J's thoughts

What to make for breakfast? A nerve wracking thought for all moms (everyone). Especially when you are hard pressed for time. And you had enough of boxed cereals and oats. Come on, even those 'healthy' cereals are loaded with sugar.  Steamed plantain is one of those easy breakfast items , as long as I can remember. It can be eaten just like that or with a chutney of crushed shallots, green chilli and salt in a bit of water. Oh nostalgia. But, I always felt hungry after an hour. A chit chat with my friend over this topic and she suggested having a boiled egg and a piece of toast (or plain bread) to go with the plantain. And yes, you have a delicious, filling and nutritious breakfast. And doesn't take much time at alllllll.

Appam made of wheat flour? What? Huh? Really? - this was the expression on my face as I saw a friend's post on the social media. It looked like a doable kind of recipe and the curious me who likes to experiment wanted to try it out. And what say, the end result was a soft appam that didn't have the taste of wheat at all. I ngredients 1) Wheat flour – 2 cups 2) Milk – 3 tbsp 3) Sugar – 5 tsp 4) Yeast – ½ tsp 5) Salt – as required 6) Coconut milk – as required 7) Warm water - as required Method To lukewarm milk, add one teaspoon of sugar, stir till it dissolves and add the yeast. Close it and keep it aside for 10 - 15 minutes for the yeast to come alive and do its magic. Add the wheat flour into a deep bowl. Add the salt and the rest of the sugar (5tsp) into the wheat flour and mix it well. To this, add the fermented yeast. Mix well by adding warm water. You need to get a thick batter; not runny but very very thick batter without any lumps. Ke...

Upma is a breakfast item in south Indian households and it is one dish which can be prepared in no time if you have all the ingredients ready beforehand, You can use semolina,or wheat rava or oats to make upma. I  tried quite a few recipes till i found a method that works for me. So here goes my tried and tested version for soft fluffy upma. Ingredients: 1. Upma (semolina)  - 2 cups 2. Shallots - 8 - 10 3. Ginger (minced) - 1 - 11/2 tsp 4. Green chilli - 2 5. Cashews - 10  (optional) 6. Raisins - 1/4 cup (optional) 7. Water (hot) - 2 cups 8. Oil - 1 tbsp     Ghee - 2 tbsp 9. Urad dal - 1/2 tsp (optional) 10. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp 11. Curry leaves - a sprig (optional) 12. Salt - to taste Method: In a wok, heat the oil and ghee. Add the mustard seeds to this. When it starts spluttering add the urad dal(if using).  Then add the chopped green chillies, give it a stir and add the minced ginger.  Fry these for about 30 seco...