A vegetarian food blog with unique and interesting recipes from all over the world mainly focused on South Indian Cuisine.
Today’s recipe is one of the traditional Garhwali cuisine recipes from Uttarakhand – It is the super healthy Gahat Phaanu or the Kulath phanu. Simply put, it is the horse gram lentil stew. I noticed different spellings for phanu. It is written as phanu, phaanu, phanoo. Phaanu is prepared by grinding lentils that are soaked overnight. Based on the lentil you add, it is named accordingly. Gahat is horse gram, and that’s what I am going to share today – Gahat ki Phaanu.
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Little Millet / Samai Ammini Kozhukattai – A healthy and a delicious savory neivediyam for this Vinayakar Chaturthi, prepared with little millet dosa mix. You can prepare this vegan ammini kozhukattai in 30 minutes. Last week I posted the sweet nei appam, so this week it got to be a savory one. With Vinayakar Chaturthi coming up in two days, what’s better than this savory ammini kozhukattai? This ammini kozhukattai can be prepared any time for a healthy munch. These spicy balls are perfect for hunger pangs too.
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It’s been ages since I posted a millet recipe. I am glad to post a different millet based upma recipe today. It’s the barnyard millet flakes upma or precisely Kuthiraivali aval upma. This upma is a delicious and crunchier upma with the fragrance of coconut oil. Between, wondering where did I get the barnyard millet flakes? It’s from the Native Food Store. Thanks to Native Food Store for this unique millet product. :-)
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The second recipe that I am going to post under the “Holi Recipe” theme is the Ragi Malpua. Malpua is a sweet pancake which is quite famous in Orissa, but it found its way to the other states and now it has become a popular dessert throughout India. Instead of frying the malpua, I prepared them like regular dosa and stuffed it with grated coconut – nut filling. Also, I made it with Ragi flour, Wheat flour, and Oats flour thus making diabetic friendly.
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Today’s recipe is one of the popular Kovil prasadam recipes. This recipe is known by several names. I am presenting today the milagu orai or milagu sadam or pepper bhath prepared with little millet or as we say in Tamil – Samai. :-)
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I am wishing a Happy Navratri / Vijaya Dasami/ Durga Puja to all my friends. Today I am presenting a low calorie healthy kheer or Payasam or pudding. I can hear you asking, how can a kheer; a sweet recipe can be healthy and low calorie? What if it’s prepared with quinoa and without any sugar? Here comes my Quinoa Kheer prepared with Truvia® Nectar
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Arisi Paruppu sadam or the lentil rice is one of the popular recipes from the Kongu Nadu Region of Tamil Nadu. It’s a quick one pot meal prepared with rice which I replaced with little millet and toor dal. It’s a prefect weekday dinner or lunch box recipe which can be prepared easily. We love this with appalam or chips. But this can be served with pickle or raita or with your favorite veggie. This recipe is a complete meal by itself.
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This is a traditional Tamil Nadu Style Vegetable Dum Biryani. The interesting twist here is that rice is replaced with quinoa. So here is a fiber rich, protein filled and nutritious quinoa biryani making it perfect for everyone. The quinoa and the vegetables are cooked separately and layered together and steamed again on low flame / Dum to enhance the aromatic flavors.
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Yes, yet another idly and dosa recipe. I wrote this post, all about idly and dosa where I mentioned about the difference rice varieties. This is a no-rice idly/dosa recipe. This dosa is prepared with four short grains namely Fox Tail Millet (Tinai), Barnyard Millet (Kudiraivali), Kodo Millet (Varagu) and Little Millet (Samai). Instead of regular urad dal, I went with the black urad dal and I didn’t remove the husk while washing. This is a fiber and protein filled, nutrient rich idly and dosa.
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I am trying out different recipes with millets or siru thaniyangal (as we say in Tamil) these days and today it is all about the pearl millet or Bajra or Kambu (கம்பு). India is the largest producer of pearl millet and Rajasthan is the highest producing state. So this shouldn’t be hard to find in India right?
