Category: low cal

Sabudana/Sago idli:

March 30, 2019

Sago/ Sabudana is also known as Sabbakki, Javasiri in Southern part of India. Yes! It has many names and is one of the favourite staple foods during the festivals or fasting time. Sabudana is rich in complex carbohydrates due to which, it is easy to digest as well as takes longer to breakdown. Hence, you don’t feel hungry for long.

In our tradition, it has been used from ages during the summer time to maintain body heat, during the time of illness or as baby food. During all these situations, people need to take low calorie, high in energy, easily digestible meal option. Traditionally it is combined with rice while making gruel.

In India we normally make sweets as well as savouries from these edible pearls. Sago is usually confused with Tapioca pearls. Sago is extracted from the inner pith of the tropical palm trees. On the other hand, Tapioca pearls are made by using Cassava, it is a tuber.

In Summer, it is a good idea to include Sago, rice as well as curds in your diet to maintain body heat. I have included fresh homemade turmeric powder, fresh coconut, cumin as well as chopped coriander to enhance the taste as well as nutrients.

Ingredients:

Rice Rava / Idli Rava – 2 cups

Sabudana – 1 cup

Curds – 2 cups

Water – 1 cup

Cumin – 1 table spoon

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Salt

Grated coconut – 1 fist full

Chopped coriander leaves – 3 table spoons

Eno fruit salt or cooking soda – 1 tsp

Method:

-Mix Rice Rava and Sabudana, wash twice and drain. Add curd, water, cumin, turmeric powder, salt and keep it covered overnight.

-Next morning, add coconut, Eno fruit salt, coriander. If needed, adjust the consistency of the batter by adding little extra water.

Mix well and make idlies like regular idlies in an idli steamer for about 10 minutes and serve with chutney.

NOTE: Vegans can substitute with any plant based curds to make this batter.

 

 

 

 

Barley water/Juice:

March 25, 2019

Barley is an ancient grain and a very popular grain as a healing or soothing food. In olden days, people used to have Barley water or ganji (porridge) to heal vomiting, diarrhoea or Urinary tract infection naturally. People never used to have medicines or chemicals.

It is a wonderful healing, easily digestible food, even during recuperating from any surgery.

Sipping on barley water with a pinch of salt is an excellent remedy to overcome nausea.

Other than all this goodness, barley water when combined with a dash of lime, is recommended for kidney stones.

So, all in all it has several health benefits starting from cooling down our body temperature, detoxifying by flushing toxins from the body and keeping you hydrated, to improve immunity level, to maintain gut health by high fibre content, rich in Vit B as well as E.

This year summer is very harsh, and it is our responsibility to stay hydrated and provide natural supplements to our body according to the situation or season. It is very simple to make Barley water or juice at home. Soak cook and strain. Cooked grains can be used as it is or can be used in making salads by draining.

Ingredients:

Whole barley – 2 to 3 table spoons

Method:

-Wash, soak barley in a cup of water for overnight.

-Next day, cook this in a pressure cooker by adding very little salt for 2 to 3 whistles. When pressure releases add required amount of water. (approximately 3 big glass)

-Boil for 5 to 10 min in a low flame and switch off.

-Stain and use as plain barley water for sipping throughout the day, instead of plain water.

-OR

Make lemonade by adding lemon juice, sugar or any other natural sweetener according to your preference.

-You can add chopped Pudina or mint leaves or a tsp of ginger juice.

-OR

Mix buttermilk and can have as a low-calorie drink. In this way, diabetics or weight watchers can have. One can add pudina and grated ginger to this as well.

 

 

 

Nolen Gur Payesh / Rice kheer with date palm jaggery:

March 22, 2019

Rice kheer or Paramanna is an integral part of any festivities in many parts of India. Every region has its own method or style. Usage of ingredients would differ according to the region. Such as the addition of plain milk or coconut milk. Usage of Jaggery or sugar. So, in west Bengal, they use date palm jaggery, which is known as Nolen Gur, which is available only during the wintertime; they make a lot of delicacies by using this special jaggery. It ranges from Nolen Gur Payesh, Nolen Gur Rasgulla, Nolen Gur Sandesh are the few.  I wanted to try this out in my cooking and bought it online.

