Hello friends,

Hope you are doing well and waiting to get through the ‘Covid-19’ pandemic. While most of us are locked in our homes due to social distancing guidelines and majority of shops/restaurants are closed, lot of people are trying get rid of boredom in various ways like creating videos, singing, dancing etc. Out of these the most common trend has been to cook something interesting and posting pictures of their dishes on social media. As the lock-down dates are being revised multiple times, it’s quite likely that you may need newer ideas to cook something different to avoid repetition. With the same thing in mind, I am presenting “Broccoli Paratha” an uncommon type of paratha which is both delicious and full of nutrition. While broccoli is full of goodness, paneer is great in taste. The combination of these two, added with the savory mix of spices makes it a complete food and can be enjoyed with just pickle, chutney or raita. The recipe is fairly easy but the outcome is highly satisfying. Try this Broccoli Paratha and your lock-down experience will be a bit less painful. Let me know your experience in the comments section.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup- Shredded or grated broccoli (Barik kati hui broccoli)
• ½ cup- Grated cottage cheese (Kisa hua paneer)
• 1½ cups- Multi grain Flour/ Wheat flour (Whichever preferred or available)
• ½ inch- Grated ginger (kisa hua adrak)
• 2 teaspoons- Red chili powder (Lal mirch powder)
• 2 teaspoons- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 2 teaspoons- Cumin powder (Jeera powder)
• 2 teaspoons- Dry mango powder (Amchoor powder)
• ½ teaspoon- Asafoetida (Hing)
• Salt (as per taste)
• Olive oil/ Refined oil for roasting parathas

Method:

• Take flour, 1½ tablespoons oil and salt as required in a big bowl and mix. Now add water in portions and knead it into a soft dough. Cover the dough and keep it aside.
• For making the filling, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan and splutter cumin seeds, add grated ginger, turmeric powder, asafoetida and roast for a while. Now add shredded broccoli, red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, dry mango powder and salt as per taste. Mix everything and roast for another 2 to 3 minutes on medium flame. Switch off the flame and add grated paneer, give it a mix and let it cool for some time.
• Make small-medium balls of the dough and take one ball, dust with dry flour, gradually press the rolling pin on all sides of the ball and make 3 to 4 inch circle, now put a spoon
  full of filling in the center of the circle. Seal the edges of the dough, softly press with fingers and roll it in a circle with help of rolling pin. Be very careful to apply
  pressure evenly.
• Heat a pan/ tawa on a medium high flame. Transfer your parantha on a hot pan and flip it when you see bubbles.
• Brush both the sides of parantha with little oil and roast on a medium-high flame until brown spots appear on both the sides.
• Serve hot with raita/chutney/ketchup/curd or pickle (as per your choice).

Hi Friends,

Hope you enjoyed my last blog post about Quinoa Khichdi in our series of healthy recipes. Today, I am going to share another healthy recipe – “Lehsuni Palak Dalia (Garlicky Spinach Porridge)”. Dalia is traditionally used as light yet nutritious meal or for people who are not feeling well and need easily digestible food. While it is healthy in many ways but the taste of traditional recipes don’t do a great job at making it a very desirable food option for many. Today’s recipe Lehsuni Palak Dalia, overcomes this limitation by combining rich fibers of Dalia with the “greeny-goodness” of spinach (Palak) in this delicious dish. The garlic flavor makes it even more interesting. This is a one-pot meal which is easy to make and requires very common ingredients. I used Instant-Pot for the simplicity but you can make it in a standard pressure cooker as well.

Lastly, whether you like Dalia or not you must give this one a try anyway. If you did not like Dalia before you will start liking it and if you liked the traditional recipe then you will start loving it much more.

