A Healthy Way to be Hardy: Sesame Rice Recipe

Life before wedding was unencumbered, tangle-free and straightforward. But after we all started with our own families, each one of us is mired into varieties of tasks. We keep running without a pause. We think that running without a break is admissible and would not harm us. We do not realize that the effect of running hard without a break is associated with an eventual, sudden breakdown. Those who pause and think before proceeding become alert and end up in a reduced damage, and those who do not, suffer later. I am not talking about the damage that occurs to our material possessions. It is all about our own Beautiful body!  I wanted to touch this issue when I decided to write. This is a topic that draws my interest, always. While the component I am going to deal with, in this post, is absolutely essential for all age groups, I want to emphasize it mainly on Women's Health.

Most of us are in our 30s, few in the late 20s, and the rest in the early 40s. We all perform different tasks differently. We cook delicious food and serve diligently to the family. Most of the times we are careful and cautious about what goes into making a good meal. There are few minerals that go into our food regularly at varying levels. They decide our health in a long run, and failing to administer them at the right time leaves us worn out later. The elderly women in our lives in form of mother, aunts and grandmothers exemplify such ignorances. It is so common among Indian women that they don't take care of their nutritional needs very well. All that they think is "I am fine, and everything will be fine". One common problem I have seen in elderly Indian women is the complaint about knees. They just wear out so quickly in their late 50s, and they experience this intolerable pain that bothers them intermittently. Osteoporosis, in the late 50s or even earlier, is all because of the sloppiness in caring for oneself in the 20s and 30s. We are surrounded by loving people, but that love and care only comes in form of Advil or Paracetamol, when we are sick. Not to blame on them, it is our own responsibility to take care of ourselves. 

As we think of stronger bones, Calcium comes to mind. Calcium, an absolutely essential and abundant mineral in our body, is required for vascular contraction and dilation, muscle function, strengthening of bones and teeth, nerve transmission and hormonal balance. Most of the body's calcium is found in bones and teeth and the rest in the blood. Serum calcium is tightly regulated, and it does not depend on the dietary intake; it does not fluctuate with changes in dietary intake. When there is less calcium in the diet, the body absorbs calcium from bone tissues and regulates the physiological levels. Calcium deposition in bones is higher than resorption during childhood and early adulthood, but in later adulthood, this balance is perturbed leading to less deposition than resorption. When this resorption happens continuously without enough deposition, Osteoporosis happens, which eventually leads to low bone density. This causes fractures, pain and other bone associated problems.

There are hundreds of Calcium rich foods, and the most preferred are dairy products. Good news: Ice cream has more calcium; Bad news: It has a few junk things too!!! Organic Whole Milk has lots of Calcium, and 8 ounces of milk give you 300 mg of Calcium, roughly one-third of the body's need in a day. On an average, adults need 1000 mg Calcium per day. Gulping Calcium tablets is fine, but it is well absorbed when taken in < 500mg pills. For the rest of the body's need one has to depend on diet. Here are a few food items that can be easily accessed to satiate the Calcium needs:

Milk - three times 8 ounces

Fortified Orange Juice

Sardines (Pacific, wild-caught)

Sockeye Salmon (Alaskan)

Boiled broccoli

Soaked and peeled Almond

Dried Fig

Arugula leaves

Sesame seeds

Yogurt

Cheese
Molasses, maple syrup

The above list is not new. In fact, there is a much longer list on many websites. Opting for healthy choices and following the calcium formula are great things to do, but quite often we also need some spice in the food. How about coming up with a healthy and a tasty, spicy, drooling combo? I want to present the recipe for Sesame rice, a delicious savory treat to a good calcium rush!! I got hooked up with this recipe when I tasted it in the Rajaganapathy Temple in South Jersey. A Maami made this savory dish on the eve of a special day for "Guru Dakshinamoorthy". Since then, this dish has taken a place in my lunch box every week.

Ingredients:

Cooked rice - 2 cups
Sesame seeds - Half a cup
Grated coconut - 3  tbsps
De-seeded red chilies - 3
Curry leaves - a sprig
Sesame oil - 4 tbps
Split Black gram - 2 tbsps
Whole black pepper - 1 tbsp
Bengal gram - 2 tbsps
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

1. Cook one cup of rice with just enough water. Once cooked, transfer it to a wide-mouthed bowl, add a tsp of sesame oil to the rice, mix well. Try not to mash it.

2. Dry roast sesame seeds, whole black pepper and Bengal gram together. At the end, add coconut and fry them all together. Cool it and grind to a coarse powder. Set aside.

3. Heat oil in a skillet, add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Then add red chilies, split black gram and curry leaves. Now add the cooked rice and the coarsely ground powder. Mix them all well and add enough sea salt. Serve hot.

This is a delicious, foolproof recipe. Try it and let me know.

Happy Holi to you all!