Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Spice up your life!






I love eating spicy foods! How many people out there love chilli? 

Chilli has health benefit more than you can imagine. This hot herb is originally from south America. It arrived to Thailand by Portuguese people in the early Ayutthaya period.


Chilli helps our body to release endorphins which increase our happiness and a feeling of well-being.  A study in Japan found that Chilli boost up body temperature and assist in metabolism process which is very useful for weight control.

It also helps people who have asthma especially to dissolve the mucus and unblock the bronchial spasm.  Eating some chilli in people with asthma or allergy will help to ease your symptom. I found this good effect in my real experience. My husband is suffering from asthma and allergy from his childhood. It was always difficult for him to eat or speak while he had block nose as he needed to breathe through his mouth. At the meal time, he needed to put a bowl with hot water and some mental alcohol to ease breathing but it did not work well. Until now we got married and I have been preparing him food in Thai style with some chillies. He found that my spicy food helps to open his nose and he can eat easier than before. He said me why he did not know me long time before so he could breathe while eating!


Eating chilli reduces the insulin level. It is found that 30 minutes after eating chilli, the insulin level is not increased that will also reduce the feeling to eat something sweets.
Vitamin C in chilli is an antioxidant  which also help reduce the risk of cancer. The findings of the Siriraj Hospital in Thailand found that the chili is the breakdown of blood clots as well.

There is also a gel made of chilli which used to apply on the body to relieve pain, skin inflammation, pain in the knee arthritis, herpes or shingles

To avoid acidity in your stomach, chilli is best eating with fat or oil because the capsaicin is dissolved in oil more than in water. In Thai cooking, it is very common to see hot curry soup made of coconut milk that is what the old generations have created with local wisdom from their experience to get the most benefit from hot chilli.  



.........Easy cooking with chilli............

Green Curry with Chicken


Ingredients

- Chicken                  500 grs.
- Green Curry Paste      2 tbs (if you want your curry hotter you can add more)
- Fish Sauce                 2 tbs (if you don´t have just use 1 tsp of salt instead)
- Sugar                        1 tbs
- Coconut Milk           400 ml
- Eggplant                    1 unit
- Basil Leaves               1 branch

Green Curry Paste


 How to prepare

- Add half of coconut milk and green curry paste into pan. Stir until get homogenous texture and bring to boil. At this point you will get aroma from various herbs in the curry paste mixed with coconut milk.
- Add chicken and stir until cooked.
- Add the second half of the coconut milk and eggplant. 
- Season with fish sauce and sugar. Bring to boil and taste. Add more fish sauce or sugar to meet your taste bud.
- When the taste is perfect for you, add the basil leaves. And your green curry is ready to enjoy!


 



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