Recipes for Diabetics?

If you have any recipes that are good for keeping diabetes in control, do let me know. My husband is diabetic. Thanks!

To Reduce Cholesterol

This is something my sister-in-law has tried successfully on my brother who had high cholesterol. My father, who's a cardiologist, and who was monitoring my brother's cholesterol levels, was surprised to see the reduction in cholesterol levels in a month!

Ingredients

Fresh Garlic: A tablespoonful, peeled (My sister-in-law roasts this for a few seconds with skin on, on a tava, to take away the pungency a bit)
Fresh Curry Leaves: A tablespoonful (soak in water with salt and turmeric powder for 15 mins if you want to make sure it's really clean)
Shallots (Sambar Onion): 5-6 peeled

Procedure

Grind all three, make a  chutney. Have once a day, mixed with any kind of food. Rice and dal is a good camouflage :)  You can be innovative and grind this with other ingredients that may take away the pungency - like tamarind.

Tip from my friend Anil: Curry leaves chutney and curry leaves in butter milk (with complete removal of butter version) is a medicine to reduce  cholesterol.


How to include garlic, curry leaves and/or shallots in your diet

Chutneys are obviously the best way to get these in fresh. I use these in various cooked dishes too, see labels.


Curry Leaf Chutney

I use this in my chutney - see post below - though it has coconut, not sure people with high cholesterol are allowed that.

Groundnut Chutney

Grind roasted groundnuts with some garlic and curry leaves and red chilly to make chutney powder.

Curry Leaf Chutney

This is the chutney which contains all 3 cholesterol-reducing fresh ingredients: garlic, curry leaves, shallots (sambar onions). My staple chutney with dosas.


Ingredients

Coconut: Half
Curry leaves: A handful. Soak in salt and turmeric powder and water for a while if you want to really clean it.
Garlic: A handful, peeled
Shallots: A handful, peeled
Tamarind: a small lemon-sized piece, soaked in water at least 15 mins before.
Green chilly: 2, or more if you like it spicy. Always check with one chilly first - some big chillies are hot :)
Salt

Procedure

Grind all of it in a grinder :)
Season with mustard seeds and asafoetida in a little  bit of oil.

Adai with Drumstick Leaves

Drumstick leaves are high nutrition. Here's an easy unobtrusive way of getting them in, especially good to feed people who refuse to eat them - they may not even notice :) :)

Just add them to the Adai - see my recipe here.

Or try this lady's recipe: http://www.cilantroonline.com/2009/03/murungai-keerai-adai-moringa-leaves.html

Adai

This is my version of the Adai, a very simple dosa variation (yellow dosa :)), and high-protein. Not fermented.

Ingredients

Tuvar dal: 1 glass
Dry red chilli: 1
Ginger: A small piece
Salt
Green leafy vegetables, finely chopped, optional. Dill (sabbajgi) is best. Drumstick leaves are also good.

You can make adai with just Tuvar dal. But to increase the nutrition/vary taste, experiment with other dals that need soaking overnight.

For example:
Shelled broken Moong dal (yellow one): Half glass (this one goes best)
Urad dal: Quarter glass
Soya Beans: a few grains. Remember, always soak soya beans separately, and  wash separately before grinding with anything.
Any other dal you have, just a few spoons. Tuvar dal should dominate.
You  can use a little rice too, makes it crispier.

Preparation

Soak dal/dals/rice overnite.
Grind the next morning in a grinder, with chilly and ginger.
Add salt as required.
Make dosas as you normally make, spread thin. This comes out quite crisp.

You can also chop some green leafy vegetables very fine and add to the mix, or spread on the dosa when it is on the pan and cooking.

Indonesian Green Beans Curry

I have not tried this recipe as yet, but posting it without delay because I think it will make someone or other happy :)  I am told it is very simple and very tasty. The recipe is Indonesian, and it was translated from Dutch to English for me by a Dutch friend of a friend - I have met her just once. Thanks so much, Rixt!

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 kg green beans,
2. 2 onions
3. 1 garlic clove
4. 1 small can (70 grams) of tomato puree
5. 1 can (400ml) coconut milk and
6. 3 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
7. 2 table spoons peanut butter

Preparation:

1. Wash and cut the ends of the beans and cut in half. Cut onions in small chunks, as well as the garlic.
2. Fry onions in some oil untill transparent and tender. Add garlic.
3. Add tomato puree and soy sauce. Cook for 1 minute.
4. Stir in coconut milk. Add the beans together with 2 tbspoons of peanut butter.
5. Stir and cook slowly for 10 minutes or until beans are soft but still chunky.

The dish is not spicy at all, so I recommend to add some green chilly to the onion and the garlic, or serve with chilli flakes.

