Dear Mamta,

I, as a heart patient, am told that Jawas seeds are good.

Can you please let me know some recepies using this seed (Linseed)

Many thanks

Karan Varma.

Hello Karan

Welcome to mamtaskitchen!

Jawas or Flax seed or Linseed is also known as Alsi in India. I don't have any specific recipes for it, but you can add it to various flours, curries, chutneys and other dishes, almost anything, if you grind it into a powder. It should be ground anyway, because whole seeds are discarded by the body undigested as I understand it. Look for 'alsi' recipes on Google.co.in.

Perhaps others here can help you with recipes Karan.

Mamta

Do you have any idea where could I find Alsi in India. Even i am looking for it due to medical reasons and want to start takiing it regularly.

Thanks

Hi Sujata

I have not lived in India for a long time, so I am not absolutely sure. You should get it from any good grocers. These shops were known as 'parchooran ki dukan' in my days, you know the places where you get all your dals, rice, flour, masalas etc. from. If they don't have it, they me be able to order them for you or tell you where you can find them. They look a bit like black til.

Mamta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax

As a seed could it be lighly toasted and sprinkled on a salad or even baked into bread?

Steve

Hello All

Ground Alsi should be kept in cool & dark place. And it must be eaten in raw form. If added to hot food it loses it's effect on hihg blood pressure and cholestrol. My brother had high clolestrol, he takes a tablespoon of Flax Seed Oil, Dr. was surprized at the results. Again Flax Seed Oil must be Kept in cool place and taken with cold food (as is or on cold cereal or with yoghurt).

If ground alsi(Flax Seed) and Flax Seed Oil exposed to sun it loses it's effect.

Hope this helps.

Sukhdev, thanks for that, its surprising how much there is to learn about food !

Steve

Thankyou Mamta for your kind reply. The link was useful and I could find a word for Flaxseed in Oriya too. Thanks a lot, i shall try out in some grocery shop.

Regards

Sujata

When I am in India I buy flax seed from the shop where I buy my dry goods but they have to picked over as they contain small stones - big job but worth it. My shop keeper tells me he only uses them to make a tea and strains it before drinking so doesn't matter about the stones.

What I have found out from a dietician is that if you eat them whole they do not digest very well and "come out as they went in" so you must grind them first and then use them - grind only as required.I sprinkle a tablespoon of the ground seeds on cereal or chopped fruit and in a health shop in Mumbai I found flax seeds squares - they were mixed with honey and then set which when ground is very good on fruit.

Hattie

You are quite right Hattie, Flax seeds do have to be ground, eating them whole is a waste of time, they come out undigested.

Mamta

you may also like to know that it is possible to get your daily omega3/6 requirements from a 50/50 mix of olive oil/rapeseed oil.

The problem with linseed oil (and walnut oil) is that they oxidise so quickly, producing the 'linoleum' type of smell, also reminiscent of oil based paint.

Work out how much you need, it isn't much.

Waaza

I am having heavy hair fall.went through a site which said alsi or lecithin should be taken daily in small quantity.

But I am wondering in which form & dish shoud i consume it. plz help me....where in US can i get it?

Alsi /Tishi Seeds(Flax or Linseed) have to be ground before they are absorbed, whole seed will pass through you gut whole. I keep it ground in a small jar and add a spoonful in my chapatti dough/dals/curries and so on.

In USA, I am sure you will get it at health food stores, if not Indian stores.

Mamta

Hi Mamta,

I have just bought Roasted Alsi for hair growth purposed. i have two questions:

1. roasted alsi has lost its value?

2. if chewed properly even roasted alsi goes undigested?

Thanks

Sangeeta

I don't know anything about roasted Alsi/Flax seeds.

Eating them whole is not an effective way of eating them. However long you chew them for, you will swallow a lot of seeds whole (they are so small) and they will be wasted. You will have to eat more to get the same effect. So, why not grind them in your coffee grinder?

Mamta

FLAX SEED chutney !

--Grind together 250 gms roasted flax seeds, a big palmful of dried red chillies, and 1-2 whole garlic (the whole thing). Add salt to taste. Enjoy on toast, curd rice, boiled veggies, dal-rice , what else....... (On second thoughts, this is like manna from heaven for cardiac types....flax, garlic, capsaicin......no frying, )

---For those who are anti-garlic, a ground mixture of dried kadhipatta leaves, flax seeds and dried red chillies is also very tasty.

--- Make a delcious mixture of juice of a few lemons, salt, red chilly powder, fenugreek powder(methi), haldi (turmeric), and add in ground flax seeds chutney, or just plain ground seeds. This makes a delicious sandwhich spread.

Hello CP

These ideas sound delicious, I have printed them out to try, thanks. I add ground flax seeds to dough, curries, chutney's sometimes, but this is a novel idea.

I don't see it not coming out nice, so if you want to have this recipe on this site, please send your name to me via the contact link above. If you have some good pcictures, even better. Otherwise, I will take some when I make it. Do please get back to me via e-mail.

Mamta

Hi!! I tried using CPs recepie but did not roast the seeds they were equally good. Please know that any form of heating kills the excellent nutritional value.

Farah

Hello,

Agasi chutney powder is very much used daily in my hometown Bijapur,Karnataka.In fact it is widely used in whole of North Karnataka.We have this powder which is mixed with curd along jawar roti or chapathi.

