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.