It's not part of the recipe, but I will roast some shaved almonds and shredded coconut and sprinkle that over the dish as a garnish, just before serving.

This goes very well with rice.

Crispy Soft Paddu

If your dosa batter is on its second day, make delicious crispy-soft Paddu (Gundpangla) with it - this is one of those things that you can't stop eating!

You can also make it on the first day, it is just that it is more fermented the second day and so fluffier :) You can also make it with the dosa batter you buy in shops, I guess, if you want Paddu real fast.

You need to get a pan like in the picture - I found this in a shop where they sell non-stick cooking-ware, like Prestige pans. The traditional one is made of stone, and you probably still get it in smaller towns in Karnataka.


Ingredients

1. Dosa batter
2. Chopped onions
3. Chopped green chillies
4. Chopped coriander leaves
5. Salt

Procedure

1. Mix everything and pour in the hot paddu pan, you can add a little oil or ghee to roast them better.
2. Turn over when one side is done.
3. Serve hot with chutney.

Kerala Fish Curry, Oil-free

(Click photo to enlarge)

So I should've taken the photo before most of the fish got polished off, but well, I forgot, greed :)

You can use this exact same recipe for prawn curry too.

This is a routine, ordinary fish recipe from Kerala, with only fresh ingredients, no ground masalas, and absolutely no oil. The only real effort is the making of the coconut milk - but the reaction to the curry is usually so good, in the end you feel it was all worth it :)  You can also buy coconut milk in packets these days. Remember that it is concentrated, you need to dilute a bit when adding.

I use an earthen-ware pot to cook this. You can use any thick vessel too, but see if you can buy a pot - am sure it adds something to the taste.

Ingredients

• Fish (any one, though the most popular are seer, pomfret, karimeen(pearl spot), sardine, mackerel. I used karimeen this time, 4 of them.) Preferably something with one center bone.
• Ginger, one big piece, lightly crushed
• Green chilly - 1
• Red chilly powder - 1 teaspoon
• Turmeric - half a teaspoon
• Curry leaves - 2 whole sprigs, you can leave the sprig as it is, without pulling out the leaves.
• Shallots (sambar onion) - a handful, sliced in half
• Kodampuli - 3 pieces, soaked in water beforehand (http://www.kodampuli.com). This is what adds that typical addictive sourness/tanginess. You should get it in any Mallu grocery shop, or ask any Mallu friend to get it for you from Kerala. You can keep it for years, in a bottle, won't go bad - it's dried and preserved. If you can't get this, use tamarind, lots of it. Or green mango slices!
• Coconut milk. 1 packet. Or make it fresh this way: For 4 fish, I used half a coconut, you can add a whole coconut if you want a thicker gravy - scrape it, grind in the mixie, add warm water and extract as much milk as you can. Grind twice, strain the milk so no coconut scrapings remain in the milk.
• Rock salt, a teaspoon (if not, ordinary salt)
• Cornflour. If you want to thicken the gravy in the end, mix a bit of cornflour in water and add and boil for a couple of minutes.

Preparation

Just put all the stuff together in the pot, with half the packet of coconut milk, add the fish, add water to immerse it all, and cook, with lid half-open. That's it! Taste in between, add more chilly/ginger if you want it spicier. Coconut milk reduces the chilly flavour. In the end add the remaining thick coconut milk to thicken the gravy.

Fish cooks real fast, so keep an eye. Some big fish may break when you try to turn them around, like it happened to one fish in the photo :) - but hey, it still tastes delicious, you will search out the pieces and eat every last bit! It is best to not turn them around.

Some people do add a drop of coconut oil in the end, to give that extra flavour. If you want the gravy thicker, add some cornflour as described above.

Grow your own Coriander!

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Method

All you have to do to grow Coriander leaves is sow some coriander seeds (the regular stuff you buy in packets from your grocery shop, which you use in cooking) in a pot, not too deep in the soil. And they sprout and form coriander plants! Kind of obvious, right? - but it never occurred to me :)

As you can see, practically all seeds grow into plants, so maybe you can sow less than we did :)

Since we use these leaves raw most of the time, growing them at home ensures that they are free from pesticides and other contamination.

This was another big learning from my maid, Mary. I owe my kitchen garden to her.

Grow your own Mint!

Trying to grow some basic kitchen-garden stuff!

Method

All you need to do is take those stalks that remain after you've pulled out the mint leaves, and stick them in a pot! They will take root and grow.

This is entirely thanks to my maid, Mary. She planted these.