They usually use plain tiny grain rice or dried rice-shaped vermicelli, which is known as Chushi pithe. Chushi pithe is nothing but handmade Rice vermicelli. In Mangalore, we make rice noodles known as Halittu or Paradi and use them in a Payasa/ kheer, and we usually use coconut milk. So, I tried my regional method and proceeded. It tasted divine!! Usage of coconut milk and taste of the palm jaggery was the best decision, and it was very rustic and flavourful in taste.

Ingredients:

Chushi Pithe/handmade rice vermicelli – 200 grams (you can use small grain rice as well)

Almond or Cashew – ½ cup (slivered)

Nolen gur – 300 grams (used Patali gur)

Coconut milk – 200 grams

Cardamom powder – 1 tsp

Ghee – 1 tsp (vegans can skip this)

Method:

-Take one thick bottomed vessel, add ghee and fry almond and rice vermicelli (Chushi pithe) or if you are using plain rice.

-Add around one litre of water and cook until rice cooks perfectly. Whenever it’s needed, add extra water little by little and cook.

-Now, add jaggery of your choice, boil until it smells divine and the aroma spreads. Here, the raw smell of the jaggery should vanish.

-Lastly, add one tetra pack of coconut milk, give one boil. Garnish with cardamom powder and mix.

NOTE:

-If you are using fresh homemade coconut milk, extract three times, preserve thick (1st extract) and add at the end.

-thin coconut milk of 2nd and 3rd extracts can be added while boiling or cooking rice vermicelli.

 

 

 

 

Spinach, Corn and Cheese Sandwich:

March 17, 2019

When I hear the name of spinach and corn sandwich or while making, my memory normally goes back in time. We got introduced to this sandwich in Indigo flight long ago. My daughters used to just love the sight of it and used to enjoy their flight travel, mainly because of spinach and corn sandwich. Because of their fondness towards the sandwich, I used to make this at home and today once again I made it for them and decided to write, my version of recipe.

Ingredients:

Bread slices

Cooked corn – 1 cup

Bunch of spinach – washed and chopped

Whole wheat flour – 2 table spoons

Milk – 1 cup

Butter – 1 table spoon

Chopped garlic – 4

Salt

Pizza Seasoning or oregano – 1 tsp

Chilli flakes – 1 tsp

Grated cheese – as needed

Method:

-Dry roast whole wheat flour, take out, mix with hot milk and make a paste and keep aside.

-In the same kadai, add butter, toss garlic, chopped spinach and cook.

-Add in roughly churned cooked corn, flour added milk paste, boil.

 

– When mixture becomes thick, add seasoning of your choice, grated cheese and mix.

-It is our sandwich filling.

-For sandwich preparation, apply this mixture, over one slice, cover with another slice of bread.

-Apply butter on the outer surface and place it in a sandwich maker and roast.

-Enjoy with ketch up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Vada by using Leftover upma/ Uppittu:

March 11, 2019

When we have left over Uppittu/ upma, it is a wonderful opportunity to turn it into evening tea time snack, that too lip smacking good Nippattu /vade. Which is a perfect pair with Hot tea or coffee.

Normally, left overs would sit idle in the corner of dining table and will not attract any one’s attention. For this reason, I normally make it a point to give some modification and present it as a new dish 😉 😀

Here I have taken Lima beans added Avarekai Uppittu. You can take any Uppittu/ upma of your choice.

How I made this-

Ingredients:

Left over Upma – one bowl

Onion – 1 big

Green chillies – 2

Curry leaves – 1 spring

Coriander leaves – 2 table spoons (chopped)

Crushed peanuts – little

Rice flour – to bind.

Salt

Method:

-Chop onion, curry leaves, green chillies, coriander leaves.

-Mix in all the chopped items, salt, peanuts into left over upma and mix nicely.Add required amount of rice flour, bind and make a small roundel, pat a flat disc . 

– Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180° C for 15 to 20 minutes or until done.

-Upma already has oil or ghee content in it. So, no need to put any oil. If at all needed, you can add couple of tea spoons of oil while binding.

-Serve with Coffee or tea as a evening snack.

 

 

Lemongrass Tambli:

March 8, 2019

Lemongrass is used as a culinary as well as medicinal herb in the Asian continent. It has a mild citrus flavour with sweetish taste. It can be used in a dried, powdered or fresh form in various things like teas, soups and curries. This particular curry is called “Tambli” and it is prepared by grinding fresh leaves with coconut and mixing in buttermilk and it doesn’t need boiling. You can savour this like an appetiser or mixing with piping hot rice in this really hot summer. It has healing properties and is very good for the digestive system.

