25 February, 2008

Ayurveda in Cooking: Sun Dried Pomegranate Peel Tambli

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Sun Dried Pomegranate Peel Tambli

Indian cooking is not all about curries, biriyanis and spices. Indian home food also benefits from the combination of Ayurvedic knowledge with day to day ingredients. In Ayurveda, India's ancient science of life, health and longevity, food plays a prominent role in promoting health and is therefore considered medicine. Dating back over five thousand years, Ayurveda is still a highly respected form of health care in India today.

It is ironic how something as obvious as nutrition has become overlooked in the modern health care system, and how in the name of convenience our fast paced society has given way to fast foods, canned foods, take-away, microwaves, quick fix meals, and eating on the run. With the hike in growing obesity and unhealthy eating habits, it is more important to focus on the understanding the importance of role that nutrition plays in maintaining good health and healthy lifestyle. It is not necessary to pop tablets for each and every little health problems. There are natural ingredients which can be used to cure health problems.

My Ajji was one such person who believed in using natural ingredients and Ayurvedic knowledge in cooking when someone fell sick. This treasure of recipes with Ayurvedic approach is what I treasure from my Ajji’s (Grandma) kitchen. These recipes are simple and are prepared using common ingredients which will be present in your pantry any time of the day. And the best part is you don’t feel like you are forced to take some bitter medicine. These recipes not only cured your illness but also tingled your taste buds.

One such recipe is Tambli or Tambuli. There is no cooking involved when making tambli. The main two ingredients used are fresh grated Coconut and chilled Yogurt which is very common ingredients found in any South Indian homes. Based on the season and health condition different ingredients like Brahmi, Onion, Jeera etc are used in making Tambli.

Whenever a kid or even grown up had Diarrhea, Pomegranate is used in treatment. But it is not possible to find pomegranate through out the year and hence the pomegranate peels comes to rescue. The sun dried pomegranate peels were ground with coconut and some fresh herbs and mixed with yogurt to make this unusual Tambli which is used to treat Diarrhea. It is such a simple and effective therapy which is much better than popping tablets. I usually make Tambli once in every fortnight with different ingredients as they are not only healthy things to eat but also tastes great. I am sending this Sun dried Pomegranate Peel Tambli to dear Sra who is guest hosting AFAM-Pomegranate. Sra, I kept my promise ;)


Sun Dried Pomegranate Peel Tambli
Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: -
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
2 inch sun dried Pomegranate Peel
½ cup Fresh/Frozen Coconut, grated
1-2 Green Chillies
½ inch Ginger
½ tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
Few Mint Leaves
1 cup Yogurt
Salt to taste
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Sun Dried Pomegranate Peel Tambli-Ingredients Used

Method:
Soak sun dried pomegranate peel in a cup of water for 15-30 minutes.
Drain and grind to smooth paste with grated coconut, green chillies, ginger, jeera, and mint leaves adding very little water.
Add the ground paste with yogurt and mix well. Refrigerate and serve chilled with rice and pickle.

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Sun Dried Pomegranate Peel Tambli


Note:
To sun dry the Pomegranate Peels, peel a pomegranate and save the peels. Cut them into 1 inch pieces and lay out in the sun to dry. The peels are ready when they become hard and are easy to break. Store them in a dry air tight bottle and use as and when necessary.
Another way to treat Diarrhea is to take 3-4 pieces of sun dried pomegranate peels and place them in a glass. Pour boiling water and cover and keep aside for few minutes. Drink half a cup of this water and see how it goes. If required drink other half a cup of this drink after 3-4 hours.
More Tambli Recipes from Monsoon Spice

Update:

Looks like second season of Blog Awards is giving tight competition with Oscars and Filmfare! Guess what?! My blog is Excellent! Nope, it’s not me who is self praising here;) This is what Pravs of Simply Spicy says.
Thanks Pravs for passing me this E for Excellent Award. It means a lot to me from coming from wonderful fellow bloggers. I am flattered :)

An Update:

Purnima of Fantasy Cooking nominated Monsoon Spice for E for Excellent Award. Thank you dear Purnima. I am really flattered by your kind words and gesture.

50 comments:

  1. Sia, thank you for keeping your promise, this is indeed an unusual recipe. It looks nice too, even looks like a thick juice. Doesn't even a bit of the bitter peel taste come through?

