Healthy Cooking Recipes: Low fat

Showing posts with label Low fat. Show all posts

Idli and dosai are two dishes which can be easily experimented with, with a variety of whole grains. If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you'll know that my whole-grain find of this year is Foxtail Millet- you'll find a couple of recipes featuring them already. It's thanks to our online grocery store that stocks a lot of these ancient grains and greens that you won't find in supermarkets that they end up finding their way in many new dishes I experiment with. While I've been using the millet grain in salads, patties, upma etc, this time I bought the foxtail millet idli rava to try making idlis. It turned out reasonably soft, definitely denser than white rice idlis- but that's the whole grain effect- the end products always turn out denser. The advantage of this being you can't eat as many idlis as you can of the regular ones. Initially you could try substituting 50% of the rice / idli rava with this millet rava and then go to a 100%.

In India: Tinai, chamai, kavalai, kambankorai are some of the names for millet in Tamil. Nuvanam is millet flour. The gruel made from millet, the staple of Ancient Tamils, is called kali, moddak kali, kuul, and sangati. Korralu (Telugu), Navane (Kannada) [Source: Wikipedia]

An idli is a healthy dish as it is, being a combination of a rice and lentil (udad dal), makes a complete set of amino acids, resulting in a good quality protein. So you can alternate between regular idlis and those made using millets, to get more fiber and a variety of nutrients.

A healthier version of Idli

Foxtail Millet Idli
Makes roughly 32 or more idlis, depending on the size, you could use this batter over 3-4 days for a variety of dishes such as dosai, uthapam, kuzhi paniyaram etc.

1 cup whole or split udad dal (without skin)
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (optional)
2 cups foxtail millet rava (or use 1 cup millet rava and 1 cup rice)
2 tsp salt
Optional
finely chopped veggies to add to idlis
1/2 tsp Grated ginger, mustard seeds, chana dal, red chillies tempered in oil to add to batter before steaming

Soak the udad dal + fenugreek seeds in plenty of water. In another bowl, soak the rava in water that covers it completely.
After 3 hours- drain water from udad dal and grind to a fine paste in the mixer or wet grinder. Remove in a big bowl.
Squeeze all the water from the millet rava and grind this to a fine paste too. Add to the udad dal paste and mix well, adding salt. Add upto 1/2 cup water if batter is very thick.
Place in a large container with a fitting lid. This will expand to nearly double volume over 8-10 hours, so keep accordingly in a sizable container.
Once fermented, you can either use this immediately to make idlis / dosa or place in refrigerator immediately and use when required (within next 3-4days).

Remove the required quantity of batter
To make idlis, lightly grease the idli moulds with oil, pour batter into each mould (not more than half capacity), top with any chopped veggies if required, close the pressure cooker lid but remove the weight so that this steams and doesn't pressure cook. If you have a special idli maker, then use that. Keep the flame on high and then reduce to medium once the steam is in full flow. Steam for around 12 minutes on medium flame. Open the cooker after 10 minutes or so, removing the idli stand. Sprinkle some cold water on top of each mould and with a sharp edged steel spatula or a knife, unmould each idli cleanly.

Serve with any chutney or your choice, or molagapodi or ketchup for the kids.

Other recipes using Foxtail Millet
Salad with nutrition facts included
Millet-Basil Patties

Making a healthier Idli using Foxtail Millet

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In India: Tinai, chamai, kavalai, kambankorai are some of the names for millet in Tamil. Nuvanam is millet flour. The gruel made from millet, the staple of Ancient Tamils, is called kali, moddak kali, kuul, and sangati. Korralu (Telugu), Navane (Kannada) [Source: Wikipedia]

A healthier version of Idli

Let me start by saying that I don't have a tandoor. When I moved into a home with a little garden, I did have this wild idea of building my own tandoor (a cylindrical clay oven used for baking / cooking heated by burning coals inside it). I can't say I have completely abandoned that idea but this tandoori recipe doesn't need a 'tandoor'. If you have a microwave oven with a grill or the grill function in a regular convection oven, that's great. If you don't have either ovens, you can use a non stick skillet to grill these.

The best part about this recipe is you can make perfectly delicious appetisers using minimal or no oil. Use a low-carb vegetable like broccoli, cauliflower or bell peppers (stuffed or as it is), and you have a perfect low carb vegetarian side dish. For any vegetable, the basic steps are the same.

Step one: Clean and partly cook the vegetable.

Step two: Marinate the vegetable

Step three: Grill

I use the same marinade for both recipes, mostly eye-balling the ingredients to make roughly over a cup of marinade.

Tandoori Marinade

3/4 cup thick yogurt

2 tsp chickpea flour

1 tbsp kasoori methi* (key ingredient, do not omit. Crush between finger tips to a coarse powder and then add)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp coriander powder

2 cloves garlic, grated

2 tsp oil (optional)

In a large bowl, mix all of the above. Cover and refrigerate until use.

For Tandoori Aloo

Parboil 2 dozen baby potatoes with the skins. Either boiling in water for 3-4 minutes or pressure cook for two whistles. Remove, drain well and poke 3-4 holes per potato with the skewer. This is so that the flavours of the marinade can go inside the potatoes.

Immerse the skewer sticks in water for 2-3 hours.

Marinade the par-cooked potatoes with skins in the prepared mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, skewer them and place on a grill safe plate. Grill for 5 minutes. Turn to the other side and grill another 5 minutes. Serve with tamarind chutney and green chutney.

For Tandoori Broccoli

Break a broccoli into medium sized florets (around 2 dozen florets). Immerse in a bowl of salted water for 10 minutes. Wash thoroughly. Place them in a microwave safe bowl with lid, add 2 tsp water and microwave on high for 3-4 minutes until partially cooked. Once slightly cool, place in marinade for 30 minutes (refrigerated).

Either skewer them or place them in a single later on a grill safe plate and grill for 5-7 minutes.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon along with a hung yogurt dip or mint chutney

[inspiration for tandoori broccoli came from the brilliant dinner we had at Blue Terrain where this was one of the dishes served]

*Kasoori / Kasuri methi is just dried fenugreek leaves, which when crushed and used in any dish gives a very distinct fragrance and flavour. You cannot use fresh fenugreek leaves or fenugreek seeds instead of this. This can be found in the spice aisle of most supermarkets in India or Indian supermarkets abroad.

Feedback from people who tried this recipe

Tandoori cauliflower for lunch! Thanks @saffrontrail for posting this simple, healthy and delicious recipe :-) twitter.com/Ayeshazh/statu…
— Ayesha (@Ayeshazh) March 2, 2013

Grilled veggies, inspired by @saffrontrail good fun only twitter.com/maxdavinci/sta…
— maxdavinci (@maxdavinci) March 2, 2013

Tandoori Aloo & Tandoori Broccoli [no tandoor required]

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Step one: Clean and partly cook the vegetable.

