Pakistani Sweet- Lado

Ingredients

• 320G of Gram Flour 2.5 cups of Gram Flour (Besan)

• 4.7G of Ground Cardamom

• 500 mL of Milk

• 3 cups (681G) of Clarified Butter/Ghee

• 2.5 cups Cane Sugar

• 2 tbsp. of Milk

• 3.5 cups Water

• Saffron

Materials

• Strainer with small holes

• Pot

Directions for Syrup

• Mix the 500G water and 2.5 cups sugar and bring to boil.

• When sugar dissolves, add in milk

• Boil for 5 minutes, remove top layer and strain (return to stove after)

• Add saffron & cardamom powder then mix

• Set aside under low heat

Directions for Pastry

• Mix flour and milk to a soft batter

• Heat the Ghee in large pan.

• Pour the batter through strainer (may need to add butter to strainer to make easier) into the hot ghee

• Stir and remove batter when lightly brown

• With the small pellets cooked, add them to the syrup.

• Remove from syrup and take off excess.

• Add few tsp of hot water to the pellets.

• Cover for 4-5 minutes

• Shape the pellets into small round pastries and put into refrigerator.

• Enjoy!

Research

Gram Flour - Less calories than wheat flour, low glycemic index, gluten free, rich in iron, rich in vitamin b6

Cardamom - fights against digestive issues, freshens breath, and is related to ginger

Milk - high in vit. D and phosphorus

Cane sugar - high in antioxidants, amino acids, and potassium, riboflavin.

Research the ingredients used in your dish and write up an analysis of this meal.  The analysis should be approximately 200-250 words.

Choose 3 of the following 5 lenses to analyse your dish. You don’t have to answer every question suggested for each one.

•Approximately what percent of the meal is processed vs. whole food?

•Political/economic:  How much did this meal cost? How does this compare to fast food? How are these food items regulated?  Who made money off your meal?  What small and/or large corporations/businesses are involved?

•Social:  What are some of the social ramifications of your meal choice?  Trace a few parts of your dish from the farm to the plate, including all intermediate steps on the way.  Where were these food items purchased?  Pick 2-3 ingredients and compare a commercial production process vs. a self-sufficient process.  (For example, how does the commercial tomato growing and delivery system compare to growing tomatoes yourself?)

The snack, Ladoo, is mostly unprocessed food. The majority of ingredients can be found naturally, and apart from your choice of sugar are all healthy. The main ingredient, Gram Flour (or Besan as it's called culturally) is natural, and has less calories than wheat flour, a low glycemic index, it's gluten free, rich in iron, and rich in vitamin b6. Cardamom fights against digestive issues, milk is high in vitamin D and phosphorus. Finally, cane sugar is high in antioxidants, amino acids, and contains potassium and riboflavin. Averaging cost for ingredients, it is a very cheap snack to make.

In India and Pakistan, where this snack is most commonly found, all the ingredients are a common find in every household. While it's hard to say who benefits off of a meal, street vendors often make this along with other sweets to sell.Small local businesses which sell ingredients to street vendors and individuals will benefit from this purchase, and in Pakistan, everything is grown locally, almost nothing will need to be imported as all spices etc grow locally. The largest organizations involved would be the farms in which sugar is refined, but it's  not uncommon to see sugarcane growing naturally and families processing it at home.

Social ramifications would be largely detrimental. Due to the popularity of sweets in the poorer, and more rural areas of Pakistan, it is hard to state health detriments. Eating such large amounts of butter, and sugar can cause diabetes, and this is rampant. Sugarcane is often processed by workers who are poorer, and labor is difficult. Often being paid less than others, and without any age restrictions, sourcing these ingredients can indirectly be equated to situations such as Apple's use of child labour.

• Cassava leaves, pounded

• Beef (or other meat), wash and cut

• 200 ml palm oil

• 1 fish, if preferred

• 2 onions, chopped

• Chilli or hot Peppers

• 4 cups water (1l)

• Salt, for taste

1. In a cooking pot, add your  meat or fish, salt and 2 cups of water.  

2. Then bring it to boil for 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked. When the fish is done, remove it from the pot. Let it cool down and remove the bones from fish and set aside.

