Oats & Honey Porridge#Improv

Another quick and healthy breakfast. I make this for breakfast so often and sometime add fresh fruits too. 

Serves 2
Ingredients
1 Cup Oats
1½ Cup Water
1½ Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Honey
Handful chopped nuts and fruits (Dates, Almonds,Cashew nuts, Walnuts and Raisins)
1 Teaspoon Chia Seeds

Method

In a saucepan , combine water and  milk,  bring to boil on  medium low flame

then add the oats and give it a quick stir,

Now add the honey and  chia seeds mix in well, keep stirring for 3 - 4 minutes  or till the porridge thickens a little.
Keep stirring in so that it is not burnt at the bottom.

When the oats is  cooked, turn off flame and transfer the contents to a serving bowl,

 Drizzle a little honey
The porridge will further thicken as it starts to cool , so adjust your water and milk quantities accordingly.

Here is the goodness of fruits

Sprinkle all the chopped nuts and fruits on top.  

Enjoy  this healthy breakfast!!
My Notes

Can use any type of oats.
Feel free to add or skip the nuts.
Vegans or lactose intolerant people can use  almond milk,  soy milk or coconut milk instead.

Sending this Improv Cooking Challenge, hosted by Nichole Little, theme for month is " Oats & Honey".
Labels : Oats, Honey, Breakfast, Healthy, Improv Cooking Challenge, Sugar Free, Diabetic Friendly, Vegan, Gluten Free

Oats & Split Green Moong Chillas/Pancakes#Foodieextravaganza

A Happy and Prosperous New Year to all my friends.
The month of December was only parties, weddings etc..
enjoyed food and drinks to the hilt. Now it's  time to start a healthy life style, hope I can maintain this. 

Starting 2019 with a healthy breakfast dish for Foodie Extravaganza. Since the theme for this month is Oatmeal, our host is Wendy Klik . Made these fabulous, healthy pancakes that are high in protein, low in calories and filling.
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Ingredients
1 Cup Split Green Moong Dal
1 Cup Oats
3 Big Cloves Garlic
2 Green Chillies
½ Teaspoon Grated Ginger
1/3 Cup Rice Flour - * see notes
Salt to taste
Water as required

For garnishing
Grated Cheese or Cottage Cheese - optional
Chutney or Sauce for Serving
Method 

Wash and soak the split moong dal overnight or for at least 4 hours. 
Drain the water and then grind it with rest of the ingredients using water just necessary to make a coarse paste. 

This batter should be thicker than a pancake batter.

 Heat a pancake pan and brush it with oil, take a ladle full of batter spread it into a thin chilla / pancake. Drizzle little oil on it. 

When it cooks it one side then flip it and cook for a minute ( this is optional). 

Fold it into a triangle and serve with chutney or sauce . Garnish with grated cheese.

These were fabulous, healthy and are high in protein.

My Notes
If you do not have rice flour at hand then soak 2 tablespoons heaped of rice grains along with the dal.
Do not brush too much of oil on to pan or else you will not be able to spread the batter.

Labels : Pancakes, Chillas,Crepes, Oats, Vegan, Gluten free, Breakfast, Brunch, Healthy, Foodie Extravaganza Party, Split Green Moong
Foodie Extravaganza is a monthly food fest, where a group of bloggers all create and share a recipe around one of the monthly food 'holidays' as detailed in The Nibble. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a spectator looking for delicious tid-bits check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board! Looking for our previous parties? Check them out HERE.
See all the other recipes for today's Foodie Extravaganza

Apple Banana Smoothie from Caroline's Cooking
Coconut & Banana Oat Pancakes from Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite aWhiskered Accomplice
Irish Oatmeal Brulee from Jolene's Recipe Journal
Oatmeal Crusted Chicken Strips from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Oats & Split Green Moong Chillas/Pancakes from Sneha's Recipe
Old Fashioned Oatmeal Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
Pumpkin Oatmeal from Making Miracles
Quick Cook Cheesy Bacon Oatmeal from Food Lust People Love

Roasted Pumpkin Soup#Soupswappers

It's our day of posting for soup swappers, our host of the month is   Ashley of Cheese Curd in Paradise choose the theme  Pumpkin and Squash Soups. 

Made this Roasted  Pumpkin Soup, which is vegan , gluten free and also healthy. 

