Badam Ragi Malt - Healthy teatime drink | Healthy Diet Plan #5

The healthy diet series is back!! You can check out the previous posts here. We use ragi in our weekly diet either in the form of dosas or kozhukattais or this porridge. This is my favourite as its easy to make and is healthy too. My tummy never kicks for the 6pm snacks when I have this for 4PM teatime :)

Badam Ragi Malt Recipe Ingredients :

• Ragi flour - 4 tbsp
• Milk - 2 cups
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 2 tsp
• Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
• Badam powdered / chopped finely - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Dry roast ragi flour till nice aroma comes, it may take 3-5 mins. Set aside.
2. Take 1/2 cup milk add a tbsp of ragi flour to it and make it to a smooth paste. Set aside.
3. Heat boiled milk then add the ragi milk paste, sugar to it. Stir continuously making sure no lumps are formed. Add 1/2 cup water and mix well.
4. Keep stirring till it becomes slightly thick like porridge but still in pouring consistency. Add cardamom powder, give a quick stir and then switch off. Garnish with powdered almonds and serve hot or warm.

My Notes :

• Stir continuously as after adding the ragi paste, the mixture starts thickening faster so take care to avoid lumps.
• If you are making in advance before serving, then add little milk while serving to make it to drinking consistency.
• You can also add a tsp of MTR badam mix for extra flavour.

This tastes best when served hot and is very healthy too. If you have it for teatime, you will feel full till dinner time as its very filling.

Ammini Kozhukattai and Ellu Urundai | Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipes

I had enough of kozhukattais yesterday and didnt forget to feed sharmis passions so here it is :) Ammini Kozhukattai or also called as mini or mani kozhukattai - I have no clue of the orgin of the name but they are easy to make and gets emptied in no time.I am sure most days when we make poornam kozhukattais we have leftover outer dough so we can make these mini kozhukattias in no time. And from monday the diet series will resume back so keep watching

Ammini Kozhukattai Recipe Ingredients :

• Rice flour - 1/2 cup
• Salt - as required
• Coconut - 2 tbsp
• Hot Water - as required

To temper :

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Hing (Perungayam ) - a pinch
• Curry leaves - few
• Turmeric powder - a pinch

Method:

First sieve the rice flour 2-3 times, keep aside. Boil water, Take rice flour in a wide bowl.

Add the boiling water little by little and mix it with the help of a wooden laddle. Mix it till it gathers to a smooth dough. Allow it to cool for 2-3 mins then knead once with your hands to make a smooth dough but it will be slightly sticky.Keep aside.

The dough will be very soft but sticky.Slightly grease your hands with oil and make small sized balls as shown below.

Steam the balls for 10-12mins or as required. The outer layer would have turned shiny. Take out the kozhukattais carefully without breaking and set aside to cool.

Now heat oil, add mustard seeds, urad dhal let it crackle then add curry leaves,red chillies, turmeric powder and hing. Next add coconut saute till slightly browned then add required salt. Mix well.

Now add the mani kozhukattais and give a quick stir , mix well and switch off. Your mani / mini or ammini kozhukattais are ready

These kozhukattais are easy to make and they are very flavourful.This is best suited for the festive occassion as it can be done in a jiffy when there is leftover outer dough.

My Notes:

• Add boiling water little by little to get the desired dough consistency. The dough should gather to well but still it will be sticky when touched with ur hands.

• Just grease your hands with little oil if you feel sticky while rolling.

Ellu Urundai / Sesame Ladoos Ingredients :

• White / Black Sesame - 1 cup
• Jaggery - 3/4 cup
• Cardomom powder - a pinch (optional)

Method:

Dry roast the sesame till nice nutty aroma comes and it turns browned. Allow it to cool then grind it in a mixer to a coarse powder.

Then add jaggery and run the mixie once or twice again to make it combined.Add elachi powder and combine well..Then roll them tight into balls and store it in airtight container.