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup- Broken wheat/ porridge (Gehun ka Dalia)
• ½ Cup- Petite yellow split lentil (Dhuli Moong dal)
• 2- Half slit green chilies (Lambi kati hui hari mirchi)
• 2 cups- Chopped Spinach (Kati hui Palak)
• 10 to 12- Finely chopped garlic cloves (Barik kati hui lehsun)
• 1-½ tea spoons- Red chili powder ( Lal mirch powder) (Optional)
• 1 to 2 tea spoons- Turmeric powder (Haldi)
• 2 tea spoons- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 1-½ tea spoon- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• Salt (as per taste)
• 1 tea spoon- Mustard seeds (Raai)
• 1 pinch- Asafoetida (Heeng) (Optional)
• 2 table spoons- Clarified Butter (Ghee)

Method:

• Take instant pot and turn on sauté button, wait till it turns hot (heat pressure cooker) and add ghee. Now splutter mustard seeds and cumin seeds in hot ghee.
• Add chopped garlic and green chilies, sauté for a while. Now add turmeric powder, afafoetida, coriander powder and red chili powder (Optional).
• Now add chopped spinach and mix it well.
• Now add washed moong daal and salt (as per taste), mix all the ingredients for a while. Add 2-½ or 3 cups (according to the consistency of porridge you like) of water and give it a mix.
• Turn off sauté button, close the lid and turn the venting knob to sealing position. Turn on rice mode on low i.e. 8 mins. (Close the lid of the pressure cooker and give 3-4 whistles). Wait till the pressure releases.
• Serve hot with ghee on top along with papad (cracker), achaar (pickle), dahi (plain yogurt/ curd) or raita.

Hot summer is at its peak and you are looking for some cooling relief. You’ve enjoyed several seasonal favorites like Mango-Smoothie, Masala-Chhaas (Buttermilk), Aam-Panna etc. but now you are looking for something different to quench your thirst. So, here is a tasty and healthy drink for you to enjoy this summer: “Cranberry – Yogurt drink”. Cranberries have a unique “sweet-and-sour” taste along with several health benefits. Cranberries are often referred to as “superfood” due to their high nutrient and antioxidant contents. They are low in calories and are a great source of vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin K. I am sure, you would want to give this super easy and uber-cool drink a try to conquer the hot weather.

 

Ingredients:

• ½ Cup- Dried Cranberries
• ½ Cup- Curd/Yogurt (Dahi)
• 2 teaspoons- Sugar (preferably organic)
• 1 teaspoon- Cumin powder (Jeera powder)
• 1 teaspoon- Black salt (Kala Namak)
• Lemon (optional)

Method:

• Soak the dried cranberries in ⅓ cup of fresh water for 20-30 minutes.
• Take soaked cranberries with water (which was used for soaking) in a grinding jar and grind it into a paste.
• Now add curd/ yogurt, sugar, black salt, cumin powder and ¼ cup water into the jar. And grind for 2 minutes or until the sugar dissolves.
• Transfer into glasses and garnish with mint leaves and lemon. Optionally squeeze some lemon into the drink for tangy flavour.
• Serve chilled (add ice cubes if needed).

Note: In this recipe I’ve used dried cranberries but you can take fresh ones too and just skip the soaking step (as they are already soft and juicy).

Today’s recipe ‘Poha Cutlet’ is an interesting variation of usual cutlets. It uses ‘Poha’ as one of the main ingredients and gives a deliciously different flavour from the usual taste. It can be used both as an evening snack or an appetizer. You can either shallow fry with little oil or you can use an air fryer for a healthier cooking. The ingredients are easily available and the cooking method is quite straightforward. Optionally, you can also add other vegetables of your choice like peas, beans, corn etc. So here it goes…

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup- Thick Poha
• Medium sized boiled and mashed potatoes (Aloo)
• ½ Cup- Finely chopped onion (Barik Kati Hui Pyaz)
• ¼ Cup- Finely chopped capsicum (Barik Kati Hui Shimla Mirch)
• ¼ Cup- Grated carrots (Kisi Hui Gajar)
• ½ Cup- Finely chopped coriander leaves (Hara Dhaniya)
• 1 tablespoons- Garlic and ginger paste (Adrak- lehsun paste)
• 2- Chopped green chillies ( Barik Kati Hui Hari Mirch)
• 1 teaspoon- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
• 1 teaspoon- Red chilli powder ( Lal Mirch powder)
• ¼ teaspoon- Turmeric powder (Haldi)
• 1 teaspoon- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 1 teaspoon- Cumin powder (Jeera powder)
• ½ teaspoon- Black pepper powder (Kali Mirch powder)
• 1 teaspoons- Black salt (Kala Namak)
• 2 teaspoons- Chat masala
• ½ Cup- Breadcrumbs
• 1½ tablespoons- Oil
• Salt (as per taste)

