. It caters to a variety of usages on a daily basis. Personally, my encounters with ghee takes me back to the times i have spent with my grandmother, who never failed to incorporate ghee in almost everything i ate at her place.She never believed in buying processed ghee from the supermarkets, instead she used to enjoy the whole procedure of converting malai(white cream residue from milk) into desi ghee. My Grandmother used to explain numerous advantages of consuming ghee and also how to use it for different purposes, which i could never really understand back then but now it turns out that she was completely right. Let's dig in deep to see how!

We have always believed that ghee is fattening and it causes obesity and if you are trying to lose weight or trying to eat healthy then you need to remove ghee from your diet. Contrary to the belief, it is actually proven that ghee is an essential fat that is needed by our body. However, the consumption should only happen in moderation as excess of anything is harmful. Eating two to three spoons of ghee a day can give you energy and pump you up with all the essential nutrients. Plus it helps in pushing bad cholesterol away. So if you are planning to go on a diet and are thinking of eliminating ghee from your meals, think again!

Some of the benefits are listed below

1. Improves Digestion and Strengthens Immunity

It contains intestinal bacteria that help in converting fiber (from food) into butyric acid, which generates energy so much so that it can support the intestinal wall. It is rich in nutrients that are quite essential for the body like Vitamins A, D and E.

2. Suitable for People Who Are Lactose Intolerant

Although ghee is a by product of butter (churned out from milk) it is still suitable for people who cannot digest milk. This is because ghee's preparation involves removing all the milk solids which is responsible for causing indigestion.

3. Great Hair Conditioner

A common ingredient for oiling our hair entails the usage of either coconut or olive oil but few know that ghee deeply conditions the hair, which facilitates hair growth making it stronger and shinier. So ditch the coconut oil for a while and try nourishing your hair with ghee.

4. Hydrates and Brightens the Skin

Shelling a lot of money on expensive creams and toners? Ghee is the solution for you. It hydrates your skin, provides all the moisture your skin needs and also works wonders on dry and chapped lips. It brightens your skin and gives it a very natural glow.

Ghee is obtained by churning cream or malai (a residue of warm milk) followed by simmering the converted butter (by churning malai) on low heat, which produces milk solids that have to be sieved properly. After removal of the by-product, you get that almost transparent golden liquid, which is nothing but ghee.

If you are looking for a recipe, try Chef Aditya Fatepuria's method, which teaches us just how to make that perfect creamy consistency of ghee.

How To Lose Belly Fat

The fat around the tummy is the easiest to gain and sadly, the toughest to shed. It is known as the visceral fat, and some amount of it is required to provide cushioning to the organs, but too much of it can pose a major risk to your health. Consultant Nutritionist Dr. Rupali Datta shares, “There is a strong co-relation between belly fat and cardiovascular

diseases. We have heard of apple and pear-shaped bodies. Those who are apple shaped have a considerable amount of body weight around the abdominal area and are at a higher risk of developing cardio-vascular diseases." There are a couple of factors that contribute towards belly fat and you need a combination of a good diet and regular exercise to get rid of the extra pounds. In some cases, the hidden reason for a bulging belly may be an unrelated factor like stress or sleep deprivation. Here are six secrets to losing belly fat that you may not have known.

Simply cutting down on your carb intake may not be sufficient.  You also need to look out for the Glycemic Index. Glycemic Index (GI) measures the impact of different food items on our blood sugar levels. Bangalore based Nutritionist Dr.Anju Sood  explains the consequences of having foods with a high glycemic index, “It is a matter of how you mobilize the fat you consume which will affect the visceral fat accumulation. The moment you load up on high glycemic index foods, your blood sugar levels spike up suddenly. This excess sugar would eventually be stored as fat, and result in a bigger belly. Low glycemic foods do not cause sudden sugar spikes, they delay your digestion and are also rich in fiber.” So, load up on  nuts, legumes and vegetables without starch  and steer clear of potatoes, white rice, white bread and sugary canned juices as much as possible.

