Mamta's Kitchen - A Family Cookbook





Goitrogens

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On 07/04/2011 05:04pm, Sid wrote:

Today I made a batch of mixed vegetable pakoras, and while I was hot on my heels I decided to make a few more of Mamta's recipes. I made the kidney bean curry, chicken bhuna, and the broccoli bhaji ? that featured on the main page a few days ago, under new recipes. All very nice BTW ;o)

While I was preparing the broccoli it got me thinking about something I came across a few months ago. It was something to do with plants from the Brassica family (cauliflower, mustard, sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, kale etc.) and how they contained goitrogens (something that interferes with the uptake of iodine from the thyroid gland, if I am not mistaken). It warned about taking too many of these plants at any one time because it may not be good for you. I guess this question is one for the resident scientist. How many heads of broccoli or cauliflower could you consume in a day without over doing it?

Sid

On 07/04/2011 06:04pm, Lapis wrote:

no idea Sid, but nature has a way of telling us to limit the eating of most poisonous things!

I think as long as we have iodine (or its salts, to be exact) in our diet (from table salt or seaweed) we should have no problems from it.

On 07/04/2011 09:04pm, sid wrote:

Yeah, I think if we listen to our bodies we can learn a lot about what we should and shouldn't consume. A few months ago I made a Caribbean fish stew ? of sorts ? with annatto, coconut milk and a few other odds and sods. Someone asked me if I could make it really hot, so me being me, I decided to chop up and throw in a whole Trinidad Seven Pot chilli. As soon as the chilli hit the heat it let off really powerful fumes that filled the whole house and sent every one into a coughing frenzy. I was still in the kitchen cooking the stew while everyone else was stood outside looking at me through the window...with their bright red faces. I kind of got the impression at that stage that they saw me as some kind of psycho. Anyway, the point I want to make is that before I added the chilli I was really looking forward to this dish, but as soon as the fumes kicked off my body told me in its own way that it didn't want to eat it. However, n this occasion I wasn't prepared to let all those ingredients go to waste, so I and the person I was cooking it for, we ate it. It was a painful experience but we got there.

Now I only add a quarter of the super hot chillies to anything I am making, because it's clear that it isn't that good in large amounts. I was reading something about the Trinidad Scorpion pepper, and that it is so hot that the people of Trinidad rarely eat it. Instead the Army use it for mixing into paint for the bottom of ships to stop the barnacles from sticking to the bottom.

Are there any major differences between normal table salt and sea salt?

Sid

On 08/04/2011 12:04am, Lapis wrote:

Indians have a special name for the chilli fumes (I've forgotten what it is).

Table salt in the UK has potassium iodide added (by law, I think) and is known as iodized salt. It may also contain ferricyanide (or however they have managed to convey the fact that it contains it without actually mentioning the word cyanide!) as an anti caking additive. [cyanoferrate?]

Sea salt is what it says on the tin, but I don't know if it contains enough iodine to benefit us. I tend to use it in cooking, I don't like the taste of table salt! Also look for black salt, for a very sulphurous flavour! an ingredient in chat masala, lovely on fruit (fruit chat)

On 08/04/2011 08:04am, Sid wrote:

I once roasted some cashew nuts with black salt on them and they turned out really nice. It does have an odd flavour to it though LOL.

On 08/04/2011 11:04am, Mamta wrote:

One word for chilli smoke is dhanse. It means the irritating cough that chilli smoke (or other things) give you.

As Lapis suggests, Black salt is worth having in your kitchen cupboard. It gives a nice flavour to fruits Chaat, salads and raitas.

Hot stew; LOL!!! In your case it was an error, but I have never understood the reason why people make themselves suffer by eating very hot food. What does it prove! It is almost like the pride people of a certain sex used to feel in 70s-80's (some still do) claiming that they can still stand after drinking a gallon of beer!! May be I am just getting too old!

On 08/04/2011 09:04pm, Sid wrote:

LOL. No, I don't think you are getting to old, Mamta. I fully understand where you are coming from. It's a bit like the pub philosopher who is only five pints away from running the England football team. What I have observed with alcohol is that people tend to brag about how much they can drink when they are young and have a point to prove, but when they get older and their tolerance has increased to the point where they need twice as much, then they try to hide the fact that they need so much. Then it's off to the local Indian take away for a vindaloo LOL.

I do enjoy using hot peppers, and I even see a place for the super hot peppers, but I only use enough to add kick and flavour to my food. I don't see the point in torturing myself or other people for the sake of it, well not on my days off anyway :o) I think there is more to chillies than just heat. Some of them, such as the habanero pepper, have a wonderful fruity flavour.

I have never tried the black salt on fruit before, but I have used it from time to time in the past.

While we are on the subject of hot peppers, can you ever see there being an end to people creating hotter and hotter strains? I know there is a law coming in this year, if it hasn't done already, to stop the general public from buying pure capsaicin. Some websites sell it in very small bottles. I think for the most part it is just something that the people who collect hot sauces like to buy as part of a collection. However, I think that some of the people who make and sell hot sauces add it into the sauce.

On 08/04/2011 10:04pm, Mamta wrote:

Yes, some chillies are good for flavour, but for me they have to be hot in moderation. I of course can not speak for everyone :-)!

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