Carrot cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I never had the guts to try any other type of cakes other than basic chocolate. And now that I did, I’m wondering why on earth did I not try this before. Must Must try for all dessert lovers. If you have never tried it before, then go for this; a totally different world of flavours awaits you.

Note:

I don’t use ginger powder for any recipes, so I dint bother to buy. I needed ½ tsp ginger powder for this recipe, so I did a bit of poking around and found out how to make ginger powder at home. I sliced the fresh ginger root super thin, and popped into a preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes till they had completely dried out. (Microwave works fine too). Then they went into my grinder and brmm brmmm (Just used 3-4 slices). Along with this I also popped my cinnamon sticks into the oven and ground them finely. If you have ready powders, good for you. And the nutmeg, just grate it with a grater.

This recipe serves 8 slices. Each serving provides 225 calories approximately.

For the Cake:

Here is what you’ll need:

1 cup all purpose flour (Maida)

1 ½ cup finely grated carrots

2 eggs

1 cup sugar (3/4 cup sugar if you don’t like it sweet)

¼ cup melted butter

¼ cup oil

½ cup nuts (almonds/ walnuts/pecans)

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ginger powder

½ tsp cinnamon powder

¼ tsp nutmeg powder

1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Grease a 10 inch baking pan and dust it with flour.
3. Wash, peel and grate the carrots finely.
4. Chop the nuts roughly and roast it on low heat till light golden and aromatic. In 1 tbsp of all purpose flour toss the roasted nuts and keep it aside.
5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon powder, ginger powder and nutmeg powder. Keep it aside.
6. In a large whipping bowl, beat the eggs till frothy for few minutes, and add the sugar. The egg sugar mixture should froth well and thicken.
7. Add the oil, butter and vanilla extract and keep whisking.
8.  Slowly add the flour mixture into the whisking bowl and gently fold in till completely mixed. Do not over beat.
9. Gently fold in the grated carrots and nuts.
10. Pour the batter into the greased pan and pop it into the oven for 30 minutes or till the toothpick comes out clean.
11.  Let the cake completely cool before frosting.

For the cream cheese frosting:

Here is what you’ll need:

1 cup cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

½ tsp vanilla essence

2 cup whipped cream

Method:

1. Whip up cream as per packet instructions and keep it aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese till softened and add the powdered sugar and vanilla essence.
3. Gently fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and your frosting is ready to go.

Frost your cake the way you want and Enjoy!

Recipe by Zohra Sada

Ras Malai - Yummy Creamyy Indian Sweet

Spongy soft balls cooked and served in thick sweet milk garnished with nuts and cardamom flavour is the king of Indian desserts in terms of richness.

This is a no fail recipe. I've been making ras malai since my teenage years and I've never gone wrong with this one and never have I bothered to try any other way.

This recipe makes 18-20 pieces of ras malai and each piece provides 140 Calories approximately.

Here is what you’ll need:

1 cup full fat milk powder

1 tsp all purpose flour

¾ tsp baking powder

1 tsp ghee

1 egg

4 cups full fat milk

1 ¼ cup sugar

2 cardamom

Almonds/pistachios for garnish

Method:

1. Mix the full fat milk powder with all purpose flour (maida) and baking powder. 
2. Crack in an egg and start mixing.
3. Once the mixture starts binding together, add the ghee and if required another 2 tbsp milk powder.
4. Knead to a soft dough.
5. Pinch off small balls and start rolling into a ball. This should make 18-20 balls. Divide accordingly.
6. In a large pot, bring 4 cups of milk to a boil with the sugar and cardamom.
7. Once the milk comes to a rolling boil, lower the heat and start adding the rolled out balls into the milk.
8. Close the lid and let the milk simmer for 7-8 minutes on a very low heat.
9. After 7 minutes, open and check one piece if it’s cooked through the centre.
10. If not, simmer for another 2 minutes and then switch off the flame.
11. Serve cooled garnished with nuts.

Few things to remember:

• Use FULL FAT milk powder. I always used Nido milk, though full fat Anchor would work well too. 
• If your eggs are large you may need to use a couple more tbsp of milk powder while kneading.
• The rolled out balls should have a smooth exterior. This is a proof that your dough is soft and good to go ahead.
• Let the milk come to a rolling boil before adding the balls and then keep the flame on low while adding the balls. If the milk is boiling while adding the balls, it will cook immediately from outside and remain uncooked inside or it may all fall apart.
• Try using a wide mouth vessel for boiling the milk as the balls will expand double its size.

