Tips and FAQ for composting

   
Tips:

• Add half cut lemon to pile which keeps flies away.
• Add a spoon of buttermilk/curd/cow dung to make process fast.
• Avoid cooked food if you are composting at home to avoid smell,it will also make process slow.
• Pile should be moist (not soggy or dry). If its dry add more vegetables and if its too wet add dry leaves/cocopeat . Simple logic to keep your compost healthy.
•  Break material in small pieces to make process faster.
• Add both dry and wet in same quantity by volume.
• If citric fruits added more then you can add 1 to 2 spoon of baking soda in pile ,it reduces odor.
• Try to avoid ripe papaya ,watermelon pieces they release lots of water which can make pile wet. If added then add extra more dry items(dry leaves,sawdust/cocopeat).
• Wet waste (fruits veggies) takes 2 to 3 days time to release water,so if you see your pile is dry on first days don't add water they will get moist soon.
• Any time when you see your pile getting wet ,add more dry leaves/sawdust (Its mean pile has less carbon and more nitrogen,balance it right away).
• If there are many flies in compost bin,add 1 spoon of turmeric and salt mix.You can also add neem powder if available.I tried turmeric and salt mix ,it really works very fast.

      Below tips are from Sushmita Franklin ,who is doing composting for last 10 years.

• If you make the traditional hair wash by boiling reetha, Amala and shikakai then the remains after straining the water are best for compost as they keep away the bugs including the cotton bugs in plants.
• Recently I have seen fresh peas in the market. They are sweet and juicy and the shells are excellent for composting. They somehow make the entire compost dry and ready in half the time. Every year I buy several kilos and use the shells in 3-4 pots half filled and I get excellent compost. Peas I blanch,dry and freeze.

FAQ:

1).What is composting?
Ans. Composting is a natural process that occurs in your garden and in the countryside. It is nature's way of recycling all organic material. By composting at home you are encouraging this natural process and enriching your garden.

2). when you say holes, is on the sides or on the bottom of the pot? how to tackle the waste coming out of these holes?
Ans. I have one pot with hole on bottom and other on side which comes when we bought it from nursery. Holes are to provide oxygen. Sometimes you will see some liquid coming out,which is called 'Leachate' and it is very nutritious liquid for plants.I have kept one plate which we keep under any pot for plants.

3). Is this true that ' as adding food items can aid to growth of various infectious bacteria ' while doing composting at home?
Ans. No, This is a safe process and most sensible thing which someone can do at home to reduce garbage problem.At home add only uncooked food ,as it can lead to smell and make process slow.If you have correct amount of carbon, nitrogen n oxygen, no infectious bacteria at all,not even smell.
Will be adding more, work in progress.

Please see below link to check composting process at home.
How to do composting at home

Oats veggie delight

My hubby doesn't like sweet version of oats. One day  he asked me to make something which is full of veggies,spices and consistency should be like soup. I prepared this veggie Oats which was liked by him so much .

 Perfect breakfast recipe to start your day ,which is also easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 cup oats
1/2 cup curd (optional)
1/4 cup chopped spinach
1/4 cup  chopped coriander leaves
3 to 4 garlic cloves
1 tomato
1 green chilly
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp oil
2 cups of water/as needed
Salt as per taste

Method:
1) Heat oil in a pan.
2) Add cumin seeds and chopped green chilly.
3) Then add chopped tomato,salt and turmeric. Cook for 1 min.

4) Then add chopped spinach and coriander leaves.Saute for 20 to 30 sec. Here you can add more veggies of your choice(grated carrot,beans etc).

5) Mix oats with curd and water, add this mixture to pan or you can add them separately. Sometimes I don't add curd,that's optional.

6)  Cook for 2 to 3 min on medium flame.
7)  Add more water if required ,it gets thicker as it cools.
8) Once cooked ,switch off the flame and serve hot.

Related Post:

Oats Veggie Pancake

Roasted Tomato Chutney

Easy to make chutney which goes well with pakoda,samosa,kachori,dhokle etc. We love to eat this with Alu /any other stuffed paratha.

Ingredients:
2 tomato
2 green chilly
Handful of  coriander leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
6 to 8 garlic cloves
Salt to taste(I love to add black salt but that is optional)

Method:
1). Roast tomato on gas stove or in oven.

2). Peel outer layer and chop roasted tomato.
3). Now mix everything ,chopped green chilly,tomato,coriander leaves,garlic and salt.
4). Blend them together to make chutney.
5). Your yummy chutney is ready.