How to prepare this:

Ingredients:

Lemongrass sticks – 5-6

Fresh grated Coconut – ½ cup

Green chilli -1

Salt –to taste

Lemon – ½

Buttermilk – ½ cup

Method:

  • Chop lemongrass into bite size.
  • Take your mixer jar, grind lemongrass pieces, coconut gratings, green chilli and salt by adding ½ cup of water into smooth paste. Sieve this mixture to get smooth liquid. (Sieving is very important over here, otherwise lemongrass will irritate your throat)

  • Once again add half cup of water, do exactly like earlier and repeat this process for two or three times, so that we will remove all the traces of liquid and discard the remaining fibre.
  • Now mix in buttermilk, adjust the consistency by adding water. Check the salt and add lemon juice.
  • Now your Tambli is ready to savour.
  • If you want to add the seasoning, heat one tsp of ghee, fry little cumin and curry leaves and add to Tambli.
  • Beat the heat by having this either as an appetiser or with hot rice.

NOTE:

  • To make vegan version, please omit the buttermilk and rest you can proceed as it is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mixed vegetable with spinach:

March 5, 2019

Sweet potato is a versatile veggie and it blends very well with any veggies. Made this side dish to use my little harvest of spinach and Sweet potato by mixing with seasonal favorite cauliflower to make it attractive. 😉 . It is a perfect healthy side dish for Roti’s.

How I do-

Ingredients:

Spinach – one bundle.

Cauliflower florets: one bowl (cleaned, washed)

Sweet potato – one bowl (washed and chopped)

Capsicum -1

Tomato – 2 to 3

Green chillies -2

Ginger – 1”

Oil – 2 tbl sp

Hing – ¼ tsp

Cumin – ½ tsp

turmeric – ½ tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Salt 

Black pepper – 6, cloves -3, cinnamon – ½ “, cardamom -2

Method:

-Take one bowl of water, add salt, cook sweet potato and drain, keep aside.

-by using this same water blanch cauliflower florets, drain and keep aside.

-Now add chopped spinach to this water, add a pinch of sugar to retain green color and blanch. When it is cool, blend this and keep aside.

– Now make coarse powder of black pepper, clove, cinnamon and cardamom.

-Make a paste of tomato, green chilli and ginger.

-Take one pan add 2 tsp of oil, when it is hot, add capsicum fry a little. Then add blanched cauliflower and sweet potato, toss and keep aside.

-In another tawa add oil, hing, jeera, powdered spices, tomato paste, turmeric, coriander powder, fry till oil leaves from the sides.

-Put spinach paste, check for salt and add tossed veggies. Mix till all the veggies are coated with masala and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

-Enjoy with any kind of Indian flat breads or roti’s.

 

 

Dum Aloo:

February 10, 2019

Dum Aloo is originally from Kashmir. Normally baby potatoes are deep fried and dunked in a mild and flavorful gravy. Here I have made it without deep frying as well as without peeling the outer skin. I normally avoid removing outer skin of potatoes due to its nutritional value as well as the taste.

In dum aloo, curd is the main ingredient, which is used as a souring agent with the additional Indian spices. Dum aloo tastes very good with any Indian flat breads or with mild Pulav.

Ingredient:

Baby potatoes – 15

Onions – 3 medium size

Green chillies – 2

Ginger – 1 tsp (freshly chopped)

Oil – 3 to 4 table spoons

Fennel seeds – ½ tsp

Turmeric – ½ tsp

Red chilli powder – 1tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Salt

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Coriander leaves – 3 to 4 table spoons

Hung Curd – ¼ cup

Cashew chunks – 2 table spoons

Hot milk – ¼ cup

Kishmish / Dried grapes – 2 table spoons

Method:

-Soak cashews in Hot milk and keep aside.

-Wash potatoes, make half or quarter pieces according to its size.

-Heat 1 table spoon of oil and roast potato pieces a little and keep aside.

-Take one mixer jar, dry churn onions, ginger and green chillies.

-Heat oil in a kadai, add fennel seeds, roughly churned onion – ginger- chilli.

-Fry until it is light brown, add all the powders, salt and fry for a while and add roasted potatoes, cup of water and cook in a low flame.

-When potato is done, it is a time to switch off the gas. Never add curd while boiling the mixture, it curdles immediately.

-Now mix in curd, chopped coriander and mix everything, adjust the consistency by adding water and boil this mixture by switching on the gas.

-When gravy is ready, you would see a shiny layer at the surface. Switch off the gas.

