Healthy

Ready-to-eat Mixes, also known as convenience food, are typical the partially cooked stuff, which can quickly be processed and placed on table.

With our on-the-go lifestyle and no time for cooking from scratch, these mixes serve the right balance of natural flavors without lengthy cooking. They are getting highly popular because they help:

Save Time: Pre-mixed food items are already cooked, and therefore quite less amount of time is required for cooking.

Easily Availability: Convenience foods are available round the year. Consumers now have more number of partially cooked foods available for immediate consumption.

Safe Consumption: Hygiene and quality is always given substantial amount of care during preparation of ready to eat foods as these are produced in authorized facilities. The preparation of food is done in accordance with laid down rules and regulations of government.

Less Of Nutritional Depreciation: Owing to the modern machines and latest technology, ready to eat foods do not have any major nutrient loss. You can get effective nutrient value and a great healthy benefit.

Practical & easy to use: Available in ready-made or in packaged form, ready to eat foods are useful for consumers in various conditions, especially for those who are facing physical deformities, or are in the situation where cooking is not possible.

Now you do not need to compromise on taste, quality and nutrient value even with quick meals. Try using these mixes in everyday cooking and you can achieve similar taste and aroma.

At Shastha Foods, we’ve introduced a range of south indian food mixes that can be cooked in less than 10 min, similar to the flavors you may get from the fresh ingredients.

Each item on our Ready-To-Eat menu is natural, preservative-free and 100% vegetarian. We work very closely with our distributors to ensure complete quality check as per the FDA food guidelines.

And if you are a college student yearning for a spicy rasam of homemade sambhar, you’ve got an option that is homely and flavorful, reminding you of back home.

Shastha foods brings five different types of mixes to add original and homemade flavor and taste to your every meal.

VATHALKUZHAMBU MIX- Vathal Kuzhambu / Vathal Kulambu is a popular gravy for rice served all over South India in a traditional meal setting. The Vathal Kuzhambu  Ready Mix is made from Tamarind as the main ingredient and Manathakkali Vathal.

TAMARIND RICE MIX- This rice mix is used to make one of the best delicious south Indian dish. This is the most easiest way to add zest to plain rice.

NEEM FLOWER RASAM MIX- Neem Flower Rasam is a delicious Indian recipe served as a Curries. Neem is extensively used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine.

LEMON RICE MIX- Just a dash of lemon does wonders to elevate the flavours in a dish. The lemon in the rice aids in the absorption of iron in your body due to its high vitamin c content.

KANDATHIPILLI RASAM MIX- Kandathippili Rasam | Long Pepper Rasam, is one of the traditional Rasam variety in Tamil Nadu. It has many medicinal benefits.

Food blogger Soma Sengupta has created absolutely delicious, healthy and super simple recipes using Shastha Millets Adai batter and Foxtail Millets grains. Her blog https://www.myfridayfoodswings.com/ is an amazing compilation of yummy and delicious authentic recipes.

Enjoy trying the recipes!

MULTI MILLETS ADAI

Being a working mom, very often I don’t have time to make things from scratch. Yet, I want to give nutritious homemade meals to my family. And the Shastha batters are a blessing. Made from the best ingredients, they are naturally fermented and do not contain any artificial ingredients. Millets are an indigenously grown super grain in India. By replacing millets for rice in these batters, Shastha Foods have kicked things up a notch.

Low glycemic, high protein and completely gluten-free, the Shastha batters are a dream come true for anyone looking to add plant based superfoods in their diet. And the nutty, tangy taste of millets is something you will get addicted to. Finally, there is something that is healthy and delicious.

RECIPE:

1. Multi Millets Adai

Ingredients

Shastha Multi Millets Adai Batter – ¼ cup per Adai

Vegetable Oil

Direction

1. Heat a nonstick skillet.
2. Dip a paper kitchen towel in some vegetable oil and wipe the skillet with it to grease it. Alternatively, you can use Pam spray too.
3. Add ¼ cup of Shastha Multi Millets Adai batter and spread it out thin like a crepe with the back of your spatula. Make sure to do this swiftly so that the batter is spread uniformly before it starts to cook.
4. One minute into it, add a little vegetable oil along the edges. You will see the edges crisp up and get cooked faster than the center. 
5. Wait until the center is cooked. The whole thing takes about 2-3 mins. Slowly get your spatula underneath the adai and loosen it from the skillet.
6. If required flip it and cook on the other side too.

