Subhadrika Sen
Herbal Tea: While brewing tea, add in a few neem leaves with kitchen regulars like ginger, cinnamon, and tulsi. The final concoction will be slightly bitter but very healthy.
Neem rice: Here’s a new fried rice version with a neem-twist. Make basic spiced rice with mustard, curry and peanuts. Also add crushed fried neem leaves to it and give it a toss. Now when you take a bite, the cumulative flavour reduces the bitterness of neem.
Chutney: Hand blend, coconut, peanuts, green chilli, garlic, tamarind, jaggery and blanched neem leaves. Once the chutney is ready, enjoy it with rice, roti, idli or dosa.
Rasam: Make mango-tamarind rasam and add neem leaves to it. Give it a good mix. Or while making the rasam add neem paste to it and turn it into a bitter-sweet but very healthy dish.
Tadka: When you give the regular tadka with cumin, ghee , red chilli and ginger-garlic, add a few crushed neem leaves. See how the dal dissolves the bitterness and you taste a rustic and earthy note of the leaves.