Serves 6 -7
Ingredients
5 Cups Vegetable Stock
500 Grams Red  Pumpkin
1 Head Garlic
2 Tablespoons Olive  Oil
Salt to taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste
1 Medium Onion
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
A Juice Of One Lemon
1 Tablespoon Honey
Chopped Parsley for garnishing

Method

Place the pumpkin in a aluminium foil and toss olive oil over it. Seal the foil and place it in a baking pan. Roast it at 200 degrees C  at 30 to 40  minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.  Then cool it completely.  You can roast  the onion and garlic  too in the oven.  But I, roasted the garlic and onion in the sandwich toaster. 

When the pumpkin, onion and garlic cools.  Peel them and blend them.

In a pan add the stock and the blended puree with salt to taste.  Boil it, when it comes to a rolling boil, reduce the flame and let it simmer for 5 minutes on low flame.  Then add the honey, thyme and black pepper to taste, stir it well and bring it to a boil again.  Taste for salt and spice.  Take off flame add in the lemon juice.  

Serve hot garnished with parsley and enjoy this vegan and gluten free soup. 

Labels : Soup, Roasted Red Pumpkin, Healthy, Vegan, Gluten free, Soupswappers

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Palappam - With Idly Rice - Vegan & Gluten Free

This Palappam / Lacey Appams -  Kerala style, is made with idly rice . I have already posted a recipe of Instant Appam .  

My friend a Keralite makes awesome food of her country, which, she often sends for me. I,  love her Kerala style of cooking and tasted many dishes from her kitchen. One of them are these soft and spongy appams really good and yum, which she makes with raw rice (will the share her the recipe soon). She serve this is Egg Stew, which is really yum. 

Since I, made this for my guest who were vegan's and vegetarians, served this with Vegetable Stew which was also a perfect combo. These palappam though made with idly rice which one would think will turn hard, but, that's myth, there is method that makes these really soft and delicious. 

Actually as I, was making, the first four my hubby and me enjoyed them just plain without any chutney, gravy or sauce, they were super soft and divine. You will love them do give this a try. Read my notes before trying this recipe.

Makes around 32 to 34 
Ingredients
3 Cups Idly Rice
2 Cups Packed Freshly Grated Coconut grated
4 to 6 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Level Salt
¼ Teaspoon Level Instant Yeast
Water- as needed

Method 

Wash rice thoroughly 3 to 4 times. Soak rice for minimum 3 to 4 hours .

After 4 hours, drain the rice and grind a cup at a time in small mixer jar with 2 tablespoons of grated coconut in 3 to 4 batches . Grind to a fine paste / smooth batter . Do not wash the mixer jar after you finish grinding. Keep it aside. 

This is the most important tip to make these appams soft.
Take one cup of batter in a sauce pan, add 1 ½ cup of water and mix well till well blended. Then on very low flame place the pan  and use a whisk to stir it. 

Let it cook until it thickens,by stirring continuously in low flame. After this thickness it will becomes shiny see pic.  Let this cool for 2 to 3 minutes then add a cup of batter and whisk it till it forms a smooth batter and it is just warm. Take half of this batter, in the same mixer jar along with half of the sugar quantity and instant yeast,  grind till well blended or forms a smooth paste. Add this to the ground batter. Again blend the remaining batter with the sugar till smooth.

Mix all this batter well with a whisk,  place this container in a bigger one that can hold it (so that if it spills, it does not dirty your counter and use the spilled batter- no wastage) cover with a lid,   keep it overnight or for  5 -6 hours or more depending on temperature of the room or the country you stay. 

I, finished grinding and completed the full process at 1 am / early hours - beginning of a new day. Still the batter nearly spilled out of the big pot by 6am. 

When the batter is fermented , now,  add the salt and mix really well. The consistency of the batter should be thinner than that of a dosa batter. So add water accordingly. Keep it a side for at least 15 minutes before beginning to make the appams.

Now heat a non stick appam chatty specially made for making appam . Drizzle some water in the appam pan and when u see the water is disappearing as soon as the water is dropped ,that is the right time to pour appam batter . Oil it and wipe it with kitchen towel ( do this for the first one only, do  not oil after this to make the remaining appams).

Take 1/3 cup ( for measurement - since this quantity is perfect for the pan) pour the batter in the middle of the pan and rotate the by holding both side handles.