3. Add the cassava leaves in the pot. Let it simmer for 5 minutes and add another cup of water

4. Pour the palm oil in the sauce and add onion, and chili pepper .

5. Then simmer for 30 minutes on medium heat.You will need to stir the sauce occasionally to prevent it from burning

6. Return the fish  in the pot and salt to taste.

7. Stir well and cook for 15 minutes.

8. When your soup is done, serve it with rice

I would say that about 65 percent of this meal is whole food and the rest is processed. The greens are are grown and then pounded and put into a sealed bag which is then frozen. I at first that the green were fine but then my mom brought back cassava leaves from Liberia and it tastes a lot different from the greens that are grown here. The animals that were used in this meal, I don't know how they were killed, but most usually we get our meat from markets and other areas like that. The same goes for our seasoning that we use for the soup

When it comes to the cassava leaves, they are grown here, but they originated from my mother’s homeland, Liberia. For the ones that are grown here, I’m sure that they are mostly organically grown. When we have the time we even pick our own greens from farms in New Jersey. For the meat that we use, I am not sure if they contains pesticides and how commercially grown they really are, we get majority of it from markets so I think that it’s mostly organic.

Note exact quantities are not used to make this recipe. I explained what to look for instead as that is how I actually prepare this dish.  

Ingredients  

About 5 pounds of boneless skinless chicken

McCormick Roasted Garlic & Herb

Virgin Olive OIl

Steps

• Unwrap Chicken and place on a plate.

• Brush Olive Virgin Oil onto Chicken until it is fully coated.

• Cover chicken in McCormick Roasted Garlic & Herb Mix until about half the chicken’s surface area is about ½ covered.

• Grill Chicken to 165 degrees fahrenheit.

• Place chicken on plate and enjoy!

Lens

This dish is a relatively affordable dish as chicken is one of the least expensive proteins that one can buy.  The average cost of a pound of chicken, according to a quick google search, is 3 about dollars and one can often find it for much cheaper on sale. The other ingredients in the dish are a bit more expensive per purchase, however, one McCormick Roasted Garlic & Herb and a bottle of virgin olive oil can last for tens of times making this recipe.  

This dish is also a relatively healthy dish. Boneless skinless chicken only has 165 calories per serving. In addition to that, it offers an amazing 31 grams of protein. I ate this dish frequently when I was lifting as it was a great source of protein at a low cost. Protein helps us build and replenish muscle and people who are actively training must eat more than the average individual. While olive oil is high in calories it consists of monounsaturated fat as it is thus considered good fat by many nutritionists, rather than trans fats and saturated fats, which are generally considered bad for you.  

This meal is not very processed as the chicken is a natural ingredient. Using virgin olive olive olive oil means that the olives were only turned into oil using a machine but no chemicals or additives.

A) Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1/4 cup thinly sliced white onion

• 1/2 teaspoon cumin

• Pinch of Salt

• Pepper

• 1 tortilla

• 1/2 cup shredded hard goat cheese

• 1/2 large sliced tomato

• fresh basil or sage

B)Directions to make Vegetable and Goat cheese quesadilla.

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. You can add toppings such as unions and sauté until translucent for around 5 minutes. After season it with salt, and pepper. Remove onions from pan and set aside.

• Using the same pan, lay the tortilla flat on the pan in medium heat. Sprinkle cheese evenly on top. Top half the cheese with cooked onions, tomato, and herbs. When cheese begins to melt, fold cheese-only side of tortilla over. Cook for another minute. You can repeat this process for larger crowds of people such as a whole classroom. Each person will want more than one, but it is healthy and taste very good and is also quick.

c) Analysis

Goat cheese is easy to digest for people who are lactose intolerant. You can use a whole wheat tortilla which has fiber. You can also use veggies for toppings which are extremely healthy and have antioxidants.

This is the beautiful thing about making a meal that is from a country like Mexico. In Mexico, most of the ingredients you will find are grown locally and are very fresh. What this means is that the food that you will be eating will most likely not be processed. Goat cheese also contains whey which contains protein. If you are going to the gym a lot, you might want to think about creating one of these healthy quesadillas because you can fuel your gains. Furthermore, you can also eat the veggies from locally grown markets, or you can buy bad veggies. Either way, you know that it will be much better for you than a processed meal.

(Serves 8-10 guests)

4 ripe avocados

1 jalapeno pepper

½ red onion

½ lime

¼  teaspoon sea salt  

(how ever much, I personally like a lot) cilantro

Directions:

1. Chop jalapenos, red onions and cilantro into small pieces (finely chop)

2. Seed avocados and place avocados in a mixing bowl.

3. Start to smash avocados to your preference consistency. (I like mine chunky where there there are still chunks of avocados)

4. Juice/ squeeze lime

5. Mix altogether

6. Done! You can serve it as a dip, with lime chips or plain tortilla chips. My preference would be the Tostitos lime chips or for a healthier right of way, get tortilla chips and squirt some lime on top and a dash of sea salt and mix together.