Fiber take a long time to digest, hence it gives you the feeling of fullness and prevents you from binging on other high-carb foods. Consultant Nutritionist Dr. Rupali Dutta suggests, “You must include high fibre foods such as leafy vegetables and whole grains in your diet. Whole grains have a positive impact in maintaining satiety. Eat a lot of beans, brown or whole grain rice, nuts and dry fruits to maximize on your fibre intake.”

Most of our Indian meals are high on carbohydrates which may make you lose out on the adequate protein intake, but proteins are essential. There is a good reason why all nutritionists and fitness experts always stress on increasing your protein intake. It boosts metabolism, reduces your appetite and controls several weight-regulating hormones. High protein intake increases thelevels of satiety (appetite-reducing) hormones such as GLP-1, peptide YY and cholecystokinin, while reducing the levels of the hunger hormone called ghrelin.  Proteins take the longest to digest, which aids weight loss. Eggs, oats, broccoli, poultry, fish almonds and milk are great sources of protein.

Yes, you heard us. Shunning fats completely may not be the best idea as fats make up the majority of your cell walls andare instrumental in balancing hormones. Not all fats are bad, one must know the difference. Consuming healthy unsaturated fats like avocado, olive oil, coconut, fish and nuts and seeds, not only keeps you satisfied but also stimulates the fat-burning process in your body.  Dr. Sood recommends, “Around 15 to 20 percent of your calorie intake has to be fat, out of which 50 percent should be from visible origins (ghee, butter, and oil) and the remaining half from invisible origins which are already present in the food you eat. Recent studies have noted that you need to have 3 parts of poly-unsaturated fatty acids and 1 part of saturated fats for optimum health."

When you are sleep deprived and low on energy you automatically inch towards comfort foods that are high on sodium and carbs. Lack of sleep also slows down the metabolic activity.  The two hormones working in this process are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin is the hormone that tells you when to eat, and when you are sleep-deprived, your body produces more ghrelin . On the other hand, leptin is the hormone that tells you to stop eating. When you are sleep deprived, you have less leptin in your body. Increased amounts of ghrelin, and less leptin may lead to weight gain. Dr. Rupali says, “ You need eight hours of good quality sleep daily. People might argue that it is not essential, but sleep deprivation along with damaging your health, may also induce weight gain.”

Tried all possible exercises to lose belly fat but no desired results? You probably need to calm down. Stress induced weight gain is becoming a popular phenomenon these days, and a certain hormone called cortisol may be tagged as the culprit here.  Shilpa Arora, Macrobiotic Nutritionist and Health Practitioner, explains, “When you are tensed, the body releases cortisol as a result of which there is a rise in the insulin levels in the body. This results in a drop in the blood sugar level and that's why you crave high carbohydrate and sugary foods.” The body releases chemicals in response to the food you eat, which might have a calming effect, and this is how you may end up gaining those few extra and unwanted pounds around your belly in an attempt to beat stress.

How to Grow Okra At Home

Okra, commonly known lady's finger or Bhindi in India, is a seasonal plant which belongs to the melon family and has beautiful flowers. The vegetable can be cooked and consumed in different ways. It is rich in vitamin C, vitamin K and vitamin A along with calcium and fiber. It is low in calories containing about 25 to 40 kcal per 100 grams and is mainly made up of water (90%), protein (2%) and carbohydrates (7%). You may have been buying this healthy and versatile green from your nearest grocery store but it can be easily grown at home. Let us show you how. 

It is suggested that okra should be planted during early summer months or the spring season in the coolest region of the garden (so that the seeds don't rot) for them to be harvested at the right time. The seeds of okra should be soaked in water for at least 12-18 hours allowing them to absorb the moisture before being sowed. Okra can grow in different types of soil but it must be fertilized well. The seeds should be sowed an inch deep in the soil and in rows that should be at a distance if 3 feet from each other. One should be careful with the distribution of the seeds so that they have enough space for their roots else they may not grow properly. 

