My Home Mantra

Aloo Palak Puri / Palak Puri / Spinach Puri

My three-year-old loves eating biscuits dipped in chai! I’m trying to make most of these tea sessions by offering her something healthier and nutritious than biscuits and also using this as an opportunity to introduce her to a variety of foods from her Indian culture. It’s not just cookies and crackers – she can have much more than that, more fulfilling, well-balanced and delicious too. Other teat-time snacks on the blog: While growing up, spicy puri (tikhat–meethachi puri) was a common thing that my parents enjoyed with a cup of evening chai. So I have started this tea-time snacks series…

Posted in Breakfast, Gujarati, Quick n Healthy

Gujarati Idra / Idada / White Dhokla with Aamras

Idada – a non-fermented Dhokla perfect for toddlers and also for people with acidity. These dhoklas are generally thinner, don’t rise as much as regular khaman or yellow dhokla but these are also easier on digestion, so can be had for breakfast or as snack with green chutney or ketchup for kids. White Dhokla is made with Rice and Urad Dal – same as Idli batter. You can in fact re-use Idli batter to make these dhoklas too. Khaman or regular yellow dhokla is made with Rice and Chana Dal. It’s definitely heavy to digest and also topped with tadka,…

Posted in Breakfast, Snacks, South Indian

Oats Appe

A recipe that’s perfect for breakfast, as a snack, also for the lunchbox and is also well balanced with lots of protein, some healthy complex carbs and fibre and all the goodness of fresh Spinach leaves! How does that sound? This is not a regular appe recipe, I used my left-over dosa batter for making these appe, and they turned out really well so hence sharing my little cooking experience. Ingredients: 1/4 cup Steel cut oats (not rolled or instant) 1/4 cup moong dal 1/4 cup urad dal 1/4 cup masoor dal 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 1/4 cup rice flour…

Posted in Soup, Superfoods, Winter Special

Beetroot Tomato Soup

The easiest soup you will ever make. It has tomatoes and beets and some seasoning, that’s all. The clean eating at its best! I used a pressure cooker to steam both tomatoes and a beetroot in separate pans. Cooking these vegetables together saves time and also makes it easy to digest. This is also a great recipe for toddlers and also babies (8months+) We all know “superfood” qualities of beetroot and how it’s so-good-for-you! Tomatoes add a nice tangy flavor and it pairs well with the sweetness of beetroot. There is really no excuse to not try this soup 🙂…

Posted in Quick n Healthy

Instant Appe

If you are looking for a quick recipe for breakfast, which is easy to make without any compromise on serving healthy meals to your kids and family, this instant Appe recipe is a must try! Appe is a south Indian breakfast which is known as paniyaram in Tamilnadu and paddu in Karnataka. Typically Appe is prepared with leftover idli or dosa batter but this recipe is an instant version made with rava / sooji, so no fermentation or grinding needed. All you need is 10-15 minute soaking time for sooji and a special pan called Appe Pan or Appe Patra. These taste really good, these are slightly…

Posted in Snacks

Tikhat Meethachi Puri / Masala Puri

Tikhat Mithachi Puri, a common Maharashtrian food prepared during Winter season. It’s deep fried whole wheat puris flavored with Indian spices! Pluffy, light and savory puris make a great tea-time snack. Pack these with some pickle/achaar for your next road-trip, these keep well up to 2-3 days and taste good both hot and cold too. You will need: 1 cup Wheat flour 2 tbsp Rice flour (optional) 2 tbsp Besan (optional) 1 tsp coriander powder 1/2 tsp cumin powder 1/2 tsp red chili powder or to taste 1/4 tsp turmeric powder 1/2 tsp fennel seeds 1/2 tsp ajwain…

Posted in Italian, Quick n Healthy

Brutti ma Buoni / Ugly but Good Hazelnut Cookies

Flourless Butterless Crispy Chewy Nutty Goodness [dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter a recent winter rain, I discovered an intricately crafted spider web filling the entire frame outside my kitchen window. The water droplets clinging to it sparkled and danced with the sunlight, drawing my attention to an enormous spider resting there. I looked away for a minute and when I looked back, the web was gone or rather, I could no longer see it. Without the light of the sun, momentarily obscured by the clouds, the natural work of art disappeared from the view. The way the change in life hiding and revealing things struck…

Posted in Quick n Healthy, Smoothie

Berrylicious Power Smoothie

This is my go-to recipe after a long workout. This smoothie has everything that body needs to replenish after a workout – a good balance of protein, fats, carbs, fibre, vitamins and anti-oxidants. It doesn’t have any added sugars. It gets its beautiful pink hue from berries and sweetness from bananas. You can use any unsweetened nut milk, add protein powder and fruits and chia or hemp seeds of a healthy dose of omega 3s and blend everything together and drink it up! Ingredients: 1 cup unsweetened nut milk (almond, cashew or soy) I prefer almond in my smoothies. 1…

Posted in Entertaining, Snacks, Vegan, Winter Special

Sweet Potato & Beetroot Kebabs

A quick, healthy, nutritious snack that looks beautiful and taste wonderful. These are made using Appe Pan – so these are not deep fried. These kebabs have the natural sweetness from sweet potatoes and beetroot so make sure to pair them with tangy tamarind chutney or hot-n-sour sauce. Ingredients 1 cup Sweet Potatoes , (about 2) cooked and mashed 1 cup Beetroot , (about 2) grated 1 Onion , finely chopped 2 Green Chillies , finely chopped 1 clove Garlic , finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi) 1/2 teaspoon Cumin powder (Jeera) 2 tablespoons Coriander (Dhania) Leaves , chopped 1/4 cup Corn flour , or gram flour (besan) Salt , to taste VegetableOil , as needed Method:…

Posted in Gujarati, Quick n Healthy, Upvasache Padarth, Winter Special

Sweet Potato Muthiya

A gut friendly snack that’s can be used during fasts – a rare combination! Sweet Potatoes or रताळे (Ratale in Marathi) are in season and I absolutely adore this root vegetable. I am so glad that it’s allowed during fasting. Steamed sweet potato with a pinch of salt and sunth (dried ginger) was my favorite after school snack. Unfortunately my husband is not a great fan of sweet potato so I don’t make it that often but this time I experimented with a basic muthiya recipe and turned it into muthiya that can work during fasting. I used sweet potato with chestnut…