Dedicated to “preggo” friends

1 chopped banana

1 cup diced pineapple chunks

1/2 cup mango chunks if available

1/2 apple diced into chunks

hand ful of grapes

1 cup non-fat yoghurt mixed with 2-3 tsps of sugar and a little bit of vanilla essence whipped into it

1/4 cup chopped assorted nuts

1. Mix all the fruits in a big serving bowl.

2. Pour the vanilla flavored sweet yoghurt mix onto the fruits.

3. Sprinkle chopped assorted nuts. If you have dried cranberries or like raisins get generous with those. Pistachio + almond + raisin mix should be nice.

4. Optional: A scoop of vanilla icecream. (To make this a fatful version).

Yennjai like yennything.

Easy Bhindi

I love Bhindi. I also love it most when it is cooked in the typical high-calorie style: fried. My grandmom devised this recipe for my dad when he was battling cholestrol and it has bumped fried bhindi to the number 2 slot.

What you need:

• Bhindi (okra) – 400 grams, diced into small pieces
• Tomato – 1 large, diced into little pieces
• Green chillies – 2, chopped as big as your bhindi pieces
• Salt to taste
• Oil – 2 tsp
• That’s all really!!

What you need to do:

1. Heat the oil in a nonstick kadhai.
2. Throw in the bhindi and green chillies and stir on high flame till all the bhindi becomes coated with a sheen.
3. Add the salt, tomato, and saute for a minute.
4. Lower flame, cover and steam for 10 mins. Stir occasionally.

Best served with crisp hot phulkas.

Servings: 2

ILikes: ****

What it looks like:

Banjare Murgh ka Salad

After realizing how much of a difference pictures make, I was compelled to take pictures of any other concoctions I devise to put up on my blog.

So today I really felt like eating some succulent chicken. I can’t cook non-veg at home. Landlady’s request and restrictions. However, I can call for it. So I did. Banjara chicken kabab. Of course that couldn’t have been an entire meal. So I made a delicious salad out of it. How much oil did I use. None. Except whatever was there in the Chicken Banjara Kabab. I am sure it was lower than or equal to a teaspoon coz I only used two tikkas for this one.

What you need:

• 3 boiled eggs, sliced into strips, minus the yolk of course
• Lettuce, 4-5 leaves, cut or torn into bite size strips
• Tomato – 1 huge, sliced into strips
• Mint and coriander chutney – mint, green chilli, coriander, garlic, salt, ground
• Curd – 1 tablespoon
• Chicken tikka kabab – tandoori type, not the fried kind (I called for Chicken Banjara, hence the name of the salad – 2 tikkas – shredded or cut into strips
• Oregano
• Pepper (preferably from a pepper mill and not a shaker)
• Salt

What you need to do:

1. Whip 1 big spoon of chutney and curd together. Add as much chutney as you would like. Feel free to throw in some red chilli powder.
2. Mix the lettuce, egg, tomato, chicken, oregano, salt, and pepper.
3. Add the chutney curd mixture.
4. Voila

Preparation time: 13 mins, if you don’t make the kababs of course

Serves: 1

Serve with toasted multi-grain or whole wheat bread. You can even make a sandwich out of this mixture.

How much I likes: *****

Ideal for dinner coz of low carb value.

Check it out:

Banjare Murgh ka Salad

As some people would say, I yennjaayed like yennything.

Alu Gobi with Matar and Without the Alu

Okay. So one of these days, M at work decides to get Gobi, and worried about how Gobi takes so much oil to prepare. No can do, sez moi. 1 tsp of oil is proud to present the low cal Alu Gobi without the Alu and With Matar.

What you need:

• Cauliflower – 400 gms, chopped into florets
• Peas – 1 cup
• Alu – none (high carbs right?)
• Ginger garlic paste – 2 tsp
• Cumin seeds – 1/3 tsp
• Tomatoes – 2 med, diced
• Green chillies – 2 chopped fine
• Asafoetida – 1 pinch
• Salt, red chilli powder, and turmeric powder to taste
• Sugar – 1 tsp
• Oil – 2 tsp

How many can you feed: 3 med portions, 2 big portions

What you need to do:

1. In a non stick pan, 2 tsp of oil, cumin and asafoetida are happening. Low flame to avoid burnout.
2. Add ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Saute lightly. Throw in tomatoes and peas. Fry and saute lightly.
3. When tomatoes are all gooey, and creamy, add cauliflower, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, and sugar.
4. Saute for 2-3 mins. Cover with lid and simmer for 15 mins. Add quarter cup of water if the vegetable runs dry.  Keep turning.
5. Garnish with fresh coriander.

Low cal alu gobi without alu and with matar tayyar!!

Tofu Stir Fry Salad

This is the first healthy recipe of many that I intend to log here for the sake of future reference. I am trying to restrict oil intake to 3 tsps a day wherever possible, or rather 1 tsp per meal if possible.

Project Health takes credit for the experiment. Sarika takes credit for the tofu marination. Salad came from tofu stir fry with fresh rosemary that was originally her idea. Initially, I ended up tasting the salad with hot tofu and cold greens. Disaster. I immediately rejected it out of hand as a catastrophe. Cut to next evening when I am taking some food over to a friends. I taste it for the heck of it. It was amazing. The flavors had been taken in by the tofu so much better. Will definitely try again.

• Tofu – 100 gms
• Fresh rosemary – 2 sprigs
• Roasted and salted peanuts – half a cup
• Sun-dried tomatoes – half a cup (cut into strips)
• Oregano – 2 tsp
• Basil – 2 tsp
• Thyme – 2 tsp
• Salad greens – 2 cups
• Garlic – 2 big cloves
• Coarsely ground pepper or none at all
• Red wine vinegar – 1 tbsp
• Honey mustard – 2 tbsp
• Oil – 2 tsps

Serves: 2

Procedure:

1. Prick holes into the tofu with a fork or toothpick.
2. Break the tofu block into small pieces or dice it into 2cm cubes.
3. Add all the herbs, fresh and dried.
4. Add salt and pepper.
5. Add the red wine vinegar and honey mustard dressing.
6. Marinate for half an hour.
7. Finely chop the garlic.
8. Heat olive oil and add the garlic. Saute and don’t let it turn brown. This typically happens within a split second. Add the tofu with all the marinade. Throw in the sun-dried tomatoes as well.
9. Saute for 5 mins. Simmer for 2. Take off the flame.
10. Prepare a bed of salad greens. Add the tofu. Add some more honey mustard if you think the taste isn’t to your liking – to add tang or sweetness respectively.
11. Chill in the fridge. When serving throw in the roasted salted peanuts.

Voila! Tofu makes this salad extremely filling so this quantity should suffice for 2 helpings. I also added some chopped onion, like a spoonful when I was about to keep salad in the fridge. I was just getting rid of the leftover onion and although it didn’t make its presence felt, it may have contributed to the overall taste. Lots of protein so preferable for lunch if possible.

How to make it unhealthy but even more tastier?
I am guessing grated cheddar would be amazing.