Fat to Fit- Khandvi in the Week 2 Plan!

A week has past since I came back from my holiday in Goa. Holidays for me is a time to let go. I didn’t think calories or flab, and enjoyed every moment on sand as if it were my last moment on this beautiful earth. I didn’t have a worry. Went inside the lagoon fearlessly while I knew, I couldn’t swim. But now I am back, and after a week of carefully moderated meals and a bit of exercise thrown in, I am a kg lighter, and back to my goal of losing another 3 to 4 kgs in the next 6 weeks. Now would be the time for all of you to join in, if you want to begin on this journey with me.

Last week, I had shared a simple balanced meal plan. That plan was for all, everyone who wants to be healthy and is roughly 5 feet 2 inches tall. Today, I am leaping into deeper water, writing out a meal plan that I would base on my health goals, metabolism and my nutrition essentials. I understand if such a personalized meal plan is being published, then obviously my personal goals and parameters are to be spelled out first. So, its more of a personal rant which would follow in the next paragraph, which I would suggest you to read before u start on this plan along with me. Make sure that you customize the plan accordingly to suit your nutritional intake.

I am a healthy woman who can be described verbatim as being ‘petite.’ I have a BMI rate of 24.1, which though falls in normal category, still I would want to lower it furthermore. My health goal is not to just lose weight, but to achieve a higher metabolic rate. My second health goal is to defeat my chronic condition of Low Blood pressure, which for times more than my liking, cripples me to be on house arrest. There are no medication for the same, and so rest and protein rich food is the only way out of this condition. So undoubtedly, my aim at forming any meal plans for self is to ensure that I have enough protein in my diet and enough physical exercise to digest the difficult protein off my body. My biggest problem area in my body has to be my face, which just fluffs up in a kgs. gain, and comes down only when I loose around 3 kgs. The second problem area is my back, which accumulates a lot of fat, as if overnight I have grown 2 bulges which makes me look as if I am stooping even when I am standing upright. Sigh…

Honest confessions to internet is not easy, but well if I started on this journey, I better continue on it till end. So, coming back to my plan; this week I plan to keep it simple yet doable. I don’t want to include any high-profile superfood in my diet. Simple homemade Indian food and bonus recipe at the end for you to get it right.

Meal Plan for week 2-

7 am- Early morning starts with a glass of plain warm water followed by a glass of coriander and lime water. All I need to do is boil coriander for 10 mins strain, add lime and drink. I mostly do the boiling in the night and let it cool overnight, in the fridge.

7.15 am – 3 soaked almonds and a cup of black coffee without sugar.

Breakfast- 1 egg with 1 slice of whole wheat toast or 1 serving of khandvi which is made of all protein rich ingredients. For breakfast, you can include the tadka too.

11.30 am would be the best time to have a bowl of papaya and if hungry, then some pcs of apples too.

Lunch- it is the most favorite meal of mine so I will have it like a queen. A lean protein like egg/chicken or fish with a bowl of cut carrots and cucumbers, followed by a phulka and cooked vegetable.  (full Indian thali)

5 pm – would be the right time to work on my metabolism, so a cup of curd and flax meal would be perfect.

7.30 pm can start with some protein filled food- like sprout salad or khandvi without tadka and a cup of earl grey tea.

9 pm- would be the last meal of the day wherein keep it protein and cucumbers only. Like humus and salad or grilled chicken and vegetables.

And by 11 pm, sleep!

I would need to exercise in the day, mostly I will either skip for 500 times or brisk walk for 45 minutes. After diligently following this meal plan and responsibly cheating during the weekend, I would report back my findings here next week. For the last week, the cheating included a spoonful of rice for Saturday dinner, along with 2 glasses of wine.

Next week, I will talk about why I am keeping so many meals planned for the night, while I eat scarcely during the day. If the principal I am testing, works; then my friends you are in for a great trick which would help you loose weight easily, without achieving a plateau. Also, I am working on another article trying to point out mistakes that people commit during the night which leads them to reach a plateau in their weight loss goals. Now to the recipe that everyone must be waiting for- Khandvi!!

Ingredients

1 cup gram flour or besan

1 cup curd

1 chilly grated

1 inch ginger grated

A pinch of hing or asafoetida

Salt to taste

Haldi or turmeric for the bright colour

Water as needed

For tadka which is optional-

2 tsp oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 slit green chillies

And a big pinch of fresh curry leaves

Grated Carrots are extremely optional, a more traditional ingredient would be coconut grated. But I am using carrots today as it is healthy and looks veraciously red and decadent

This is a recipe that needs to be seen. But in my experience, I have seen many YouTube videos that do not cover the finer details of this recipe. I am doing something I have never done before. Instead of making video recipes, I am actually pasting links of people who have posted the recipe in their respective vlog channels, with footnotes of things that either they missed, or could be introduced in the method which would alter the results quite a bit.

Today, I take on 2 master chefs- Tarla Dalal the legend in herself and Kunal Kapoor, the Master chef judge. They both have millions of admirers online, including me. And I always love to see their take on recipes before I start off in the kitchen. I will start today with K kitchen- the video is here

Chef Kunal does what chefs do the best, beautify the dish so so much that it becomes too pretty to eat.

• 1.       .43 seconds – I suggest we actually mix the besan with curd first and then add water. In fact I suggest we add the water just last and about 1.5 cups does a better job, than 2 cups of water.
• 2.       Add hing in the batter, trust me on this.
• 3.       1.19 sec- never should you pour the batter in a hot kadahai. It forms lumps immediately. Pour first and then put it on flame always.
• 4.       4.19 sec- instead of coconut, I suggest using carrots for a healthier lighter, yet a pretty coloured dish. You can leave it plain too, as I mostly do anyways.
• 5.       I loved the fact that he never asked you to grease the thali. You don’t need to grease it at all. If it is cooked well, it rolls out beautifully. And greasing can actually prevent you from spreading evenly.

The legend that was Tarla Dalal (video), she made it as a home cook would- that is without a care in the world that she could go wrong. After all she must have made this recipe so many times before. Her batter was a bit lumpy, but much drier than chef Kapoor’s and I feel it is advisable to keep the batter thicker like so. 

Another important step that she mentions is testing the batter before spreading it fully on the plate. Do make it a point to do so, as it is the most important step to get it right, without fail.

Both these people are great in the recipe. And both their styles are much different to each other. Hopefully with my pointers, you too would be able to make khandvi like a pro. If you do, please do not forget to let me see a picture of it soon! Cheers!!

P.S. - Khandvi is a protein rich food which is low on fat, and could be your ideal post work out snack. That's why, enjoy a good plate of khandvi this week. Next week, there will be more bonus recipes which you never thought could be this healthy!

PICNIC 101- Chocolaty Oats and Apples Muffins!

The sky is clean, smells crisp; the westerly winds blow into the face just the way I would have liked. Yes, I stay in the capital of India, and yes, we do get these pristine mornings, sometime. But when we do, I waste no time in getting my feisty handsome foursome out in the sun, feeling the green under his limbs. This is undoubtedly the best time in the year to be in Gurgaon. And no weekend should go without a nice picnic, out in the sun.

Now picnics could be organised in a lot of ways than one. A casual beer and wine with barbecue on the side ought to be my favourite. Followed closely by a cook-earlier-serve-later-kinds. And the potluck, ah that takes the cake! So, the series starting now should keep you covered for each picnic event that you plan with your family and friends. In fact, I would also squeeze in a fantastic romantic brunch for 2, out on the terrace, with sun brimming in. It would be a hassle free, completely cook ahead, yet hot kind of romantic brunch, that could be served with a light champagne cocktail.

But to kickstart the series, here is my go to healthy snack for kids and adults alike. This is perfect to be taken on a long drive out of home. Its filling, yet full of good things which makes sure you are on the track for the new year resolution you so solemnly took. Alternately, if you have leftovers, you can simply pack it in the tiffin boxes for your kids to take to school, during the week. It is my very tried and tested recipe for some chocolaty apple and oat muffins. This much of ingredients make 12 big muffins.

INGREDIENTS

2 apples, peeled and sliced

1 cup of oats

1 egg

¼ cup vegetable oil

¼ cup curd, homemade works well

½ cup honey

2 tbsp. of your favourite jam, I used homemade strawberryjam that I made last year. Read about it by clicking here!

½ cup hot water

¼ cup cocoa powder

Vanilla extract

Salt

¼ cup sugar

2 tbsp vinegar

Upto 2/3 cups of whole-wheat flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Chocolate chips or nuts, which are optional, but highly recommended.

METHOD

Trust me when I say that it can’t get any easier than this. We basically just blend everything together and bake. That is, it!!!!

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees c and get that going. Line your muffin pans with paper cups and keep it ready. I at times like to spray the cups with some vegetable oil so that nothing sticks to the paper.

Now the fun begins. Get the best blender you can lay your hands on and start blending the apples, oats, jam, egg, curd and oil to a nice homogeneous paste. I used my robust Hamilton beach smoothie maker, trust me it never fails me. If you don’t have a fancy blender, then just do the blending in a mixer grinder, starting always with the oats. Make a fine powder and then add all the wet ingredients to make a paste.

While that is mixing, mix in a measuring jug ¼ cup pure unsweetened cocoa powder with hot water, stir vigorously and keep it aside to bloom. This step really helps in building a darker stronger chocolate flavour. Add the sugar to the hot mix as well, it would help dissolve the grains.

