Dishal.com: Passionate about Culture, Good Food & Good Health

Warm your way through Winter

2012-01-10T17:12:00.000-06:00

Wintertime – a fantastic season for that extra hour curled up under your duvet and for eating warm, spicy and nourishing food and drinks.

We feel hungrier in winter because the cold weather brings a drop in your body temperature, which stimulates your appetite. Eating helps to generate heat and keeps your body warm. Your body works harder and spends more energy just trying to keep you warm during winter, so your desire to eat more comes from your body’s natural increase in energy use. While you definitely can enjoy a healthy appetite during winter, do monitor your calorie intake, or you could end up putting on unwanted weight at the end of the season.

Bring a little sunshine into your home during the cold winter months by enjoying the bounty of produce that's available this season. Fresh fruits like Lemons, oranges, kiwis, strawberries, etc are available this season. All green leafy vegetables like spinach, fenugreek leaves, spinach, kale and some flour like wheat flour, millet, barley, jowar and pulses are few of the foods that make us feel warm, supported and secured.

The ideal way to start a meal is with a Barley & Vegetable Medley soup. This is loaded with health and taste. Fiber-rich barley is a key ingredient in this soup while the use of vegetable stock and other veggies enhances its health profile. Red chili flakes spice up the soup, but always add it at the end lest the soup becomes over spicy. Adding cheese to hot soup causes it to melt and mix in well with soup thereby pepping up the flavor – what more can i say, taste it and you’ll believe me! Click here to view the recipe >>

Navratri: Nine Days Festival

2011-09-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

The most characteristic dances of Gujarat during Navratri are the Rasa and Garba dances which are performed at all levels of society by men and women.
The origin of the Rasa is traced back to the legends connected with the life of Lord Krishna. It is essentially associated with the agricultural rites. The Rasa is performed in Gujarat India on Navaratri; and other important festivals associated with harvest and crops. The Rasa dances of Saurashtra are closely related to agricultural functions and are for the best part grain-ritual dances.

‘Garba’ is a dance performed only by men and are often complex circular formations to represent designs of lotus and other designs considered magical religious and auspicious. The choreograph pattern of the dance, the floor designs made by the dancers, is similar of the paintings seen on the walls of huts. Through these designs whether on the floor or walls, through paint and color or through dance, ritual is held and spirits are invoked.

The Garba is indeed a ceremony in which everyone can take part irrespective of caste or social position. The dances are accompanied by drums (dholak) and the vocal women. The songs of the Garba are often history and melodious and have been handed down through generations.
Navratri is a long festival, which is celebrated continuously for nine days. Therefore, a variety of dishes are made and served during this festival. Special Navratri cuisine is a part of the multitude of culinary delights of the country. Since, in most of the communities, people observe fast during Navratri and eat only one meal a day at sunset, the Navratri meal has special courses and is strictly vegetarian. The choice of vegetables may vary from region to region. Spices are restricted to red chillies, turmeric and cumin seeds and only rock salt can be used. However, one can eat milk, curd, fruits and nuts. Saboodana vadaa is one of the recipes prepared during the vrats. A special snack made on the occasion of Navratri, the vadaas are very crispy and crunchy and melt in your mouth. In fact, the mouth watering snack item is considered as an ideal food to eat during Navratri fasts. Click here for the recipe >>

Make Summertime Special with Asli Snacks and Instant Drinks!

2011-08-04T12:20:00.002-05:00

As you plan your summertime menu don't forget about the supporting sides which can make any outing, barbeque or get together shine. Beat the heat with Asli's 100 calorie instant drink mixes. Simply mix 5 teaspoons of Asli Instant Drink Mix with an 8 oz glass of water. Cool down now with four fruity flavors: Mango, Cocktail, Watermelon and Guava. Try Asli's New line of flavorful snacks and fruity drink mixes below.

To get more information and to purchase click here >>

As summertime snacking goes, these lightly fried crisp flat puris are perfect. Grab and go or compliment any meal with our five varieties: Plain, Masala, Methi, Bajra Methi and Chaska Maska). For an extra kick add sev, chat masala and tomatoes. Click Here for more information about the Asli Snacks >>

EASTER MANIA

2011-04-14T12:41:00.000-05:00

Easter time is time for long weekend holiday, parties, fun and celebration not only within the United States but throughout the world. With fun and celebration, comes the importance of food. Every festival has special food items with very interesting ingredients.

Different countries have different recipes for all meals. Let us look at some Easter food ideas from various places. In England boiled eggs are served for breakfast, Roast lamb with mint leaves and veggies become the traditional main meat meal. There is traditional Easter pudding of custard tarts with flat Easter biscuits and currants. For tea, Simnel cake is baked.

