B for Bread Bajji

For Today it is Bread Bajji under the Street Food category. How it is Street Food ? so here goes the explanation. Tea kadai and bajji stalls are famous in Tamil Nadu. With the soaring prices of vegetables, bread is an easy option to make bajji for the vendors. Any tea stall or Bajji shop on the beach, you go.. there is always an option of bread bajji. It would be soaked in oil, that is a seperate issue on its own. But the combination of bread and besan gives an a very nice taste. I personally love to eat bread bajji. 

The version I am going to explain today, is slightly different. This is something that I had learnt from my Periamma. She makes it in the tawa with very less oil which in turn makes the bajji a healthy one. We had made this during my visit for my nieces. 

Ingredients

Bread - 10 pieces cut diagonally

Besan - 1 cup

Omam - 1 tsp

Jeera - 1 tsp

salt - to taste

Red Chili powder - 1 tsp

Oil - a little

Method

In a bowl add besan powder, omam, jeera, salt, red chili powder 

Mix well so as there is no lumps formed

Add very little water and make it a paste

Heat the tawa and add 1 tsp oil

Dip the diagonally cut bread into the besan paste and place it on the tawa

Ensure that it cooks well on both the sides and flip frequently.

Once done serve hot with tomato ketchup or pudhina chutney

This can be given as a breakfast or an evening snack

Logo courtesy : Preeti

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 32

Easy Breezy Sevai

There are days when you run out of ideas to make a south Indian breakfast, which is quick and easy too. Idli is my first option, but again you can t have it for all the seven days. So some other options of mine for a quick fix is Poha, Bread Upma, Semiya Upma or Sevai.

I like Sevai for the fact that , you can make anything with it, be it lemon Sevai to mixed veggie Sevai.. It easy to make and light on the stomach. One more thing about this humble Sevai is that, it will help you make the platter look large with out you doing much work. I make it with Concorde Ready Made Sevai

Ingredients

Rice Sevai - 2 cups ( either ready made or home made)

Coconut scrapings - 1/2 cup

Red Chili - 4 to 5 

Curry leaves - a little

For tempering - Mustard seeds, oil and Bengal gram Dal

Method

Take about 2 cups of Sevai and blanch it in  hot water for about 15 minutes

Drain the water and run the Sevai through cold water

Set aside the cooked Sevai

In a wok heat oil and add the mustard seeds, followed by curry leaves and Bengal Gram Dal

Add the prepared Sevai to this and mix well

Adjust salt

Sprinkle the coconut scrapings and give it a toss

Serve with Coconut chutney or you can have it just like that.

I prefer to have it with sugar

Variations

Lime Sevai 

To the tempering add a 2 tbsp of lemon juice and a pinch of turmeric powder

Do not add coconut scrapings

Mixed Veggie Sevai

Boil veggies of your choice

Saute sliced onion along with the tempering

Add the boiled veggies to the tempering along with some slit green chilies

Choco Banana Soy Smoothie

Smoothies are always my favorite breakfast idea. I specially like them for the fact that it is loaded with the goodness of fruits and milk. And of course, it is the easiest way for a healthy breakfast. 

So here we have one. 

Ingredients:

Soy Milk - 2 cups 

Banana - 1 

Choco powder - 1 spoon

Honey - 2 spoons

Method:

Take all the ingredients in a blender

Blend to form a nice smoothie

Serve is tall glasses

Since , I used cold soy milk I did not use ice

Check out what my fellow marathoners are cooking here

Vegetable Semiya for Blog Hop Wednesdays

This is the second month of Blog Hop Wednesdays and I am paired with Prabha . She has a lovely blog with very creative and simple dishes. I have bookmarked a few of them, will be trying them out very soon. Simple yet easy , breezy dish is what I have chosen to make from her blog.I decide to try  her Vegetable Semiya 

This is a very simple yet hearty breakfast, in which you can include lot of veggies. If you read my blog you can see, that I love to add lot of veggies to my dishes. This is one satisfying dish with lot of veggies. It can add a variation to 

Ingredients:
Semiya / Vermicelli - 2 cups
Veggies - 11/2 cups ( carrot, beans, green peas, capsicum)
Onion - 1 sliced
Green Chili - 2 slit lengthwise
Curry leaves - 4 - 5 leaves
Salt to taste
Mustard seeds for tempering

Method:
Boil the veggies separately and drain the water
Boil only carrots, beans and green peas
In a big pot boil water and then add the semiya to it.
Cook the semiya till its just done and not mushy . Drain it.
In a heavy bottomed wok, heat some oil
When the oil is hot , add mustard seeds followed by curry leaves
Add the sliced onions, slit green chillies and saute for 2 mins
Now add the boiled veggies followed by capsicum.
When all these veggies blend together , add salt followed by the boiled semiya
Serve hot with coconut chutney.

