Hot Pongal with Oatmeal

Hot Pongal with Oatmeal

Here is another healthy add to the list. Hot Pongal made with Oatmeal. Simple, and delicious food.

Ingredients:

1. Yellow Moong Dal (Pesarapappu) - 1 cup

2. Oats - 1 1/2 cups

3. Green chillies - 3 (your choice of any medium sized green chillies)

4. Curry Leaves - few

5. Ginger - small size
6. Whole black pepper - around 6-7 grounded (add more or less depending on the spice level).

Preparation:

Take a flat pan, and set the heat to medium hot. Dry roast yellow moong dal for 5 minutes. Constantly stir it so that the dal gets evenly fried. Take that aside in a bowl/plate. In the same pan, with the same heat, dry roast oats for another 5 mins. Keep that to a side.

Take a non-stick medium size vessel. I usually prefer the pongal to be a bit soft, and gravy as it adds more texture and flavor. So, to make it at this consistency, add 4 cups of water (use the same measuring cup that you used for measuring moong dal/oats). Heat the water in a medium flame. Once the water starts boiling, add moong dal first, and lower the heat, Make sure that the dal cooks evenly and soft. Stir the dal for even consistency. After the dal gets cooked, add 1 1/2 cups of oats to the same vessel. Mix both the ingredients together, and simmer the heat. Close the vessel with a lid so that the dal becomes very soft, and can be easily mashed. Oats doesn't take much time to cook, the max time it requires is 5 minutes. Keep looking so that the bottom is not burnt. constantly give a stir and keep the cooking going, until dal and oatmeal are completely blended, and forms a nice consistency as shown in the picture above. This cooking takes around 10-15 mins. Add a pinch or two of turmeric powder, and salt as desired for the taste, and keep it aside.

Seasoning:
Take a pan, and add around 4 table spoons of oil, if you prefer ghee, you could substitute oil with ghee.
once the oil gets heated, add 1/4 tea spoon of black mustard seeds, 1/2 tea spoon of cumin seeds, 2-3 red chillies, curry leaves, finley chopped green chillies, and finely chopped ginger. At the end add the grounded black pepper powder. Add this to the pongal, and mix it well to make sure that the seasoning is evenly spread. Sambar goes very well with Pongal. If you prefer the lighter end, try with coconut chutney.

Very simple, yet very delicious dish that you can relish!

Oatmeal Uttapam

Feels good about making healthier food choices? Ofcourse yes!! and what better way it could be to make these choices reflect in our cooking style. Usually we make Utttapam with Urad dal, Idly rice, and all purpose flour (maida). Now, lets make a twist here by replacing all of these ingredients with oatmeal and curd. Sounds interesting, I bet it would taste even better then the regular uttapam (atleast that is how I could feel the first time I made it). Not wasting time any further, let's dive into the recipe, and make it happen.

Ingredients:

1. Dry Oats 1 cup

2. Yogurt

**The below vegetables are in proportion with the quantity of the batter that will be made with 1 cup of Oats**

3. Finely chopped bell pepper (1)

4. Finely chopped carrot(1 small)

5. Finely chopped green beans (a few may be around 3-5)

6. Finely chopped Onion (1 big, or 2 small)

7. Finely chopped Cilantro leaves

8. Finely chopped Spring onions (1 bunch)

9. Finely chopped green chillies (add depending on the spice level)

Preparation:

First, take 1 cup of dry oats and grind it into a fine powder.  Take the powder in a mixing bowl. For 1 cup of oats, add 1/2 cup of yogurt. Mix it with the Oats powder, and add water as desired to make it to a thick batter. The consistency should be a bit thick then dosa batter. Add required salt. Keep the batter aside for 20 minutes. I can make around 5-6 Uttapams for 1 cup of oats. Add the quantities proportionately if you add more cups of Oats.

Now take a flat pan (like a dosa tawa), pre-heat it a medium flame for around 5-8 minutes. Once you feel the heat on the pan, brush the pan with oil. Now take a medium size serving spoon, and pour around 2 scoops of the batter on the pan. Spread the batter evenly like a circle. take a small tea spoon of oil, and round the circle with oil so that it will be easy to turn over, and doesn't stick to the pan. Toss the Uttapam with all the chopped vegetables listed above. Cover the utttapam under medium hot, and let it cook for around 5-8 mins. Keep checking to make sure it is not getting burnt. Flip the Uttapam on the other side, for another 2-3 minutes. At this point you could either choose to keep it open, or even close it with a lid. After the Uttapam is evenly cooked, take it into a serving plate.

Enjoy the Uttapam with any choice of chutneys. I usually prefer it with Idly powder, Tomato chutney, or coconut chutney.

Eat Healthy, stay healthy.

Watermelon Salad

The best way to make an evening pleasant and refreshing is by enjoying with a fresh salad...and what more is a better way to enjoy with a refreshing fruit like watermelon. Very easy to make in minutes, that gives everlasting freshness to mind and soul.

Ingredients:

1. Watermelon

2. Basil Leaves

3. Grounded pepper

4. Lemon (1 small)

5. Pinch of salt

Preparation:

Take a medium sized watermelon, and slice it into nice cubes. Take the watermelon cubes into a mixing bowl. To that add freshly choppoed basil leaves (a handful), grounded black pepper (depending on the spice level), a squeeze of  lemon, and a pinch of salt. Mix all the ingredients well, toss them in a salad bowl.

Enjoy the fresh treat!!!!