After around 12 days, the seed will begin to germinate. The plants should be narrowed by tying them loosely to branches, 12 to 18 inches apart from each other, so that they grow straight upwards. Okra flourishes under a bright sun and requires proper sunlight at this stage. It also needs regular watering specially during the flowering stage. Okra is know to attract beetles and worms that can damage the plant. Therefore, measures like soil management and crop rotation should be undertaken to prevent diseases.

Within two months, the okra plant will mature and it takes up to 12 weeks for production. You should start harvesting okra after the bloom fades but don't take so long that it turns black and dies. You will know it is time to harvest when the seed pods are 2-3 inches long. Handle okra with care because it is a delicate plant and bruises easily. Pick the pods every second day, so that they don't get too tough and are still soft. It is advised to wear glows while picking the pods because they have spines irrespective of whichever variety of okra you have grown. 

It is suggested to wash the pods gently and let them dry for at least half an hour before you store them. The storage of okra is easy since it can be placed in a paper or zip lock bag in the refrigerator. Ideally, you should eat them within 3 to 4 days of harvesting to enjoy the freshness.  

How to Make Your Fruit Salad Deliciously Healthy in Your Diet

It's that time of the year when sunburns, dehydration, loss of appetite, mood swings and so on become a constant feature. Yes, we are talking about the severe summer months especially in the capital region. People often dread the approaching of summer. Well, who likes going out under the scorching sun, sweating profusely and tanning excessively? However, there's no need to crib. There are always two sides to a coin and summer too comes with its positives that outnumber the negatives it brings along. We just need to build on these positives to set our mood right.Swimming and pool parties, weekend getaways to the hills, cooling juices like honeydew lemon and watermelon, which are known to reduce body heat, are effective means to beat the heat. Apart from these, fruit salads come effectively to the rescue. Think summer and the first thing that comes to mind are refreshing fruits. With a great range of fruits available in the market, you could consume fruit salads as a coolant in the harsh summer months. Not only are they refreshingly delicious, but come with health benefits too.

It is essential to keep in mind the kind of fruits that could be utilised in a salad during summers. This is because several fruits have a tendency to blacken, rot and so on if exposed to long hours of heat. There is a huge list of summer fruits that form great salads topped with some of the most nutritious items from the food chart including nuts, seeds, yoghurt and others.

The most sought after summer fruit is watermelon. In fact it is the most ideal choice for a salad in the summer. Owing to its composition, it tremendously helps to keep the body temperature down. Mango, the king of fruits, is the most widely consumed fruit in the summer months. With vitamins and anti oxidants all packed into a single fruit, it is a healthy and delicious inclusion in a salad.

Berries too are a hot favourite for the burst of colour and flavour they add to a fruit bowl. Be it strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and so on, they are an excellent storehouse of antioxidants and fiber. They are known to reduce body inflammation. Litchi and plums are great seasonal contents for a refreshing summer salad too.

Looking for exciting ways to spruce up your fruit bowl? Well, to add to the flavour, you could tip in yoghurt, honey, fresh juices, nut butter and so on. It is observed that a majority of individuals consume their salad based on how good it looks. Diverging away from the "never judge a book by its cover" concept, this is a reality. Thus, some chefs recommend using colourful fruits along with interesting toppings, for instance. Another viable option would be to grill the fruits to lend a caramalised flavour to the salad.

Unique ways of serving could include placing the salad in a watermelon cover, pineapple or a hollow coconut. It simply adds character to the fruit salad and is more tempting. All you need to do is take the whole fruit, slice it into two and scoop out the flesh to make room for serving the salad. Today, there are a variety of edible flowers that can be added to a fruit salad too.

Thus, going with the current trend of being fit yet consuming food items that satisfy one's taste buds, fruit salads are the most suitable alternatives and must be incorporated in our daily diets for a boost of health.