Step two: Marinate the vegetable

Step three: Grill

I use the same marinade for both recipes, mostly eye-balling the ingredients to make roughly over a cup of marinade.

Tandoori Marinade

3/4 cup thick yogurt

2 tsp chickpea flour

1 tbsp kasoori methi* (key ingredient, do not omit. Crush between finger tips to a coarse powder and then add)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp coriander powder

2 cloves garlic, grated

2 tsp oil (optional)

In a large bowl, mix all of the above. Cover and refrigerate until use.

For Tandoori Aloo

Immerse the skewer sticks in water for 2-3 hours.

Marinade the par-cooked potatoes with skins in the prepared mix. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, skewer them and place on a grill safe plate. Grill for 5 minutes. Turn to the other side and grill another 5 minutes. Serve with tamarind chutney and green chutney.

For Tandoori Broccoli

Either skewer them or place them in a single later on a grill safe plate and grill for 5-7 minutes.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon along with a hung yogurt dip or mint chutney

[inspiration for tandoori broccoli came from the brilliant dinner we had at Blue Terrain where this was one of the dishes served]

Feedback from people who tried this recipe

Tandoori cauliflower for lunch! Thanks @saffrontrail for posting this simple, healthy and delicious recipe :-) twitter.com/Ayeshazh/statu…
— Ayesha (@Ayeshazh) March 2, 2013

Grilled veggies, inspired by @saffrontrail good fun only twitter.com/maxdavinci/sta…
— maxdavinci (@maxdavinci) March 2, 2013

Bite-Sized Post No.1

To make sure I am blogging more frequently, I'm going to do these bite-sized posts. These are recipe cards made using iPhone pics and coming straight to the recipe without any (much) rambling.

Who doesn't like fried Bhindi / Okra? But truth is okra can soak in a whole oil tank to get crisp. Here's my almost no-oil (compared to the deep frying method) method to get crispy crunchy okra in minutes. Even if you are the lucky ones who doesn't need to watch your waist line, deep frying is such a hassle. So here's the cheat code.

The only thing you need to be careful about is the baking time. At 200 C, once the slices have browned, they can get charred in no time. So, please keep a watch post the 8-9 min mark.

I made this for lunch today to go on top of my (boring) tomato-cucumber-dill salad. And it did take the salad up by several notches.

Text Version Recipe of Crispy Bhindi

Wash bhindi and pat dry.
Thinly slice them.
Take 2 cups sliced bhindi.
Preheat oven.
Heat 2 tsp oil in wok.
Add bhindi slices, toss well to coat with oil.
Line a 10X10 baking tray with foil.
Spread bhindi slices in single layer.
Bake at 200 C for 10-12 minutes until it turns golden brown.
Remove, cool for 2 minutes and use in raita, as salad topping or just like that.
You can sprinkle salt / chaat masala on it once cooled.

(Picture formatted in Instagram)

Oven Crisped Bhindi (okra)

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We're not yet fully into winter and yet early morning temperatures are hitting lows of 15C. Bangalore, how I love thee for this. With this soup I made for my son and me a couple of nights ago, I have hit upon another perfectly warming soup recipe for the winter evenings. The lemongrass keeps it fresh and the ginger gives it the warmth.

I buy fresh lemongrass from Namdhari's that comes chopped in batons and sold in plastic bags. I'm talking about the green leaves here and not the stalk that is used in Thai cooking. I keep this in the freezer once opened, and it stays for a long time. My favourite use for this is in my morning Chai. Other than this I use it in Thai curry pastes, or even just simmer in a curry and fish it out in the end for that fresh lemony flavour. I have found that Lemon Basil is a great substitute for lemongrass in tea as well as curries.

This soup is as filling and creamy as it can get, without adding even a touch of cream. You could do an oven roasted pumpkin soup, but I find the flavours very similar even with slow roasting on a stove top pan. I used the yellow pumpkin for this. You could try the same with butternut squash or the darker orange pumpkin too.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Recipe for Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Lemongrass and Ginger
Serves 3
Under 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200 grams yellow pumpkin
1 large onion
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
6-7 lemon grass leaves
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 1/2 cups skimmed milk
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Paprika
Dried parsley

Preparation
Peel and slice the pumpkin into medium sized pieces
Peel and thinly slice the onion
Slice the garlic

Directions

In a large wok, heat the olive oil. Before oil gets hot, add the sliced garlic and onions. Saute on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the lemongrass leaves and ginger. Stir for a few seconds.
Add the sliced pumpkin. Braise on high heat, shaking the wok every now and then until the slices get a golden brown coating.
At this stage sprinkle sea salt and let this cook uncovered for 5 minutes on low heat.
Add 1/2 cup water, cover and cook the pumpkin now, until it is fully done and falls apart when touched with a ladle.
Remove to a dish and cool. Remove the lemon grass leaves from the cooked veggies and discard.
Once cooled, remove this to a blender and blend to a smooth puree with milk.
Get this back into a saucepan and check for seasoning. The soup will be reasonably thick and very creamy at this stage. Adjust consistency of soup using some water if required, if you prefer a thinner soup.

Serving
Ladle the hot soup into bowls. Top with some extra virgin olive oil. sprinkling of paprika, a tinge of grated ginger and some fresh lemongrass leaves as a garnish.
Serve with sliced toasted baguette which have been rubbed with garlic cloves, or soup sticks.

Tip
You can make this soup spicier by adding a Thai red chilli in the initial stage along with ginger and lemon grass.
You could try adding a tsp of fresh thyme leaves towards the end for a more intense flavour.
Here's a colourful guide on the different commonly available pumpkins and how to cook them.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup with flavours of Lemongrass and Ginger

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Roasted Pumpkin Soup

In a large wok, heat the olive oil. Before oil gets hot, add the sliced garlic and onions. Saute on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the lemongrass leaves and ginger. Stir for a few seconds.
Add the sliced pumpkin. Braise on high heat, shaking the wok every now and then until the slices get a golden brown coating.
At this stage sprinkle sea salt and let this cook uncovered for 5 minutes on low heat.
Add 1/2 cup water, cover and cook the pumpkin now, until it is fully done and falls apart when touched with a ladle.
Remove to a dish and cool. Remove the lemon grass leaves from the cooked veggies and discard.
Once cooled, remove this to a blender and blend to a smooth puree with milk.
Get this back into a saucepan and check for seasoning. The soup will be reasonably thick and very creamy at this stage. Adjust consistency of soup using some water if required, if you prefer a thinner soup.