-Now make a paste of cashew and milk and garnish the curry with cashew paste and dry grapes and serve with Roti or Pulav.

 

 

 

Tiffin Sambar:

January 29, 2019

Tiffin usually depicts south Indian breakfast. Normally Idli, Dosa, Pongal. This particular sambar is very good combination with Idlies or dosas as well as goes very well with mini idlies which normally known or served as 14 idlies, mini idlies or button idlies at restaurants.

In this sambar, we don’t use any coconut and basically a seasoned mixed dhal with sambar powder as well as baby onions, tomatoes and with or without drumstick pieces.

Ingredients:

Toor dal – 1 cup

Moong dal – ½ cup

Green chillies – 2 (slit)

Baby onions /shallots – 20 (halved)

Tomato – 1 (chopped)

Drum stick – 1 (Cut into 2” pieces) (optional)

Tamarind – 1 tsp

Salt

Jaggery – 1 tsp

Turmeric – 1 tsp

Sambar powder – As needed

Chopped coriander leaves – 2 table spoons

Seasoning:

Oil – 2 table spoons

Mustard – 1 tsp

Cumin – 1 tsp

Hing – ½ tsp

Curry leaves – 1 string

Method:

-Wash and cook toor and moong dal in a pressure cooker. Mash and keep aside.

-Take one tawa, do seasoning. Heat Oil, splutter mustard, cumin, hing and curry leaves.

-Fry onion until it is transparent. Add turmeric, green chillies, tomato and drumstick pieces as well as salt and fry until tomato cooks.

-Add Sambar powder toss for 2 minutes and pour tamarind water, jaggery and boil.

-Add Cooked dal and adjust the consistency and boil nicely.

-Garnish with chopped coriander and serve as a side dish for any south Indian breakfast items.

-If you are serving with Button idlies/ mini idlies Pour one to two serving spoons of sambar, place 14 idlies and once again pour some sambar over those idlies and serve.

 

 

 

 

 

How to chop young jack fruit: Beginner’s guide

January 7, 2019

 Tender jackfruit is an integral part of our traditional cooking. In our region, we start to consume raw jack in different stages and each developing stage of jack has its own unique traditional recipes and is considered as a delicacy. I have shared many recipes of jackfruit in my blog and it is available in my blog archive or you can find in recipe index as well.

Nowadays, people follow many forms of diets and Jackfruit is used extensively in other parts of the world as well. As a plant-based meat alternative, young jack is considered as a Vegan meat.  It suits very well as a vegan meat, due to its fibrous structure and its neutral flavour works very well in cooking savoury dishes and soaks the added flavours.

Tender jackfruit is a super food, which is high in vitamins, minerals and dietary fibers and at the same time, less in calories, salt and fats. Now a day, it is available in almost all parts of the globe as fresh or frozen.

If you get a whole young/ green/ tiny raw jackfruit, what you would do? How to chop? What is the procedure we normally follow? These are the aspects I want to share in this post and I am sure, you would try to use these techniques while chopping the fruit by yourself.

Wanted to include the chopping/ cleaning procedure from a long time, it is tedious to do photography with my latex laden hand while chopping. This post is all thanks to my mother in law, who offered me a helpful hand in chopping, and I grabbed the opportunity to click pictures and the result is here –

First thing is –

  • Centre core part of jackfruit contain a sticky, white latex also known as sap. So, before chopping, apply some cooking oil to your hand and the knife that you use.
  • We normally use traditional vegetable cutter. in which, half-moon shaped knife fixed into raised wooden plank in which, person sits over and holds the vegetable in both the hands and cuts and moves it against the blade. The sharp edge of the knife will face the user. In this method, large sized vegetables can be handled with ease.
  • If you are using the knife or any other material, before cutting – spread a couple of newspapers beneath the work area.
  • Keep a couple of tiny pieces of papers ready, it would be handy while removing the latex.
  • Take one bowl of water as well.
  • Now, take one young jack fruit, make half and slice them to length wise.
  • Clean the oozed-out latex by using tiny paper pieces.

  • Now remove outer thorny skin as well as inner core.
  • It is ready to chop, as per your requirement or the recipe.
  • Make pieces as required and put it in a water containing bowl.

  • Drain the pieces, discard water and proceed to cook or store it in a zip lock and refrigerate or freeze it.
  • Wash your gummy hand by applying little oil once again, rub both the hands and wash it by using normal hand wash.