BEST INSECT FREE STORING TIPS FOR RICE AND DHALS

Rice and dhals when kept for long time get infested with pests and thus get spoilt. In the current situations one month itself is a big time for pests infestation in dhals. To preserve them for a long time it is advisable to use natural products instead of the chemical preservatives available in market. Mother Nature has gifted us the Neem tree which is like a ‘Kalpavriksh’. Neem leaves is the best naturally available pesticide, insecticide and germicide. Neem preserves the cereals and pulses (Rice ,wheat, any type of whole or broken pulses) without any side effects.

General guideline is to avoid usage of artificial preservatives for your grains when nature has provided mankind a natural preservative.

It is annoying to see flying insects inside the dhal and lentil containers. The insects will bore the dhals and peas and they will leave a residue in the bottom of the container. In the rainy season the rain the problem becomes intense.

Material Required for Preserving  1 kg Grains, Rice or pulses:

• 30-40 Neem Leaves

• Thin cotton cloth (muslin or lining cloth) 

Direction for Preserving Grains:

• Pluck fresh green Neem leaves and shade dry them. (It will take 2-3 days during summers to shade dry Neem leaves and 5-6 days during winters )

• Keep approximately 10 dried leaves aside.

• Crush rest of the leaves to coarse powder.

• Make 4cm x 4cm pouch of the cloth.

• Fill the cloth with coarse powder of dried Neem leaves.

• Stitch the open end of the pouch to seal it nicely.

If you are storing larger quantity i.e app 10 kg of rice or dhals , make 5-6 pouches of the same size. Follow below mentioned procedure:

• Spread the dried Neem leaves kept aside on the bottom of the container and cover with cotton cloth or dry paper.

• Fill 1/4 grain in the container.

• Place two pouches at two corners of container on the grain and then fill half of the remaining grain in the container.

• Keep the remaining two pouches at the other two corners of the container and fill rest of the grain.

• Place the remaining two pouches on the top of the last layer of grain.

• Close the lid of the container, the grains will remain pest free for almost a year.

Tips:

• Do not use synthetic cloth or plastic sheet to make the pouches because the essential oils of Neem which has anti pesticide effect will not be able to permeate in the grain.

• Do not dry Neem leaves under the sun because it will cause most of the essential oil to evaporate and the effectiveness of Neem will decrease.

• It is advisable to buy commodities in smaller quantities. Store them in air tight containers to prevent pest infestation due to improper sealing. In current time most people are moving into apartments and there will be space constraint. In nuclear families the consumption is less and therefore 250 gms purchase also will take over a month’s time to complete.
• It is a good practice to place dhal in air tight containers, place them in the sunlight week once a fortnight . Removes smell and dhal remains fresh. For smaller quantities place bay leaves. It will keep away insects.

Watch outs:

• If you mix the shade dried leaves directly with the grains for storage, it will become a tedious task during usage of rice or pulses. This will cause hassle in cleaning before use. The dried leaves will break coarsely while dispensing. It is advised to use cotton cloth pouches to avoid the hassle.