My Notes:

• Make sure you first grind sesame coarsely then add jaggery to it for even grinding. Some make ellu urundai without grinding itself but I prefer this way :)
• I didnt add ghee or oil, the oil leaving from the sesame was just enough to form balls.But if you want you can add 1 or 2 tsp of ghee.
• You can use black or white sesame for making these ladoos
• You can add ghee roasted chopped nuts too.

Easy yummy ladoos are ready, have and bite and enjoy.After the heavy festive recipes are you getting ready to peep in my diet series? See you all soon on monday! :)

Channa Sundal | Vinayagar Chathurthi, Navaratri Sundal Recipes

Vinayagar Chathurthi is tomorrow.....we usually make sweet modakam(pooranam kozhukattai), savoury kozhukattai, channa sundal and ellu urundai now. The internet at home has gone down for the past 2 days and am feeling sick, just came to a near by browsing center to post this :) Hopefully my net should be back atleast for the next post....keeping fingers crossed.

Channa Sundal Recipe

Ingredients:

• Channa - 1 cup
• Coconut - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

To temper :

• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Urad dhal - 1/4 tsp
• Hing(Perungayam) - a generous pinch
• Red Chillies - 2
• Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Soak channa overnight atleast for 8 hours. Pressure cook until soft and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and urad dhal, allow it to crackle. Then add red chillies,hing,salt and curry leaves, saute for 2mins.
3. Then add the cooked channa and mix well with the tempered items. Add coconut , give it a quick stir and switch off.

My Notes :

• You can even boil the channa instead of pressure cooking, but I prefer the pressure cooking way.
• While pressure cooking channa adding salt takes time to cook so I always add it while tempering.
• You can use the same method for cooking green gram,mocha kottai or even channa dhal which makes a variety for navatri sundal recipes.

When I saw these thonais(the cup holding the sundal) at Nilgiris the first thing that striked me was to make channa sundal and click with it. Sometimes yes the props hold more attention than the main dish to me :) I am sure most food bloggers will agree with me.

Ulundhu Kozhukattai / Uppu Kozhukattai | Vinayagar Chathurthi Recipes

Its Vinayagar charthurthi special for a week so the diet series will resume after this festive special :) I am excited about the long weekend coming up have so much plans right from cooking, relaxing, spending time with family and shopping so am very much looking forward for it. You can check the modak(pooranam kozhukattai) sweet version kozhukattai here (have updated with stepwise) which I posted last year so I'm posting savoury kozhukattaiai this year.

Ulunthu Kozhukattai Recipe - Inner Ulunthu Stuffing Ingredients :

• Urad dal(ulutham paruppu) - 1/2 cup
• Green chillies - 2
• Coconut - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste

To temper :

• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Hing (Perungayam ) - a pinch
• Curry leaves - few
• Turmeric powder - a pinch

Method:

Soak urad dhal for an hour. Drain water and grind it with green chillies very coarsely. Just run the mixer once or twice to make it coarse. Do not make it pastey. Set aside.

Now heat oil, add mustard seeds let it crackle then add curry leaves,turmeric powder and hing. Next add the coarsely grinded urad dhal green chilli mixture and saute until it becomes dry and raw smell completely leaves, it may take 7-10mins. Add required salt. Then add coconut mix well and switch off. Now your inner stuffing is ready.

Ulunthu Kozhukattai Recipe - Outer Dough Ingredients :

• Rice flour / Idiyappam flour - 3/4 cup
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Water - as required to form a dough

Method for the outer covering:

You can check how to make rice flour at home here

First sieve the rice flour 2-3 times, keep aside. Boil water, Take rice flour in a wide bowl.

Add the boiling water little by little and mix it with the help of a wooden laddle. Mix it till it gathers to a smooth dough. Allow it to cool for 2-3 mins then knead once with your hands to make a smooth dough but it will be slightly sticky.Keep aside.

