Filter Coffee

Coffee is an addictive aromatic drink, the smell & taste of which makes it very hard to  say "No" for many people. The rising number of Coffee Shops says that.

It is a known beverage throughout the world which is had with or without adding milk in different forms and flavours.

Filter Coffee famously aka "Filter Kaapi" is a very common hot beverage in Southern India mainly in the State of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,. South Indian Coffee comprises of  filtered coffee decoction mixed with Sugar and Freshly boiled Milk.

Variety of Coffee Beans

1. Arabica - tastes very good

2. Robusta

3. Plantation A

4. Plantation B

5. Peaberry

Commonly used coffee has some small porportion of Chicory (from chicory plant) mixed to it to make the decoction thicker.

In every southindian home it is custom to offer coffee to their guests in the traditional brass tumbler kept over a brass cup called 'Davarah' as shown in the picture above. Now brass is replaced with steel.  It is a common sight in homes to see the men reading their morning paper sipping hot cup of coffee and sometimes, they end up gulping cup after cup of coffee.

Coffee tastes best when made using freshly brewed decoction and freshly boiled milk. It's taste & aroma is very addictive. The aroma that floats in the air will tempt you & invite you to have a cup of hot Filter Kaapi .

Mostly a traditonal breakfast ritual is not complete without gulping a good hot filter coffee

How to brew Coffee Decoction :-

• A vessel called 'Filter' is used to brew the Coffee. It contains two cylinderical compartments one at the bottom and the other a "perforated" one is kept on top, having a lid and a presser. 

Filter Coffee Powder

• The required quantity of Coffee Powder is put on the top compartment and pressed lightly with the presser. Boiled hot water is poured over it to the brim. Then it is covered. It take some time for the water to get through the powder and the decoction to fall into the bottom vessel.

• The Filter should be dry before you put in the powder.

• If its freshly cleaned then wipe the inner part of the upper compartment with a dry cloth and show the base (with holes) over the flame. This is done for two purpose, one to get the wholes completely dry and to prevent the powder blocking the holes. If any block is there, that will also be cleared.

How to prepare a coffee:-

1. For Milk + coffee :- Boil milk. In a vessel, put the required sugar (normally coffee tastes better with little sugar. but some prefers it sweet. so you can add sugar as per your taste). Pour the required decoction (some prefers light and some dark, hence accordingly it has to be used). Add milk to it. Then it has to be mixed well till froth forms on top using two tumblers by pouring them into one another. Your aromatic filter coffee is ready to serve.
2. The normal sugar quantity is 1 tsp for one standard tea cup of coffee.
3. For black Coffee :- Just add sugar to the decoction and pour in hot water. Mix & serve.
4. Still there are households who practice ancient method of  adding jaggery io make black coffee and it will taste good.
5. If you don't have filter then it can be prepared using traditional method. Take a vessel, put the powder and pour in the required hot water over it. Leave it for sometime till the powder settles at the bottom and decoction floats on top. Slowly transfer the decoction to another lidded container to use.

Tips to make a good coffee :

1. If you had to use already boiled milk instead of freshly boiled one, then Do Not Boil or reheat milk for the second time directly, as it will give bad taste to coffee. In such cases, use double boiling method to reheat the milk. Place a bigger vessel containing water. Pour the required boiled milk in a smaller vessel which will fit into the bigger one. Place it inside the bigger vessel. Keep it covered. A milk reheated this way will help maintaining the taste of coffee.
2. Similarly Never reheat coffee directly. Use only double boiling method to retain the taste.
3. Never pour boiled water immediately as it will be so hot. To retain taste, water should be poured when it is about to boil.
4. The first decoction and the second one can be mixed together and used. Normally the good aroma goes to the first decoction and the thickness goes to the second one. Hence i always mix and use them.

Storage of Coffee Powder and Coffee Decoction :-

• Coffee Powder should be stored in an air tight container to retain its aroma and kept in a cool place safe from moisture and heat. While in use, never leave the lid open for a long time.
  
