Su'sHealthyLiving: lunchbox idea

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Poori-Saagu ( Fried Indian bread served with spicy mixed vegetable stew).

Poori-Saagu is a common item found on the menu in restaurants in the region of Bangalore/Mysore in India. Whenever I visit Bangalore, I love to eat in the small hole-in-the-wall types restaurants that are all over the city. For some reason the food is absolutely delicious! Poori is nothing but puffed Indian bread that is usually fried. This is served with a mixed vegetable spicy stew that is made with coconut-based sauce.

So how is this healthy and what is a fried item doing on my blog? I can answer that honestly. My blog promotes healthy eating and living realistically. While best practice would be for us to eat healthy 100% of the time, this is not realistic. Everyone craves certain types of food from time to time. It is ok to indulge those cravings in MODERATION once in a while. My one such craving is poori.

Poori can be made a tad bit healthier by virtue of the choice of flours used. This can be done by using oat-flour instead of wheat flour. It fluffs up just as well as that which is made with wheat flour and tastes just as great! Do give it a try to check for yourself! You can make it gluten-free by using only oat flour, but that may get tricky when you fry them as once they expand, they tend to collapse.

These are also perfect for the lunchbox for the kids, especially when you serve it with a mixed vegetable side-dish such as Saagu.

For recipe for Saagu, Click here:

Recipe for Oats Poori:

Servings: 2-4

Ingredients: 6-8 small- medium sized pooris

Oat flour: 3/4 cup
Whole wheat flour: 1/4 cup
Cooking oil: 1 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
Sugar: 1/2 tsp
Lukewarm water: 1/2 cup ( you may not require all of it).

Method:

In a bowl mix together the flour, 1/2 tsp oil, salt and sugar.

Make a well in the center.

Add water little bit at a time and make a nice, soft dough.

Knead well and make a ball.

Apply oil to the outside of the ball.

Cover with a damp cloth/ paper towel and keep aside for 15-20 minutes.

Pinch little portion of the dough to make small lemon sized balls. Now roll out the balls to make small pooris.

Heat oil in a wok/ kadai on medium flame.

When the oil is hot enough, drop the poori in it and with the back of a slotted spoon gently press it down into the oil. This will help the poori puff up.

When the poori puffs up and floats to the surface of the oil, flip it and let it cook for few seconds on the other side.

Now remove it from the oil and drain it on paper towels.

Serve hot with Saagu as I have done or any side dish of your choice!

Enjoy!

I am bringing this delicious breakfast to all my friends at Throwback Thursday#41, Fiesta Friday#122 and Saucy Saturdays#47! Angie's co-hosts this week are Mollie @ The Frugal Hausfrau and Aruna @ Aharam

Cooking made easy:

If you are not gluten-intolerant and you don't particularly care for the texture of oats flour, the best texture can be achieved by doing a 50:50 mix of oat flour and whole wheat flour.

Tip for healthy living:

This information is especially for people who are gluten-intolerant & those who choose to avoid gluten. While oats are naturally gluten free, it is best to get oats that are labelled " gluten-free", as quite often oats is contaminated with wheat as they are often processed in the same facility.

Food for thought:

Everything that is done in the world is done with hope. Martin Luther

Please do share your thoughts. Your opinion matters!

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Avocado Cheese Burger & Wrap; One Recipe, Two Options. Kids-friendly DFT

My kids are little. They are 3 and 6 year old.Their palates are still evolving. Which means that they are very picky . They will only eat what appeals to them and what tastes good. There is no rationalizing saying " it is good for you". If it does not taste good, they will not eat it!

Happy Kids! Happy Mamas! Team DFT is bringing the kids’ friendly sandwiches, subs, rolls and wraps this week.

Creating Recipes with a Cause!

I am a proud DFT blogger.

To learn about DFT, read this link.

To view more DFT recipes, Click here!

When team DFT decided to make this week's theme " kids-friendly DFT" so that kids with diabetes can benefit from these recipes, I was determined to make something that kids would actually eat and something that was easy to make over and over again. I also used my kids as guinea pigs. I figured that if they would eat it, most kids would. Both my kids like cheese ( but they are picky about which cheeses they like!), and they both eat avocado on a regular basis. They both eat rotis(chapati) and bread. The only new thing that I introduced this time was red lettuce, which I must confess wasn't that well received. On the positive note, they enjoyed both the burger and the wrap!! I was very surprised as my daughter usually likes the roti plain with just lots of cream cheese on top and made into a wrap/roll. She will eat the avocado on the side, but this time she ate it together. You see, she does not like too many textures at the same time!!