Here is the nutrition information: (Source Wiki)
| Crop / Nutrient | Protein(g) | Fiber(g) | Minerals(g) | Iron(mg) | Calcium(mg) |
| Pearl millet | 10.6 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 16.9 | 38 |
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For the third day I am preparing my one of my daily breakfast – oats porridge. I prefer liquids and semi liquids for my breakfast. Either my breakfast smoothies with protein powder or gruel or this porridge. We all know health benefits of oats. Oats cereal has loads of soluble fiber which helps to reduce the cholesterol and also aids in weight loss. A healthy breakfast and keeps you full. I am content and satisfied with a cup of oats porridge and with a cup of fruit. Yet another grab and go breakfast.
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Millets are small grains, as we say in Tamil it is called Siru Dhaniyangal. Millets are one among the oldest food known to humans and very popular in villages but in recent days because of high nutrition they are gaining popularity. This time when I went to Chennai to my mom’s place I got a chance to visit restaurant called “Pasumai” and its close to Tambaram Sanatorium (Chitlapakkam). Its very small fast food joint but they serve only small grain foods. That aroused my curiosity and also recent posts by Mullai made search these millets in US. (I couldn’t bring them from India) I thought being in BayArea it shouldn’t be difficult and yes I found all the millets here in Bay. I didn’t need to export it from there. For people in Bay Area, you can find all short grains in Madras Groceries in Sunnyvale. Not sure if they take online orders will check and update. In India it shouldn’t be a problem as India is one of the largest producer of these millets.
Today’s theme is One pot meal and I wanted to try pongal with these short grains. So the first millet that I am trying here is FoxTail Millet / Thinai or Tenai in Tamil and Kangni in hindi.
I think I have written enough about quinoa so let me now write about Foxtail Millet. When I was surfing I came across this article from Hindu which talks about foxtail millet and diabetes. According to this article, “foxtail millet releases glucose steadily without affecting the metabolism of the body. The incidence of diabetes is rare among the population which consumes foxtail millet diet.”
| Crop / Nutrient | Protein(g) | Fiber(g) |
Foxtail millet | 12.3 | 8 |
Quinoa | 24 | 12 |
| Source : Wikipedia | ||
For me this venpongal always reminds me the prasadam that we get in Venkateshwara/Perumal temples. IMO the hot pongal served in Dhonnai is the yummiest pongal. Nothing can beat that taste. I have stood in the queue multiple times for getting those prasadam. So what are these Dhonnai?
Dhonnai is an eco-friendly disposable dried leaf bowl which is mostly made up of dried banana leaf and these dried banana leaves are called as Sarugu in Tamil. They are also made of Mandara leaves. (I am still looking out for exact English name for the mandara tree)The prasadam are served in Dhonnai in temples. This time I got these dhonnai in bulk from Thaayar Diary in Ranganathan Street, T.Nagar in the effort of saving some trees and being more eco-friendly.
For this pongal I skipped rice completely and used ½ cup of quinoa and ½ cup of foxtail millet and ½ cup of moong dhal with loads of cumin seeds. So here is the protein loaded diabetic friendly ven pongal served in Dhonnai. Add everything to pressure cooker and pressure cook it with four cups of water. The serving size is 1 cup and it yields close to 3 cups.
Detailed recipe below:
1) If you are not able to get quinoa you can ignore and use 1 cup of foxtail millet itself.
2) Or you can also use 1/2 cup of barnyard millet and 1/2 cup of foxtail millet. Mix and match with what you have.
3) You can ignore the tadka step and add all the cumin seeds, pepper and ginger in step 2 itself making it oil free. :-)
Sending this entry for Valli’s breakfast event.
Yes this is a guest post and you will be seeing more of these guest post from me for 3 curious monkeys. So what’s this 3 curious monkeys? It’s a company run by two great women Shweta Chopra and Shuchi Mehta. They have multicultural books and great apps for kids. It’s true that 3 Curious Monkeys helps kids discover and appreciate our nation India in a contemporary and engaging manner. I Love their apps. The interesting thing is Shweta and Shuchi got to know my blog via Euphoric delight FB group and contacted me for guest posts. (Its going to be a series) I was really elated and humbled and I am really happy to do these guest posts for them.