I have written about Indo-Chinese food earlier on, in this space. One episode of Vir Sanghvi's A Matter of Taste was dedicated to this cuisine [he calls it Sino-Ludhianavi cuisine], its origins in India and its evolution. While the taste is absolutely lip smacking and addictive, it can be very high in fat content. The ingredients are fried on a high heat and to keep them from burning, large quantities of oil are used, which is why you see the rich gloss on the noodles and rice served.

One of my early favourites during my introduction to Indo-Chinese food was the vegetable manchurian. The manchurian balls are made using finely minced vegetables, coated with corn flour mixed with spices and deep fried till golden brown. These crispy balls can then either be coated with a mix of sauted ginger - garlic bits to make a dry cocktail snack. These balls can be floated in a spicy tangy sauce to serve as a main course dish with rice or noodles. Bits of minced meat, fish or chicken can be used as a base to make the balls to suit the meat-lover's palate.

I'm alright with eating the fried manchurian in places like Dynasty (my favourite Indo-Chinese eating joint near my place), but since I hate deep frying at home, plus because I think deep frying is the most non-creative way of cooking - i decided to try the steaming method.

In the deep fried method, the main veggies used are cabbage and carrots, which are relatively dry compared to gourds, which is why I used a portion of watery gourd to give the volume and lightness while steaming, going by the logic that using very dry vegetables in the balls would lead to tough bouncy balls after steaming.

My logic did work this time and post steaming the manchurian turned out light and well cooked inside, and they increased in size by 50% - without any addition of baking soda or powder whatsoever.

After soaking them in the sauce, they became even more succulent and flavourful on absorbing all the flavours from the sauce.

So when in mood for healthy Indo-Chinese, I would surely go for this dish with a plate of plain noodles or lightly spiced rice and greens.

You can even wilt a bunch of your favourite greens to make a heartier sauce. This can be thinned out to a soup like consistency too - a dumpling soup kinda.

Steamed vegetable manchurian

For the manchurian balls

1 loosely packed cup grated bottle gourd or zucchini
2 medium carrots, finely grated
2 cups finely grated or minced cabbage

Upto 1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp finely minced / grated ginger
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper powder

1. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients, except flour.
Add flour gradually, while kneading, without using any water. The salt will drain out the water in the gourd. Add upto one cup flour until you get a soft pliable, non sticky dough.

2. Place 4-5 cups of water in the steamer, bring to a boil.

3. Make small balls - about over an inch diameter and arrange them on the oiled perforated vessel to be kept in the steamer. You could also use a bamboo steamer or idli maker.

4. Steam for 10-12 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the balls comes out clean.

While the balls are steaming, you can get the sauce ready.

For sauce:

2 fresh green / red chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
4-5 flakes of garlic, finely minced
1 tbsp oil
1 green bell pepper or carrot, cut into strips
1 medium red onion, finely sliced
1 cup chopped spring onion greens
1-2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp wheat flour dissolved in one cup water
1 cup water or vegetable stock

Directions to make sauce

1. In a large wok, heat a tbsp of vegetable oil. On high heat, saute the chillies, ginger and garlic for a few seconds.

2. Add the bell pepper, onions and half the spring onion greens, rapidly stir on high heat for 1-2 minutes, till somewhat cooked yet crunchy.

3. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper, stir well.

4. Pour into the wok the wheat flour-water mixture. Let this come to a boil and thicken.

5. Adjust the thickness of the sauce to your liking, using the remaining one cup water or stock.

6. Garnish with remaining spring onion greens, put in the steamed balls. Let this come to a simmer. Let the balls soak in the sauce for around 15 minutes before serving hot with rice or noodles.

We loved this dish. Steaming really did not take away anything from the dish, in fact we had more pleasure in eating knowing that our dinner was a whole bunch of healthy steamed and sauteed veggies.

Try it out and it is sure to surprise you, that something so healthy can be so yum :)

What you can serve this with-

Chinese style Cucumber Salad
Fried rice
Ginger Sesame Hakka Noodles
Mango Pudding

Steamed vegetable manchurian in gravy

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A no-bake, no-eggs, no-sugar cake and it is delicious

Whenever I see a dessert recipe whose ingredient list does not feature sugar and a gazillion calories worth of butter, I almost try it out on the same day...firstly too see if it would still taste good and secondly, it is quite difficult to resist such a recipe. When I chanced upon a steamed 'rava' (semolina) - banana cake, it seemed too good to be true. When my newly married cousin in Bangalore tried it out and gave me a really bright green signal, I had to try this out. Shilpa of Aayi's Recipes has something similar on her blog, an authentic Goan recipe sent to her by a reader, but her recipe uses sugar instead of jaggery.
I've made slight modifications to the original recipe, in terms of microwaving the batter instead of steaming, and I did it on a trial and error basis, because my kitchen doesn't have a big enough steamer to take the whole batter in one go.

Using the microwave for this recipe did seem to have its advantages:
1. Lesser cooking time (7 minutes as against 25 minutes of steaming)
2. Lesser cleaning up - just one microwave safe dish other than the wok used to mix ingredients
3. Even your kids can handle the recipe from the assembled-ingredients stage

Semolina-Banana-Coconut Cake (No bake)
Time taken - Under 15 minutes
Serves 6-8 people or more
Category - Healthy dessert, Festival food, Neivedyam

Ingredients
1-2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter, see notes) If you don't have this, use unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup semolina (buy the finer of the varieties)
3/4 cup jaggery (see notes)
3 bananas - medium sized
1 pack thick coconut milk (I used Dabur's 200 ml pack)
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Directions
1. Grease a 9" or so microwave safe flatware with some ghee on your fingertips. Keep aside.

2. In a blender / mixer, place the 3 peeled bananas with the jaggery, make a smooth paste and keep aside.

3. Heat the remaining ghee in a heavy bottomed wok, put in the semolina. On medium to low flame, constantly stir it around until it turns lightly golden. This part requires your full attention for 5-7 minutes and the slightest burnt semolina will spoil the taste of the cake.

4. Once the semolina turns golden, turn flame to lowest possible, pour in the banana-jaggery paste, stir till it is nearly absorbed by the semolina. This will take 30 seconds to a minute. Take the wok off the flame.

5. In a jug, whisk well the coconut milk, water, salt, baking powder, cardamom powder and pour it into the semolina mix in the wok. Stir well till ingredients are blended through.

6. Pour this mix into the greased microwave safe dish. Garnish with any nuts /dried fruits or candied fruit to make it more appealing to kids.

7.Microwave at 100% for 5 minutes. Check the degree to which the cake is cooked and then depending on that microwave at 80% for 2 minutes or so. Remove, cool and cut into squares /diamonds.

