Chana dal Dhokla

Ingredients:

Chana dal-1 cup
Salt- to taste
Lemon juice-1 tsp
Sugar-2 tbsp
Green chillies-3
Ginger-1 in piece
Curd- 2 tbsp
Fruit salt (eno)-1 tsp 
Oil- to grease the pan

For seasoning:
Sugar-1 tsp
Oil-1 tbsp
Water-1/4 cup
Lime juice-1 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Hing-pinch
Chopped green chillies-3 small
Dry coconut-2 tbsp

Corriander leaves for topping

Method:

1. Soak Chana dal overnight or for 4-6 hr.
2. Grind the dal first without water into coarse powder and then add ~1 cup of water and grind it to a thick consistency. Add salt, sugar, ginger and green chillies while grinding.
3. Transfer the batter into a container and add curd and lemon juice.
4. Keep the batter in warm place overnight for fermentation. I use oven for fermentation.
5. Next day, grease a steel pan that can go into pressure cooker or even better use a dhokla stand. Heat enough water in the pressure cooker while you prepare batter.
6. Add fruit salt and mix in one direction for not more than a minute. DO NOT keep the batter for longer after adding fruit salt.
7. Transfer the contents to a greased pan immediately and place the pan in the cooker with hot water. If you are not using a dhokla stand, place an another pan in regular cooker to raise height and then place the pan you are using on the top of that. This will ensure the water doesn't get into the pan.
8. Close the lid and cook without whistle for 25 min on slow flame.
9. Turn off the stove and remove the lid immediately to prevent condensation.
10. At this point, the dhokla may seem soft but its okay. Remove it and let it cool down for 20 min. The dhokla becomes fluffy and spongy now.
11. For seasoning, heat oil and add mustard seeds. Wait for them to splutter and add hing, green chillies and cook for a minute. Now add dry coconut and turn off the flame. Coconut becomes brown very quickly. So keep an eye on it. Add water, sugar and lime juice and mix well. Spread these contents on dhokla evenly and top off with corriander.
12. Serve tasty and nutritious dhokla as it is or with green chutney!!

Sweet Potato Roti

Ingredients:

Sweet potato-1 medium
Whole wheat flour-1 cup
Salt-pinch or to taste
Jaggery-2-3 tbsp or to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook sweet potato and peel off. If the potato becomes too soft with lot of water, keep in the fridge for few hours to thicken it.
2. Mash the sweet potato. Add salt and jaggery and mix properly.
3. Now keep adding flour (~1 cup) until you get nice soft and non-sticky dough. Rest for 20 min.
4. Roll out the rotis just like regular rotis but not too thin or not too thick.
5. Heat on a tava and apply little ghee on both sides.
6. Enjoy yummy and delicious sweet potato rotis by serving with green-chilly or mango pickle!

Chana Dal paratha

Ingredients:

Stuffing:
Chana Dal-1/2 cup
Water-1 cup
Onion-1/2 medium
Salt-to taste
Ajwain-1/2 tsp
Garam Masala-to taste
Amchur-to taste
Green Chillies-2-3 finely chopped

Dough:
Whole wheat flour-1 cup
Salt- a pinch
Oil- 1 tsp

Method:

1. Soak Chana dal overnight. Pressure cook with 1 cup of water for only 2 whistles. You do not want dal to be mashed. Make sure to get rid of additional water.
2. While the dal is cooking, prepare the dough as you regularly do for chapatis. Do not make the dough very soft. Rest the dough for 15 min.
3. Mix  the dal with finely chopped onion, green chillies, ajwain, salt, garam masala and amchur. Keep it aside.
4. Now take a lemon sized ball of the dough and make a small circle with rolling pin. If the dough is sticky, dust some flour on the dough.
5. Take similar size portion of dal and put it in the center. Make sure the dal doesn't have any water. Otherwise, it will make the dough soft making it difficult to roll.
6. Bring the edges together to the center and make a stuffed ball.
7. Roll it again and keep adding flour if you think the stuffing is coming out.
8. Heat the paratha on a pan and apply ghee on both sides to make the paratha tasty and soft.
9. Enjoy with pickle and yogurt.

