I have acquired some ground methi powder and was wondering what quantity to add in place of methi leaves?

It does not have the same flavour as methi leaves, so won?t replece methi leaves. You can add a teaspoon in a curry for 4 people.

I don't use it in cooking very often. I much prefer germinated methi seeds in salads. As methi has many health benefits. I take it mixed with cinnamon powder, turmeric powder, dried bitter gourd powder, all mixed together. I dissolve1 tsp. of this mix in warm water every morning. It helps to keep my blood sugar under control without medication. All these things are said to have anti-diabetic and anti inflammatory properties, though I am not aware of any double blind/controlled trials that have proved this.

In what quantities do you mix the drink for your blood sugar please?

Sorry having re-read - what mean is do you mix equal quantities of the spices first and take 1 tsp of the mix or 1 tsp of each one?

I mix all and take one teaspoon of the mix, stirred in a glass of warm water. I have just taken some for this morning.

Let me say this again, I take it, as many Indians who follow Ayurvedic traditions do, but there are no controlled studies to prove it. It seems to work for me, but I can't say that it will for you.

To get ground bitter gourd powder, I dry it's slices in summer, grind it and keeo it. You may be able to buy /dried/ground bitter gourd at large Indian stores, generally not at Pakistani stores, that keep some Ayurvedic medicines.

the thing is very bitter, you need and strong motivation ;-)! It is good even without bitter gourd. Cinnamon is said to have plant insulin and something that is supposed to kick start the pancrease, who knows!

Mamta

While there, ask them about what they would recommend for diabetes. It will be interesting to see what they have to say say.

Ayurvedic shops will make the mix for you, but be sure to stand and watch, while they weigh everything out and have it ground in front of you. Some shops are not scrupulous and will replace expensive items with cheaper stuff.

If you are in India, you will have access to jambun fruit stones too from Ayurvedic shop. The full mix that I took religiously for 12 weeks two years ago and which helped me, was made from equal amount by weight of;

1. Bitter gourd or karela slices or seeds, dried

2. Jambun stones, dried Eugenia Jambos

3. Cinnamon stick

4. Bay leaf

5. Fenugreek seeds dried.

6. Neem stones

The other alternative I was given by a good Ayurvedic practitioner was equal amount of;

1. Turmeric powder

2. Cinnamon powder

3. Ginger powder

4. Neemstones

5. Fenugreek seeds

6. Bitter gourd or karela

Germinated fenugreek seeds, like ?moong dal?, are also said to be very good for diabetes.

It is very important, if you are a diabetic, NOT TO STOP, your medication, but monitor it carefully. You do not want to end up either hypo or hyper glycaemic, just in case it works for you. Also, these things tend to have more effect on type II diabetes.

So where in India are you visiting? I have just come back from there after 3 weeks, mostly in Uttar Pradesh and Uttranchal.

Mamta

We are in Goa at the moment and there is a good Ayurverdic Clinic down the road - will call in when passing. My friend has diabetes so have passed on your drink recipes to her - thank you.

We will be in Mumbai and Delhi area for a while then if my friend comes over we are going to her home town in Gujerat.

I have all the ingredients here at a fraction of the UK prices - it is really good to have to pay only about 15 pence for loads of spinach instead of ?1 but because of the weather tomatoes are very expensive for local people to buy - almost 60 per kg this week.