Spinach Roti/flat bread

Here is one more simple and easy dinner recipe for a week night.

Ingredients:

2 cups of wheat flour

1tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Ajwain/Carom seeds (optional)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 - 1/2 cup finely chopped spinach

salt as per taste

Oil/ghee (Optional) for shallow frying.

Preparation:

In a pan add 1/2 tsp oil and add cumin, carom seeds and chopped spinach and let it cook till spinach loses raw flavor and quickly transfer the mixture into a bowl and leave the bowl on ice bath. This will help to retain the color of spinach.
Once spinach cools down puree it to smooth paste
Mix wheat flour, salt and spinach puree and make into a soft dough. (Do not add water unless you cannot form into soft dough. If needed add water little at a time). If spinach puree is too much then increase the quantity of flour.

Cover the dough with damped cloth and keep it aside for 15 mts.

Take small piece of dough and shape into small balls.
Roll these dough balls into round shaped dusting with flour as needed.

Heat a pan/griddle and place roti on the pan.

Cook both sides of the flat bread/roti evenly by adding few drops of oil till it turns golden brown color.

Serve these rotis with curry or dal or raita. I made lentils tonight to serve with roti.

Mustard flavored Malabar Spinach Soup / (Bachhali Koora Ava Pulusu)

It's been a hectic month so far for me. Some how managed to take few pics of tonight's dinner preparations. Result of those pics is this post. Healthy and delicious Green leaf soup a.k.a Malabar Spinach soup. In my mother tongue this vegetable is called "Bachhali". Very healthy and full of nutritious leaf vegetable.  Combination of Lentils(Mudda Pappu) and soup(Bachhali Pulusu) along with hot rice is divine. 

Ingredients:

1 bunch of Bachalli(Malabar Spinach)
2 green chilies slit length wise (As per your spice level reduce the number of chilies)
pinch of turmeric
salt

mustard paste:
2tbsp mustard seeds
2tbsp sesame seeds
4 red chilies (as per spice level)
1tbsp rice
small lime sized tamarind
Soak all the ingredients in water for 10 mts. Using a food processor or blender make it into smooth paste and keep it aside.

Seasoning:
1tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1tsp oil
few curry leaves
1 red chili

Preparation:

Rinse and chop malabar spinach and cook using 1/2 cup of water along with green chilies, salt and pinch of turmeric.  Once the greens are cooked add the mustard sesame paste and 1 more cup of water and let it cook for 5 to 10 mts till the greens are cooked with spices. (Depending on the consistency add water if needed). Give a taste test and adjust the spices accordingly

Seasoning: In a separate pan heat oil add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, red chilies and curry leaves. Once mustard seeds starts splattering remove from heat and mix with soup

Serve with hot rice and lentils(Mudda Pappu)

Homemade Granola

Summer means vacation, planning for additional classes, good bye to gym and welcome few extra pounds :) Even though I don't like to see summer ending but have to accept the change with a smile. Here is the simple change you can do at home instead of buying granola.  Store bought granola is high in sugar, unhealthy fats and oils. Making granola at home is super easy, quick and you can control the quality,quantity of ingredients and the flavors. 

For any type of granola only 3 main ingredients. Oats, Oil and sweetener

Oats are an excellent source of vitamins and minerals.  It is better to use rolled oats than instant oats. Instant oats means highly processed. So try to buy whole oats

Oil- I prefer to use vegetable or canola or sunflower oil. I keep reading about using coconut oil to be more healthy but I never tried till now. I am just little skeptical about the taste using coconut oil. Next time I will try a small batch and see how it tastes. 

Sweetener: Always use raw ingredients to make it healthy.  Most of the granola recipes call for honey. You can either use honey or maple syrup. Make sure you use Organic honey or Organic Maple syrup. You can even substitute with Agave. Always be low on sweetness. 

Use the basic ingredients and add any type of healthy ingredients as per your taste. Be creative in your flavors. 

Here is the recipe which I used today

I made two varieties today. One with nuts and another one nut free.  

Ingredients:

6 cups of rolled oats 

1/4 cup of oil 

1/3 cup of Organic Honey/Grade b Maple Syrup/ Local honey/ Agave

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp flax seeds (optional)

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/3 cup of chopped nuts ( I used walnuts and pecans)

1/4 cup of dried fruits ( I used cranberries and cherries)

Process:

Pre heat oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit

grease two baking sheets using oil or use parchment paper

In a large bowl add oil,honey,spices and mix well

Add oats, coconut to the oil mixture and mix well either using clean hands or spatula. Make sure oats are coated well with oil mix.

At this point I made the mixture into two parts. One part I added chopped nuts and mixed well. 

Spread the mixture in the prepared pans evenly in a thin layer. Bake for 15 mts or until the mixture turns into gold color. Make sure you stir the mixture for every 5 mts or else the granola will be burnt on one side.   Once granola turns into golden color remove from oven and allow it cool stirring occasionally. (Stirring helps to keep the heat distributed evenly)

Now add dried fruits to the cool mixture.  Store the cooled granola in airtight container. 

Serve with unsweetened milk or greek yogurt.