Oatmeal - Healthy breakfast!

Oatmeal is one of the staple in my home!! My kids love it and i add a lot od flavours to it! After cooking it sometimes i add raisins, or a grinded apple or pear or chopped banana, chopped nuts - walnuts, pine nuts, sunflower seeds (they really love the crunciness) or what ever they insist!

All u need is a 1 cup milk and 1.5 tbsp og quick cook oats and heat both a pan till the milk boils. You can also add salt and/or sugar to this. But my kids dont like to add both. They straight away like to add the topings to it!

Garlic Bread toppped with eggs!

Now that i brought an electric oven i have been in a mood to bake n grill... :) so fa i made choc chip cookies and oatmeal cookies.. both of them have been so fast moving that i didn't even have time to take a pic and post it! LOL!!

today morning i thought i would make some garlic bread.. But then i thought it would be very light so i decided to cover it up with some eggs.. (my friend Afroze's idea) so that everyone will get some carb,proteins,fats etc all together!!!!
Blend 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp of olive spread, 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1 small bunch of parsley into a smooth paste.

2 hard boiled eggs cut into thin slices

2 slices of cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Cut the bread half and apply the blended paste on it. Top up with cheese and the eggs.. im sure kids are gonna love it!

Puttu and kadala curry (Steamed rice flour and brown channa curry)

This is one of the very very famous dishes in kerala. and one of the most popular break fast item too. im blogging this for Srivalli's Rice Mela she really gives a reason to cook and blog! You rock girl!!! :)


Puttu is made of parboiled rice flour. It is first washed and dried and then grinded to make flour. Well actually thats the procedure in kerala.. but since im in Singapore i go for the ready made puttu flour which is much more easier!! LOL!

Brown channa curry or chicken curry or stews goes well with puttu. today morning i made brown channa curry to go with it.





For the puttu you'll need

3 cups rice flour
1 cup water
1-2 cups of scraped coconut
salt to taste

Take the flour in a large bowl and add salt to it. Add the water slowly to it to make the puttu dough. The puttu dough is very loose and should not be any lumps in it. If u find any lumps break it and keep on mixing it.

• If you are using roasted flour you might need more water. so add water accordingly.
  

Now boil water in the puttu kutti (puttu maker). u can see that there are 2 parts of the puttu kutti. Boil water in the below one.

Mean while in the kutti (the upper part of the puttu maker) Add 1 tbsp of coconut. On top of that add 3 tbsp of flour. Again coconut and flour. repeat this till the kutti is full.




But be sure that the top and bottom of the puttu kutti should be filled with coconut layer. Now fix the kutti on top of the puttu maker. And boil it till the steam comes out from the top.

Puttu can also be eaten with bananas and sugar... :)





Now here goes the brown channa curry or kadala curry

1 medium sized onion thinly sliced
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
2 cups brown channa
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 medium sized tomato cut into small pieces
1 1/2 tbsp coriander pwdr
1/2 tbsp red chilli pwdr (if u want to make it more spicy u can add more.)
1/4 tbsp haldi pwdr
1 spring curry leaves
salt to taste
oil for sauting
4 cups of water

heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add mustard seeds to it. when they splutter add onions and curry leaves to it. When the onions are brownish add ginger garlic paste to it and saute for another 1 mt. After that add tomatoes to it. When the tomatoes are soft add the masalas to it. Once oil separates form the mixture add the brown channa and water to it and presurre cook for 20-25 mts.

And now its ready to serve with puttu!

Poha - Beaten rice

This is another express breakfast i prepare.. its so easy and very nutritious. Thanks a lot to Kesar for sharing this recipe with me.. My whole family enjoys this!

2 cups poha/beaten rice
3/4 cup frozen mix veggies
1/2 tsp jeera
3 tbsp onions chopped finely
1/4 tsp turmric pwdr
salt to taste
2 tbsp oil
3 tbsp peanuts

Soak the poha in water for 2-3 mts and strain it.
In a kadai heat the oil and add the jeera.
Add onions and peanuts to it.
Then add the turmeric pwdr and mix veggies. It should be thawed according to the instructions on the pack.. i just put them in boiling water and let it boil for few mts
Then add the poha and salt and mix well..

Your breakfast is ready!

Semiya - Express breakfast!

My breakfasts all are express and very easy to make be it puttu or upma or semiya or poha all i make with 15-20 mts because mornings are a rush for me!! juggling with 2 kiddos, packing the lunch box for hubby, breakfasts, lunch preparations..... goes on my list of things i do in the mornings... i try to keep breakfast preparation time as short as possible so that i can make other things also..

here is one of my breakfast recipe Semiya with both my kiddos like and is easy to make

3 cups milk
2 cups thin semiya or sevaiya
5 tbps sugar
1 pinch salt
3 cardamon pods/elaichi

• Boil the milk and add elaichi to it
• mean which boil the semiya separately
• when thr semiya is cooked add it to the milk
• then add the salt and sugar to it.
• Bring it to boil for few mts and your break fast is ready!
  

Upma

this is a very very easy break fast i make if im late!! i think this takes hardly 15 mts to make! well next time i make this im going to track down my time! LOL!!!

this is how i make it

1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tbsp finely chopped ginger
2 tbsp chopped onions
11/2 cups rava/sooji/semolina
11/2 cups water

Roast the sooji till its light brown. Don't get it overly roasted or else the upma wont taste the same! Keep it aside. In a kadai all the mustard seeds, when it splutters add the ginger, when its brown add the chopped onions. When the onions are transparent add the water. Bring it to a boil then add the sooji little by little and keep on stirring it. Close the lid and let it cook for 3-4 mts.

You breakfast is ready! This is my entry for the Express breakfast hosted by The Singing Chef.

Idli & Dosa.. the most popular south indian dish!

I made Idli and dosa for break fast today and Sambar and green coconut chutny to go with it.

I and my hubbyjaan likes dosas and both the kiddos prefer idlis.. sign..!! anyways i always have to make 2 dishes at home..

Here is my idli and dosa recipe.. i make the same batter for both.

• Urad daal/Uzhunnu parippu - 3/4th cup
• parboiled rice - 1 cup
• methi/fenugreek seeds - 1 tsp
• salt to taste
  

Soak all of them together for about 8-10hrs. And then grind into a fine paste adding water.

Keep the batter overnight.

Add salt in the morning.

If you want to make dosas - spread the batter on a tawa or griddle like a thin big pancake.

If you want to make idlis pour into idli pans and steam it up!

Both my idlis and dosas come out good on the first day.. But how ever the second day the idlis are not as good as the first one! i have to find out how to make them perfect now!