Healthy Cooking with Mitha

I don’t know about other places but in Kerala, you get something called “Gobi chilly” which is a slight dry variety to Gobi Manchurian. My dad used to get one plate of both to go with fried rice and it was a heaven made combination for a weekend dinner.

Fast forward to restaurants here in Qatar and the Gobi chilly changed to “Paneer chilly” with a paneer loving husband. I used to love the gravy they made with large cubes of onion and capsicum with a humble ketchup based sauce.

After I started trying the sauce at home, I added more veggies to it ( because that’s how I sneak veggies into everything) and hence came “Vegetable Chilly”. Now it’s become the favourite in the family and my 5 year old also loves it.

And it is so easy to make that it gets ready within few minutes. Also it is super filling that I sometimes eat it without any rice.

This time, I used the precut vegetable mix from Emborg called Garden mix which contains Broccoli, orange and red carrots with beans. It added a whole lot of flavors to the curry. Do get it if you can.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Oil

5 pods of Garlic, chopped

1 inch Ginger piece, finely chopped

3 Green chillies

1 large Onion, cubed

1/2 a large Capsicum, cubed

5 to 7 Babycorn, cut into small strips

1 Cup mixed vegetables ( I used the Emborg bag of precut carrots, broccoli and beans)

2 tbsp Tomato ketchup

1 tbsp Chilli sauce

1 tsp Pepper powder

Salt to taste

Recipe:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add ginger, garlic and green chillies. Saute for few seconds.

2. Add onions and capsicum. Saute on high flame for a minute.

3. Add all the veggies. Mix well adding salt and pepper powder. Saute on high flame continually.

4. Cover and cook till the veggies get cooked. I keep a little crunch and do not fully cook them. Sprinkle little water if needed while cooking.

5. Now add both ketchup and chilli sauce and mix well. Remove from flame.

Note:

* You could also add paneer if needed.

* Sauces can be added as per your choice. Add red chilli powder too if you prefer it spicy.

* I did not take step by step pictures as I had no intention of posting this on the blog. But had to post due to many recipe requests. Will add the pictures when I make it next time.

There was a time when my 4 year old got kind of addicted to chips. Since she started solids at 6 months, I had always made sure to offer her healthy options. No processed junk like biscuits or chips. But as we moved along, somewhere along the line, I lost my determination and she fell in love with chips.

Now what do I do? How do I bring her out of this unhealthy love? As I read about various healthy options, Makhanas or lotus seeds came into my eyes.

Makhanas also called as Fox nuts (yes, fancy name too!) are super healthy and as crunchy as chips. I am lucky that it’s easily available in our local supermarket and hence it was easy to make the switch. It tastes bland in its original form but when fried in ghee, it turns out oh so yummy!

My little girl now crunches and munches on Makhanas and they have become her favourite snacks. Be it after school hunger pangs or post dinner snack, Makhanas are her best friend now. I also take them along during flight journeys so that she can munch on to curb boredom.

My one year old also loves Makhanas and they serve as excellent finger food too. Just fry and quarter them to offer to babies.

My one year old snacking on Makhanas. Have halved them before offering.

Health benefits of Makhanas/ Fox nuts: Low in cholesterol and fat, low glycemic index, high in magnesium, gluten free, rich in protein, beneficial to kidneys.

How to prepare fried Makhanas?

You will need:

* 1 Cup Makhanas/ Fox nuts

* 1 Tbsp Ghee/ Butter/ Oil

* A pinch of salt (optional)

How to prepare:

1. Heat a frying pan and add ghee to it.