Now in a nice big bowl, whisk 1/3 cup of whole-wheat flour with baking powder, soda and salt and keep it ready. If you are adding chocolate chips or nuts, then coat the additions in flour at this stage, and keep it ready.

Just to break up the method, you have 3 separate elements of the muffins ready. You have a blended mix of oats and apples, a jug full of chocolate goodness and dry flour coated nuts and chips. Now comes the assembly.

Let the chocolate mix cool a little before adding in the vinegar and vanilla. Pour it in the blender along with the apples and oats, and blend again. Once its thoroughly mixed, pour it on the dry mix and combine well. The batter should be in a spoon dropping consistency, adjust with the extra 1/3 cup of whole-wheat flour, if the need be.

At this time, just lick the batter to taste for the sweetness. If you use tart apples, you may need to adjust sugar accordingly. But for me, the Kashmiri apples pack a lot of natural sweetness, and the half cup of honey takes care of the rest.

Now pour onto the ready muffin tin and bake for 15 -20 minutes, till a toothpick inserted in the centre, comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy a scrumptious snack which is easy to carry, and yet satisfyingly moist and fluffy for a healthy bite!

Cheers!!

Maida 101 with my famous Bitter Orange Cake!!

All-purpose flour has been given a bad name since long. Let’s get to the bottom of it, as I am a known cynic, and I never take a fact in without proper due diligence. And this is my corner in the internet where I will write about all I feel. So with your love of pointers, here I go-

• Refined flour is basically a product of wheat kernels that has been pulverised in machines for a long time, and bleached to attain a pure white colour. In the process we actually strip down most of its health benefits, fibres and vitamins. What we are left with has a certain amount of protein, in the form of gluten; and starch.

• Soft pillow-y structure of a bread made with maida makes it extremely easy to chew and digest, and hence it has a tendency of being over consumed. The lack of fibres too doesn’t help. Fibres give us the feeling of being full, no fibres- no signal; and you end up eating double the amount required.

•  This is the main cause behind vilification of refined flour, it is so light that you over eat and gain empty calories for your body to store as fat. Fat deposits leads to major health problems in the long run.

• Obviously whole wheat flour which is milled in front of your eyes is a healthier option than maida; but in moderation usage of maida won’t harm us at all.

Today, I am healthifying my cake by adding full orange with skin in it, which would add the much needed fibres back in the cake. Try it once, and you would become a fan of this cake, as has my family! Cheers!!

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour/maida

2 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

A handful of chocolate buttons

3 eggs

3 small size oranges, cut as shown in the video

½ cup of oil, I used light olive oil

1 cup sugar

Few drops of vanilla essence or ½ tsp of vanilla paste

Sambhar in a Chutney!!

Clean and Delicious Part 4 -  healthy breakfast which is clean, delicious and savoury to our Indian liking!!

Homemade is Clean and Delicious to the infinity and back. And India has a host of cuisines which gets classified under clean and delicious easily. The king of it is the south Indian veg cuisine with its scientifically baffling ingredients, which makes me proud to be an Indian. Idlies are nothing but fermented dough steamed to perfection. It is served with a sambhar which is lovingly simmered with all sorts of vegetables (necessary fibres and nutrients), strong whole spices (essential anti-oxidants and nutrients) and lentils (plant protein). The white coconut chutney adds the essential fats in the form of cold-pressed raw coconut oil that extracts itself and emulsifies with coconut fibres, thanks to the steady friction of a stone mortar and pestle. We actually give very less credit to our ancestors. They were nothing short of geniuses to have made this cuisine so easily available to the world.

My week started with this little packet coming in. It contained a lot of new age healthy choices to pick from. I checked the ingredient list too, and found it was pretty clean with no preservatives and/or stabilizers. Citric acid and sodium bi carbonate are simple everyday ingredients that we use in our day to day life anyways. So I was eager to try their range the very next day. And I loved what I ate. Undoubtedly they had everything that they promised to provide. I dunked my idly in a sambhar flavoured chutney which was easy to put together on a busy workday morning, and yet gave the satisfaction of a proper South Indian breakfast. The ingredients are simple and are always available in my pantry. And this recipe literally takes less than 10 minutes to put together. So, there is no more reasons available to anyone for not having a proper breakfast in the morning.

Ingredients

3 large tomatoes, pureed

1 medium onion, pureed

2-3 cloves of garlic, pureed

½ inch of peeled ginger, grated

1 heaped tsp or more of Home-made or store bought Sambhar masala. I used homemade.

Salt, sugar, turmeric and red chilly powder to taste

2 tbsp oil

½ tsp mustard seeds or rai

1 sprig of curry leaves, washed and dried

Method

In a pan, add a tbsp. of oil, and fry the onion and garlic paste till the raw smell disappears. Add in the tomato puree and ginger and let it simmer till the oil separates out of the mix. I do this step while making and drinking my morning coffee, the mix sizzles while I get ready for the busy work day morning.