8. Serve warm.

Health tip:

This cake needs to be refrigerated because of its coconut milk content which may go rancid if left out for longer time. You can warm it by nuking it for 20 seconds or so. It makes an excellent dessert idea for the tiffin box for your kid or your spouse.
Jaggery is known to be rich in iron because of the huge iron vessels in which it is processed, hence better that sugar which is just empty calories. Diabetics, please be informed that eating jaggery does nothing better than sugar for your blood sugar levels as they both have the same glycemic index - calorie-wise and carbohydrate-wise, both are nearly the same. If you have to choose between the two, jaggery is just a slightly better choice because its more natural and nutritive than plain sugar.

Notes:
1. You will find jaggery, rava and ghee in any store selling Indian groceries.
You can also make ghee at home from unsalted butter - instructive posts here, here & here.
2. In case you do not have a microwave, you can surely steam this cake as per original recipe's instructions.
3. A lighter coloured jaggery will yield a paler cake and a dark brown jaggery will give you the rich brownier one. If you do not find jaggery, by all means use brown sugar or even white sugar.
4. My cousin tried this with whole wheat flour instead of semolina and said the results were as good. Just increase the baking powder a tad bit.
5. Try it out with spices of your choice. I love the taste of cardamom and hence it found its place in this recipe. You could try out cinnamon or clove powder or even all spice powder.
6. This quick recipe can also fit into the 'Neivedyam' category, which is the offering to Gods made in most Indian homes for festivals and auspicious days as it has no eggs. And from what I hear, most Indian Gods and Goddesses love jaggery as well as bananas :) , and we love them for that.

(This was written for the Family-Lifestyle blog Daily Tiffin)

A healthy cake in 15 minutes

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A no-bake, no-eggs, no-sugar cake and it is delicious

This picture was used in the post 'Potatoes in Tambram cooking' even though it had no relation to it whatsoever, just because I thought these crunchy golden wedges looked so beautiful. And there was the promise for the recipe soon...which I was reminded non stop by my reader turned good friend Subashree. I sent her the recipe per email, but then when Anita poked me on this today, it was time to post it on the blog :)

I have always loved the wedges as against the fries, because they are chunky, the skins turn delicious and crispy and there's no frying involved. Last week, when we were in KL, we ordered a portion of wedges (for want of any other vegetarian options) at the premium coffee house cum diner, Dome and I haven't had them any worse. They were batter fried and cold which made me miss these home-made beauties. Also check here.

These are perfect when you and your spouse want to sack out watching the latest season of Simpsons or Ugly Betty. The day it poured cats and dogs in Bombay, we enjoyed this, with lots of ketchup, even if we had to suffer 'hot-potato-speech'.

We'll 2-3 big sized potatoes for two greedy people. Wash well scrubbing with a brush, because we plan to retain the skins. Bring 2-3 L of water to boil in a large vessel. Once water boils, drop in the whole potatoes and boil for 5-7 minutes, till they are half cooked (that's why not pressure cooking them). Remove and cool. Cut into half length wise and then into thick wedges.

Preheat oven at 200 C.

In a large dish, mix together 2 tbsp sesame seeds, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder / flakes, pinch of turmeric powder for extra golden colour, 1/2 tsp salt, crushed pepper and 2 tbsp olive oil / cooking oil. Transfer the potato wedges onto the dish and coat them evenly with spices.

Cover a baking sheet with foil / parchment paper, place the potato wedges on their bottoms (skin side down), sprinkle a pinch of coarse salt over the wedges. Bake for 15 minutes, until they are golden and crispy on the outside.

Eat as hot as your mouth can take :)

Health note

Oven baking these wedges makes them infinitely healthier than fries. They are chunkier hence more filling than the skinny fries. Keeping the skins on increases the fiber quotient, which is a great nutritional plus point.

Simply Delicious Potato Wedges

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Dudhi ki sabzi

There are some vegetables that never make it to our favourites' list. Most gourds, especially the bitter gourd for obvious reasons, and also the bottle gourd for being so tasteless. DH is absolutely a non-fussy eater but gourds deter him too. When I tried out an experiment with the bottle gourd for my lunch, inspired by what our friend in Bangalore had made for us, it turned out so good, that it was entirely report-worthy and repeat-worthy. I made an effort to spare some for dinner, and when I gingerly served some to DH, he said - "Is there more of that??". That moment, the poor dudhi had recorded it's place in the annals of our household.

I must give due credit to an Andhra recipe which our friend had shared with me verbally. Since I couldn't recollect much of it, what went into this recipe, were ingredients thrown in by intuition, in my own approximations. The idea of dudhi in a thick gravy is her traditional recipe though.

Before I share this zero-oil, tasteful wonder with you, I must announce that a good friend Manasvi has started his own food blog called - From the Bachelor's Kitchen. As good ladies we must encourage a man's efforts in the kitchen, shouldn't we ;)

DUDHI / LAUKI KI SABZI
Bottle gourd in gravy - a zero oil recipe

Category: Vegetable, low-carb, zero-oil, diabetic recipe
Time taken: Under 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Source: Adapted from a friend's recipe

Ingredients
1 small dudhi -peeled cut into cubes (to make 2 cups of cubes)
pinch of turmeric powder and asafoetida each, 1 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

For masala
2 red chillies - broken into small pieces
1 heaped tablespoon sesame seeds (white ellu)
1 tbsp tur dal
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp saunf or fennel seeds (substitute with jeera if you dont have this, but good to use fennel)
2 peeled garlic pods (optional)
PLUS
1/4 Cup roasted peanuts

Coriander leaves for garnish

To prepare masala
Dry roast the ingredients - red chillies through garlic.
Once the tur dal turns golden, remove, cool and dry grind in small mixer with handful of roasted peanuts. If you dont have roasted peanuts, then first roast peanuts separately as it takes longer than other ingredients. Grind to a coarse powder, keep aside.

Directions
Heat 3/4 cup water in a heavy pan. Bring to a boil with turmeric, salt and hing. Add the dudhi cubes and boil for 5-7 minutes until the pieces are soft but retain shape. They may be some water left over, but do not drain it.
OR
Microwave for 3 min on high

Add masala powder to the cooked gourd pieces in the same pan. On a low flame, mix the cooked gourd with the masala. The excess water will be absorbed by the powder. Add a little more water if necessary.

Check for salt and garnish with coriander. This dish with pair fantastically with chapatis or even dosai, may be even bread.

Note
You wont miss the oil at all here, for the natural oils in sesame seeds and peanuts give it a rich taste
You can try this with any other squash or gourd, for eg. Zucchini
Bottle gourd is low-carb as are many others from this family, this makes an excellent diabetic recipe as well as a low-carber's recipe.
You can use the saved bottle gourd peels to make a chutney by sauteeing it with spices and dried lentils, and pulsing it in the blender.