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Recipe by Zohra Sada

Prawns Stir Fry

Quick. Simple. Easy. Keep your ingredients all ready and turn on the heat.

This recipe serves 3 people and provides approximately 120 calories per serving.

Here’s what you’ll need:

15-20 medium sized prawns

½ cup carrot julienned

¼ cup capsicum sliced

1 spring onion with leaves chopped

1 tbsp garlic finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger finely chopped

2 tbsp butter/oil

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp red chilli sauce

Salt as per taste

Method:

1. Heat up the wok and melt the butter.
2. Fry the chopped ginger and garlic on high heat till light golden.
3. Add the chopped spring onions and fry till softened.
4. Add the cleaned deveined prawns and toss till cooked.
5. Season the prawns with soy sauce, red chilli sauce, salt and pepper.
6. Toss in the carrot and capsicum.
7. Garnish with spring onion leaves.
8. Serve with noodles or rice

Recipe by Zohra Sada

Garma garam Poori/Puri

And there are times, however healthy you try to eat, you want a heavy greasy breakfast. It may feel absolutely sinful but a couple kilometers run will help you get over that feeling. Poori accompanied with any curry of your choice. Bhaji, kala chana, chole vegetable korma or even halwa; best weekend breakfast. Easy, simple and straightforward.

This recipe serves 2 people and makes 6 pooris. Each puri gives approximately 107 calories.

Here is what you’ll need:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp oil

½ tsp salt

Water as required

Oil for deep frying

Method:

1. Sieve the flour and add salt and oil to it.
2. Mix together and slowly start adding lukewarm water forming stiff dough.
3. Knead well for 5 minutes and rest the dough covered for 20 minutes.
4. Make small portions out of the dough and roll it out into 4 inch diameter.
5. Heat the oil and test with a small portion of dough if the oil is well heated.
6. The dough should bubble and rise, Once the oil is heated, fry each puri at a time.
7. Slowly lower the rolled out puri into the oil and immediately splashing oil on top and pressing gently with the back of a spoon.
8. Once the poori puffs up, turn the other side.
9. Once it turns golden brown both ways, remove it out on a kitchen towel to absorb excess oil.
10. Serve hot or keep it in a casserole.

NOTE:

• While kneading, make sure the dough is stiff unlike regular chapatti.
• While rolling do not use more flour to dust it. A good dough does need flour for dusting. If required use little oil to help roll.
• Fry, only when the oil is well heated. The heat should be medium high.

 Also try Potato Masala in The Kitchen Counter column.

Recipe by Zohra Sada

Carrot - The root for health!

Sweet, delicious and healthy. A root vegetable that adds crunch, colour and fibre to the diet. Eaten fresh or cooked, this nutritious food is exceptionally rich in Vitamins providing very low calories and almost no fat.

Although we get to see mostly orange carrots in the markets, purple, red, yellow and white varieties do exist. Most of the health benefits of carrots are attributed because of its high beta carotene and fibre value. Carrots are also a good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin B8, pantothenic acid, potassium, folate, iron, copper and manganese.

According to ayurvedic sources carrot's cool nature and mild bitter taste purifies the blood. Carrot has a cool and relaxing effect on the eyes. Beta-carotene, which gives carrots their bright orange color, is metabolized into vitamin A in the presence of bile salts in the small intestine. Vitamin A nourishes the liver, and purifies the blood. These actions improve vision, complexion of the skin, and generally reduce inflammation. Carrot helps make the skin noticeably softer, smoother, and firmer. Carrots increase the quality of the breast milk. During pregnancy, carrots reduce the risk of jaundice and enhance baby's complexion. 

Health benefits:

1. Improves Eyesight: Deficiency of Vitamin A causes night blindness or the inability to see in dim light. Carrots being a rich source of beta carotene, lutein and zeaxanthin prevent these conditions including cataract.
2. Digestion: Carrots like most other vegetables give good amount of fibre to the diet which bulks the stool and acts as a laxative. It stimulates peristaltic movement and secretion of gastric juices.
3. Diabetes: Despite its sweetness and natural sugars, carrots stabilize blood sugar because of the presence of carotenoids. Carotenoids inversely affect insulin resistance and help lower blood sugar. 
4. Cancer: Antioxidants and beta carotene present in carrots play a role in cancer prevention.
5. Carrots have numerous other benefits associated with it like;  prevention of heart diseases, reducing blood pressure, lowering risk of stroke, preventing cancer, boosting the immune system, increasing the rate of fertility, nourishing the skin and the pregnant lady.