2. Red Tomato Garlic Peanut Chutney

Ingredients

Tomatoes – 3

Garlic – 2, big cloves

Dried Red Chilies – 1

Tamarind pulp- 2 tsp

Salt – To Taste

Peanuts – ½ cup

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 4-5

Vegetable Oil – 2 tbsp

Direction

1. Soak the red chili in hot water for 20 mins.
2. Rub some vegetable oil on the tomato and roast on an open flame till they get charred. This takes anywhere between 4-5 mins.
3. Alternatively, put them under the broiler for 4-5 mins. Take care to flip them halfway.
4. Let it cool. Remove the charred skin, and cut into pieces.
5. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil. Add peanuts, tomatoes, hydrated red chili, tamarind pulp and salt. Stir and cook for 3-4 mins. Let it cool.
6. Once cooled, put it in a food processor and puree it 
7. In another pan, heat another tbsp of vegetable oil. Add curry leaves and mustard seeds. Let it sputter 
8. Pour in the pureed mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes till the consistency is that of a chutney.
9. Taste for salt and adjust if necessary. Serve alongside Adai or Dosas.

3. Coconut Cilantro Chutney

Ingredients

Cilantro – 1 bunch

Coconut – 1 cup, grated

Green Chilies – 2

Ginger – ½ inch, washed and peeled

Salt – To Taste

Vegetable oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp

Lemon juice – 2 tsp

Direction

1. Wash the cilantro and the green chilies and throw it in the food processor with ¼ cup of water and the grated coconut, ginger and make a puree.
2. In a pan, heat a tbsp of vegetable oil and add the mustard seeds.
3. Add the pulsed mixture and keep stirring and cooking.
4. Add salt to taste. Cook for 3-4 mins till the chutney reaches the desired consistency.
5. Add lemon juice, taste for salt and adjust if necessary. Serve alongside Millets Adai.

Online Order from : https://shasthacanada.com

Remember our grandparents/parents telling us about how they used to go to the store with an empty can to purchase chekku ennai?  In South India, chekku ennai was a way of life until 50 years ago. “Chekku ennai” is the local name for cold pressed sesame oil.

Cold pressed oils produced using low-heat methods are superior in quality compared to regular oils and are healthy alternative to cooking oils. Our ancestors primarily consumed cold pressed oils until about 50 years ago, when large-scale manufacturers of refined oils took over the market. Known to be cholesterol free, these oils are unrefined or unprocessed, free from harmful solvent residues and contain natural antioxidants that are beneficial for the body.

Cold pressed oils are one of Ayurveda’s best secrets. If stored in clay utensils, chekku oil lasts for almost a year. Chekku oil is traditionally supplemented with palm sugar or jaggery, which heightens its flavor and also its nutritional value. Benefits of cold-pressed oils to your heart health and internal well-being are many , these oils can also be a healthier and safer source of nourishment

All of us are aware of little yellow beads with mild corn flavor and naturally gluten-free with a lovely and light texture when cooked, and relatively quick-cooking because of their small size, but do you know #how to cook Millets perfectly to enhance their right flavor and texture.

Different ways to use millets in the kitchen?
Commonly cooked as a porridge to enjoy in the morning, there are many other ways to use millets. You can toss raw millet into cookies, muffins or quick breads for extra crunch. Use it to thicken soups, or as a base for warm grain salads of your choice. You can also buy millet grits that are extremely quick-cooking, and are wonderful in any preparation.  All the millets are best eaten when they hot or warm after cooking.

But as millets cool they also tend to dry out and it is very difficult to even swallow if the cooked millets get cold. 

So how do you cook Millets perfectly
When preparing millet, toast it in a skillet before adding any liquid to enhance the nutty flavor of the grain. There are two general ways that you can cook it. The first will result in a fluffy, whole-grain side dish much like quinoa and the second way is to use more water (3 cups instead of 2 cups) to result in a creamy, porridge with a polenta-like consistency — great for breakfasts. If you’re going this route, stir it much more frequently. This creamy version is also fantastic because you can pour it into a pan to cool, slice it as you would polenta, and fry it into croquettes or savory squares.

The water used will depend on the consistency and the choice of your recipe.

– If you are cooking millets as a replacement for rice for lunch or to make pulao, and prefer the grains to be separate, the ratio of millet to water is 1:2

– If you want the millets to be soft and not grainy or using them to make khichdi, the ratio is 1:3

– If you are going to make pongal or a thick porridge, then the ratio is 1:4

Where to buy Millets
Shastha Foods has put together a wide variety of Indian Millets, working directly with farmers in India. Our millet family includes Barnyard Millet, Kodo Millet, Little Millet, Foxtail Millet, Brown top Millet, Broken Sorghum Millet Grits, Broken Finger Millet Grits. 

Check out the complete range and order individual or group packs:https://shasthaonline.com/collections/millet-grains

Also check out our Millets Recipe book for mouth watering recipes:
https://shasthaonline.com/blogs/news/millet-recipes?_pos=2&_sid=7c3c66431&_ss=r