Hyderabadi Double Ka Meeta ~ Shahi Tukda
Double ka meeta is an authentic Hyderabadi dessert. Bread is called double ka roti in Hindi as the dough raises doubles in size and meeta means sweet. Hence the name double ka meeta ( bread sweet).
Another popular Indian Sweet shahi tukda is similar to Double Ka Meeta with slight difference in serving style. In Shahi tukda, triangular shaped bread slices dipped in sugar syrup are added to full fat thick flavored milk just before serving, where as in double ka meeta, bread pieces in no definite shape are soaked in sugar syrup and added to flavored milk immediately during prepartion.
Garam Masala
Garam masala is hot spice powder used as seasoning in very small portions in making of Indian curries. Garam masala consists of variety of spices. Most frequently used spices are cumin, cloves , cardamom and cinnamon. Below, I am presenting my mom’s version which I use in my recipes.
Coriander Powder ~ Dhaniya Powder
Coriander powder is most commonly used spice powder in Indian curries. Coriander seeds have very good source of dietary fiber, good source of calcium and is known for anti-inflammatory, antioxidant properties. They help in stimulating the production of insulin and lowering blood glucose levels and also helps in enhancing the nutritional intake of iron, magnesium and manganese in the diet.
Chicken Shorva
Shorva is gravy made out of chicken or mutton curry and normally has a medium consistency.I always believe in that for any Indian dishes, usage of fresh ingredients, cooking at the right temperatures with perfect timing is the essence for getting a great taste. This is the trick or lesson I learnt by observing when my mother or mother in law is cooking. If you are in a hurry for faster cooking, I am sure that you would lose the taste. Adopt a slower cooking in making of this Shorva. Please ensure that you make this with whole chicken rather than using boneless chicken. Bones release juices which makes the Shorva all the tastier.
Steel Cut Oats Poridge
Friends, you have been asking me for warm and quick recipes with oats. So here it is. This recipe will come handy on a busy day. My family loves this warm breakfast on a cold morning.
I like steel cut oats nutty, chewy texture but they take more time to cook than rolled oats. Nutritional benefits are same in steel cut oats as rolled oats, but they vary in cook time and texture.
Brown Rice Pudding ~ Brown Rice Payasam
Payasam made with rice and jaggery is very common in India. After making whole grain prasadam for saddula bathukamma, I was still in a mood to do whole grain payasam on Dasara. So I wanted to make this quick and simple recipe. One of my aunt’s follows similar recipe with white rice, milk and sugar which is called pala padiyam (milk kheer) accompanied with makka garelu (corn vada). I got this idea from my aunt recipe.
In this recipe, I used brown rice instead of refined white rice, which is coarsely grinded and cooked in milk and combined with jaggery syrup.
Quinoa Pulihora
Quinoa (pronounced as keen-wah) is a pseudo-cereal which is not technically grain or cereal, but in general we consider it as a wholegrain. When compared with white rice, quinoa has very good amount of protein and less carbohydrates. The protein in quinoa is considered good protein since it has all nine amino acids. Quinoa is a very good source of protein and is gluten free and so it is a healthy option to consider for people who are intolerant of gluten.
Brown Rice Vegetable Pulav
Vegetables are integral part of our meal. It is recommended to have 2½ cups of vegetable serving per day for a person with a daily energy requirement of 2,000 calories. But as a south Indian I used to have lots of white rice with small amount of vegetable curry along with stew and yogurt. In my weight reduction program, I made it a habit of eating lots of vegetables with minimum carbohydrates and good amount of protein. In this recipe you can observe that I used equal measurements of cooked rice to vegetables.
Oats Daddojanam ~ Spiced Curd Oats
I use oats almost every day as hot cereal in my breakfast or oat bran in Wholegrain Roti , but using oats in Indian recipes is not common at my home. So, Yesterday I wanted to include this whole grain in Saddula Bathukamma prasadam and tried simple recipe with rolled oats, low fat yogurt and seasoned with Indian spices. Next time I will try more Indian tiffins with oats.
Bulgar Wheat Sweet Pongal ~ Goduma Rava Chakkara Pongali
When I considered Bulgar wheat as one of the options in 5 whole grains prasadam for Saddula Bathukamma, I immediately thought of doing sweet dish with it. But rather than making it regular Kesari with wheat rava, I wanted to use mung dal in this recipe similar to rice sweet pongal recipe. I was not sure about the outcome but when I tasted it, I decided to make this sweet pongal instead of rava kesari from now on. Adding Mung dal gave different flavor and taste and it was so Yummmm!!! It is FAT FREE as no ghee or oil are added in this recipe.