To make ulunthu kozhukattai :

Grease ur hands with oil make small lemon sized balls then flatten it slightly thin (or make it as cup) then add a tsp of ulunthu stuffing / filling and seal it as shown below.Repeat this until the entire dough finishes. This is the easiest method I am following till date :)

Press the ends and seal it completely and make the design by pressing ur thumbs. You can also make designs with fork or use readymade shapes.

Steam the kozhukattais for about 10-12mins or until the outer cover turns shiny which shows thew kozhukattais are ready.

The stuffing can be anything sweet too like coconut channa dhal stuffing or sesame jaggery, it tastes good too.

My notes:

• There are few other ways to make savoury kozhukattai too even without filling. Just make the kozhukattai balls, steam it then temper it with the above said items which is called ammini kozhukattai.
• Be very careful to run the mixie just once or twise else the urad dhal will get pastey.
• You can either use homemade rice flour or riceflour that we get ub shops, the fine variety thay call it as idiyappam flour.

The stuffing is simple and flavourful that it can get over in a jiffy by itself :) I always make the stuffing ready after that making kozhukattai outer dough is just a breeze.Savoury modaks are ready to be served. Tastes best when served hot or warm. We make both sweet and savoury kozhukattai and I luv both :)

Baked Bread Rolls - Healthy teatime snack | Healthy Diet Plan #4

Hope you are enjoying this series as much as I do, please be a part of the voting poll on the sidebar. Its a short break now...No no! I am not taking a break, only this series is taking a short break, will resume this series by next weekend with the remaining teatime drink and a dinner idea. It is sure better than the deep fry way so when I saw it in Tarladalal site I instantly want to try it and just luved it.

Baked Bread Rolls Recipe

Recipe Source : Tarladalal



Ingredients:

• Wheat Bread - 5 slices
• Ghee / Oil - 2 tsp

For the stuffing:

• Onion - 1 finely chopped
• Potato - 1 medium sized
• Carrot - 1
• Peas - a handful
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Fennel(Sombu) powder - a pinch (optional)
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
• Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped finely
• Oil - 1 tsp
• Salt - as required

Method :

For the stuffing :

1. Cube the veggies and pressure cook them with water and turmeric powder until soft. Keep aside. Mash the potatoes well and combine it with other veggies.
2. Heat oil in a pan, add sombu powder, ginger garlic paste, saute for 2mins. Then add chopped onions saute until slightly browned. Then add the veggies, chilli powder and garam masala powder, required salt and give a stir.Sprinkle little water just for the masalas to combine well with the veggies.
3. Cook covered for 5mins, giving it a stir inbetween.Switch off and garnish with coriander leaves.Now the stuffing is ready.

For the bread rolls:

First cut the sides of the bread for the 5 slices. Then roll slightly using a chapathi roller, cover it with a wet muslin cloth and keep aside for 5-10mins.Then add the stuffing inbetween, add water at the edges and seal it.

Seal it completely on all sides.As I used wheat bread it was a bit difficult to roll it as it was very small too. Try to use sandwich sized breads so that rolling is easier, mine was normal bread.





Apply ghee evenly on all sides. Meanwhile preheat oven at 200 deg C for 10mins and bake it at 200 deg C for 15-20mins or till the rolls turn golden brown. Check inbetween and turn over if required. Serve it with tomato ketchup the best combination.

My Notes:

• The timing differs from oven to oven so check exactly after 15mins then proceed with remaining 5mins.
• If you feel uneven cooking, you can turn over in between like what I did.
• If you want you can add more ghee or butter as per liking.
• The stuffing can be of your choice, you can use mushroom, paneer, corn etc

Fruits Custard (Fruit Salad with Custard) - Healthy Dessert | Healthy Diet Plan #3

Fruits Custard or fruits salad with custard is a very delicious dessert with the creamy texture of the custard and crunch of the fruits in between. This is very easy to make even at the last minute when guests arrive so here is my healthy dessert idea.

