Recipe: Quinoa Paniyaram Quinoa Paniyaram is a healthy, protein rich, gluten free, vegetarian breakfast or snack dish. Usually enjoyed with some chutney, this delicious dish is filling. What I like about paniyarams is that they can be enjoyed hot or cold. Therefore it is ideal for lunchboxes too. What Is Paniyaram? Paniyaram is a popular breakfast or snack time dish made traditionally from rice and lentil fermented batter. Also known as Kuzhi Paniyaram, Paddu, Guliyappa, Yeriappa, Ponganalu, Appe is simply a puffy ball shaped snack made in a mould. The batter is poured into the paniyaram pan or appe pan(aebleskiver), covered with a lid and allowed to steam till done. Make it either sweet or savory. The savory ones are served with some chutney and…
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Gujarati Thali & Panakam Gujarati Thali & Panakam is what I make to celebrate the festival of Ram Navmi. Thali is a platter of food. Panakam is a jaggery lemon drink. What Is A Gujarati Thali? As a matter of fact, different states of India have their own style of cuisine. Some dishes may overlap due to proximity to each other or due to kingdom or region it belonged to before Independence. Firstly, what is a thali? Thali is the hindi word for a platter. A thali can consist or anywhere between 5 to 5+ food items all served at one go. Gujarati denotes that the thali or platter has food specifically from the Gujarati Cuisine. A typical Indian meal is served all at…
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Dahi Sabudana Dahi Sabudana or Tapioca Pearls in Yogurt is a simple but flavourful Fasting or vrat recipe whereby sabudana is added to spicy yogurt along with some crushed roasted peanuts and seasonings. An ideal way to enjoy the cooling effect of yogurt during the hot season. Memories I first came across the recipe of sabudana in dahi when Preethi posted the recipe on her blog Preethi’s Cuisine. What attracted me to the recipe was the fact that it had all the ingredients of sabudana khichdi without the potatoes but in yogurt. And do I love sabudana khichdi. So, immediately I tried out the recipe as it is. My hubby didn’t like the taste of the soaked uncooked sabudana. Then during one of…
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Makhana Trail Mix Makhana Trail Mix, more popularly known as Makhana Namkeen is a protein rich, gluten free and healthy snack. It is very easy to make this snack at home and what I like best is that this recipe is versatile. One can mix and match any healthy snack ingredients. What Is Makhana? In brief, Makhana is the Hindi word for fox nut. Other names are Phool Makhana, Lotus seeds, Gorgon Nut and Euryale Ferox. In fact, the state of Bihar in India produces 90% of the world’s makhana production. How Do These Lotus Seeds or Makhana Grow? These protein rich seeds come from prickly water lily. They are grown in ponds or in water fields much like rice paddies. The prickly…
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Moong Dal Chilla Moong dal chilla is a savoury flatbread or thin pancake made from moong dal, herbs and simple spices. It’s one of the easiest and healthy breakfast or brunch option. A versatile recipe, one can add vegetables and herbs of your choice. Also known as pudla or puda it is a popular Gujarati breakfast dish. It is usually served with green chutney, pickles or even tomato ketchup. Memories My mum made chillas or pudlas often. She made sweet and savoury ones. The sweet ones are usually made using wheat flour and for a large family like ours, the easiest was to use chickpea flour (besan) to make the savoury ones. She loved chillas. Besides some pickle, you would alwyas find a…
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Savoury Chickpea Flour Pancakes These savoury chickpea flour pancakes are loaded with vegetables, filling, nutritious, gluten free, versatile and easy to make. What I like about this recipe is that unlike the traditional chila pudla recipe, I am able to add a generous amount of vegetables. The eggs added to the batter not only makes these pancakes protein rich but also helps to cook the pancakes easily without them breaking. Egg free chila or pudla breaks when you try to flip them if there are too many vegetables added. Secondly, what I like about this recipe is that you can make small thick pancakes or spread the batter out a bit and make them thin. However, you will not be able to make them…
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Dangella | Tawa Handvo Dangella | Tawa Handvo is a traditional Gujarati recipe where the handvo batter is cooked on a tawa instead of baking it. It is a Gujarati style savoury pancake. Above all, it is a delicious and healthy breakfast, tea time snack or a light dinner or lunch meal. The advantage of making Dangella or Tawa Handvo is that you can add a lot of vegetables. Cooking it on the tawa or skillet makes the top and bottom crispy while the inner part is soft. Make them thin or thick according to your preference. Admittedly, it is not an instant recipe, as you need to soak the flour with some warm water and sour plain yogurt for at least 6-8 hours…
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Oats Sesame Ladoos Oats Sesame Ladoos are full of healthy nuts, seeds and dates. These ladoos are easy to make, delicious, gluten free, provides energy and come together within 20 minutes. Without any refines sugar, I have added jaggery powder for some earthy flavour and as I make them for Makar Sankranti. Skip jaggery if you want to. I like to prepare these ladoos for Makar Sankranti for those who don’t want to have sweets loaded with sugar or jaggery. The recipe takes care of the traditional requirement of enjoying til and gud. I add little gud for that reason. However, you can omit it altogether. If you don’t want to add ghee, add extra dates as they will add as the binder. …
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Farali Beetroot Tikki Farali Beetroot Tikki is a gluten free, vegan, pan fried healthy snack or appetizer. An excellent way to include beetroot in your diet, kids too love it because of the bright natural colour. Enjoy the tikki on its own with a chutney or dip. Use the patty to make vegan burgers. Please note that the peanut yogurt chutney I have made to go with farali beetroot tikki is not a vegan one. You can replace the dairy yogurt with a vegan one. Alternately, make coriander mint chutney or a date tamarind one. What Is Farali? Farali is the term used for foods that one can consume during fasting days like Ekadashi, Navratri, Ram Navmi, Shivratri, Sharavan Month, etc. It means that…
-
Continue ReadingRecipe: Tricolour Mini Rava Idlis Want to celebrate India’s Independence in style? Try out this easy instant tricolour mini rava idlis where I have not used any artificial colours. For orange idlis I added cooked carrot puree and for the green ones cooked spinach puree. Rava idli batter is white. Healthy, easy to make and a satisfying breakfast or brunch with coconut chutney, tomato chutney, sambar or podi masala. The choice is yours. What Is Rava Idli? Rava is semolina in hindi. Generally, idli is made from fermented rice and lentil batter. But for a faster and quicker idli, semolina is used. Semolina is allowed to soak in water and plain yogurt for 30 minutes. This process helps the semolina grains to become a bit…