Dudhi ki sabzi - Bottle gourd in gravy

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Dudhi ki sabzi

The Indian population is becoming more health conscious by the day. How else do you explain products like whole wheat biscuits, sugar free cookies, fat free tea whitener, fat free real fruit yogurt - flooding the markets? Bagrey's oats, muesli and other cereals were the ones to hit the market early on, some 4 years ago. Between Bagrey's quick cooking oats and Quakers (Lays) Instant oats, I prefer the former, making sure I never run out of it.

A heaping into a bubbling soup or for a 2 minute breakfast, it is the best we can have. Oats being rich in fibre and low in Glycemic index, it is one of the most healthiest foods for weight watchers, diabetics or simply health conscious.

My two minute breakfast with oats goes like this - 1/4 cup oats + 1 cup water + 1/4 tsp salt + handful of frozen peas --> Microwave at HIGH for 1 and half minutes, stirring once inbetween. Remove and add a dollop of fresh yogurt - serve HOT!

Oats is best for dinner if you have only yourself to feed or if you have come in after a tired day and in no mood to make anything elaborate. A regular salt and pepper seasoned porridge might sound quite boring though. Hence this nutritious, filling, Indianised Oats porridge.

Oats for dinner
Category - Quick dinner, dinner for one
Serves - 2
Time taken - Under 20 minutes

Ingredients
1 tightly packed cup quick cooking oats
1 tsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/4 cup green beans, finely chopped
1 tomato, seeds removed and chopped finely
2 cups water plus some more
1 tsp salt

For tempering
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp udad dal
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 sprig curry leaves

Directions
In a wok, lightly toast the oats for about 2 minutes, on a medium flame until fragrant (yes, they do get fragrant) and remove onto a plate.

In the same wok, heat 1 tsp oil and put in one by the one the ingredients for tempering in that order. Saute until the udad dal (split deskinned black gram dal) turns golden.

Put in all the vegetables with a pinch of salt. On low flame, saute them until somewhat soft, for 3-4 minutes.

Add 3 cups of water to the wok, remaining salt and close with a lid. Turn the flame on high, cover with a tight fitting lid, bring the water to a boil and once it starts boiling, let it simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables are almost done. At this point, add the toasted oats, give it a stir to break any lumps, keep the flame on medium to low and cover it with the lid. Let this cook for 5-7 minutes, until the oats are cooked thoroughly to make a creamy porridge.

Note

This can be eaten with a bowl of yogurt and it makes a complete meal, without too much effort.
You can get this ready even faster if you use one and half cups of frozen chopped mixed vegetables instead of the ones mentioned

A-Z of Indian Vegetables
Ok- here's what! I did do my bit of thinking for O of Indian Vegetables at Nupur's - Omelette would have been too common, for the pumpkin curry Olan, i would have to go the market and Onions - I have left it for the others to attack LOL - so when I blogged about Oats quite coincidentally, I asked Nupur if I could send this to her and she obliged.

O is for Oats, this one has plenty of veggies and it is made in true Indian style, tadka and all - so it does fit in a way doesn't it?

Oats for dinner

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This can be eaten with a bowl of yogurt and it makes a complete meal, without too much effort.
You can get this ready even faster if you use one and half cups of frozen chopped mixed vegetables instead of the ones mentioned

Tomato salsas are gorgeous looking things and only 5 minutes get in-between seeing this picture and tasting it in your mouth. Believe me when I say that because I've just made it to go with my lunch of chapati ( fluffed Indian bread ) and cabbage curry. This one is going to add some fun and zing to my otherwise boring lunch.

The one thing that'll be nice to have is a mortar and pestle to have that rough ground texture. A single pulse of 3-4 seconds in your food processor will substitute though.

Tomato Salsa | Instant tomato chutney
Category - Chutneys / Salad / Fat free / Weight loss recipes
Time taken - Under 5 minutes
Makes 1 cup
Source - My own

ingredients
2 tomatoes medium sized - roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic peeled
4-5 black pepper corns
Pinch of coarse salt
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Spring of coriander leaves - chopped

directions
In a mortar, pound the pepper corns with garlic pearls and coarse salt till roughly ground. Add the chopped tomatoes (in batches if your mortar is smaller), crush them with a firm hand on the pestle. Don't attempt to squish them completely. Remove the crushed contents into a bowl, squeeze lemon juice, cayenne pepper (red chilli powder) and coriander leaves. Toss and check for salt.
Serve chilled as a dip for your chips or toasted pita bread. You could also use this as a side to any regular Indian meal of roti and subzi.

note
You could drizzle extra virgin olive oil to increase the flavour quotient & the (good) fat quotient ofcourse!

This is my fast, flavourful and fat-free submission to Jihva for Tomato hosted by RP of My workshop.

Tomato salsa - Instant tomato chutney

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Tomato Salsa | Instant tomato chutney
Category - Chutneys / Salad / Fat free / Weight loss recipes
Time taken - Under 5 minutes
Makes 1 cup
Source - My own

I was exercising like a maniac, eating the right foods, no in between grazing and yet my weight refused to budge. Since I did not have too much to lose in the first place, it was all the more difficult. While I'd like to believe that I'm just a little short of a health freak, I didn't have a figure to match. When I went to a nutritionist with my concerns, the diet plan they drew out for me was so much more than what I was eating already. At least 4 meals a day, and the Ms. Cynical in me said - "Wow! That's generous! But will it work?"

Work it did and I am now almost close to the number I desire. And I not obsessed with it either. As a part of the weight loss tips that I plan to include here, snacking is one of them.

How snacking helps weight loss

A little something inbetween meals helps in two ways.

Prevents your metabolism from dipping. A good BMR (basal metabolic rate) is very important to make sure your body keeps burning calories at its resting state. Prolonged periods for fasting (like skipping breakfast) will convince your body that something is wrong and it has to conserve as much as possible.
Keeps your blood sugar at stable levels, hence prevents cravings.
You are better prepared for dinner time. The 200 calorie odd snack will make sure you don't feel terribly hungry and ready to jump on everything on the table at dinner.

How snacking helps diabetics

Most busy executives start their day with hardly any breakfast, have a greasy office canteen lunch ( especially in India) at around 2 PM, some rounds of tea / coffee to sustain till they manage to get out and then prowl for some fried chips / munchies at around 9 PM with a heavy dinner at around 10.30 PM. The gap between 2 PM and 9 PM is the critical time where blood sugar takes a dive. Maintenance of sugar levels through out the day is essential to management of diabetes. Here's where snacking comes to the rescue. A fruit or a trail mix would be ideal to break the 2pm - 9 PM fast and stabilize sugar levels.