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  2. I have never heard about this dish.It really sounds healthy. I knew they gave pomegranate for stomach problem.

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  3. Thats one awesome post on Ayurveda Sia...:DD...

    Siri

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  4. OMG !!! Sups, wonderful entry, cant even imagine of using peel of any fruit this way , wonderful entry for AFAM dear :) .
    hope your health is all fine now, take care buddy . Hugs to you .

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  5. wow! what a wonderful recipe with the pomegranate peel. Gosh! it looks so delicious.

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  6. You are right Sia, don't have to have diarrhea to eat this delicious Tambli. Looks and sounds great.

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  7. Glad you are feeling better. I thought you are too sick to visit me. Tambli is great for cold too I guess, right? Enjoy.
    Where did you get those dried Poms? Man! I should move back to UK again!:D
    Tambli looks yummy. Great post about Ayurveda too.I am almost ready to post for your event. Take care, hugs!:)

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  8. Thanks for blogging this, Sups! Pomegrante peel has good medicinal properties, you've blogged avery delish use for this ingredient, in the most authentic way!

    And congratulations on the well deserved award!

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  9. Even i am very much into this type of cures and if these remedies taste good,then as you say you why not have it once in a while. beautiful pics.I am always drawn to your pics,the facts you put in each post. A well deserved award to you :)

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  10. Such useful and valuable information to have, Sia. I had no idea that pomegranates were good for diarrhea. So much better to use natural remedies than tablets when possible! Thanks so much for the info! :)

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  11. Sia, excellent recipe thanks to Sra I am learning that practically every part of pomogrante is edible leaves,dry skin wow.

    taking care of issues organically without medicines is great.

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  12. Sia,
    Tambli is from which region?

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  13. absolutely new to me.....isnt it similar to the brahmi tambli (wonder if i got the name correct!) u posted sometime back..?

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  14. wow! such a cool rcp :) will do this next time i get pom, can it be oven dried as well?
    congrats on the award sweetie!

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  15. I had no idea pom peels can be used in cooking... Sup, do you think the drying part can be done in the oven? I don't think we will ever get enough sun here for sun-drying anything...

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  16. Wow..Good info on pom peels. I never knew it has antidiarrhoel properties. I love tambli, it is a soother during summer! Your pics always leaves me drooling!

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  17. Wow.. this looks v good. Esp with Ajjis recipe I am sure it was lip smacking. Can u send me some of this ?

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  18. Btw I have a query, What is the font you used to write Tambli on the fotos ?

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  19. Wow!amazing pics..keep rocking

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  20. Hey Sia.. yummy just kept pomogranate peel to dry.. i lov this tambli.

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  21. It seems so nutritious drink ,packed with the goodness of curd ,and sure it is good for health also ...
    thanks for sharing
    hugs and smiles
    jaya

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  22. I love tambli :-) and this is perfect :-)

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  23. Sia,
    We follow the second method... I do follow ayurveda treatment mostly if possible. Love to try them in cooking too.. But posting from here is little difficult, bcos of the unavailability of the ingredients..

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  24. this is the most unique recipe i have seen for AFAM. Great job, Sia :)

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  25. lovely recipe..never knew pomegranate (peels) could be used in so many other ways.
    Thanks for sharing this useful info.

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  26. That dish looks great sia...nice way to use the fruit in many ways...and congrats on the award..does feel like an oscar!!..

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  27. @sra,
    bitter is good for health. my ajji always stressed on balanced diet and bitter is one of the other five tastes/ruchi. and here we dont use much of pom peel and other ingredients mask its bitterness. so its not as bitter as u may think. give it a try and see.

    @happy cook, siri, pooja, mythreyee, ISG, musical, pravs, kalai, sreelu, LG, dhivya, SMN, jaya, raaga, seena, nags, sowmya, valli,
    thank you ladies. although it can be little daunting to find and use ingredients with medicinal property when u r living abroad, try to make most out of these when u get time and resource. i collected these peels in summer and sun dried them with little sunlight i get in my part of the woods. i will try and post more of these recipes which are natural and most effective way to cure common illness. i appreciate ur feedbacks and suggestions:)

    @ashakka,
    i dont get dried pom peels here. i sun dried them back in summer and use it as and when needed. with the sunshine u have there it should be ever easier for u to dry them:)
    even krish caught bugs from me and i was taking care of him. so not been able to blog hop.