While in Germany, with the traditional recipes they have lamb shape cake and eat fish delicacies. In France they relish the French Easter fish, leg of lamb, lamb stew along with spring vegetables. In America, they relish baked ham, potatoes and vegetables along with hot cross buns. In India, in addition to traditional food, they relish simnel cakes and pancakes. These were a few Easter food ideas but we can make more and have our own flavor to it.

Irrespective of the country, the chocolates, cookies, fun Easter eggs, candies, marshmallows etc. hold a definite place in the Easter Food. Some of the Easter food ideas would be to get personalized chocolates, bunny cookies and candies etc. All the Easter Goodies can be found at: http://www.dishal.com/sweets/shopsweets3a.htm

With all the information, it surly makes it little tempting to look at some Easter food ideas for the coming Easter. Have loads of chocolates, biscuits and the spring veggies.

Want to do something different for Thanksgiving dinner this year??

2010-11-17T14:19:00.000-06:00

Plan a delicious feast with an Indian twist to celebrate Thanksgiving dinner, using the finest spices, flour and other ingredients from Dishal.com. Even if you're vegetarian or vegan you can still create a memorable dinner by adapting some of the recipes from Dishal.com -- no turkey required. It's easy to make and tastes delicious. Now that's one more thing to be thankful for!

Make it an ever-lasting, great experience for your guests with a wide range of tasty Ready-to-Eat Indian curries, rice, soups and sweets from Dishal.com.

Introducing for the first time ever, the best gourmet vegetarian recipe book, “The Ultimate Collection”. This cookbook won the “Best cookbook in the world award” for the Fundraising Charity Cookbooks at the Gourmand World Cookbooks Awards in Paris, Feb 2010. It contains 550 very easy to follow delicious cuisines. The proceeds go to support Menengai Children’s Home in Nakuru, Kenya. More info >>

Brighten up this Diwali with Diyas and Candles

2010-10-04T14:38:00.000-05:00

Diwali is one of the biggest festival of Hindus, celebrated with great enthusiasm and happiness in India. Diwali or Deepavali symbolizes the victory of good over the evil or darkness prevailing within oneself.The festival is celebrated for five continuous days, where the third day is celebrated as the main Diwali festival or 'Festival of lights'. Different colorful varieties of fireworks are always associated with this festival. Diwali is symbolized with lighting up the houses with diyas and candles. It is the time where people meet their loved ones, relatives and friends and gifts are exchanged as a token of love and good wishes. Diwali Diyas and Candles are one of the most beautiful and popular gift items during this festival.

Diyas, candles, lamps are available in varied designs, shapes and sizes. The hand-made diyas are beautifully crafted with painted patterns and studded with sequins, beads, and glasses. Besides the clay diyas, metal diyas are also available. There are brass, copper, bronze and even silver and gold diyas. These are intricately carved and available in varied shapes. Multicolored and vibrant colored diyas look fabulous.

Gift giving is utmost importance on the occasion of Diwali. Presenting beautiful diyas and candles is a way of communicating respect, friendship, and appreciation. Diwali is also the celebration of sweets. It is a known fact that for any kind of happy event or occasion, sweets are an essential part of the celebrations. Diwali is an occasion to enjoy sweets of different varieties. Diwali Mithais and sweets are integral to the festival. Every house welcomes its visitors with sweets on that day.

The gifts wrapped with your deepest feelings will surely brighten up the spirit and festive mood of Diwali. So during this festive season of Diwali, make online purchases at Dishal.com for the gifts of your choice and convey your priceless emotions to those hearts which you truly value.

Make Your Party A Memorable One.....

2010-08-27T16:17:00.000-05:00

FASTING/CLEANSING/DETOXIFYING

2010-08-27T15:59:00.000-05:00

Fasting is the one of the greatest natural healing therapy and nature’s ancient, universal "remedy" for many problems. It is a "missing link" in the Western diet. Most people overeat, eat too often, and eat a high-protein, high-fat, rich-food, building and congesting diet more consistently than they need. Even Animals instinctively fast when ill.

Fasting is a period of abstinence from all food or specific items. Fluids are consumed in sufficient quantity to satisfy thirst and physiologic requirements. During the absence of food, the body will systematically cleanse & detoxify itself of everything except vital tissue. Starvation will occur only when the body is forced to use vital tissue to survive. Although protein is being used by the body during the fast, a person fasting even 40 days on water will not suffer a deficiency of protein, vitamins, minerals or fatty acids. In the breakdown of unhealthy cells, all essential substances are used and conserved in a most extraordinary manner. Even during longer fasts, the number of muscle fibers remains the same. Although the healthy cells may be reduced in size and strength for a time, they remain perfectly sound.

Why Fast?