The snacker's grocery list

That's my secret list for you. Not too many exotic ingredients, nothing that you wouldn't find in your supermarket. If I get them in Mumbai, then you can find them in pretty much any other city.

Buy a pound of unroasted, unsalted peanuts. Roast them either in your microwave or stove top, cool and store in an airtight container. To snack on them, don't grab a bowlful. Take a handful, mix it with one each of finely chopped cucumber, tomato and onion (small sized). Squeeze half a lemon, sprinkle salt, cayenne pepper, coriander leaves and you have a crunchy, yummy peanut snack ready.

Do the same with the soy nuts and almonds, puffed rice or other soy products.

Any of the nuts can be bulked up by adding raw grated veggies and flavourings so that you don't eat too much of the high calorie nuts.

Snacking tips

The super-size culture is fast catching on in India too, and it started with the ~~2 Litre~~ 2.5 Litre pet bottles of colas, never mind that the 500 ml is free! The Lays and the Kurkures followed suit and we are not surprised to see supersized people too.

No snacking from the bag

I'm sure if you are snacking for weight loss, you wouldn't even pass by the 'Chips' or 'Crisps' aisles. But this is true even for the healthy stuff like nuts or puffed soy snacks. Don't eat from the bag. Have the patience to remove it into a small bowl, mix it with the veggies & flavourings, keep it aside, lock /seal the bag, put it away, take your bowl to the living room and munch on it as if you would eat a gourmet meal. Savour, chew and eat. If quality of food matters, quantity matters even more. I was earlier of the opinion that if something is low-cal, healthy and good for me, quantities don't matter. I have been proved wrong entirely.

Don't get addicted to any one snack

Keep changing routines. Find newer healthy alternatives to add to your list of healthy munchies. And in my personal experience, munch on stuff you don't like too much. This might sound silly, but I recently read in a daily's Page 3 that a famous Bollywood star known for her fab figure, never hires good cooks. If the food is VERY GOOD, you automatically eat more. My best snack is roasted chana because I don't relish it too much. I'll lazily munch on a handful and say -Oh! I feel full! Or the ones that require a little more effort like grating or chopping veggies, because who'll want to do that all over for a second serving?

Take your own snack bag to the movie-hall

Any guesses why movie hall popcorns entice you? The smells beckon you as soon as you enter and the allurement wont stop until you rush to the counter, get your fill and finish the last morsel even before the trailers at the beginning of the movie are over. Why don't you feel the same about home-made popcorn from corn-kernels? Simple! You wouldn't dream to add that much butter. A large size popcorn probably has at least half a stick of butter and a bucket - well, I don't think you even want to imagine. So you can take your own little baggies filled with some nuts, dried fruits, something like a trail mix, that you'd chew and eat slowly. Focus on the movie so that you don't dip around into your partner's or your friend's goodies.

Like all good habits, this one takes a while to form. Whether you are a busy working person or a stay at home mom, you can make this work for you. Combine it with your tea-time ritual and watch your body thank you for it!

I'd love it if you shared your similar experiences with us. What is your idea of a healthy yet satisfying snack? Add to the list please!

If you live in India, I can share with you some of the real low-cal and healthy products available in most supermarkets here। Leave a comment or mail me and I shall be glad to help!

How to snack and lose weight

Posted by admin

Work it did and I am now almost close to the number I desire. And I not obsessed with it either. As a part of the weight loss tips that I plan to include here, snacking is one of them.

How snacking helps weight loss

A little something inbetween meals helps in two ways.

Prevents your metabolism from dipping. A good BMR (basal metabolic rate) is very important to make sure your body keeps burning calories at its resting state. Prolonged periods for fasting (like skipping breakfast) will convince your body that something is wrong and it has to conserve as much as possible.
Keeps your blood sugar at stable levels, hence prevents cravings.
You are better prepared for dinner time. The 200 calorie odd snack will make sure you don't feel terribly hungry and ready to jump on everything on the table at dinner.

How snacking helps diabetics

The snacker's grocery list

That's my secret list for you. Not too many exotic ingredients, nothing that you wouldn't find in your supermarket. If I get them in Mumbai, then you can find them in pretty much any other city.

Do the same with the soy nuts and almonds, puffed rice or other soy products.

Any of the nuts can be bulked up by adding raw grated veggies and flavourings so that you don't eat too much of the high calorie nuts.

Snacking tips

No snacking from the bag

Don't get addicted to any one snack

Take your own snack bag to the movie-hall

I'd love it if you shared your similar experiences with us. What is your idea of a healthy yet satisfying snack? Add to the list please!

If you live in India, I can share with you some of the real low-cal and healthy products available in most supermarkets here। Leave a comment or mail me and I shall be glad to help!

Who doesn't like mildly sweet spongy pancakes all dripping with maple syrup? There weren't many pancake-serving places in Mumbai earlier so my first brunch with a stack o' pancakes was in at the IHOP in Rochester, NY. My favourite being the multigrain pancakes, which had the grainy bits within and a choice of syrups with a bit of sweetened cream on the side...US is a place of indulgences, including pancakes. Crepe Station at Bandra in Bombay is one of our favourite breakfast destinations for the weekends. They serve wonderful omelettes, pancakes, waffles and nowadays its raining strawberries in their menu. But unfortunately they don't serve stacks of pancakes :)

When I do them at home, I like to keep them light, texture-wise as well as calorie-wise. I had shared with you my eggless version of sweet pancakes a while ago. But not everyone like sweet stuff for breakfast. These low fat, high fibre pancakes are the best for such people. No eggs, no butter, these pancakes can be a dieter's delight. The buttermilk makes them fluffy and the finely chopped mushrooms & onions give them a great texture, adding to the nutritional value as well.

Savoury pancakes with mushrooms and onions
Category: Breakfast, low-fat, diabetic recipes
Time taken: Under 30 minutes
Makes around 8 pancakes of 3" diameter
Source: My own recipe

ingredients
1 cup gram flour
2 tbsp chick pea flour or soy flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp finely chopped button mushrooms
3 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

3/4 cup yogurt / thick buttermilk
water to get desired consistency
1 tbsp light cooking oil

Oil to cook pancakes

special equipment
a pancake griddle with spatula or a large non stick pan

directions

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well and add the wet ingredients with the tbsp of oil. Stir to blend well. Add a little more water if necessary to get a thick pouring consistency.
Cover this batter and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.

Grease a pancake griddle / non-stick pan. Pour a ladleful of batter very slowly onto the medium hot griddle. (If the batter spreads out very quickly into a thin layer, that means the consistency of the batter needs to made thicker with some more flour.)

Make as many pancakes as your pan will accomodate. Drizzle a spoonful of cooking oil around the edges of the pan.