Quinoa is small grain loaded with protein and it’s a rich source of B vitamins, and also dietary minerals and has a modest amount of calcium. It is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. This grain is perfect for kids as they get sufficient vitamins and minerals along with protein. But one thing that I need to agree is quinoa’s taste is acquired. I started including them along with rice then in soups and stews. Quinoa flour is a great ingredient that can be added along with wheat flour for making rotis and also you can try this flour for baking.
Puttu is a traditional breakfast recipe in Kerala. It is served along with banana and it forms a filling breakfast for everyone. The traditional puttu is prepared with the Kerala Red rice flour but you try it with ragi or wheat flour also. For this puttu recipe I am going to use quinoa flour. This became a huge hit in our household and I realized this is the easies and best way to introduce quinoa for kids. It is one of the easiest recipes and it can be done in a jiffy.
Note: It is not mandatory to have the puttu steamer. You can steam in your convenient way. These steamers are readily available in all Indian stores.
Ingredients:
Steps:
Steaming using Puttu Maker:
Puttu maker has two parts the bottom pot where you steam the water and the top part usually cylindrical vessel where you add the flour mix layered with coconut.
Yummy puttu is ready. Open the cylindrical part and push the puttu out.
Steaming in regular way:
You can also use Idly cooker to steam these.
Now mix sugar according to your taste and serve it along with banana. I usually add 2 to 3 tsps of cane sugar.
Cross posted here.
This week DFT theme is “Oil-free Cooking”. I was planning to prepare some salad first but then I went back to my favorite soup. I agree I am obsessed with this little grain quinoa. :-) A small grain loaded with protein and fiber. One thing I need to admit is that it took me some time to get adjusted to quinoa taste. It’s purely acquired. I started with this quinoa black bean salad. And then slowly started to mix it rice. I mix 1.5 cups rice with 1/2 cup of quinoa and cook them as usual in pressure cooker. Then I started adding them in bisi bele baath and other variety rices.
This South Indian Style Quinoa stew with veggies is another attempt to try quinoa in a different way. This is a make ahead meal and I usually make soups in bulk and have them for lunch for at least 3 to 4 days. A great filling and balanced meal. You can use the veggies that you have in hand. This is perfect for kids too. You can add whole grain pastas along with quinoa and make it to pasta and quinoa soup.
Creating Recipes with a Cause!
I am a proud DFT blogger. To learn about DFT, read this link. To view more DFT recipes, Click here!
Ingredients:
Steps:
That’s it yummy quinoa is ready :-) Serve hot with bread or crackers.
Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or dietitian. My knowledge and information is based on my research and reading from different resources. Please consult your doctor or dietitian before making any changes to your diet.
Here are the other entries.
My Paniyaaram Saga continues.. The proud DFT team brings the indulging dishes made in Appe/Paniyaram/Abelskiever Pan! Indulge with Appe/Paniyaram/Abelskiever Pan Goodness!
You can find my traditional sweet and savory paniyaarams in the below links.
This is yet another paniyaaram dish but with a twist to the traditional one. The batter is completely different. No Rice and No Urad dhal at all. I am using red poha/flattened rice, oats, quinoa, toor dhal, moong dhal and flax seeds.
I usually try adai with this mix but this time thought why not try paniyaaram?? I also added the veggies that I had in stock and eureka!!! Here is the multigrain paniyaaram with veggies. You can add any veggies that you have in hand. Its a filling and healthy meal/snack loaded with veggies and grains. You can serve this with the tomato onion chutney or with any spicy chutney that you like.
Creating Recipes with a Cause!
I am a proud DFT blogger. To learn about DFT, read this link. To view more DFT recipes, Click here!
Ingredients:
For the batter:
Steps:
For the Veggie Masala:
Steps:
Thats it the masala for paniyaaram is ready. Now mix this with the batter.
Making the Paniyaarams:
Thats it. Yummy Multigrain paniyaaram is ready.
Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or dietitian. My knowledge and information is based on my research and reading from different resources. Please consult your doctor or dietitian before making any changes to your diet.
Here are the other entries.
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Advance Mother’s Day wishes to all the moms out there :-)
What would I say about my mom? This is entire blog is dedicated to her and I am here today posting recipes only because of her. Thank you amma :-)
In previous post I mentioned that this month is going to be coding month but not cooking but here I am within two days with a recipe. ;-) As this is for DFT and as its mother’s day special I didn’t want to miss it. Bisibelebath is one of the comfort food and my mom makes it from scratch. I have already posted easy one pot dish bisibelebath but this one is going to be with quinoa, rice and masoor dal instead of toor dal and this recipe is also from scratch. We prepare the masala fresh and add it to the dish.