Fasting is rejuvenating and life-extending. Probably the most important reason is that the body uses quite a bit of energy to digest food, it allows a deep, physiological rest of the digestive organs, and the energy saved goes into self-healing and self-repairing. In the fasting state, the body will scour for dead cells, damaged tissues, fatty deposits, tumors, abscesses, all of which are burned for fuel or expelled as waste. The elimination of these obstructions restores the immune system functionality, metabolic process to an optimum state; in addition, good digestion.

While fasting one becomes more aware of body process, gain self-confidence in ability to control life process, to set a goal and carry out an intention.

One day Fasting

One way to start is to fast one day, working towards fasting regularly, one day per week or for longer periods of time. You can fast from all food, or only from solid food. You can choose a one day fast with only:
• water
• fresh fruit juice – Mango Pulp is a very healthy, refreshing and full of healthy nutrients. One can make Mango milkshake out of the pulp and have that in the morning and noon.
• fresh vegetable juice
• Raw fruit & Vegetables
• Boiled beans & Lentils which are full of proteins and a good source of cholesterol lowering fibre. Beans also prevent blood sugar levels from rising. e.g. Kidney Beans, Mung Beans, Chick Peas.

Why Choose Asli Brand?

2010-07-30T17:02:00.000-05:00

As the name Asli® (in Hindi), means Pure, original, authentic, free from impurities & harsh chemical, we deliver pure and best quality products to Consumers. This is the number one priority. In today’s world, everyone is health conscious and insist on products that contain less or no chemicals and products that are treated with low levels of pesticides.

Asli® delivers you with the best quality and the right nutrition facts about their products. One way of keeping the products fresh is through the packaging materials. High quality laminated bags are used compared to other vendors that use polyethylene bags. The laminated bags are made of two layers of Polypropylene film which gives excellent moisture barrier, high clarity and good tear strength.

Being in a cosmopolitan country where people come from all around the world, consumers are provided with as much variety so they can feel close to their home town. All the products are carefully picked from the country that produces the best quality product for example Spain is known for its extra-hot red chilli (cayenne) powder, Kenya for its high quality Tea, Iran for its Green Pistachio, India for its lentils and spices, South Africa for its Golden Raisins, etc.

So for you, Asli® goes out of their way to look for the best quality of hard-to-reach items from all over the world so you can enjoy the best tastes.

Blast-Off your BBQ with Country-Style Bean Salad

2010-07-16T12:35:00.000-05:00

Bean salad is a great protein packed meal for anyone who wants a quick, healthy choice to fuel their bodies. Beans are a rich source of soluble fiber, low in fat & cholesterol, packed with vitamins and minerals. As the richest source of vegetable protein, beans will keep insulin level low in your body, satisfying your stomach for hours thus preventing from overeating later in the day.

In addition to their high fiber and protein content, they are a rich source of antioxidants (considered important fighters against aging) and may provide health benefits similar to some common fruits, including grapes, apples and cranberries.

So go on and BLAST-OFF your bbq with the new Country-Style Bean Salad Recipe. This is a healthy, fresh tasting bean salad that will give you an easy way to enjoy many nutritional benefits of beans with little effort plus it's a great side dish that goes well with a barbeque in summer. The fresh spices make it very flavorful. It will keep in your refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. In fact, the taste actually gets better as it marinates. Bean salad is also great on tostadas and in tortilla and in soups.

Kick-off the summer fever with Cocolicious Drinks!!!

2010-07-11T14:28:00.000-05:00

Real 100% water from green coconuts! Most people don't realize there is an enormous difference between green coconuts and the brown coconuts. Green coconuts have all the nutrition and healthful benefits. Green coconuts are harvested in the north of Brazil. The average age of the coconut is about 7 months, the best age to extract sweet coconut water that is fat-free (before the coconut ages, turns brown and the water turns to hardened "meat" - fat city!). Coconut water contains high levels of lauric acid, what the body uses to make monolaurin, a disease-fighting fatty acid derivative. Lauric acid has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties that protect the body against various infections and boost the immune system. Vita Coco is 100% natural, includes only fresh and natural ingredients, and no additives or preservatives and no sugar added. Vita Coco is kosher and is Star-K certified. Cheers to chilled thirst quenching Vita Coco!

Prevent Hair Loss & Achieve Shiny, Strong, Healthy & Full-Bodied Hair

2010-07-11T13:53:00.000-05:00

We have a large variety of herbal hair products which are excellent for your hair. Herbal Dabur Vatika & Nyle Hair products provides natural nourishment to your hair. Giving it body and radiance, taking care of the critical balance of nutrients. Hair Oils have delicate mix of pure coconut oil with special hair care herbs including henna, amla and lemon. Blended together to strengthen each strand of hair from within, making you look really gorgeous. Check out the different hair products we carry: http://www.dishal.com/health/shophealth4b.htm