•  To store the decoction different methods are used in different households. When members are more, it can be stored in a thermos. otherwise, you can transfer it to an air tight container and store it in refrigerator otherwise fermentation will take place and spoil the taste of coffee. 

Properties of Coffee

1. It has caffine hence will boost your mind when tired or depressed
2. Some gulp coffee after coffee.  Anything in excess is not good. Hence coffee should be used in minimal quantity.
3. If you have bad cold, sore throat or fever, crush some pepper and dry ginger. Boil water, add the crushed items to it along with some jaggery. let it boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Filter it to a tumbler. Add a tbsp of coffee decoction and drink this to get good relief.

Its raining here as the monsoon has already started. I am enjoying my cup of coffee this wonderful morning, the aroma & taste of which has made me to write this with my hot cup of steaming freshly brewed coffee on my side. I am  a coffee Lover!  Do you? Wish you all a very happy Coffee Morning!  

Mira's Talent Gallery: Ways to keep our food Healthy

Mira's Talent Gallery: Ways to keep our food Healthy: "In today's life we come across various research articles published in papers about the crops [hybrid, pesticides, their medicinal effect]..."

Ways to keep our food Healthy

In today's life we come across various research articles published in papers about the crops [hybrid, pesticides, their medicinal effect], kalories consumed, etc.

Some opt for organic food. But how much organic they are depends on the recommendation of the regulatory authorities and it varies. Awareness is always good but too much of contradictory articles will only leave us

Lack of time due to racing run, has made us just buy and consume whatever available. So let us discuss here and follow some simple rules with the crops available in the market to make it as much healthy as possible to eat. Many of the things, we know. So let's do a brush up!

What we need to do to keep our food healthy:-

1. Devotion
2. Time
3. Awareness
4. Remembering what we leant
5. Action

I divide the process of making our food healthy as follows :-

1. Selection
2. Storage
3. Washing & cutting
4. Cooking
5. Eating

Let us see each of the above process in detail :-

SELECTION :

Whether it’s a fruit or vegetable, the selection process is very important. I have heard in medias during my childhood days that shapes of the vegetable we eat is good to the organs they resemble in our body, e.g., Bitter gourd for pancreas, Drumstick for nerves and so on.

1. The skin should be smooth without any cuts.
2. Should look fresh.
3. If you find a hole made by an insect, that means it doesn’t have much of pesticides. If there would have been pesticide then there is no room for insects!
4. Colour is an important factor. Many vendors add aritificial colouring agent to give the veggies a fresh look. Hence if you find them extremely colour, give the benefit of doubt. Immersing them in water will show whether the colour is natural or not. Added colours will come out and colour the water. This type of colouring is done mostly with veggies like Carrot, greenpeas, parwal
5. If you find the country vegetables especially tomato, brinjal, potato, please go in for it as they are more healthy compared to the hybrid ones
6. For root vegetables like carrot, raddish, beetroot, if you get them with leaves, the leaves will show you how fresh they are. The root as well as leaves can be used in your curry / subzi.

Storing :-  

Irrespective the quantity you buy, storing is an important process to save your health as well as wastage .

1. Always buy them as per the requirement and frequently. As the veggies or the fruits takes few days time to reach our hands from the production place. So they are not very fresh. Hence buy it every two to three days. If you cannot avoid bulk buying due to lack of time, take care in storing them atleast.
2. After coming home, immediately segregate & clean them e.g. for cauliflower, you can cut the hard stems, remove roots of coriander leaves or any greens – this will save the space for you and help keeping the storage compartment clean.
3. Washing, drying them completely and then storing in refrigerator is a good habit.
4. Store them in separate cloth / netted bags (this will help in ventilation)
5. Every day, take them out. Wipe them with a dry cloth (to remove the moisture content which leads to decaying) and putting them back in the bag. This is just a 10 minutes process.
6. Curry leaves can be stores as sprigs in a steel container by putting a tissue at the bottom and this will keep them fresh for even 3 weeks.
7. Green chillies : remove the stalk. Place a paper or tissue on the bottom of the container and store them. This will keep them fresh for 3 weeks.
8. Coriander Leaves – clean them, remove the roots. Place them in a container with a tissue at the base and at the top. Excess moisture will be absorbed and will keep them fresh for a week. There are other methods too. Placing them in a jar of water.
9. Do not store apple in refrigerator as the gas emits will spoil the other veggies / fruits too. Its always better to store fruits outside with a netted cover (preventing flies) and buy them evey 2 – 3 days time.
10. Bananas can be stored for long time, if they are hung in a thread like they do here in shops.