Keep in mind the nutritional values of vegetables change if eaten raw or cooked and also depend on the different methods of cooking. For example, boiling the carrot and draining the water may cause loss of vitamin C and folate while on the other hand research has shown that cooked carrots have more amounts of antioxidants compared to raw.

A bowl of warm carrot soup, a plate of fresh carrot salad, carrot into vegetable curries, carrot halwa or pickled carrots – blend in your diet the way you want - or freshly extracted carrot juice which can do wonders on the liver. Most diseases can be cured by improving the functioning of the liver. Fresh carrot juice is often compared to blood detoxification.

How would you use up your bag of carrot??

Also Read: Carrot Pudding/ Gajar ka Halwa, Carrot Cake and Carrot Pickle in The Kitchen Counter column.

Post by Zohra Sada

Coconut Masala filling/topping for Puttu

 This masala of coconut and chicken is a match made in heaven for puttu. It works perfectly well as a filling for other recipes calling for a coconut filling like chapathi foldovers too. 

Here is what you’ll need:

2 chicken breast pieces

2 large onions

1 ½ cup fresh coconut shredded 

6-7 green chillies

10 curry leaves

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp oil

½ tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

½ tsp garam masala

½ cup chopped coriander

½ cube stock (optional)

Salt

Method:

1. Sauté the onions, chilli and curry leaves on low flame till the onions reduce. Sprinkle salt.
2. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry on medium heat till the raw smell goes. Fry in the turmeric powder.
3. Add the rest of the masala powders  and then add in the chicken.
4. Let the chicken cook in its own juice. If the masala sticks to the bottom, add a couple of tbsp water.
5. Once the chicken is completely cooked, remove it from the masala and shred it finely.
6. Put back the shredded chicken in the masala and mix well.
7. Mix in the coconut and chopped coriander and cook on low simmer for 10 minutes till steamed.
8. Use the filling for your favorite recipe.

 Recipe by Zohra Sada

Puttu - Rice powder and coconut delicacy

Making of the puttu podi:

Puttu: Steamed cylinders of finely powdered rice and coconut layers. A favorite breakfast in the Kerala cuisine. Most of the recipes for puttu ask for buying ready made rice flour or puttu podi meant for making puttu. I have often heard friends complaining that puttu made of ready puttu podi turns out very stiff and hard. We like our puttu crumbly and soft. So here is the puttu recipe from scratch.

I have used a mixture of brown or Kerala Parboiled rice along with just normal parboiled rice. The brown parboiled rice tends to make the puttu even softer. Wash and soak the rice for 3 hours atleast. Once soaked, drain the rice and spread it out on a cotton cloth to dry the rice for 10 - 15 minutes.

Dried rice is easier to grind and does not clump together.  Once dried, use a heavy duty grinder to finely powder the rice. Remember, the powder should be extremely smooth. It may take 5 minutes of grinder time. Do not powder all the rice at once. Make it into 2-3 batches. Your rice powder for the puttu is ready. This puttu powder can be done in bulk and stored in freezer for a couple of months.

Once ready to assemble the puttu, take rice powder in a deep dish, add a tsp of salt and 2-3 tsp of sugar. Add 2 tbsp of water and mix well. The water is added bare minimum to help the puttu cook with steam. If the mixture becomes wet or if the coconut filling is moist and you are using a puttu maker, you are inviting disaster. The pressure builds up and the whole cylinder of puttu will jump out with a blast. Literally. Been there done that. Be careful.

The layering of puttu can be done with plain coconut or spicy coconut masala with shredded chicken. Check out the recipe of Coconut Masala. Plain shredded coconut can also be used as a topping and a side dish of chicken/ sambhar can be served.

For assembling in a puttu maker, start at the bottom with a layer of plain shredded coconut. The second layer will be the rice powder. The third layer will be either the coconut masala or plain coconut. This will go on repeating till the last layer will be a coconut/masala layer. You can now steam your puttu. The doneness of your puttu is when your puttu maker steams.

If you want to make puttus and you don’t have a puttu maker, use your steamer and idli vaatis/bowl. Each individual bowl will be a puttu. The base layer will coconut filling and top it with rice powder. Pop these into your steamer and steam for 5 minutes.

If you like your puttus sweet make plain puttus with plain coconut topping and whilst serving add a tsp of ghee and sugar.

This recipe will serve 4 people. Each serving (3 puttus) of puttus give 414 calories approximately.