    @inji,
    tambli is from konkan/mangalorean speciality. we make them quite often during summer as its got a cooling effect.

    @mishy,
    yup, i have given a link to brahmi tambli. basic ingredients are the same, coconut and yogurt with little difference in herbs and spices.

    @richa & Sig,
    there is a reason why it is sun dried. my ajji always said every step in cooking has some health benefit and medicinal property for doing so.
    u dont need too much of sun light to dry these. just keep the peels near a window or at a place where it can catch some sunlight and leave them there for few days. i too dont get much of sun in my part of teh worl and i usually sun dry them in summer. girls, u should put it in ur calendar for this summer:)
    i guess u can oven dry the pom peels also. do let me know how they turn if u try it.

    @pooja V,
    the font is called samarkan.

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  28. Hi Sups!!
    Never heard or read anything about using pom skin until now, quite an amazing post!!!
    I love the way you bring these amazing natural ingreds into your cooking!!

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  29. Sia,tks yet again! I hv the peels wt me but had forgotten mom's n mil's recipe! The tamboli made me nostalgic!Tks!

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  30. hi sia congrats for the award...you deserve it and thanx for such a different recipe..never knew pomegranate peels could be used.

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  31. I have never heard of dried pomegranate peel being used....and for a healthful drink like this makes it even more interesting - thanks for passing on that traditional and useful nugget from your Ajji's storehouse!

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  32. Conrats Sia...good for you! You deserve the award! Excellent!! This is a great post too...wonderful recipe, I love it. I've tagged you for a wierd meme. Cheers Deeba

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  33. This one is unusual Sia! I must collect the peels and sin dry them - Oh, I'm starting to get a lot of sunlight already! :)

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  34. that's a very informative post Sia! tambli sounds nice:)

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  35. nice post....a lot of these recipes are fast fading from our kitchens because we simply don't know how valuable they are...I hope you will come up with more posts along this line.

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  36. Thats true. The tried and tested methods our parents and grandparents used, are slipping away. We use the quick fix method of popping pills.

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  37. Ayurveda in cooking is an excellent idea. I have an entry with a similar thought. I guess its true what they say...great minds do think alike hehe. And yes dear your blog is excellent!!!

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  38. Your blog is indeed excellent! in fact I would rate your blog very highly. Love your recipes and absolutely adore your picture quality. Look forward to many more yummy recipes from your kitchen :).

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  39. I love all kind of tambulis. This one is new to me. I will have to look for pomegranate peel now.

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  40. Very unusual recipe Sia. Thanks for sharing. Viji

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  41. Ahh! This is like treasure !! I am book marking this recipe.

    You mentioned other ingredients instead of pomogranate peel.... so you mean just substitute them for the peel right?

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  42. Hi Sups,

    Thanks for your concern...Wonderful recipe. Please find time to check your monsoon.com mail box.

    Take care buddy...Bye.

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  43. What a lovely ayurvedic recipe Sia !! Pics are too good !!

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  44. Your Ajji was an extremely smart lady.. :)
    Beautiful recipe Sia.

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  45. Sia,
    Thanks for visiting my blog.
    This is my first time visit to your blog too. Your blog is very nice & photos are tooooooo goooooooood.
    I never heard of this recipe before..but looks delicious. I will definitely try this. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

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  46. I didn't know pom peels could be preserved. A woman can never have enough of pom goodness.

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  47. I am taken by surprise. So simple and yet so healthy. Will try.

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  48. Tambli is the BEST!! This one is new to me though - very ingenious. Thank you for sharing!

    Smita

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  49. Hi, great site! Do you have any advice for how to dry the pomegranate peel?

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  50. Hi Sia...
    Lovely post...Its difficult to find such healthy cooking which our Ajjis indulged in... I have heard a lot about Pomogranate tambli unfortunately havent tried it yet ... Looking at your post and encouraged to try it soon ...

    Thanks a lot dear..

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Namaste! I am Sia and welcome to Monsoon Spice, my virtual home. Thank you for all your comments, inputs and feedback. I really appreciate the valuable time you spent browsing through my recipe repertoire.

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