Most of us today whether working studying or home makers have so much on our plates that we are always on the go, skipping meals and especially breakfast. Most often, we end up either just having a glass of milk or juice or missing it altogether and later having junk food like Wada Pav or a doughnut etc. I was delighted to see the new range of healthy, ready to cook and very affordably priced breakfast foods launched by Britannia. The range covers multi-grain porridge, strawberry oats, savoury oats and an assortment of delicious Upmas and Pohas. Whether you feel like just a fruit and porridge breakfast or a nice Indian breakfast like spinach and tomato Upma, you can have it all ready in 3 minutes flat and get a healthy start to your day. You will be nourished and energized to excel in whatever you choose to do. Here's to healthy eating!

Vegetable Stew

In my last post I had shared that I was off to Kerala and that I would sample Appam and stew at many restaurants and get the recipe for authentic Kerala Stew. Here it is....

Ingredients
1 Carrot (scraped and cut into 1 inch strips)
10 - 15 French Beans (cut into 1 inch strips diagonally)
1 small Cauliflower (cut into florets)
1 medium-sized Potato (peel and cut into small pieces)
100 ml Coconut Oil
Coconut Milk of one coconut
Full garam masala - four cardamons, 2 1-inch pieces of cinnamon, 5-6 cloves
1 onion (finely chopped)
3-4 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 Inch piece ginger cut into thin strips)
2 green chillies (cut into small pieces)
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp sugar

Procedure
Boil vegetables with some water for a couple of minutes till cooked. Drain out the water and keep separately. In a thick-bottomed pan, heat oil, add fresh and dried spices with chopped onion and saute for a few minutes on low flame. Add boiled vegetables and the water kept aside and bring and heat well. Turn off flame and add coconut milk, salt and sugar and serve with Appam, Neer Dosa or Idiappam.

As I pack my bag for a much awaited short holiday in Kerala, I am already thinking of the yummy authentic appam and stew that I am going to try in every restaurant that we visit. Appam and stew is one of the tastiest and lightest on the stomach meals that I have had. I will try and probe all the chefs that make this exquisite dish to find out more about their unique touch and will share with you on my return the recipe for the one that I like the best. I will also hopefully be able to pick up some interesting nuggets on Kerala cuisine. So look forward to my post next week....

Chatpatti Mathri

If you have the time and the urge this weekend to try out something in the kitchen, which can with 30 minutes of effort give you a tasty in-between meal snack for a couple of weeks,try today's recipe of Chatpatti Mathri, a light snack that goes well with a cup of tea, coffee, a cold beverage and tasty great by itself or accompanied with pickle, chutney or yoghurt.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups refined flour (Maida)
• 2 heaped tbsps. Pure ghee
• 1tsp cumin seed (jeera)
• 1tsp thyme (ajwain)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Oil for frying

Procedure:
Heat ghee and add to the flour. Put all spices into the flour. Knead into chapatti like dough with water. Make small balls like for puris. Roll out each ball into a thick puri. Pierce each puri at several places with a fork / knife. Heat oil in kadai. When hot add one puri at a time. Fry on slow turning sides till golden brown. Don’t allow the puri to swell up. Cool and store in air tight jar. Serve with pickle, chutney and tea / coffee.