Till not too long ago, pancakes for me meant cheela. The flour/batter of the pancake would vary: if not besan then moong or sooji, but the template of ‘thick batter + a dash of seasoning’ was a constant.
A chance viewing of Maangchi’s vegetable pancake recipe brought about a shift in this template.
Take the basic semolina pancake recipe up a level: fortify it with carrot and cucumber, flavor its base with a dash of dahi, spice it up with ginger and chilies. Carrot cucumber rava cheela works really well for brunch or in the lunchbox with tomato pickle on the side.
Dalia (broken wheat) porridge is a favored breakfast food in many Indian homes. The grain is made by milling raw wheat grains; it’s especially nutritious as it is unrefined. Dalia is a great source of vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre – all that at an affordable price.
There’s got to be a catch, you think? You are right.
Sattu, or roasted gram flour, was once a little-known staple of rural Bihar. Not anymore. With more awareness of sattu’s nutritive profile – low glycemic index, fiber-dense, low sodium – “poor man’s protein” sattu is now hailed as a superfood.
Is there a delight greater than discovering that tasty comfort food is also extremely healthy, and that extremely healthy is also extremely affordable?
This sattu jaljeera drink combines sattu with jaljeera (cumin-based spice). It is really quick to put together and needs no cooking or fancy processing equipment. A great choice for “shortcut” breakfast or post-workout drink.
Autumn begins, which means goodbye mangoes. Fruit vendors in India no longer stock those mounds of sweet-smelling heaven. Chia mango pudding is filed for use during the next mango season. Meanwhile I switch loyalties to this lovely dried cranberry banana chia pudding.
A no-cook, no-bake healthy treat, chia mango pudding can be prepared the night before and had for breakfast. A true blessing on rushed mornings or when you have zero cooking equipment on hand.
Chia seeds are tiny powerhouses of nutrition – they are packed with protein, fibre, Omega-3 fatty acids and other micronutrients. They are expensive in India, but a small amount goes a longish way. And, when you don’t have the means to cook meals, reaching out for chia seeds is probably wiser than the equally expensive alternative of packaged cereals.
Hare moong ka cheela (savory green gram pancake) is a richer variation of the yellow moong ka cheela. The process of making the cheela remains the same, except that the base lentil in this one changes from the light yellow moong bean to the more potent green gram (moong bean).