Breakfast Granola

 

  

Granola is a healthy breakfast option. It is a whole food with nuts and oats.  It can be had with milk or yogurt.

It has good cholesterol and is good for the heart. But, most of the granola available on store shelves have high content of sweetners and sugar syrups added to it which makes it high in calories content. So, if you have the ingredients to make it at home, it is truly worth it.

 Some recipes call for adding a lot more sugar in the recipe. I have cut down on the amount of sugar I have used in it.

Ingredients:

• Quick cooking oats - 4 cups 
• Slivered almonds - 3/4 cup 
• Chopped walnuts - 1/2 cup 
• Chopped cashew - 1/4 cup 
• Chopped pistachios - 1/4 cup 
• Peanuts - 1/2 cup 
• Wheat bran - 1/4 cup
•  Dried cranberries- 1/4 cup
• Chopped dried figs - 1/4 cup 
• Chopped dates - 3/4 cup 
• Golden raisins - 1/2 cup 
• Sesame seeds - 1/4 cup 
• Flax seeds - 1/4 cup 
• Ground cinnamon - 1 tspn
• Dark brown sugar - 1/4 cup
• Water - 1/4 cup 
• Salt = 1/4 tspn

Directions:

•  Preheat oven to 120°C
• In a large bowl mix oats and nuts
• Combine water, sugar and cinnamon and salt.
• Coat the  oat-nut mixture with sugar mixture and bake for 15 mins. 
• In the mean time, dry roast sesame seeds and flax seeds on a pan for 2 mins.
• When the oat mixture has finished baking, remove from oven and add the flax seeds, sesame seeds and the wheat bran. Cool mixture completely.
• Finally, toss in the dried fruits and mix well. 
• Serve with milk or yogurt. 

Appam and Stew

Diwali came with much excitement and enthusiasm. The house was cleaned spic and span. There was a sprawling rangoli at my door step and all the diyas glimmering away.  And then, all of a sudden, diwali came to an end with a lot of noise and air pollution.

Right now, we have bright sunny days in Bangalore. But, there is a chill wind indicating the onset of winter.  November is ticking away with only a few days left for everyone to start updating their new year's resolution. Can't believe that 2012 too is coming to a close. Wow! That was fast.  But, I'm looking forward to all the excitement coming up in December with Christmas and New year's and can't wait to try out some new restaurants this the festive season.

Coming to my recipe for today.  Appam and stew is a breakfast dish served in Kerala. It is a high calorie meal, but I or in fact we love it. Some folks like serving appam with milk an d sugar. But, i think that appam is best served with stew.  Click here for stew recipe.

Ingredients:( Makes 16 appams)

• Rice flour - 1-1/2 cups
• Cooked rice - 1 cup
• Grated coconut - 1 cup
• Water - 3 cups
• Coconut milk - 1/4 cup (optional)
• Yeast - 1/2 tspn
• Sugar - 2 tspns
• Salt - to taste
• Milk - 1/4 cup (optional)

Directions:

•  In 1/2 cup of warm water, add yeast and sugar and set aside for 5 mins.
• Other than salt and milk, grind the rest of the ingredients together. Add proofed yeast mixture and let ferment for 5-6 hours. 
• Just before making the appams, add salt and milk to the batter.
• To make appam, pour one ladle of batter in a hot appam pan and rotate the pan so the batter coats the sides of the pan. Cover and let cook for 2-3 mins. And serve hot (Appams are cooked only on one side)
• I have demonstrated how to make appam with pics.
• Best served with stew. Click here for stew recipe.