More Oats Recipes

Have not yet tried these out -

Oats Banana Sheera

http://www.tarladalal.com/Oats-Banana-Sheera-(-Eat-Well-Stay-Well-Recipes-)-33459r

Oats Upma

http://www.vegetarianrecipes.net/oats-upma/

Oats Rava Wheat Dosa

This came out real nice. The only thing you need to be careful about is the spreading - the batter has to be watery, like in rava dosa (which I never get right) - so you must pour a ladle-full of watery batter (on a tava that is hot, but not steaming hot) and just shake the non-stick pan bending it in all directions a little to get that round shape - so the batter will spread evenly. Don't try to spread with the ladle, it will break. As you can see, I am not overly bothered about the shape when it comes to such dosas, I love geography :)

Ingredients:

This measurement gave me 6 dosas.

1. Oats - 1cup
2. Ravai - 1\4cup
3. Wheat - 3/4cup
4. Onion - 1
5. Green chillies - 2
6. Cumin seeds - 2tsp
7. Pepper - 1tsp ( I just added some pepper powder to the batter)
8. Oil

Procedure:

1. Dry roast oats and rava separately.
2. Heat 1tbsp of oil and throw finely chopped onions and green chillies, saute it for 2mins, keep it aside.
3. With rest of they oil, add peeper and cumin seeds , allow it to split and remove from the flame.
4. In a bowl add all the ingredients.. oats, rava, wheat, salt, onions,green chilies, pepper and cumin seeds.
5. With enough water mix it thoroughly to form a uniform watery dosa batter.
6. Heat sauce pan and pour one bowl of dosa batter, pour 1\2 tsp of oil (suggested - Olive Oil)cook one side and turn it on the other side and cook it for 20 sec.
7. Delicious healthy oats dosa ready to be served .

From here: http://spicysouthernfood.blogspot.com/2008/05/quick-oats-dosa.html

This can be had with any of these chutneys: http://noodlesandmangopickle.blogspot.com/search/label/Chutneys

Oats Roti

So I have been trying to find tasty ways of eating oats, which is a rich source of soluble fibre 'Beta-glucan', a potent cholesterol-lowering agent. (http://eatmoreoats.com/health.html).

I don't like oats with milk+fruits, I do eat it, but not with enjoyment :)

So have been trying out recipes I found on the Net. Sharing some of them.

Oats Roti
You can also substitute this for chapathis and have it with curries/sabji, it's quite thin.

1. 1 cup whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
2. 1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats (what you get in packets, the regular one)
3. 1/2 tsp finely chopped green chillies
4. 1/4 cup chopped onions
5. 2 tbsp chopped coriander (dhania leaves)
6. 3/4 tsp salt
7. 2 tsp oil

Method

1. Combine all the ingredients and knead into stiff dough using a little water.
2. Cover and keep aside for 20 minutes.
3. Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Shape into round balls and roll each ball into 125 mm. (5") diameter rounds using little flour.
4. Cook on a tava (griddle) on both sides till brown spots appear.
5. Serve hot with fresh low fat curds.

From here: http://www.tarladalal.com/Oats-Roti-5286r

Mushroom Capsicum

Ingredients:

• 450 gm Fresh Mushroom
• 1 Capsicum (medium sized)
• 2 tsp Red Chill Powder
• 2 tsp Dry Coriander Powder
• 1 medium Onion
• 1 medium Tomato
• 1 Green Chilli (cut into small pieces)
• 1 tsp Oil
• 1 tsp Cumin-Mustard Seeds
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
• Salt to taste

Steps

1. Wash mushroom and cut into two pieces.
2. Trim onions, capsicum, tomato in square pieces.
3. Pour oil in a pan and add cumin and mustard seeds to it.
4. Mix green chillies and onions.Saute till golden brown.
5. Add capsicum and then add tomato, cook till soft.
6. Then add mushroom, turmeric, red chill powder, coriander powder, salt.
7. Mix it well, cook until the mushroom became tender and then turn off the flame.

Tip: Add some garam masala in the end if you like it spicier.

http://www.indobase.com/recipes/category/capsicum-50.php

Banana Pancakes!

This is a recipe I got from the Net. I just added the additional banana slices to make it tastier - it worked! Very simple and high-energy breakfast.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup all-purpose flour (I use atta)
1 tablespoon white sugar (good if you can powder it in mixie)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (You could do away with this. Or just use 1 spoon of healthy olive oil)
2 ripe bananas, nicely mashed
2 more bananas, make very thin round slices


DIRECTIONS

1. Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, milk, vegetable oil and bananas.
2. Stir flour mixture into banana mixture; try to reduce lumps as much as possible.
3. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Spread it like dosa, though not too thin.
4. Now put those thin round slices of banana all over.
5. Cook until pancakes are golden brown on both sides. Yes, turn over to cook the side with the banana slices too - they should turn a little caramelized, that's the yummy part!
6. Serve hot - spread honey on it to make it even tastier! Maybe kids may like jam with it too.