Receipe:

Agasi seeds--1cup

Garlic 3-4 flakes

Red chilli/red chilli powder

curry leaves

salt as per taste.

Roast the seeds till the aroma comes out then mix all the ingredients and grind together.You can add tamrind for sour taste.

My email id: trupti1212@yahoo.com.

Hello Trupti

This looks very interesting. Before I try it though, I need to ask a few questions;

1. Is it something like this hot powder Gun Powder that is eaten with idli and rice etc., a kind of last minute addition like salt and pepper?

2. What is it's local name in your language?

3. How do you add curry leaves, fresh or dry/fried.

4. How do you add tamarind? That is a paste, at least I haven?t seen it in powdered form, so doesn?t it then make it into a paste?

5. Lastly, how do you make your Jowar roti, are they different from north Indian Jwar Roties?

If you want, you can write it all down and send it to me by E-mail, via the contact link. I would love to make it.

Mamta

You can make alsi pinnies/ladoo and enjoy it. Alsi helps in arthrits.

My nutritionist told me that flax seed should not be roasted too much. It's nutrition is sensitive to heat and will lose all the omega-3 if heated too long or eaten with hot foods.

She tells me this is good for weight loss. Is this right?

omega three (and six and nine) fatty acid oils are still oils, although they break down more easily in the body than saturated fats. Heat will break them down too. But I think the case for weight loss is a little hopeful. I think it should be stated like this:

for any person, the chances of weight gain from eating oils/fats will be greater from eating saturated fats than from unsaturated fats/oils. Weight loss is expected from exercise mostly, unless the person is malnourished.

It?s a bit of a fallacy that we should maintain a low fat diet. The body needs fats to make substances vital for life. Eating less of any one food group is not the way to go, IMHO. The reason we put on weight is that we eat too much, or the diet is not balanced, or/and we do not exercise enough.

For those who prefer not to eat linseeds (they always remind me of the smell of cricket bats) and as linseed oil goes off so quickly, an alternative source is rape seed oil. Many supermarket 'vegetable oil' is rape seed oil. And if you mix in equal portions rape seed oil and olive oil (EVOO is not necessary), this is a perfect ratio of omega 3 to 6, as recommended by world authorities.

I thought the more likely weight loss claims for Flax seed were not based on any magical chemical reaction, but just that as it is extremely high in fibre it will make you feel fuller faster, and once it hits your intestines will swell so you also feel fuller longer. So you simply eat less, and are then less likely to snack!

I thought 'fullness' was rather related to stomach rather than gut? If it was fibre that was important, any fibre would suffice, why would linseed be any better? Swelling in the gut would be uncomfortable at least, and seeds could lodge in 'pockets', breaking down quickly, with odourous results!

Lapis - Apparently fullness is now called 'satiety' as an antonym to hunger. There is a 'satiety index' with flax and psyllium right there up the top for fibrousness. No idea how much of this is based on scientific research or that of the world according to "Dr" Gillian McKeith. (She even recommends a flax seed enema (perhaps to clear out the flax seeds coming down the other way!) I'd say 'don't try this at home.

Take your point about where in the digestive system the seed blow up and lodge - there is a clear line between fullness and the discomfort of bloatedness, it certainly would remove the desire to eat anything, a sort of seedy gastric band?

interesting, Winton, thanks for that ;?)

hi.. can anyone tell me where i can buy flaxseed in mumbai?

thanks!

Can anybody tell me how much Alsi seed or dry Chutney we should eat every day so that it does not have neagtive effect.

I have been following this post and I am really excited to try some of the suggestions. I had a question about Omega 3/6. How much would one need to eat of the rapeseed and olive oil combo daily to get the required dosage of Omega 3/6 nutrition?

Thanks

Any nutritionists here to answer this one ;-)? It will depends upon you total diet as a whole, what other things and how much of it you eat. When I am in the Alsi mood, I add a couple of spoons to my chapatti atta or a curry sauce, but I don't remember to do it very often :-(!

As I understand it, Alsi seeds have to be ground, otherwise they just pass through your intestines undigested/unabsorbed.

http://nishamadhulika.com/sweets/alsi-pinni-recipe.html

here is the link for delicious laddos from alsi.i hope it will help.

Thank you Amrita. The recipe is in Hindi, so of not much use to many of our readers. It looks like a recipe for atta and Gond (Chapati atta and gum resin) laddoos, where 50% of atta has been substituted with ground Alsi/Linseed. Looks good.

Ingredients:

Rosted Red chillis or red chili powder (as per your test)

Salt (for test)

Flax seeds (generally we roast, but as it is said here for healthy reason no need to roast)

Method:

Grind all of above together.

Store in Glass container

keep in cool and dark place

How it is used

---

Good in cold weather. Generally in Winter grandma used to make this.

Flax seeds are hot by nature.

• With Chapati / Jawar bhakari (Indian Roti)

• With Rice and Yellow Daal. (just spread it on mixed daal and rice)

• Just spread on bread slice and make a sandwich.

• Make Raita. Add this powder to nicely whipped curd. Use this mixture as a spread.

This can be used in same fashion as "groundnut" chatani, Dry Coconut chatani.