Here is what you’ll need:

¾ cup Kerala parboiled rice

¼ cup parboiled rice

1 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp water

Method:

1. Wash and soak the rice for 3 hours
2. Drain the rice and spread it out on a cloth and dry for 10- 15minutes
3. Grind the rice into a fine powder
4. Add salt sugar and water
5. Assemble the coconut filling and rice powder in a puttu maker and steam

Recipe by Zohra Sada

The Pep Talk: The Desperate Housewives - Bad Habits

DISCLAIMER:  This post is meant as a chiding for me and me to be a better wife, mother and woman.

I know your life is busy or busier than any other woman. Your pile of chores and to-do lists won’t just get over. And then there are kids to look after and you have to update your social network and watch that serial. Give me 48 hours in a day, it will still be insufficient. Oh did I forget about, ‘to cook’, sorry! You have to cook and cook and cook. For your husband, and your kids and then feed yourself if you have any energy left, (after all that TV watching.)

Hah! Just kidding… No. Seriously. No jokes. Somehow the housewife manages to get more tired and exhausted than any other job. Pardon me, I said housewife, not a home maker. I’m not a sexist, just said so, because this article is more pointing towards women.

So, women. Yeah!

Every woman’s dietary lifestyle is different depending on her age, marital status, education, lifestyle and economic and family status.

A well educated woman, with a good family and economic status tends to adapt a healthier lifestyle for her family and herself compared to a woman who may be in a well off family but is not educated well enough. A healthy lifestyle may also depend on the place or economic condition of residence. For example, a woman staying in a developed country depends more on ready-to-eat meals or frozen and packaged food. The same woman if staying in a rural and under developed area goes to the market to buy fresh organic food and needs to burn double the calories.

All in all, there are few common BAD habits in modern housewives:

1. Waking up late and skipping breakfast: This one is the latest trend for mothers with kids going off to school. Once the kids are off, you go back to sleep and wake up to cook for lunch. And before lunch you don’t really skip the breakfast but indulge in a slice of nutella or coffee. Really?
2. Nibbling in between cooking: So your cooking bread rolls for dinner. The chicken filling is ready and so is the bread dough. You go ahead and start filling, and…Oh! Why is the pot of chicken filling half empty. I just tasted a spoonful. It was so tasty I tried another spoonful. Naaa.. Never mind. There was extra anyway. (Extra layer fat on your tummy. Hah!)
3. Eating the leftovers of the children’s meal: So little Katy left her plate half empty and so did Kai. Oh God ! children! They don’t understand, it’s not good to throw away food. L I’ll finish their plates and then I’ll go eat mine too. (Woman! You need to keep your plate in the fridge)
4. Saying No to milk: I’ll scream my lungs off at my kids to drink their milk. “How will you grow up to be a tall strong boy if you won’t drink any milk” And I’ll break my bones because of osteoporosis. Most women hate milk.
5. Saying No to greens: I won’t have a lettuce salad. I don’t mind a bit of coriander. Your garnish of coriander and mint don’t count for greens. ANEMIA.
6. Chocolates, sweets and fatty foods: The intense cravings, the erratic behavior they cause. Chocolate and fatty foods are an addiction. If your kids wipe out your secret stash of chocolates, you start scrounging every nook and corner. It’s an addiction. Cut it out.
7. Heavy Dinners: Have breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper said some wise man. And here we are putting all our energy and calories to laden the dinner table with exotic meals.
8. Too much for two: Most women just can’t cook enough for two. They end cooking too much and all the extra leftovers go down the drain…I mean their stomach.
9. Going hungry: If your husband or kids are not home for the day. Its holiday from the kitchen for all you beautiful housewives. No breakfast, no lunch, no dinner. Just lots of chips, chocolate and whatever ready to eat junk is available.
10. Whatsapp dietician : So someone got a forwarded message from whatsapp that eggplants aka brinjals cause cancer. And here I was thinking that eggplants prevent cancer. Ladies, cooking one big eggplant for your whole family even twice a month wont cause you anything. No, not even kidney stones. Chill. Eat up that brinjal.

No. Don’t laugh. You know it’s true. And you all do that.

Stay tuned for the next article of “The desperate Housewives”. Till then Eat smart, Eat healthy.

Post by Zohra Sada

Sweet Momos / Hatha Welli Nawari

Only for ease of understanding I have named them as sweet momos. Though the recipe is very similar to that of momos, this is a traditional bhatkali recipe going by the name of “hatha welli nawari”. 

The method of preparation is similar to that of momos. But here the filling is sweet with a coconut base. I have used jaggery as a sweetener. Sugar works extremely well too.