Broken Wheat Upma - BM#4

Regular eating habits are especially important for diabetics. Your body is better able to regulate blood sugar levels—and your weight—when you maintain a regular meal schedule. Aim for moderate and consistent portion sizes for each meal or snack.
Don’t skip breakfast. Start your day off with a good breakfast. Eating breakfast every day will help you have energy as well as steady blood sugar levels.
Eat small meals at regular times. It is helpful to eat 3 small meals plus 3 snacks spread out through the day. People tend to eat larger portions when they are overly hungry, so eating regularly will help you keep your portions in check.
Keep calorie intake the same. Regulating the amount of calories you eat on a day-to-day basis has an impact on the regularity of your blood sugar levels. Try to eat roughly the same amount of calories every day, rather than overeating one day or at one meal, and then skimping on the next.
Listen to your body. It takes a little time for your brain to get the message that you’ve had enough to eat, so stop eating when you feel 80% full. Wait 20 minutes. If you’re still hungry, you can choose to have a little more.
Keep portion sizes under control
Making sure you do not eat too many calories is important in any healthy diet, but it is especially important for diabetics. Controlling your portion sizes is key to controlling calories:
Divide your plate into 3 parts: ½, ¼, ¼. Fill half of your plate with non-starchy veggies (greens, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, peppers, carrots, turnips, etc.). Split the other half of your plate into two equal parts, filling one with protein and the other with a starchy carbohydrate (rice, potatoes, pasta, whole-grain bread).
Aim for a protein serving of around 3 oz., which is about the size of a deck of cards for meat. Animal protein is more calorie dense, so it is important to really pay attention to how much you are eating.
Keep servings of starchy carbs to ½ cup. One serving of starchy carbohydrate is ½ cup cooked rice or pasta, which is about the size of half of a baseball.
Start your meals with veggies, which will help fill you up and give you lots of nutrients.
Save half of restaurant meals for later. When out at a restaurant, ask the server to put half the meal on your plate and pack the other half to go.
Read labels on foods, so you can understand how many servings and portions are in items.
My recipe for the day is Broken Wheat Upma . This has been a regular dish at home when we run out of dosa batter or bored of eating idlis and dosas

Ingredients:

• Broken wheat - 2 cups


• Onion - 1 cut into thin slices


• Green chillies - 3 slit into thin slices


• Salt to taste


• Water - 3 cups


• Tempering - oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves


• Coconut scrappings - 2 tsps ( Purely optional )

Method:

• In a heavy bottom kadai heat a little oil


• When the oil is hot add the mustard seeds followed by urad dal and curry leaves


• Add the sliced green chillies followed by onions


• Saute till onions are translucent


• Add the water and salt to this mixture


• Let the water boil well


• Slowly add the broken wheat to the boiling mixture stirring continuosly to avoid lumps


• Now make the flame small and keep stirring till all the water gets evaporated and the broken wheat is cooked well


• You can add coconut scrappings to this upma after it has cooled well

Check out my fellow runners for their creations.

• Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma


• Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e)


• Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh


• Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree, Pavani


• Seven Days of Cakes: Priya Vasu


• Seven Days of Preserves: Gayathri Kumar, Vaishali


• 30 Minutes Meals: Priya Mahadevan, Srivalli
  

Day 6 - Blogging Marathon - Easy breezy breakfast.

Poha, is a very common breakfast in North India. In South India we make a different version of this. This was made one morning when we ran out of Dosa batter. I did not want to buy the batter from outside as my dad does not like the taste of it. We generally make the idli and dosa batter at home. Will write a detailed post about it later.

Very simle to make but tasty to eat. This poha needs very simple ingredients

• Poha - 1 cup
• Green Chillies - 1 cut into small pieces
• Groundnut - for granish
• Turmeric powder - a pinch
• Salt to taste.

This breezy breakfast can be made in the following way

• Wash the poha in running water and squeeze of excess water
• In a non stick frying pan , add a little oil
• When the oil is hot , add mustard seeds and groundnut
• Fry for a minute or so then add the washed poha
• Add salt and turmeric at this stage
• Keep tossing for a minute. Make sure the texture of poha is not destroyed

Your easy breakast is ready in a few minutes time. This can also be given as an evening snacks for children who come back from school. There are many variations that can be done to this simple dish. Will have to try them and soon blog about it.

Me gonna visit my fellow runners kitches..

Azeema, Bhagi, Champa, Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani, PJ, Priya Mahadevan, Priya Suresh, Priya Vasu, Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena