Tag: Healthy

Baked Nipattu – A Healthier version of the Famous Bangalorean Snack !!

Healthier version of Bangalore snack Nipattu

When we moved to Bangalore, we enjoyed different snacks of the region and one of my favourite among all was Nipattu but it was fried not baked !!

Nipattu is a popular snack from Karnataka . These are essentially deep fried flour discs that are soft to bite and crunchy at the same time.

I want to try a healthier version of the same and really enjoyed this baked version of nipattu, let’s jump to the recipe a.nd enjoy the snacks

Ingredients

  • whole-wheat flour/ Maida ( all purpose flour ) 110 gms You can do half-half or 60:40 ratio as well
  • salt as per taste
  • mustard oil 45ml
  • poppy seeds 1 tsp ( Lightly roasted )
  • red chilli powder 1 tsp
  • Green chilli finely chopped as per taste 2-3
  • Curry leaves finely chopped 1-2 tbsp
  • Fresh coriander 2 tbsp
  • Baking powder 1/2 tsp
  • sugar 1tsp
  • roasted chopped peanuts 50 gms
  • water 1/4 th cup
Procedure
  • Shift the flour in a bowl
  • Add salt, sugar, baking powder, chilli powder, poppy seeds, peanuts and mix well.
  • heat the oil in a pan and remove from the stove, now add curry leaves, green chilli & coriander leaves to the oil.
  • Add water to this oil mix.
  • Add this mix to the dry ingredients and form a dough with it.
  • Roll this dough thin and cut out round shape with help of round glass or bowl or cookie cutter.
  • preheat your oven at 180 and bake the Nipattu for 12-15 minutes. Keep a watch and set temperature accordingly as all ovens behaves differently.
  • Optional- you can add 2 fined chopped garlic cloves in warm oil also with one spoon onion powder.
  • let it cool down completely before storing in airtight container. It might be soft once out of oven but as it cools it will be crunchy, just keep an eye it its turning brown you know it is done or you need to lower the temperature setting.

For more healthy recipes click here or check the cooking section from Menu.

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.

How to make Kombucha from Scratch?

How to make Kombucha without scoby

What is Kombucha?

Kombucha is a fermented drink, made with tea and sugar with help of culture of bacteria also known as scoby. It is also known and consumed for its health benefits.

It is full of probiotics, enzymes, and healthy organic acids, it improves your gut health and immunity and can replace your sugary drinks with it. Because it’s fermented, it contains no or very little sugar!

We can create different flavours from the base kombucha, with the help of fruits and herbs. For detailed study visit here

Recipe to make Kombucha without scoby

Ingredients

  • Raw unpasteurised Kombucha ( I am using raw Kombucha from Peepal farm link to buy )
  • Clean glass jar 2lt-3lt (washed properly with soap, vinegar and dried in sunlight)
  • Clean muslin cloth ( link to buy)
  • Sugar 120 grams
  • Tea 15 grams
  • 2lt water

Procedure

How to make a scoby?
  1. Wash glass jar with soap thoroughly first and then wash with vinegar.
  2. Keep it for drying in sunlight to kill unwanted bacteria.
  3. Add 500ml raw unpasteurized Kombucha in the cleaned glass jar.
  4. Cover this jar with clean muslin cloth and tie its mouth with a elastic band or thick thread.
  5. Keep this jar for 3 weeks in dark warm & dry place (temperature 23C-24C)
  6. After three weeks, you will notice a disc floating on the top of liquid.
  7. This disc is your scoby for next step to prepare Kombucha.
How to make scoby
Steps to make Kombucha
  1. Boil 2 litre drinking water in a clean container.
  2. Add tea and sugar when the water starts boiling and put off the flame.
  3. let it cool down to room temperature .
  4. Add this water to the scoby jar and close it again with muslin cloth.
  5. Now keep it again in dark warm place for 2 Weeks.
  6. After two weeks you can take out the jar and your kombucha is ready for next step.
  7. Pour this in clean bottles and close the lid (air tight ).
  8. Keep these bottles again for 7 days in the same place.
  9. After 7 days keep it in fridge and enjoy your healthy cold drink!

Click here for more such healthy recipes!

Olives Cheese Paratha

Recently I have attended one session where learnt about olives and it’s benefits.

It was such an amazing informative session at Olives at your table INDIA baking with Ajay Chopra and learning about how we can include olives in our daily lifestyle!

We learned about different olives and it’s nutritional benefits!

They have Good fats only! About 75% of an olive’s fat content is oleic acid, which helps maintain normal blood cholesterol levels.

They are an excellent blend of vitamins, minerals, and good fats.

So, wanted to try this recipe with olives, let’s jump to the recipe.

Ingredients

  • Olives 1 cup ( blended without water ) you can take green or black as per your availability.
  • Whole wheat flour 2-3 Cups
  • Grated cheese 3/4th Cup
  • Grated paneer 3/4th Cup
  • One chopped onion
  • Salt as per taste
  • Red chilli flakes as per taste
  • Oregano 1 Tbsp
  • Olive oil

Procedure

  • Blend olives after removing the water in bottle.
  • Add flour and olive paste to a big bowl with little salt and made a dough with it. ( add little water if required)
  • Filling – add grated cheese, paneer, chilli flakes, chopped onion,salt and oregano to a bowl and mix well.
  • Now prepare small ball from dough and roll it with rolling pin. ( see video for all steps )
  • Add filling and seal again.
  • Roll it round and put on heated tawa.
  • Cook properly from both sides and apply some olive oil.
  • Serve it hot with coriander chatni.
Tips

You can add different fillings as per your taste and make sure to adjust salt as per taste as olives water is salty, plus cheese also has salt.

So taste the filling and add salt according to it.

For more healthy recipes you can click here and don’t forget to try the recipes and share your valuable feedback.

Soya Dosa – Super Crispy & Healthy

healthy food

Soya is included in my daily diet, so I keep trying different recipes of soya. This one is easy to make and it taste amazing!!

You would love this crispy dosa with coconut chutney. Let’s jump on the recipe.

Ingredients

Dosa

— Rice/ Idly rice – 120 grams
— Urad dal – 50 grams
— Soya chunks– 100 grams (grind well in mixer)
— 1 tsp – Red chili powder (as per taste)
— 2 tsp – Salt (as per taste)
— 1/4 cup soaked poha

Coconut Chatni

— 1 Coconut
— 2-3 Green chili
— Salt as per taste
— 10-20  kadi patta
— 2-3 dry whole red chili.

Procedure

Wash & Soak Urad dal and rice in separate bowls overnight or around 7-8 hours.
Grind dal & rice separately in fine paste.

Dosa batter
  • Add soaked poha in rice while grinding, to make it more crisp and good golden brown color.
  • Mix both the paste in one big bowl and keep in warm place for minimum 5-6 hours for fermentation.
  • It should double in quantity after 5-6 hours.
  • After the fermentation process add 100 grams of soya chunks powder.
  • Add salt, red chili powder as per taste
  • Place iron dosa tawa or non stick pan if you don’t have dosa tawa on high flame
  • Heat it well, check by putting few drops of water, should evaporate quickly
Soya Dosa
  • Pour one big spoon of dosa batter on it and spread it to form round shape
  • Once its semi cooked add some oil and let it cook well
  • Cook on low flame for some time and dosa will start coming out easily. For crispy dosa this step is must
  • Take out dosa with thin steel spatula and serve hot with coconut chatni
  • You can add fillings of Vegetables, paneer in this dosa if you like

Coconut chutney

  • Chop coconut into small pieces for easy grinding
  • Add coconut, green chilies, kari patta, salt in mixer jar and grind into fine paste
Coconut chutney
  • Take out in a bowl and Now Make tadka for the chutney
  • Take oil in small fry pan, add rai(small mustard seed) when it’s hot. Add kari patta and two whole red dry chilies
  • Now add this tadka to your coconut paste
coconut chutney

Enjoy this yummy and healthy chutney with your crispy Dosa 🙂

Gluten free cookies

Gluten free cookies

After starting my diet plan I ordered some gluten free cookies from Amazon. Their taste was ok, but I don’t like the choice of ingredients. So thought of baking some gluten free cookies at home.

Here is my version of gluten free cookies sweetened with jaggery, made with love and yes approved by all family members eldest and the youngest!

Ingredients

  • 190gm Oats Flour
  • 90gm Almonds flour
  • 30gms milk powder
  • 1/2 tsp Cream of tartar
  • 1/4tsp baking soda
  • 50gm gram flour
  • 1/2 tbsp cardamom powder
  • Two pinch salt
  • 200gms jaggery ( take less or more 240 gms as per your sweetness requirements )
  • 150gms Ghee ( clarified butter ) It can be reduced to 120gms too.

Tip – 1/2 cup desiccated coconut ( I have made half mix with coconut flavour by adding 1/2 cup coconut in half the mixture, take out two tbsp for coating before bake )

-Add some small pieces of jaggery too it tastes really nice in cookies, it doesn’t melt while baking!

Procedure

  • Shift all the dry ingredients ( Oats Flour, almonds flour, milk powder, Cream of tartar, baking soda, salt, gram flour) in a bowl and mix properly.
  • In another bowl add clarified butter ( Ghee ) and grated jaggery.
  • Now whisk ghee and jaggery to make it fluffy and creamy.
  • Add and mix dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in parts. ( Do not add all in a go ).
  • Make small balls from your dough and keep in baking tray.
  • Now keep it in fridge for 10 minutes, meanwhile pre-heat your oven 170c. ( You can store your dough in Fridge if you don’t want to bake at the same time )
  • Bake your cookies for 12min on 170C ( Keep an eye as temperature settings may be different in all oven )
  • Take our the cookies and let them cool on rack, do not touch until they are cool as they are super soft at this stage.
  • Once properly cooler store them in aur tight container.
  • Enjoy healthy cookies!

Whole Wheat, Oats, Raisin and Almond Cookies

When comes to health at times we are careless and eat whatever available with ease, but when we want to give it to our little ones we think twice before giving them.
After becoming mommy, my search was on, for what best I can include in her diet that gives taste and health benefits too.
Sharing my first baked healthy cookies recipe.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup quick cooking rolled oats
3/4 Th cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 Th cup powdered sugar ( if you prefer more sweet can add 1 cup, and if you want to go more healthy replace sugar by honey )
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup roughly chopped raisin and almonds
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
Pinch of salt if you are taking unsalted butter.

METHOD

Shift whole wheat flour, oats, and salt.
Add sugar and butter in another bowl whisk well till light and fluffy.
Add vanilla essence and mix well.
Add dry ingredients raisins and almonds to whisked butter and sugar and mix.
Bind together to form a dough.
If the mix is dry add 1 or 2 tbsp milk and make dough( if you are replacing sugar with honey skip milk part ).
Make small balls from dough depending on size of cookie you want to make and press slightly.
Preheat microwave/oven at 180°C.
Arrange the balls on parchment paper in a greased tray.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until edges turn slight brown.
Be careful cookies would be soft at this time, carefully take out and let them cool on wire rack.
Once cooled they will turn crispy, store in airtight container and enjoy munching ?