Washing & Chopping :-

1. As much as possible, wash the vegetables thoroughly using your finger and palms and then cut them. (The water used for washing & the peels can be fed to the plants your grow). Even leafy ones, after removing the roots, wash them thoroughly and then cut them. Because if a cut vegetable is washed it loses some of its nutrients and then again in cooking process.
2. Cut into medicum sized pieces. This will help saving the nutrients for us in the cooking process.
3. As much as possible, cut vegetable just before cooking. Storing of cut vegetables though may sound convenient but not a healthy habit

Healthy Cooking :-

1. Do not overcook vegetables otherwise it will lose its important nutrients.
2. Partially cooked vegetables are always good. If it doesn’t suit your digestive system, then try to take a soup daily by grinding the partially cooked vegetable into nice paste.
3. Salt comes to our hands with added iodine. If it boils for long time it loses the sodium. Hence try using half salt for cooking and add the remaining salt after you finish the cooking.
4. Research articles say, ‘Cooked food stays good for only few hours’. But its not possible for all to follow this in busy life. Hence try to compensate it atleast during the weekends.
5. To avoid transfat, use fresh oil for frying every time. Do not let the oil smoke. The fried oil can be used for seasoning purposes (tadka). Use a shallow bottomed kadai then you may require only less oil for frying purposes.

Healthy Eating :-

1. Not just having raw vegetable / fruit salad is healthy.
2. Take food when they are in warm temperature. Cold food is not an healthy option.
3. ‘Eat to live ; don’t live to eat’ is a saying. This will keep one healthy. we have to devote some time in eating our food. Chewing them properly will ease the work of the stomach and helps the digestive process.
4. Eat atleast two hours before you go to sleep. This will again help the digestion process. Prevents the workload to your digestive organs.Also help you give a sound sleep .
5. Always Eat in moderate quantity. Fill half of your stomach with food, the next ¼ by water and the remaining ¼ is for air. This system will give you a good digestive power.
6. Eating sathvik food helps you keep healthy and calm . Excessive oil or spice will make a treat to your tongue but not to your body / health.
7. Eat when you feel hungry . Not out of temptation.
8. Eat on time. Letting your stomach keep guessing the time of food flow is not good. It has become a trend of today to stay awake till late night and take food as per convenience. This is definitely not healthy. Once you regularize the eating habit, your stomach will automatically set its biological clock. I have observed in coporate world, where people don’t care for health but comfortably finish their conference / meetings and then give the least priority for food. This fuel to health is an important component which keeps you active to accomplish a task. Hence devote for a timely lunch and then continue with your work. ‘If there is a will, there is the way.
9. Eating together is always good. If children are trained with this habit, it increases the family bonding at dinner table too. If you cannot afford it daily, atleast try practicing it during weekends. This save your valuable time too and let you enjoy your leisure time like others in the family. Ofcourse, the co-operation of family members is needed in this activity.

You are all with your inputs to benefit others.
Wish you a healthy & happy life

Mira's Talent Gallery: Ruffled Rose Garden Doily

Mira's Talent Gallery: Ruffled Rose Garden Doily: "When i saw the ruffle pattern thought its difficult but it turned out to be very easy. This is my first ruffle doily work."