Daliya with chana daal

When we look for the healthy diet plan, consumption of Healthy carbs is listed among the plan points. Healthy Carbs include whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables. now the question is ...what are Unhealthy carbs??? Unhealthy carbs (or bad carbs) are foods such as white flour, refined sugar and white rice that have been stripped of all bran, fiber and nutrients. So it is suggested that one should include a variety of whole grain in healthy diet, including whole wheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and barley. So here is the recipe made with broken whole wheat(daliya) and chala daal.

INGREDIENTS

Daliya                  1/2 Cup
Chana Daal          1/2 cup
Peanuts                 few(optional)
Onion, chopped    1
Tomato, chopped  1
Green chilies          2-3
Zeera                    1/2 table spoon
dhaniya powder     1/2 teaspoon
turmeric powder    1/2 tablespoon
Salt                        to taste
Oil                         2 tablespoon
Garam masala        1/2 teaspoon (optional)

METHOD
pressure Cook chana daal with 2 cups of water until 2 wristle. keep aside.
Roast Daliya. keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Add peanuts, saute for 2-3 minutes.Add zeera,when it turn golden, add Onions. saute for 2-3 minutes. Add turmeric powder and dhaniya powder, mix well. Add tomato, salt and green chilies, saute for 2-3 minutes. Add roasted daliya and chana daal with 1 1/2 cup of water(including the water remained in cooked daal), mix well. Add garam masala. pressure Cook till 1 wristle. Its ready :). Serve with desi ghee.

Enjoy a healthy meal :)

Vermicelli Upma

While having my Vermicelli Upma i am thinking how to start writing about this amazingly fast to cook and good to eat dish.

Usually served as breakfast, this is also a bachelor's choice for dinner, lunch or whenever they are feeling hungry. Today i cooked vermicelli upma with a recipe other than what i usually follow and it turn out to be a good one :)

INGREDIENTS

Vermicelli                                  1 Cup
Carrot, finely chopped              1/2 cup
French beans, finely chopped   1/2 cup
Onion, chopped                       1
Green chilies                             2-3
red chilies                                 2(optional)
Mustard seeds                          1/2 table spoon
Salt                                           to taste
Chana daal                               1/2 tablespoon
Oil                                            3 tablespoon
lemon juice                               1 teaspoon (optional)

METHOD
Cook  vermicelli with 6 cups of water and 1 teaspoon of oil until done. Drain remaining water. keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and red chillies, when they start crackling, Add chana daal, saute till they turn golden Brown. Add Onions. saute for 2-3 minutes. Add carrots and french beans, cook for 5-6 minutes. Add salt and green chilies. Add cooked vermicelli, mix with light hand. Cook  for 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice, mix well. Its ready :)

Any other vegetables like capsicum, cabbage, peas etc. can be added to this recipe. Sprouts are also a good choice to go in the recipe. More vegetables added, more good it becomes for health. :)

Oats Poha

Flattened rice poha is a very famous breakfast and evening snack...specially in madhya pradesh, maharashtra, chatisgadh and bihar. In every state the name changes for this amazing dish...Poha or Pauwa in Hindi, "Baji" in Newari language of Kathmandu, Pohe in Marathi, Chindé in Bengali, Chira in Assamese, Phovu in Konkani, Chudaa in Oriya and parts of Bihar and Jharkhand, Atukulu in Telugu, Bajeel or Bajil in Tulu, Chudwey in Urdu(Dakkani), Aval in Malayalam and Tamil, Avalakki in Kannada, Pauaa/Paunva in Gujarati, and Chiura in Nepali, Bhojpuri and Chhattisgarhi.
Poha is cooked with lightly frying mustard seeds, turmeric, chili powder, finely chopped onions and then moistened poha is added to the spicy mix and steamed for a few minutes
Today i tried to make the similar preparation using Oats....generally people don't like the soggy taste of Oats with milk. so i cooked then using the poha recipe. so here we go..

