USHA'S KITCHEN

What is ' Dalchini '?
Its common name is ' Cinnamon '.
Cinnamon is an evergreen tree, the dried leaves and the inner bark of which is used world over as a spice or condiment.
The bark is dried into cinnamon sticks or quills.
It has a warm, sweet and aromatic taste and a pleasing fragrance.
There are four varieties Ceylon (Sri Lanka) cinnamon and cinnamon cassia (Chinese) are the most popular.
The sweet aroma and warm taste of cinnamon makes it a unique spice for cooking or baking.
Cinnamon tree was known to ancient physicians even before 2700 BC. The health benefits are Cinnamon contains calcium, phosphorous, iron, sodium potassium thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, vitamins C and A.
It is also Anti-oxidant, Anti-bacterial, Anti-fungal, Anti-inflammatory n Anti-clotting agent.
Cinnamon checks nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
It stimulates digestion. Cinnamon serves as a good mouth freshener thus overcome bad breath.
Cinnamon is probably one of the most aromatic of the spices. Cinnamon, an important ingredient of "garam masala" .
Cinnamon spice in Hindi called ' Dalchini ' gives a very good taste and flavor to dishes so it is used in cinnamon roll, cinnamon buns, cinnamon toast and other dessert recipes. Cinnamon powder
can be made by roasting the whole cinnamon and then crushing into fine powder. A blender may be used for making a powder of the cinnamon.