5 tips to make your regular meals more nutritious!

This weekend has started on an exciting note. Finding my name in the winners list of Times Foodista  for April '14 contest,  was a pleasant surprise. Participating in this month's contest too, I am sharing a few tips to cook quick healthy meals. Do try them out and share your comments.

Tip 1 : Boil yellow moong dal for 2 meals and blend it. Put  half of the blended dal in a bowl  and garnish  it with dry spices, red chilly powder, coriander or dhania powder, amchur or mango powder along with 2 tblsp of hot pure ghee. This dal goes really well with rotis. you can store the other  half of dal in the fridge and next day, heat it with one grated tomato, 1 tsp ginger green chili paste, salt and coriander leaves. Bring it to boil for a minute or two and give the mixture a tadka of hing, jeera, curry leaves. Makes a good meal when teamed with rice and pickle.

Tip 2 : Chop some cauliflower, beans, carrots and add some green peas. Boil these with a little water and salt to taste, till cooked. Drain out the water and add, pepper and lemon juice/salad dressing. You appetizer cum salad is ready to eat.

Tip 3 : Heat 1 tspn of pure ghee/butter in a pan and add 4 tblsp of dalia/broken wheat. Saute for a minute or  two. Add a pinch of salt and 2 cups of water to this. Cook for a few minutes till it gets thick/pulpy. This dalia makes an excellent, nutritious porridge when had with milk/yogurt.

Tip 4 : Vegetarians can add few soya chunks/granules to regular vegetables/curries while cooking. Also diluted soya milk can be added to chapati/paratha dough while kneading, to add to the nutritional value.

Tip 5 : Use left over vegetable or dal to make yummy parathas. Dal can be kneaded with dough and rolled out  into chapatis and dry vegetable can be mashed and used as a stuffing for parathas.

So try out these tips and add to the nutrition value of your regular meals.

Delicious Rawa Dhokla !!

I am sharing today the recipe for Rawa Dhokla, a quick and easy to make delicious tea time snack or side dish with a vegetarian meal. Hope you enjoy it as much as my family and friends do.

Ingredients  

1 cup Rawa (Sooji)   

1 cup yogurt (dahi) 

2-3 tbps oil     

1 pinch turmeric powder    
1 tsp chili ginger paste

1 small sachet of Eno's salt

1 pinch red chili powder

salt to taste

For Tempering         
1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp sesame seeds       
6 to 8 curry leaves                                                             

2 green chilies (chopped)

For Garnishing

2 tbps grated coconut

A few coriander leaves finely chopped

Procedure 

Put the Rawa in a large bowl. Add yogurt and some water to the rawa and mix well to bring it to a semi thick consistency (like mayonnaise). To the batter add  salt, turmeric powder, ginger chili paste, and  one tbsp. oil and mix. Grease a thali with a little oil. Just before pouring the batter into the thali add the small sachet of eno salt and mix it thoroughly. Now place the thali with the Dhokla batter in an Idli maker or steamer over boiling water. Please note the water should be boiling when you place the thali in that vessel. Cover and steam for approx 20-25 mins and your dhokla should be ready. To check prick the dhokla in one place with a knife. If it comes out smooth without anything sticking on it, the dhokla is done.

Remove the thali and keep aside. After a few minutes make diagonal pieces of dhokla with a knife. Sprinkle a bit of chilli powder over it. For tempering take a small Phodni kadai and heat one tbsp. oil. Oil when hot, add mustard seeds, after it starts popping add sesame seeds, then add finely sliced chilies and curry leaves. Once the sesame seeds have turned brownish take the kadai off the gas and add a bit of water and then spread this over the dhoklas evenly. Using a spatula take the pieces of Dhokla from the thali and place onto a serving dish. Then garnish with freshly grated coconut and finely chopped coriander leaves. You can serve the dhoklas with coriander-mint chutney or coconut chutney.

Variation

Instead of taking one bowl of rawa, you can take ¾ cup of rawa and top it up with gram flour. So there you go! Tasty and light Rawa dhokla all ready to eat.

Do leave your comments below and let me know.

Li'l Masterchefs in your Home !!

It's Holiday time with kids and their friends at home,  trying to be happily busy with various activities and constantly looking for something to munch. It's always a challenge  giving kids snacking choices that are healthy,  yet tasty and easy to put together.

Today,  kids really enjoy customising snacks to their individual taste. So here's how you can help them by keeping some basics ready in the fridge. 

1 Bowl of boiled Kabuli Chana/Green Moong

1 small bowl of boiled, peeled and chopped potatoes

1 small bowl of finely chopped onion and raw mango

1 bowl of finely chopped tomatoes

Mint and coriander chutney

Date and tamarind  chutney

1-2 packets of roasted Khakras

1 Packet Flat puris ( Sev Puri)

Fine Bhel Sev

Chopped Tomato

1 Bowl of Grated cheese 

1 Bowl blended Yogurt

Depending on the mood and how hungry the kids are, they can use the Khakras or puris as the base, put toppings of their choice, add chutneys to taste and garnish with Sev and grated cheese.

Tasty and light... Kuoarin Khichdi !!

All of us have days when we are not in a mood for a full meal or have a stomach disorder and are at a loss about what to have. Kuoarin Khichdi, is a traditional Sindhi recipe that is perfect for such occasions, especially in the summer months. It is a very simple and quick to make dish. Here’s how you can make it.

Ingredients

·         1 cup rice

·         2 tbsps spit green moong dal

·         1 tbsp  pure ghee

·         Salt to taste

Procedure

Clean and soak dal and rice in a bowl of water for about 30 minutes. Heat ghee in a pressure cooker. Add rice and dal, turn around. Add about 4 to 5 cups of water and salt to taste. Now close the lid of the cooker and cook on low flame for 10 minutes after the first whistle has blown. When cool open the cooker and blend the khichdi with a wooden hand blender till it is uniform and of mayonnaise or tomato ketchup consistency. If the khichdi is too thick, add hot water as required. Serve hot with with a bowl of yoghurt/dahi and or lime/mango pickle and roasted papad.

A light and yummy meal it is!   

It's Summer time , Holiday Time, IPL and FIFA time... Time to chill with family and friends late night. The excitement of the happenings on TV brings out hunger cravings making you want to constantly nibble at something yummy but easy to reach out to and not too filling.
For such days, dips are an ideal thing to have in the fridge, I am sharing below an easy to make dip.

Dil Dip
Ingredients
1 medium sized Bowl of yogurt
4-6 sprigs of Dil leaves/Parley leaves/Corriander
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method
Put yogurt in a thin muslin cloth and hang for 45 mins to an hour so that all the water drains out.
Now transfer yogurt to a glass bowl, blend well with a spoon, add very finely chopped Dil leaves, salt and pepper and mix well. 
Cover and chill in the refrigerator for an hour and it will be ready to serve with Nachos, chips, cucumber, radish, carrot sticks. Can be used as a topping on crackers and as well as a base for sandwiches.

You can also make an interesting dip adding finely chopped onions, ginger-garlic paste, capsicum, salt and pepper to a bowl of mayonnaise.