Now once the oil separates out of the wet masala mix, add in the sambhar powder and turmeric powder. Stir vigorously to combine. Let the masala penetrate the vegetables well.

Once the chutney starts smelling aromatic, taste. If its homemade sambhar masala, you would know about the seasoning, but if its store bought, chances are that salt is already present in the spice mix. So taste well before seasoning to your liking. I like to balance the salt, sugar and red chilly well. At times I even add a dash of white vinegar at this stage, but it really depends on how sour my tomatoes are to begin with.

Once you are happy about the seasoning, get ready to temper the chutney.

 

In a small tadka pan, heat a tbsp. of oil. Pour in ½ tsp of mustard seeds till it splutters and fills the oil with its earthy fragrance. Now let it off the heat and drop in the curry leaves to fry off in the residual heat. As the spluttering sound stops, pour in the hot aromatic oil onto the chutney, mix well and let steep covered for 5 minutes, before serving.

An easy, delicious chutney is ready to be enjoyed with fresh hot steamed idly, or crisp dosa. I have also applied it on a toast and had it with an poached egg. It was beyond beautiful!!

 

Cheers!!

This post is brought to you in association with Gits Food. The recipe and picture are IP of the author herself. 

Savoury Whole-Meal Scones with Nando's!!

Clean & Delicious Part 2- I celebrated Valentine's Day with my little family of three, munching on these yummy Whole-Meal Savoury Scones.

The spring garden is one of my most favourite things in the world. The little bees hovering about. The butterflies learning to fly. The leaves beginning to grow back. It's warm, and yet not hot. It is undoubtedly the best time to garden and harvest your fruits of love! And these Wholemeal Scones were conceptualised, sitting right in my terrace, surrounded by my favourite plants.  

Scones are an underrated and hardly ever made variety of flaky morsels of flour, that can be made sweet, savoury; or 'neither-sweet-nor-savoury' kinds. Valentines day being on a busy working day, prompted me to make something easy, yet light and decadent at the same time. My ever busy mister was supposed to return home early today. so i needed to jazz up tuesday tea time to get to a level of Valentine's day worthy. And so upon returning from work, i took a quick stroll in the garden to amass some harvest, and pottered around in the kitchen to make these, timed perfectly so that it bakes just as my boys return home. 

For all of you lovely people tuning in right now, thinking about a special treat for that special someone; make these healthy bites. It's a no egg recipe, perfect for the very commonly practiced meatless Tuesdays of India. It's Easy to put together. Requires just a few ingredients, and they 'should' all be cold. So happy baking !!

Ingredients for 8 Scones:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda
Salt and pepper to taste

A small handful of leafy vegetables, I plucked baby spinach from my garden. 

1/2 tsp or to-taste mustard powder

1 tsp sweet chilli powder/Cayenne

2 tbsp chopped green leaves of onion and garlic. These green leaves are packed with nutrients and add great flavour too

1 red banana pepper, deseeded and chopped finely.

1/2 cup of cold butter

1/2 cup swiss cheese- gruyere 

1 cup cold buttermilk/Chaas or simply a cup of milk mixed with a tbsp vinegar.

Method

In a mixer grinder/ food processor put in the butter, cheese, leavening powders and flour, and pulse to dispense them throughout the mixture, in even pea like shape. I have noticed that it's easier to start this process when we cut the butter and cheese into cubes.

Now dump the crumbly mix into a flat mixing bowl, and mix in the spices and green veggies with a spoon or fork. 

In goes the cold buttermilk/chaas into the bowl and mixed to form a dough.

Tip it on a floured work surface, and gently gather it to form a rectangle. Fold it in thirds to amass it to form a square. Roll it gently to be evenly thick, about 1/2 an inch. Cut them into your desired shapes and rest it in the fridge for 15 mins to an hour.

Now preheat the oven to 220 degrees, and let it come to the temperature slowly as the dough rests in the refrigerator.

In the same measuring cup where you measured buttermilk, make a glaze with a generous glug of honey, milk and salt; stirred to combine.

Grate some cheese for the top, I used gruyère once again. I salted and Cayenne-ed it for added flavour.

Now take out the chilled dough, brush it with the milk mix and sprinkle on the cheese. Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes, until golden brown and crispy on top and bottom.

Easy crumbly tea time snack, which is healthy and fits our lifestyle perfectly! Cheers!! 

This post was brought out in association with Nando's. If you haven't already, do hop into one of their franchise restaurants in a city near you. they are expanding majorly in India. They are famous for their grilled chickens in a variety of sauces, one of them being this delicious lemony garlicky sauce. It also serves to be the perfect dip for my Whole-Meal Scones.