I have used ingredients in their natural form as much as possible, thereby avoiding anything processed or ready made. This is a no-cook recipe. I have used home-made whole wheat 6- inch chapati/roti for the wrap. You may therefore see some cracks or experience some cracking of the roti while rolling it. It is okay. I have provided the option of the burger for those who cannot make rotis or don't have it handy. The bun used for the burger is whole wheat bun with sesame seeds from Trader Joe. Each bun has only 110 calories.

I have only used a pinch of salt, pepper and a little bit of lemon juice for flavor. No mayonnaise, no dip/dressing of any kind has been used. The cheeses used are low fat variety. I have used low fat Swiss cheese spread ( laughing cow) and low fat shredded mozzarella cheese.The cheeses too, I haven't added too much. 1 tsp cream cheese for spreading and 1/2 tbsp shredded cheese on top of the avocado. Be careful when you add salt as the cheeses already have salt in them.

So here we go:

Servings: 1 ( makes one wrap or burger)Serving size: one wrap/ burger per person.

Ingredients:

6- inch chapati/roti/tortilla: 1 ( use corn tortilla to make it gluten-free)
OR
1 small whole wheat sesame bun.

Avocado: 1 quarter of one small avocado, chopped into bite-size pieces.( approximately 1 tbsp, heaped).
Lettuce: 2-3 small leaves ( I have used red lettuce)
Low fat swiss cheese spread : 1/2 of one laughing cow wedge.
Low fat mozzarella shredded cheese: 1/2 tablespoon
Lemon juice: 1/4 tsp
Salt: a tiny pinch
Pepper powder: a tiny pinch

Method:

Take the chopped avocado in a bowl. Add salt, pepper powder and lemon juice to it. Mix well and keep aside.

Spread the cream cheese on one side of the chapati/ roti or on the inside of the lower half of the bun.

Now layer the lettuce on the cream cheese, then spread the avocados and lastly top it with the shredded cheese. This step is the same for the wrap and the burger.

Now for the roti/chapati/tortilla, place a small strip of wax paper at the bottom 1/4 of the roti in such a manner the the wax paper is folded at the bottom and does not expose the edge of the roti/chapati/tortilla. Slowly wrap it so that the edges of the roti are overlapping each other. Secure it with a toothpick.

For the burger, just top it with the top half of the bun and secure it with a toothpick.

It is ready to be served!

It is great for lunch box and for picnics!!

Enjoy. I am bringing this to my friend Angie's Fiesta Friday #78

Cooking made easy:

Every individual including kids have different tastes. Based upon your child's tastes, the above recipe can be easily modified.

You could add a little olive oil to the chopped avocados along with salt and pepper. You can also mix 1/4 tsp mayonnaise.( Caution: any dressing that you use adds to the calories!!). An healthier option would be to use peanut chutney or coriander chutney as dressing.

Instead of using chopped avocados you can use guacamole in this wrap.

You can also layer the wrap/ burger with slices of tomatoes and cucumber based on your child's age and taste.

Footnotes( Tip for healthy living):

The primary ingredient in the wrap/ burger is whole wheat. I have previously discussed at length regarding the health benefits of whole wheat over white flour/all purpose flour/maida. You can read it in the footnotes section here.

Avocado is another main ingredient in this recipe. Avocado is a superfood. It provides the body with nearly 20 important vitamins and minerals in each serving. It is a great source of heart-healthy fats.It is a good source of vitamin B, C & E.It is low in sugar, rich in dietary fiber and maintains the blood sugar levels steady for a long time therefore making it one of the choice foods for diabetics.

Low fat cheese in controlled portions is an excellent source of protein and calcium for diabetics. You can find more detailed information in the references cited below.

Lettuce adds bulk to the meal and much needed dietary fiber.It is a calorie free food. I chose the red ones over green as they have a little more nutritional value as compared to their green counterparts.

Disclaimer:I am not a nutritionist or dietitian. My knowledge and information is based on my research and reading from different resources. Please consult your doctor or dietitian before making any changes to your diet.

Other Kids’ Friendly Sandwiches and Rolls by DFT Team!