Eating carrots doesn’t boost night-vision
Are you among those who vouch for grandma’s rule of eating carrots to boost night vision? Well, then you certainly need a reality check, for an eye specialist has called it the ‘greatest food myth’. Paul Beaumont has said that eating carrots does more harm to you than good, as beta carotene rich food can actually increase the risk of blindness. Beaumont, who has been studying human retinas since 1976, has said that the carrot myth, started in World War II, is a ‘complete fabrication’. “When the English… were flying at night they used radar but the Germans didn’t know that the radar existed,” the S yd n e y M o r n i n g Herald quoted Beaumont as saying from his Sydney clinic. He added: “The English certainly didn’t want them to know so they put out a myth saying they w e r e f e e d i n g their pilots carrots to improve their night vision and that’s why they could fly and see things at night.” Beaumont is the director of the Macular Degeneration (MD) Foundation, which has just released a cookbook, Eating for Eye Health – outlining the connection between what we eat and our eyesight. He said: “If you don’t eat fish and nuts and have a whole lot of bad fats then you are likely to get MD. If we could have everyone who is at risk of macular degeneration basically eat food from the cookbook then we would not have an epidemic of this disease.” The cookbook, compiled by chef Vanessa Jones and Australian icon Ita Buttrose, in both of whose family MD runs , is laden with recipes full of lutein-rich food like spinach, corn and egg yolks. Beaumont said that lutein helps protect the eye from sight-damaging light that causes MD and blindness. On the other hand, foods rich in beta-carotene, like carrots can damage the eye’s protective shield, doubling a person’s risk of contracting the disease.
Bite, Eating Vegetables, India Bite, Recipes, Indian Recipes
Egg Florentine
Ingredients:
200 gms spinach
10 gms cheese grated
100 ml white sauce
2 egg boiled and sliced
salt to taste
1 tbsp butter
Method:
Heat butter in a vessel and add chopped spinach and salt. Cover and cook the spinach.
Spread spinach in a small pyrex dish.
Sprinkle grated cheese. Add sliced eggs and white sauce.
Place the dish in pre heated oven for 3 minutes.
Egg Curry With Coconut
Ingredients:
5-6 hard boiled eggs
1 large-sized onion
1″ piece of ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies
1 cup coconut (freshly grated)
½ tsp turmeric powder
5-6 tbsp mustard oil
1½ tsp garam masala powder
salt to taste
Method:
Grind the onion, ginger, cumin seeds and the green chillies into a fine paste.
Prick the eggs with a fork.
Heat the oil and add the eggs and cook over a high flame for 3-4 minutes till the eggs attain a golden colour.
Remove and keep aside. In the same oil fry the onion paste over a medium heat till the paste attains a light golden colour.
Add the grated coconut and continue to fry the paste for another 4-5 minutes, stirring all the time.
lower the flame and mix in one cup of water.
Bring the gravy to the boil and cook the gravy for another 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the gravy to a serving bowl.
Slice the eggs into halves or keep them whole and place in the gravy.
Sprinkle the garam masala powder over the prepared gravy and cover with a lid for 3-4 minutes before serving.
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Sago Vermicelli Payasam
Ingredients:
1 cup sago
2 cup water
½ cup vermicelli
1½ cup milk
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp ghee
3 cardamom pods
cashew nuts
raisins
Method:
Soak the sago in water for an hour. Boil it with water.
Stir constantly to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan, until it becomes translucent.
Lower the heat and leave it for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Heat the ghee in a pan. Fry the cashew nuts & cardamom pods in it.
Put vermicelli and fry until it becomes golden brown.
Add this to the Boiling sago. Then put sugar, milk & raisins.
Stir for few minutes until the sugar gets dissolves.
Ready to serve.
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Green Gram Payasam
Ingredients for Green Gram Payasam:
½ cup green grams
¼ cup thick coconut milk
¼ cup whole milk
¼ cup sugar
2 tbsp ghee
Method:
Soak the green grams in water overnight.
Boil it with water for 20 minutes, until the green gram is cooked.
Then put whole milk, coconut milk, sugar & cardamom pods.
Stir constantly for 10 minutes, until the sugar gets dissolved.
Add the ghee. Serve hot.
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Bread Pudding – South Indian Desserts Recipes
Ingredients for Bread Pudding:
4 slices bread
½ cup ghee
3 tbsp sugar
2 cardamom pods
2 cups of evaporated milk
Chopped pistachio nuts
Method:
Remove the brown corners of the bread and cut the slices diagonally into half.
Heat the ghee & fry the bread slices until it becomes golden brown.
Drain on a paper towel. In a heavy based pan heat evaporated milk & sugar over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Take out from heat & mix crushed cardamom powder and saffron.
Pour this milk mixture over the bread slices. Garnish with pistachios.
Basic mince
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 1 red capsicum, deseeded, finely diced
- 1 green capsicum, deseeded, finely diced
- 1kg lean beef mince
- 400g can chopped Italian tomatoes
Method
- Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, and red and green capsicum. Cook for 3 minutes or until soft.
- Add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned. Add tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until thick.
- Use immediately or allow to cool completely then freeze for up to 3 months in a container just large enough to hold mince.