Method :

• Wash poha two to three times with clean water. Leave it in water for a minute and then drain excess water and keep it aside for 5 minutes. After this process poha will become very soft.
• Take a big bowl, add soaked poha, mashed potatoes, finely chopped onion, capsicum, grated carrots, chopped coriander leaves, chopped green chillies, garlic-ginger paste, red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, chat masala, black pepper, black salt, turmeric powder and salt.
• Mix everything altogether very well. Taste the mix; you can add more salt and spices as per your taste.
• Take a small portion of a mix and give it a shape as you want.
• Coat your cutlets with breadcrumbs.

Now, you are ready to fry your cutlets. You can either shallow fry it or use an air fryer. Process for both frying methods are given below:

1 – Using pan or griddle:

• Take a pan or griddle, brush it with some oil and let it heat.
• Place the poha cutlets on the pan or griddle, cook for 2-3 minutes on the low Medium flame.
• Brush some oil on the cutlets and flip the cutlets upside-down once they turn slightly golden, repeat the process until it cooks completely (becomes golden brown and crispy) from both the sides
• Once cooked, take the cutlets out on a kitchen paper towels/absorbent paper.
• Serve poha cutlet hot with mint-coriander chutney or tomato ketchup.
• Refer pictures in top strip of below picture (Poha Cutlets – Frying Methods) for reference.

2 – Using air-fryer:

• Brush oil on each side of breadcrumbs coated cutlets and place them in air-fryer.
• Set air-fryer at 320°F (160°C) for 10 minutes.
• Once fried open it and flip the cutlets and again fry them for 8 more minutes at the same temperature.
• Serve poha cutlet hot with mint-coriander chutney or tomato ketchup.
• Refer pictures in bottom strip of above picture (Poha Cutlets – Frying Methods) for reference.

Please post your experience or any feedback in comments section. Thanks.

A great day starts with a great breakfast. Eating a healthy and filling breakfast is the key to an active and energetic start. However, healthy and tasty doesn’t always go well together. This recipe tries to bridge this gap.

While Paratha is a very common breakfast item in Indian households it doesn’t have any significant health benefits and use of oil or Ghee may lead to saturated fat.In this breakfast recipe, we try to leverage the ease of making along with the established fanbase of paratha while adding some healthy ingredients like Avocado and multigrain atta (made from whole grain) to it. Limiting the use of oil (preferably Olive oil) reduces the intake of bad cholesterol.

Avocado is renowned for its richness in vitamins like B-6, C, E and K. It is also a good source of riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium. It also contains lutein, beta-carotene, and omega-3 fatty acids. Avocados are full of healthy, useful fats that keep you full and satiated. The delicious healthy monounsaturated fat in the avocado supports its claim of being a super healthy fruit.

So, are you ready to kick-start your day with an unconventional but healthy breakfast? Continue reading for the detailed recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups- Multigrain Flour (preferred) or Wheat Flour
• 2 or 3- Avocados
• 2 teaspoons- Red Chilli powder (Lal Mirch powder)
• 2 teaspoons- Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
• 1 table spoon- Cumin powder (Jeera powder)
• Salt (as per taste)
• Olive oil/ Refined oil (for roasting parathas)

Method :

• Peel Avocados and remove seeds and grate (or mash if the Avocado is ripen) the pulp and keep aside.
• Mix flour, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt in a big bowl.
• Add grated/mashed avocado pulp into the flour mixture made in the previous step.
• Knead the mix into a slightly tight dough like we do for paratha (no water needed thanks to juicy Avocado pulp) and keep it aside.
• Divide dough into 8 equal balls.
• Heat a pan/tawaa on a medium-high flame for roasting parathas.
• Take a ball, dust with dry flour and roll into a paratha/chapati with the help of rolling pin. (No need to brush oil in between)
• Transfer your paratha on a hot pan and flip it when you see bubbles.
• Brush both sides of the paratha with little oil and roast on a medium-high flame until brown spots appear on both the sides.
• Serve hot with Chutney/ ketchup/ curd/ pickle (as per your choice).