 Place the pan on medium low flame and close it with the lid,  cook for 2 minutes, you'll notice that the center of apaam is cooked and edges start leaving the sides of pan ( these should be lacey , that is transparent on the sides ). At  this stage you can decide whether you want it crisp and brown on the sides (so if u want crispy appam cook bit more ,but don't burn them). I, removed them just when they started to leave the sides of the pan. Mine were white at the sides and the bottom golden. 

Taste the first one, adjust sugar and salt in the batter consistency if needed and then make the remaining appam's. The batter for me was perfect so I did not add any additional salt or sugar.

Serve appam with your favorite curry and enjoy, these soft , delicious and divine appams.  

We had these with  Mixed Vegetable Stew - Vegan & Gluten Free - Kerala Style

My Notes
Use only idly rice and not idly rawa, or else the result will not be the same.

Soak the rice for 4 hours only not more, this time is sufficient or else the rice will start to ferment and the taste will change.

Drain all the water in which the rice was soaking. Use fresh water a tablespoon at a time to grind. Preferably try and use a small blender its grinds faster and grinds to a fine paste with less usage of water. Do not add more water to the batter to make it thin at this stage, because after fermenting will is become a little more watery. So add water if necessary after the fermentation process.

I have used 6 tablespoons of sugar, you can  use more or less. According to me this quantity was just perfect.

Use only the quantity of yeast mentioned or else it will have a yeasty flavor and smell.

Add salt only after the batter is fermented.

If you feel the batter is fermented much earlier than you will like to use it. Then place the container / pot in the refrigerator, that's what I did.  

If you do have freshly grated coconut then use one can of coconut milk  for this quantity.

Labels : Appam, South Indian, Kerala, Vegan, Gluten free, Coconut, Coconut Milk, Flat Breads, Healthy, Main course, Breakfast

Mixed Vegetable Stew Vegan & Gluten Free#Soupswappers

This is a Kerala Style vegetable stew.  It's so easy and delicious you must try this.  We had this with Palappam a vegan and gluten free appam.  Recipe follows.

Sending this to Soupswappers event theme is "Comforting Fall Stews" our host for the month is Colleen Delawder
Ingredients 

300 Grams Mixed Frozen Veggies
2 Medium Potatoes -cubed 

1 Medium Onion - finely chopped 
1 Medium Tomato - skinned & chopped 

2 Green chilly- finely chopped 

2 Teaspoons Level Red Chilly powder 

¼ Teaspoon Turmeric powder
2 Teaspoons Level Coriander powder
¼ Teaspoon Garam masala

1 Teaspoon  Salt or to taste 

1 Vegetable Seasoning cube

1 Cup Thick Coconut Milk 

A Sprig Curry leaves-few 

2 Tablespoons Coriander leaves-chopped
1 Teaspoon Mustard seeds
To Grind Coarsely Without Water  
1 Inch Piece Ginger - chopped 

4 Big Cloves Garlic or 6 Small Ones - chopped 

1/2 Teaspoon Level Fennel seeds

Method 

Pressure cook all the vegetables except peas by adding 1 1/2 of water and salt . Cook the peas separately, keep them a side. 

Heat oil in a kadai / pan and splutter mustard seeds.  Add green chilly, chopped onion and curry leaves , saute  till the onions start tor turn light golden then add  coarsely ground paste  of ginger-garlic - fennel seeds , seasoning cube , tomatoes and  saute well for t 2 minutes. Close it with a lid on low flame let it cook till the tomatoes soften and turn mushy, stir at intervals.  

When the tomatoes are mushy and release oil from the side add the cubed potatoes and saute on high flame for a minute or two, then add all the veggies and spices like turmeric powder,chilly powder, coriander powder and  taste for salt  then add, saute on high flame for 2 minutes .  Add 1 or 2 cups water according to the gravy required , close the kadai with a lid and on low  flame,  cook till the veggies are done.  When the veggies are cooked  and oil surfaces on top, then add coconut milk  and garam masala.  

Give it a good stir, and lightly stir it,  till it comes to a just a boil..Take  the kadai off flame .  Add the chopped coriander leaves .. Close the pan till ready to  serve.   .. So the very tasty vegetable stew  is ready to serve .  

This is a classic combination with Palappam.  Enjoy 
Labels : Mixed Vegetable , Stew, Gluten free, Vegan, Soupswappers, Kerala, Healthy, Coconut Milk

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