One of my favourite south Indian breakfast is this paniyaram. Unlike most homes where it is made of rice flour or a dosa batter, I make mine with sprouted moong (green gram) with no rice at all. That does make it a longer process, almost 5 days, but if your home is like my home, which always has sprouts it’s easy-peasy.
Mumbai, are you ready to run the Marathon? And, what are you powering up with after your run? For those of you who aren’t going the whey way, I suggest sattu. It is packed with iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium and fibre, and hydrates the skin from within! For those of you who aren’t aware of its goodness, 100gms of sattu contains 21grams of proteins and 44 grams of carbohydrates. It’s the perfect after-marathon drink as the carbs put back all the energy you’ve lost and the proteins repair damaged muscles. Combined with lime juice, mango and salt, it’s the perfect electrolyte balancing energy drink.
Which kid doesn’t like a cookie? As a kid, the only reason I would reach for that glass of milk was for that delicious cookie that came with it! However, things are different today, people have become a lot more aware of what they are eating by adopting healthy living, but are kids missing out on the goodies. Here’s a brookie, a combination of a cookie and brownie, that’s amazingly delicious, healthy and easy to make.
From prep to baking time, it takes all of 30 minutes. And it’s made with absolutely no added sugars and is gluten- and lactose-free.
Most people are always on a diet! And sadly, ‘diet food’ means picking up prepackaged foods with a ‘diet label’ on it! Eating right, really need not be so tough. In an attempt to simplify eat, I’ve started to post recipes of foods that are simple to make, nutritious and fun! This breakfast juice, for example, will keep you full till lunchtime! Try it.
It’s been a long hiatus. Blame the 365 salads I was working on, that I hope, make it to a book. Last year, I set myself a GOAL or resolution, as I would like to call it, of making 365 NEW SALADS in the year, a new salad every day, and sure enough, I managed. Was it tough? Yes, of course, it was. But sheer determination and resolve saw me reach Day 365 with a celebration of life!
This year, I hope to post 2 things a week, yup 52 only of each!
A healthy juice or smoothie and a child-friendly healthy meal.
This dish has been one of the hottest selling entrees in both my restaurants. The name has appeal, the simplistic recipe allows you to enjoy the vegetables, it’s healthy so works with the crazy gym-addicts, and me, and it’s a looker!
Aubergine or brinjal is technically a fruit…and you can’t keep me away from fruits for too long. Full of vital vitamins, minerals, fibre and with the ability to lower cholesterol and help manage weight, brinjals have always been a hot favourite in my kitchen. And what’s even more interesting is the ease with which it can be used in any cuisine. Like, tonight, I’m trying a Sweet-Sour-Spicy Aubergine with Sichuan chilli, if I get my hands on it, and am going to serve it with brown rice noodles and a quick 5 veggie stir fry. But coming back to the brinjal, you’ve got to cook it right to prevent it from becoming a soggy mess.
Crackers are fairly simple to make and it’s rather surprising that I don’t make them as often as I should. On our trips to Europe we often stock up on these knäckebröd and bring enough home to last a few months. It’s when they run out that the quest for ready-made Indian varieties start and sadly I haven’t come across a single good gluten-free sugar-free variant as yet.
The wonderful thing about these crackers is that you can flavour it as you choose. Even the basic recipe is delicious, but when your kitchen is a store house of flavours from across the world, why would you let your imagination dry up? What I also enjoy about making these crackers is that its relatively stress free. Most Indian women are used to kneading dough, you just do it instinctively, yes I had to remind myself to measure the quantity of water I used when I developed this recipe. And the crackers get done in a flat 45 minutes, you need no yeast, no waiting for the dough to rise, no getting the temperature right..nothing. It’s as simple as knead, roll, cut and bake. And the end product is only 20 minutes away.
I was completely out of ideas. I knew I wanted to bake a soft, springy, light cake, but had no idea what!…it was just one of those days when you have a party at home and want to bake to destress..I finally let my colleagues at work decide the dessert. Within no time they were all of Pinterest pulling out the most amazing cakes. This one by Julia won my heart…it had two of my favourite ingredients blueberry and peaches. Sadly I didn’t get any fresh peaches and had to use fresh apricots instead…
I’ve often wondered what makes a salad special. Is it the mix of ingredients, textures, flavours or an amalgamation of all of these together? Or is it farm fresh ingredients and a sweet-salty-sour dressing? I’ve still not got my answer to that one, but this salad with grapefruit, pomegranate and a bit of roasted nuts, seems to be the perfect answer to a hot day!
I’ve been going crazy at work! And at home! and with my new workout schedule–which is actually just trying to figure out how to lose weight? And lost in all that mental cobwebs is the blog, which hasn’t got updated in a while. However, now that I’m back lets start with something that spruces me up every morning. It’s a breakfast smoothie, which can can easily be converted into a dessert 🙂 or into chilled oats in a jar! Read to the end to know how.