We all know the health benefits of quinoa. A small grain loaded with protein and fibre and a great substitute for rice. But in this recipe I am not using only quinoa but adding rice too. Quinoa is an acquired taste so when you are starting its better to add it along with rice and slowly you can wean the rice. I personally feel masoor dhal is light and easy to cook and you can find the benefits here.
For this recipe I am using marathi moggu or kapok buds which is widely used Mangolorean and Chetinad cuisine. Its optional but if you have do try it with that. :-)
Here is this simple recipe.
Ingredients:
For the masala:
Other Ingredients:
For Tempering:
Method:
Thats it. Yummy quinoa bisibelebath is ready.
Serve hot with raita.
Happy Rakshabhandan to all :-)
Here we are at blogging marathon week 2. For this week I chose the kid’s delight / Kid’s healthy snack as my theme. Since its rakshabhandan, I wanted to do something sweet, so picked this up as my first dish.
Starting BM week2 with a sweet snack. :-)
Maalaadu – pottukadalai urundai, roasted dalia sweet balls. My mom used to make these a lot for me during my UG hostel days. These stay for up 10 days when stored in an airtight container. Rain or shine always from Home to Hostel, maaladu will be there for sure in my luggage. This is a no stove dish. I never made this for vaandu till we read Junior Kumbhakarna. In order to wake up Kumbhakarna, they bring mountains of delicious smelling laddus. Vaandu got hooked to that and started asking for laddus. I know making laddu is not easy task and thats when I thought why can’t I try the maaladus instead of laddus. So here comes the recipe. I just added quinoa flour to make it more healthy, but its completely optional and its healthy without quinoa flour too as roasted chickpeas has good protein too.
Ingredients:
Method:
More the ghee, more the taste and the shape of the ball will be perfect.
Earlier cross posted here for IMC Book Week 2014.
Submitting this recipe for Kids delight event
Submitting this post for Blogging Marathon #43 – A 3 day marathon for 4 weeks
Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#43
submitting this recipe to Kids Delight Event
I got introduced to salads after coming to US. Can you have salad as a meal?? If you would have asked me this question 7 years ago, I would have replied, what? No way… But now, I love them. Salads doesn’t mean just lettuce and greens. Thanks to my friend Tami for introducing me to a variety of salads. Her salads are so yum :-)
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Kollu or Horsegram is one among the healthy grains / lentils family. As I mentioned in my rasam post it is very common ingredient in my native place. Kollu chutney / Thuvaiyal, Rasam, this sundal and just roasted kollu are very common recipes. Basically whenever I prepare kollu rasam, I make this sundal and vice versa. For the rasam you need just a handful of boiled horse gram but at least 2 cups of boiled horse gram water. So I always soak more horse gram and prepare these two recipes together.
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Wishing you all a happy 2013. Starting this year’s first post with a healthy and comforting recipe. This is one of my favorite recipe too. Err I love all rasams so any obviously this is going to be my favorite. Kollu or Horse gram dhal is one of the widely used grams in my native place. This humble legume is the staple food for horses and cattle errr that’s why its called horse gram lentil. It is called Kollu in Tamil, Ulavalu in Telugu and Kulthi in Hindi. It has lot of anti-oxidant properties and also good for diabetic patients. You can read about it here in wiki.
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We are using Quinoa for the past three years. I justused to cook it along with rice. (If I am planning to cook, 2 cups of rice, I would add 1.5 cups of rice and 1/2 Quinoa). It has become very popular here in US. They are different type of Quinoa, but so far I have used only the regular white one. Then I started experimenting Quinoa by adding it in salads and in some other rice recipes. Even they they were a hit, but nothing got hit like this one pesarattu or dosa..
I got this recipe from my colleague. Quinoa and green gram, what a combo?? A healthy and a yummy tiffin with high protein and low carbs.
Ingredients:
Steps:
Yummy and healthy dosa ready. Serve it with chutney/sambhar or milagai podi.
Cross posted at IMC