As you start seeing bubbles on the sides of each pancake, give them 30 more seconds and they are ready to be turned over. Do not press them down, let them fluff up as they cook. Give the second side under a minute over a medium flame, drizzling some oil if necessary. The pancakes must be fluffy and golden brown on both sides when done.

Serve hot with coriander chutney mixed in a cupful of yogurt. These also taste great with orange marmalade.

Note

I used a high protein gram flour provided by my nutritionist, this is a mixture of gram flour and black chick pea flour. This is rich is proteins and has a low glycemic index that keeps you filled up for longer. This flour is also excellent for diabetics.

You can also try using grated carrots and zucchini in these pancakes but take care to adjust the water added to keep the consistency of batter right.

Why these pancakes are healthy

Uses a high fibre flour as against all purpose flour
No sugar
Low fat as there is no butter or egg in the batter
These pancakes can be had with a variety of chutneys as against maple syrup or honey

This is my submission to Meeta's Monthly Mingle - Savoury cakes
Pancakes are 'cakes' after all! Trust she'll like them!

Other pancakes served at Saffron Trail

Eggless breakfast pancakes
4 lentil pancakes
Healthy date pancakes
Mango pancakes

This is one pancake I want to indulge in soon. One of the best I have come across - Ginger bread pancakes at Home Sick Texan.

Savoury pancakes with mushrooms and onions

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It was meant to be a continuation of this post, but then a few days have passed since then, and I cannot exactly recall what I meant to share with my readers in Early morning stories - Part II. I'm sure there was something good and I'm also sure it will come back to me sometime. When it does, I promise to share it.

What I surely remember and you also may, from my earlier post is this cute mushy pic of two heart shaped mini cake tins filled with an even mushier pink batter. By the way, let me share with you that I'm not an overly mushy person at all. I do resort to tissues in some very sad scenes in the movies and especially the Bollywood movies where the sole motive of some directors is to squeeze the audiences' lachrymal glands, a bit sadistic don't you think so? That's about it.

Hey, which self-respecting girl doesn't like flowers or chocolates and for any lurking guys reading this blog - we don't need a Valentine's day. Any day is good to show us some TLC and we'll forget all about the (marketeer's mania) Valentines. Anyway....these heart-shaped pink-turned brown cakes can show how much you love, to whomever you serve them.

I made them sans eggs because the man in my life was off eggs for some reason. You can surely replace the 'egg replacement' with two eggs and it will be as good, if not better. However, in comparison with the Carrot Cake I baked a while ago with eggs, I felt that the texture of this cake albeit eggless, was extremely spongy. When I removed them from the oven after the baking time, and pressing them down, they were SO soft that I almost thought them to be not-cooked through. A tester confirmed otherwise. So, here is a recipe for the Beet Cake. Not a serious dessert, but great with tea, if you have some friends over, or a weekend brunch kinda menu...which reminds me I must rant a bit more before giving you the recipe.

Update:
(Please find a detailed post on WBB update and list of guest hosts here)

This is a much-due announcement about Weekend Breakfast Blogging (WBB ) - the event that I started in an attempt to popularise breakfast among us food-bloggers. A Christmas event had been announced in December and 8 entries were received for the same, which due to festival time constraints and traveling, I couldn't do a round up then. And, as time passed by, I found it very silly (not to mention embarassing) to post a Christmas round up 3 months late. After quite some emails and enquiries I received about the status of the event, I thought it is high times to inform you all about my plans for WBB.

With due fairness to those who submitted me their entries in December, I shall do a round up in my next post and I'd request you to write in to me, if you are interested in guest hosting this. Since it is a monthly event, I'd like to plan six months in advance - so that we can have the hosts and the themes set out.

Please mail me your interest at saffrontrail@gmail.com and we shall jointly decide which month is convenient for each of us.

Recipe for Eggless Beet Cake

Eggless Beet Cakes
Time taken - 40 min - 1 hr
Makes two mini cakes or one 8" cake
Category - Low cal baking, healthy baking
Source - Adapted from this recipe of Taste Goblet

ingredients

1 cup all purpose / whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar or less if beets are sweet
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp finely grated ginger or ginger powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder + 1 tbsp oil + 2 tbsp warm water OR use 2 eggs

1/3rd cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup finely grated beets or a mix of carrots and beets
1 tsp orange zest (optional)

directions

Preheat oven at 175 C. Grease an 8" tin or two mini cake tins. Keep aside.
In large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients with a fork or sift to air them.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs (If using) or beat together the oil, buttermilk, vanilla extract, grated beets and zest for a minute.
Prepare the egg replacing mix, this will start frothing as soon as you add the warm water to the oil and baking powder. Put this frothing mix into the other wet ingredients. Give it a good stir.
Stir this wet mixture into the dry ingredients until they come together.
Pour into the greased tins and bake for 40 minutes or 25 minutes for mini tins until a tester comes out clean.
Remove and let the cakes cool in their tins for 15 minutes, before unmoulding them.

notes

You could do a cream cheese frosting as in the original recipe or eat it as it is over a mug of coffee.
Try substituting the beets with grated zucchini, and increasing the quantity of sugar accordingly.

This cake is good when you want to sneak in some healthy veggies into your kid's diet. You could also try this using natural sugars like jaggery for a healthier version.

tags

beetroot, healthy cake, low fat baking, eggless cake, WBB

Eggless Beet cakes & WBB news

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Eggless Beet Cakes
Time taken - 40 min - 1 hr
Makes two mini cakes or one 8" cake
Category - Low cal baking, healthy baking
Source - Adapted from this recipe of Taste Goblet

You could do a cream cheese frosting as in the original recipe or eat it as it is over a mug of coffee.
Try substituting the beets with grated zucchini, and increasing the quantity of sugar accordingly.

This cake is good when you want to sneak in some healthy veggies into your kid's diet. You could also try this using natural sugars like jaggery for a healthier version.

tags

beetroot, healthy cake, low fat baking, eggless cake, WBB

Food news from India
We are finally seeing some quality food shows on the Indian tele scene. Madhur Jaffrey's flavours of India is fun to watch. Kylie Kwong on Discovery Travel & Living provides us that touch of exotica with her two shows - Cooking with heart and soul and Simply Magic. Now, the 'hostess with the mostess' - Nigella Lawson is finally on Indian tellies with her show Nigella Feasts, Mondays 8.30 pm.

Ever since I tried making burgers with the leftover dried Kaala Chana (brown chick peas) a few weeks ago, we make sure we have a Rachael Ray-esque burger night atleast once a week. Since we are vegetarians, I must say we have a WIDE variety of options to try out. Veggie-burgers, lentil burgers, soy burgers, I can go on and on and on.