INGREDIENTS
Oats                                  1 Cup
Onion, sliced                      1
Roasted Peanuts                1/4 Cup
Green Chilies,chopped       2-3
Turmeric powder               1/4 tablespoon
Oil                                     2 tablespoon
Salt                                    to taste
Mustard seeds                   1/2 tablespoon
Lemon juice                       1 tablespoon

METHOD
Take Oats in a plate and sprinkle 1/4 cup of water and mix them properly. take care while sprinkling the water as oats should not become soggy, they are just required to be moistened... so adjust the water quantity accordingly. keep aside.
Heat the oil in a pan. Add peanuts, stir for 1 minute. Add mustard seeds, when they start crackling, Add Onions. saute for 2-3 minutes. Add green chilies, salt and turmeric powder, mix well. Add Oats, Mix well, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice, mix well. Oats poha is ready :)

Oats contain Wheat, Barley and Corn. Oats have lots of fiber content and is high in Protein and Iron. it has very low or zero cholesterol, zero fatty acid and is heart friendly.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poha_(rice)

Idli with beans

Today is my happy idli day :) because today its the first time when my idlis are perfect... soft...spongy and perfectly dry. so finally....

Idlis are usually served in pairs with nariyal chutney and sambar. but today i made idlis with green beans...

INGREDIENTS
Idli                                8-10
Green beans, chopped  1 cup
Tomato,chopped          1
Onion, sliced                2
hari mirch                     2-3
tamarind water              1/4 cup
mustard seeds              1/2 tablespoon
oil                                1 tablespoon
salt                               to taste

METHOD
Cook idlis with a recipe of your choice.
Heat the oil in a pan; add mustard seeds. Add onions and saute for one minute. Add tomato, hari mirch and salt cook till soft and pulpy. Add beans, mix well and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes. If you like the raw taste of beans than its time to add other ingredients or if you want the beans to be properly cooked than continue to cook...or boiled beans may also be used. Add tamarind water, mix well. Add idlis, mix well with light hand, cook for 2 minutes. It's ready :)

I had mine while writing this. I like the raw taste of beans so i just cooked beans for 2 minutes.

Idli an easily digestible food provides a mix of proteins and carbohydrates to the body. Green beans is good source of calcium and healthy carbs.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idli
http://www.indianfoodforever.com/indian-breakfast/idli.html

Masala Sprouts for Breakfast

I am not a good cook....but i love cooking...no matter what will be the end result but i enjoy the process... usually end result is also not that bad :). After creating this blog i considered looking at the wiki page for "Cooking"...what an amazing information source... a  must read.

from wiki:
"Cooking is the process of preparing food with heat."
"Preparing food with heat or fire is an activity unique to humans, and some scientists believe the advent of cooking played an important role in human evolution."
"When heat is used in the preparation of food, it can kill or inactivate potentially harmful organisms including bacteria and viruses."
"Proponents of Raw foodism argue that cooking food increases the risk of some of the detrimental effects on food or health."

hmmm intresting....

Today's recipe is masala sprouts. Sprouts are said to be superb for blood purification and for enhancing you from skin to hair. ..today i made masala sprouts.... will share some other sprout recipes too.  so why wait lets get going honey :)
I call it masala sprout... u can call it whatever u want....some people dont like the taste of raw sprouts so this recipe is good for them as it has all the benefits of sprouts with masala :).

Ingredients
For sprouts
Mot daal            1/2 cup
Black chana       1/2 cup
For masala
Spring Onion, chopped        1
Tomato, chopped                2
Hari mirch, chopped            2-3
oil                                       1 tablespoon
zeera                                   1/2 tablespoon
salt                                      to taste

Soak mot daal and black chana for 6- 7 hours. Drain water and keep mot daal and black chana in a wet cotton cloth overnight for sprouting.
Heat the oil in a pan; add zeera and onions and saute till golden brown. add tomato, hari mirch and salt cook till soft and pulpy and the oil separates. add sprouts, mix well and cook on low heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. masala sprouts are ready :)

Masala sprouts are great for breakfast. For the people who have digestive problems, they should pick up one bowl of sprouts everyday. Sprouts contain folic acid which is supposed to be enhancing healthy health.

So lets start the day with a  healthy meal :)

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking
http://www.ayushveda.com/dietfitness/health-benefits-from-sprouts/

A blog??? why honey???

Well... gone are the days when I was surrounded by friends to discuss what I cooked last night.....when there were friends to taste my food and criticize it ...... when I used to have time to discuss recipes in my office cafeteria over coffee sessions.....when I used to send and receive recipes in email.... and even had a particular time to surf internet for them and ...oh.... :(
....but somehow I need to feed this craving to discuss food :)
So honey I decided to start this blog where I can write what I cooked and how I cooked :)