Matthe ke aloo/potato in buttermilk soup

No vegetables in fridge, bored of cooking,want something which is easy to make with no time.Here is the simple ,delicious recipe which can be served with rice/chapati. My family's favorite,we make it when we want to eat something special. 

Once I served this to one of my American friend , he said 'ohh its potato in buttermilk soup',I laughed and said 'yes'.Story behind any dish, makes it more delicious.

I just love this recipe,when I can't think of anything I cook this.

Ingredients:
3 to 4 medium size potato (boiled and peeled)
1 cup curd/2 cups buttermilk
1 tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ajwain/carom seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 to 3 red chilly
Salt as per taste
Add red chilly powder if needed

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Add cumin seeds,mustard seeds,carom seeds/ajwain.

3. Once seeds begin to splutter , add red chilies.You can also add chopped green chilly.

5. Saute for few seconds then add chopped boiled potatoes ,salt and turmeric. Mix well.

6. Cook for 1 to 2 min,meanwhile add 2 cups of water in curd and whisk it well to avoid any lumps.

7. After cooking  potato for 2 to 3 min.Add  buttermilk. Cook on medium/slow flame for 10 to 15 min,saute occasionally. Don't worry ,the buttermilk will start splitting. Let it cook well.

8. Once its cooked well. Switch off the flame and serve with chapati/rice.

Please leave your comments/feedback if you like this recipe.

Eggless Wheat-oats banana cake

I think I just baked the very famous gulgule recipe. Gulgule is very famous in MP. They are sweet pakoda made up of wheat,jaggery,coconut,milk and fennel seeds which gives it unique taste.
I had some overripe banana so thought of making healthy cake,no sugar,no APF and little butter/oil. Something I had in mind like I have to use oats,wheat,jaggery. Wheat and jaggery the first thing comes in mind is gulgule (I love them so much but they are deep fried so avoid making).So I added wheat,jaggery,coconut  in banana cake to give gulgule flavor.Other thing which makes gulgule so tasty is fennel seeds,so added fennel seeds as well.
 I was so afraid that its going to be a disaster,but when we tasted,it was just awesome. In each byte a new flavor and you can eat as much as you want ,its full of nutrients.
First I called  it  'half an half oats banana cake' ,see the measurements you will know it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup wheat flour + 1/2 cup oats  -flour
1/2 cup dates + 1/2 cup jaggery      -Sweetness
1/2 cup grated coconut + 1/2 cup chopped walnuts  -nuts
2 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp baking soda + 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup curd + 1/2 cup milk (+ as needed)
2 small bananas
Few drops of vanilla/rose essence.(I used rose essence)
1/4 tsp of fennel seeds(optional but try it once)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degree C.

2. Add yogurt ,baking powder and baking soda. Mix to remove all the lumps and to form creamy texture.Leave mix for 5 minutes.Later you will see bubble formation as shown below.

 

3.  Heat butter in a pan and add jaggery and chopped dates. Add 1/2 cup milk to this.Press dates using spoon.Cook until jaggery melts and dates get softer.It may take 2 to 3 min,then keep  aside and let it cool.

4.  Add this jaggery,dates mixture  and rose essence/vanilla essence to curd mix. Whisk well to avoid any lumps.

5. Mix  wheat flour and oats.Add flour mix slowly to wet mix (step 4) .Mix well.Add  milk if needed.

6. Then add mashed banana,coconut and chopped walnuts and fennel seeds. Mix them so that they combine well.

7. Transfer batter into baking tray. Bake for 30 to 35 min in preheated oven at 200 degree C.

8. Allow cake to cool for 10 min ,then enjoy eating yummy cake.

Thanks for visiting,please leave your comments here if you like this recipe.

Related Posts:

Eggless Papaya walnut cake

Eggless Carrot walnut cake

Apple pie with crumble topping

Watermelon rind halwa/pudding

तरबूज के छिलके का हलवा

Working hard on waste management in society. Trying new practices how we can reduce waste.Doing composting at home for more than an year and encouraging people.When we eat watermelon throw a large amount of Watermelon rinds which contains vitamins. So started making different varieties of dishes out of rinds.
After trying out watermelon rind  curry and watermelon rind raita,here is the dessert recipe. Ohhh I just loved this halwa.

Ingredients:

2 cup grated watermelon rind

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar(+ as needed)

3 to 4 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

1. Peel only hard layer of rinds and grate them.

2. Heat ghee in a pan and add cardamom powder.

3. Add grated rinds and mix well.Saute and cook for 5 min.

 4. Add milk and let it cook until all milk get absorbed.It may take 10 to 15 min on medium flame.Saute occasionally.

 5.  After this I too added some pieces of watermelon that is totally optional.You can see some red color watermelon pieces in below image.Cook for some more minutes until mixture start releasing ghee.

