Beetroot Raita

So, I decided to try something new. I hate beetroot. In fact, I didn't even know what it looked from the outside when I bought it.

Ingredients:

- 1 beet
- 1 cup curd
- rai (mustard seeds)
- curry leaves
- salt to taste (if required. I didn't add any)

Method:

- Boil the beetroot
- Grate it
- Add curd and water (if required)
- Heat oil (1 teaspoon), add rai and curry leaves. Turn off gas and add it to the curd
- Mix well

Yummy and healthy beetroot raita is ready.

Oats Upma

Another healthy innovation. I had this for dinner today.

This is where I took the recipe from here

Oats Upma Ingredients: (serves 2)

• Oats – 1 Cup (e.g., Quaker Oats)
• Finely Chopped Onion – 1
• Chopped Green Chillies – 1
• Oil – 1 and 1/2 tsp
• Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Urad Dal or Split Black Bean (Gram) / White Lentils – 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves
• Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
• Sugar – 1/4 tsp
• Lemon Juice – 1 tsp
• Coriander Leaves / Cilantro
• Salt

Time to Prepare: 15 min

How to Make Oats Upma :

1. Heat Oil in pan, add Mustard Seeds, once the Mustard Seeds splutter, add Urad Dal (White Lentils) and fry until they turn golden brown.

2. Now add Curry Leaves and chopped Green Chillies and fry for a minute. Then add chopped Onions and Turmeric Powder and fry until the Onions start to look a little transparent.

3. Add Salt and Sugar to the the above mixture and fry for a minute.

4. At this stage, add Oats to the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes or till you smell a nice aroma and Oats turn light brown in color.

5. Now sprinkle about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water to the above fried Oats mixture in the pan and mix well all the ingredients with a spatulla and fry till the Oats turn soft. Make sure to not add excess water to the Oats Upma as the whole mixture can become too soggy and Oats Upma may not taste as good as it should.

6. Add Lemon Juice to the Oats Upma and mix well. Garnish with Coriander Leaves / Cilantro.

Daal Paratha

Another healthy recipe for you.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup yellow moong daal (makes 6 parathas)

- 1 onion

- haldi, salt, red chilli powder

- wheat flour (enough to make 6 parathas)

- green chillies

Method:

- Soak moong daal overnight. Most recipes suggest 20-30 mins but overnight is more convenient

- In the morning, boil the moong daal in the cooker for 1 whistle

- Take oil in a pan, add onions. Sauté

- Add green chillies, daal and spices. Mix well

- Knead wheat flour in a dough and make 6 balls

- Roll out each ball of flour, stuff it with daal mixture and roast on the pan

Tada... yummy daal parathas are ready.

Stir fried Veggies

This is what I had for dinner. It has 200 calories (according to myfitnesspal.com). What an amazing way to fuel up on veggies.

Ingredients:

- Veggies- Onion, Capsicum, Mushrooms, Beans, Baby corn, Cabbage, Cauliflower (I didn't have any at home so I skipped), carrots, tomatoes (if you want sautéed veggies you should avoid tomatoes)
- Soya sauce
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper
- White pepper
- Garlic paste
- Any sauces you have at home- I used wintergreen's salsa and Ching's chowmein powder soaked in some water

Method:

- Heat 2 spoons of oil. Add garlic paste
- Add onions and sauté till soft
- Add thick veggies like carrot, cauliflower, beans etc. Sauté on high heat for a few minutes
- Add the soft veggies. Sauté on high heat for a few minutes
- Add tomatoes.
- Add soya sauce, salt, pepper and any other paste
- Mix well

It can be eaten with roti also... tastes yum.

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Vegetable Dalia

I have started on my fitness/weight loss journey and have been researching for healthy recipes which are quick and tasty.

Here is one of them. I was surprised by how good it tastes. If only my mom would have fed me dalia like this.


Ingredients (will be enough for 2 people):

- 1 cup dalia
- Vegetables- onion, tomato, beans, capsicum, corn, cauliflower, cabbage, peas, carrots
- salt to taste
- haldi
- red chilli powder
- coriander powder (dhania)

Method:

- Wash dalia
- Take a cooker and heat 2 spoons of oil
- Sauté onions. When soft, add the other vegetables and sauté
- Add dalia and spices
- Cook on medium heat

Moong Chilla

I am reviving this blog since I have moved back to Delhi and am motivated to cook.

My colleague is on a weight loss regime and has replaced her rotis with moong chilla. It is very healthy... with lots of proteins and very less carbs. I had taken the recipe from her and tried it out earlier with a few modifications. There are many variations on this online.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup green moong daal (makes 4-5 chillas)
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
-  1 green chilly
- 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder

Method:

- Soak the green moong overnight

- Crush the moong with ginger garlic paste, salt and red chilli powder in a mixer with a little water. It should be a thick batter and not very thin. It should be as thick as a dosa batter



- Add onion, tomato and green chilly to the batter. Mix. You can also add other veggies like carrots. I will try next time with carrots

- Heat a non stick tawa. Add some oil.. spread it on the tawa. Add 3-4 spoons of batter and spread it out. It will not spread smoothly but use a spoon to prevent any gaps in the middle

- Cook till it becomes brown. When the underside is cooked, it will be easy to flip. Flip and cook well. Cook on medium or low flame so that it does not remain uncooked inside



- Serve hot.

This is a time consuming recipe so not the most suitable for weekdays. If you want to have it as a roti, don't add veggies.

Healthy Smoothie

Anita tweeted the recipe for this very, tasty and healthy recipe for a strawberry banana smoothie. I tried it today and loved it.

Ingredients:

- 6-7 strawberries... it is ok if they are not very sweet
- 1 banana- a ripe one. It will give sweetness and there is no need for sugar/honey
- 2-3 tbsps of curd...

Blend in a mixer. I expected it to turn out sour but it was quite good.