PS: Compare the nutrition value of chana dal vs. potato. Chana dal provides more protein and fiber per serving along with carbs.

Bread Scones

Ingredients:

All purpose flour-2 cups (800 cal)
Butter-1/4 cup (400 cal)
Milk-3/4 cup (90 cal)
Sugar-2 tbsp (60 cal)
Salt-pinch
Baking powder-1 tbsp

Method:

1. Add all the dry ingredients and mix them properly. Sieve them if you can. Sieving them makes it more fluffy. You can totally avoid it if you like.
2. Add softened butter and mix into the dry ingredients. Use hand for proper mixing.
3. Add milk and make it a dough. You may need some extra flour to prevent the dough from sticking.
4. Roll the dough into 1/2 inch thick and cut the dough into 13 small squares. Transfer the pieces onto a baking sheet. Give the squares a milk wash.
5. Bake them for 15-20 min until the crust becomes golden brown.
6. Enjoy these 100 cal scones with a crusty outside and soft inside.
7. You can eat them directly, serve them with tea, eat with mozzarella cheese and tomato etc.

P.S: Even though All purpose flour is not good for you, it is not bad to indulge some occasionally. The little secret is eat in small portions. When you know what you are eating and how many calories you are consuming, you will automatically try to control the total intake. So, know what you are eating and eat without guilt!

Avacado Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

Avacado-1 medium
Chickpea-1/2 cup dry
Lemon juice, Salt and Black pepper-According to taste
Onion-1/2 medium
Cilantro

Method:

1. Boil chickpeas, drain, mash a little and keep it aside.
2. Smash avocado and add onion, mashed chickpeas, salt, black pepper, lime juice and top off with cilantro.
3. You can serve it just like that or use it as a spread on a toast.

Good vs. Bad Carbs

Carbs are essential for your body because they are the key supply of energy. Carbs consist of sugars and fiber. They break down into simple sugars and get converted into energy. Now, how can you distinguish bad carbs from good carbs? You just have to know the magic term "Glycemic Index (GI)".

GI is a measure of how quickly the blood glucose levels increase after eating a particular food.  The higher the GI, the faster the glucose levels increase. Glucose is the standard and its GI is set to 100. GI for all other foods is in comparison to glucose itself. Foods which has fiber usually has low GI. Fiber slows down the absorption of other nutrients, prevents peaks in the blood glucose levels and makes you feel full.

But, what happens when the blood glucose levels increase??

High glucose--->Insulin secretion--->Excess energy will be stored in fat cells--->Brain thinks you are hungry again.

For example, let us compare GI's of three different rices:

Brown rice (55); Long grained white rice (56); Short grained white rice (72)

Based on above GIs, eating brown rice or long grained white rice (basmati) will make you feel full and satisfied for much longer than short grained white rice.

Therefore, healthy carbs are those with lot of fiber, no added sugars and that get absorbed slowly into our systems thereby avoiding spikes in blood glucose levels.

Examples of healthy carbs are fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. Bad carbs are usually sugars, added sugars and refined white grains. Always eat carbs along with protein and fat so as to make yourself full and thereby avoiding hunger pangs.

Take away from this article:

1. Try to always include fat and protein along with carbs.
2. Slowly replace bad carbs with good carbs.

Yellow Moong Dal Dosa

Ingredients

Split Moong Dal- 1 cup
Rice- 1/2 cup
Ginger- 2 inch piece
Green Chillies- 3
Salt- According to taste

Method

 

1. Soak Moong Dal along with Rice atleast for 3 hr. You can leave it overnight.
2. Blend dal, rice along with ginger, green chillies and salt until pouring consistency.
3. Heat a non-stick pan and make crispy and yummy dosas away!
4. Serve them hot with pickle or chutney or alu sabzi.