The Kaala Chana burgers tasted excellent. Hubby loved them when stuffed between two slices of whole grain bread and grilled on my newly acquired grill pan with a dab of Olivio. This bunch, made with black eyed peas, looked similar but tasted totally different. The process is simple. Soak the beans, pressure cook/ cook, drain, mash. Then add any spices and flavours you fancy, shape them into good sized hunks, bake or grill them and you are good to go.

There are many ways to use them too-

Make a simple salad with pickled onions, tomato, carrots. Scoop it on a slice of bread, place the burger, drizzle your favourite sauces, cover with another slice and dinner is ready.
You can even deep fry smaller sized balls to make yummy finger food.
You can do a bean salad with these, by cutting the burgers into strips and tossing them with chopped peppers, onions, tomato and a light dressing of lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Black eyed peas burgers
Category: Dinner, Snack, Vegetarian burgers, TV Dinners
Prep time: Soaking time for peas - 6 hrs or overnight
Cooking time: 1 hr
Makes 12 medium sized burgers

ingredients
1.5 cups of black eyed peas - soaked overnight
3-4 tbsp of coriander leaves - chopped
1-2 tsp of cayenne pepper powder (as per your taste)
1-2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of cumin powder
5 cloves garlic finely chopped
1-2 tbsp of roasted sesame seeds
oil to brush on the burgers

for assembly
slices of bran or whole wheat bread / burger buns
a cup of onion slices pickled in vinegar and salt
a cup of sliced tomatoes
a cup of grated carrots / cabbage
coriander chutney (optional)
sauces of your choice - I used the Mexican chilli sauce (Medium hot salsa picanta) and the green Salsa Habanera (made from the hottest chillies in the world)

directions

Pressure cook the soaked peas in 4 cups of water for 2 whistles. Keep at sim for 5 min. Switch off cooker. Cool and drain well.
OR
Cook them in boiling water for 35-40 minutes until soft but not fully mashed.

Preheat the oven at 200 C or heat your grill pan.

Place the drained peas with the other ingredients for the burgers except oil in a bowl. Mash gently with a fork mixing all ingredients well. Taste for salt and spice.

Shape into burgers 2" in diameter. Place on a greased baking sheet. Brush the tops with oil and bake for 15 minutes. You could grill them on a stove top pan or a grill, as per your convenience.

Assemble each burger between two slices of bread and the salad with a choice of sauces. Enjoy warm with a cold drink of your choice. If you use the hot sauces I did, then trust me, you'll need it.

Serve it on a tray - and hey don't forget the remote. With ShahRukh Khan hosting Kaun Banega Crorepati (Indian version of Who wants to be millionaire?) TV dinners are here again.

Technorati tags: black eyed peas, vegetarian burgers, TV Dinners, KBC, SRK

Black Eyed Peas Burgers - KBC & SRK

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Make a simple salad with pickled onions, tomato, carrots. Scoop it on a slice of bread, place the burger, drizzle your favourite sauces, cover with another slice and dinner is ready.
You can even deep fry smaller sized balls to make yummy finger food.
You can do a bean salad with these, by cutting the burgers into strips and tossing them with chopped peppers, onions, tomato and a light dressing of lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Black eyed peas burgers
Category: Dinner, Snack, Vegetarian burgers, TV Dinners
Prep time: Soaking time for peas - 6 hrs or overnight
Cooking time: 1 hr
Makes 12 medium sized burgers

Carrot cake

My favourite passtime is getting into a bookstore like Crossword or Landmark and spending hours browsing around. No marks for guessing which my favourite section is. Nowadays bookstore chains in India encourage to you to browse, sit down, relax, read as much as you want, without anyone bugging you. The Oxford bookstore at Churchgate (downtown Bombay) has a Cha Bar in the store, where you can order from an impressive variety of teas and the all time favourite potato wedges or fries (they serve fries as rings). They don't even mind you taking their books to your table and eating over a good read as most of us like to do at home. How they manage the 'greasy' situations in the event of ketchup or chai or just oil getting on their pages is something I haven't figured out.

Last week, I was loafing around at the Crossword bookstore. This 'big fat' book of 'low-fat' baking (what an irony!) by Linda Fraser, caught my eye. Linda Fraser has this other very popular book on Vegetarian cooking.

Coming to this book, the size of it prohibited me from buying as cooking from a really huge book can be pretty cumbersome. One either has to copy out the recipe on the page or occupy half your counter space. While flipping through the pages, I saw this must-try carrot cake recipe. Memorising the ingredients and process seemed to be a good way to give my memory some exercise.

After reaching home, I tried to pull out the list of ingredients from my memory. The result of the memory test would be out only after we had tasted the cake. With my mom's help, all the necessaries were laid out, assembled and baked into a truly yummy carrot cake. The only effort was in using my rusted memorising skills and ofcourse beating the eggwhites into stiff peaks. The rest of it was a breeze to make and delicious to eat. As Anupama put it, it is a 'homely' kind of cake. Oh, and i did pass the test.

Low Fat Carrot CakePreparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 45 minutes
Makes 16 slices
Category: Cake, Low fat, Healthy baking
Recipe source: Low Fat Baking by Linda Fraser

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder (it is 3 tsp, no mistake here)
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp all - spice powder (Optional, but if you have it, use it)
2 medium carrots - grated (to make roughly 2 cups)
Handful of raisins
4 tbsp cooking oil
4 tbsp milk
4 tbsp orange juice ( I used 8 tbsp milk as I didn't have orange juice)
3/4 cup sugar or more depending on sweetness of carrots
2 eggs - separated
Pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 180 C. Grease a 9" round pan with oil.
Microwave the grated carrot for 2 minutes and cool. (Optional)
Sift the two flours with the baking powder, salt and spice powders.
In a large bowl, beat the sugar with the yolks, oil, milk and orange juice until well blended.
Mix in the grated carrots and raisins. Gently mix in the dry ingredients. Do not overmix.
Whisk the egg whites with a tiny pinch of salt for 4-5 minutes, until you get stiff peaks.
With a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites gently into the flour mixture, such that all the air in the egg whites is incorporated into the cake. If you don't fold with a light hand, you will let all the air out, and the cake may not be as soft as it can be.
Empty the mixture into the greased cake tin, smoothen with the spatula and bake for around 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool for atleast 15 minutes. Unmould and cut into slices of desired thickness. Serve warm with a glass of milk!

This is not a very fluffy cake. The carrots and raisins do make it dense but the baking powder and egg whites give it the springy texture. The spices balance out the bland sweetness of the carrots. I would recommend using orange juice for that slight tart taste.

Technorati tags: Carrot cake, healthy baking, low fat cake

A memory test and the ultimate carrot cake

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Carrot cake

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A memory test and the ultimate carrot cake

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