6. Then add sugar.Cook until all sugar get dissolve and you see nice transparent color.

7. Garnish with chopped dry fruits. The yummy halwa is ready to serve.

Related post:

Watermelon Rind curry

Watermelon rind raita/dip

Watermelon Cooler

Watermelon Rind Raita/dip

We throw a large amount of watermelon assuming watermelon rind as waste.My mom use to make 'curry' using these rinds. I started doing more experiments with these rinds and its now a free vegetable in my kitchen.

I love all kind of raita (boondi,lauki,cucumber,beetroot,vegetable,fruit),whenever I go restaurant the first thing I order is raita. After making rind curry,I tried raita and it also liked by everyone.
Make use of rinds don't waste them,they have lots of health benefits,good for your skin,immunity and many more.

Ingredients:

1 cup grated watermelon rinds
1.5 cup curd
1 tsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin powder
10-12 curry leaves
Salt as per taste
Pinch of Asafoetida (heeng)
Coriander leaves for garnish
Water as required

Method:
1. Peel only hard layer of rinds and grate them.

2. Heat oil in a pan.

3. Add heeng,then cumin seeds,mustard seeds.

4. Once mustard seeds begin to splutter , add chopped green chilly.

5. Saute for few seconds then add grated rinds ,salt and turmeric. Mix well.

6. Cover with lid and let it cook for 5 min.

7. Saute in between and cook for some more minutes.Once it get cooked,switch off the flame.
8. Mix curd and water,whisk well to make it smooth. Add water to desire consistency.
9. Add cooked rinds and cumin powder in curd.

10. Garnish with coriander leaves.
                                                           

Related links:
Watermelon Rind curry



Watermelon rind halwa/pudding

Watermelon Cooler

Methi masala baati stuffed with peas

Sunday's brunch menu: methi thepla with roasted tomato chutney and my daughter's favorite masala peas.My brother in law and I love baati very much so thought of making some baati with thepla dough.I do make some potato masala stuffed baati whenever make daal baati.This time stuffed them with peas masala.When my hubby had these stuffed baati,  he said 'lo kr lo baat....ise kehte hain dish'.
Let me tell you he won't approve any dish for blog if he doesn't like it.
Here is the recipe of Masala baati made with thepla dough stuffed with spicy peas filling.They are so delicious.Can be served in breakfast/tea time snack/starter. Even one can eat in lunch/dinner.If trying this for dinner or lunch then eat with simple kadi.

Got a punchline for this recipe"Gujratnu thepla visited MP/rajasthan and punjab,came with a new look".
I learnt thepla from my gujrati friend(Avanti)  whose recipe I was trying. My friend Shweta who got married in a punjabi family makes best peas paratha and I love making Baati. When these three recipes combined made a delicious fusion.

Ingredients:

1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup besan/gram flour
1/2 cup fenugreek/methi leaves
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp oil/ghee
1/2 cup curd
Salt as per taste
1 Water (+as required)

For Stuffing:
1 cup peas
2 tbsp besan/gram flour(roasted)
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp chilly powder
2 tsp amchur powder/lemon juice.
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chilly(chopped)
1 tsp oil
Salt as per taste

Method:
1. Wash and chop methi leaves.
2. Mix wheat flour,besan,salt,turmeric powder,grated garlic and methi leaves. Mix oil well into mixture using fingers.




3. Mix curd and water.

4. Using little water,curd mixture at a time make a soft tight dough.

5. For stuffing,add oil in a pan.
6. Add cumin seeds and green chilly.
7. Once seeds start crackling  add peas and salt. Cover lid and cook for 5 min.

8. Then add chilly powder,cumin powder and amchur powder/lemon juice.
9.  Once peas cooked completely (cook for 4 to 5 min),turn off gas.
10. Let it cool for some time and grind it to a paste.
11. Now add roasted gram flour/besan and keep mixture aside.Flour is optional.

12. Divide the dough in equal parts,make round balls.
13. Roll out each portion to a small circle. Keep filling in middle and bring together all the sides and  seal it tightly. Make a round again.

14. Bake them in a preheated oven at 200 C for 15 min then turn the side and bake opposite direction for 10 min. Make sure both sides turn golden and baked properly.

15. Once they are baked properly get them out from oven. Let them cool for some time.
16 Then devide them into half and sprinkle some ghee over both parts.