Fruits Custard / Fruit Salad with Custard Recipe



Ingredients:

• Milk - 1.5 cups
• Fruits - 3/4 cup
• Custard Powder(Vanilla flavoured) - 1 tbsp
• Sugar - 3 tsp

For fruits I used a mix of apple,banana,watermelon,orange and pomegranate

Method:

1. Chop the fruits into cubes and keep it ready. Boil the milk , keep aside to let it cool.
2. In a small bowl take 1/2 cup of milk, add custard powder mix it well without any lumps. Keep aside.
3. Heat the remaining milk, give it a boil then add the custard milk mixture, sugar and mix well. The mixture will start thickening so be very careful and keep stirring till a creamy consistency is formed. The custard will get thickened on refrigerating also so the consistency should be a bit runny.
4. Switch off, cool down the custard for 5mins and then add the fruits and mix well. Your fruits custard is ready. Chill it for few mins then serve it.

My Notes:

• If your custard becomes thick, add little more milk.
• You can skip sugar and have it with the natural sweetness of the fruits.
• As I made this some 3months back I didnt get mangoes. Mangoes will sure give a nice flavour to the custard.
• Use fresh cut fruits and serve it fresh.

Pumpkin Sambar and Cabbage Poriyal - Easy Lunch Menu | Healthy Diet Plan #2

This is one of the easiest and comforting meal I could think of on a lazy noon. My hubby loves cabbage so its a total yes yes when it comes to cabbage. So this is lunch menu for a hearty, comforting and healthy lunch. So whats next?! its going to be dessert time - fruits salad with custard, stay tuned :)

Pumpkin Sambar Recipe

Ingredients:

• Toor dhal - 1 cup
• A small lemon sized tamarind ball - 1
• Shallots(Chinna vengayam) - 3 to 4
• Tomato - 1 large
• Turmeric powder - a generous pinch
• Sambar powder - 1 tbsp
• Vegetable of your choice - I used pumkpin (4-5 cubes)
• Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp chopped
• Salt - to taste

To temper :

• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves - few
• Hing - a generous pinch

Method:

1. Soak tamarind in 1 cup water for 15mins, squeeze the thick pulp out and keep aside.
2. Pressure cook toor dhal with 1.5 cups of water until mushy.Smash it well once and keep aside.
3. In a pan, add oil temper mustard seeds, urad dhal once they crackle add fenugreek seeds, curry leaves and hing. Now add onion and tomato saute until raw smell of tomato leaves. Now add the veggie(pumpkin) saute it slightly.
4. Now add the smashed dhal, add turmeric powder, sambar powder, required salt and mix well. Allow it to boil for 5mins then add tamarind pulp mix well.
5. Allow this to boil for 10mins until the sambar starts thickening. Switch off and garnish with coriander leaves.

Cabbage Poriyal Recipe:

Ingredients:

• Cabbage - 1/2 from a medium sized cabbage (chopped finely)
• Onion - 1/2 chopped finely
• Grated coconut - 1 tbsp
• Salt – to taste

To temper :

• Oil - 1 tsp
• Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Jeera - 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Urad dhal - 1/2 tsp
• Green chillies - 1 slitted
• Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Heat a pan with oil, add mustard seeds, urad dhal, jeera allow it to crackle. Now add green chillies and curry leaves, saute for a minute.Add onions saute for 3mins.
2. Then add grated cabbage, saute for 2mins. Sprinkle little water (do not add more water as cabbage will let our water by itself) and cook keeping lid closed until cabbage gets cooked and becomes soft.Add required salt.
3. After few mins say 5-7mins the water would have evaporated completely and the cabbage would have turned soft and dry.
4. Add coconut give a quick stir and switch off.

This was my lunch menu a few weeks back. Rice , pumpkin sambar, cabbage poriyal and mango patchadi

My Notes:

• For cabbage poriyal, you can also add a tbsp of cooked moong dhal.
• I sometimes add channa dhal for tempering too.
• You can use any veggie for ur choice and proceed with the above recipe for sambar. Saute and cook the veggie accordingly.
• Drizzle ghee while mixing sambar with rice and enjoy a heartful meal.