The skin for the momo is made of semi cooked dough. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, switch off the flame.  Add the salt and ghee and dump in all the dough at once and then go ahead and knead to medium soft dough.  Once the dough is ready, pick out small pieces and roll out into chapathi.

On one half side of the chapathi spread a thin layer of the filling .Now fold the chapathi and seal the edges.

The momos are ready to get steamed.

This recipe makes around 20 momos. Each serving (1 momo) gives approximately 92 calories.

Here is what you’ll need:

For the filling:

1 cup fresh coconut

1- 1 ½  cups jaggery/sugar

1 tbsp rose water

¼ cup almonds and cashew nut chopped

1 tsp sesame seeds (til)

For the dough:

1 cup water

1 ¼ cup all purpose flour (maida)

1 tsp ghee

½ tsp salt

Method:

1. For the filling mix the coconut, jaggery and nuts in a heavy bottom pan and let it cook on low flame till the coconut cooks, jaggery melts and the mixture steams. Add a tbsp of rose water.
2. For the dough, in a large pot bring the water to a boil.
3. Add salt and ghee to the water.
4. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, dump in all the flour at once and start mixing it with a wooden spatula.
5. Once the dough starts clumping together, lay it out on a flat surface and knead it well till it forms soft dough.
6. Pick out tiny lemon sized balls of dough, knead each of them and roll out skin thin chapathi.
7. Add the prepared filling to one half and seal shut by pressing the edges together.
8. Keep the prepared momos on a  paper.
9. Bring the steamer to a boil. Grease the steamer plate with few drops of oil to avoid the  momos sticking.
10. Once the water boils, arrange the momos on the steamer plate. Take care that each piece don’t touch the other.
11. Steam for 10-12 mins.
12. Serve cool. 

Recipe by Zohra Sada

The Pep Talk: Fad Diets

 The question that follows, “So what did you do in your Bachelors?” Me, “Food, Nutrition and Dietetics”. “Oh Wow! Please please please give some tips to lose weight”.  And I go like… Okay, I’m done here!

The question is asked by every second individual who wants to lose weight instantly. And they think that we dieticians have some magic pills. No No No! I’m hoarse of shouting out to people. But who is going to hear when every time you Google ‘weight loss’, the internet is filled with solutions for fast weight loss. That, my dear friend, is called a FAD DIET. 

Why is the internet filled with these junk diets? Everyone these days is influenced by the glamour world. Everyone wants to see some fast dramatic changes in their figure without putting any actual effort or developing good food habits. Companies promoting these Fad diets take advantage of these facts and offer your easy simple solutions. For example a fad diet that says that you could lose “X” kg in “Y” days, in this process something is taken away from you. Different type of diets have different methods like completely eliminating Fats or restricting the carbohydrates, the soup only diet or the juice only diet  are many such examples. A commercial diet that guarantees you weight loss or get your money back offer may sound really enticing. The truth is that you will lose weight only for a short period of time. In the long run you may gain more weight than you lost.

Most of these diets consist of eating a handful of this, a cupful of that, half a banana or rusty old toast. It simply makes you famished and stressed that you would after those certain amount of days overindulge in eating and just like your weight had plummeted down; it will gain more and much more at a faster rate.

The list of Fad diets is a long one. Few of them could be considered, few of them are stupid, few of them insanely dangerous and few of them are just hilarious. Allow me to give example of each:

Mediterranean Diet: It doesn’t even come under a list of Fad diet. It’s in fact a way of living for many people.

Atkins Diet: Although many may swear by it, Atkins diet has been labeled the fad diet of the 21^st century. This diet invented by cardiologist Robert C. Atkins totally restricts carbohydrates and emphasizes on proteins and fats. Pssst. Dr. Atkins apparently died of heart attack.

The Three hour diet plan, the three day diet plan or the grapefruit diet. Let’s not even discuss these.

The tapeworm Diet plan: Insanely dangerous. You swallow a tapeworm.  Yes. Orally. And then share your breakfast, lunch and dinner with the tapeworm in your stomach.  Oh the tapeworm can change paths and go into your bloodstream or into your brain. Yah right.

And the hilarious one, The Amputation diet: http://faddiet.com/amputationdiet.html just check this one out.   

Post by Zohra Sada

Mutton Haleem

Here is what happened. A cold chilling day, and a craving for a dish of hot spicy haleem. I soak the burgul and dals. Defrost the meat and Lo! Behold! the box of haleem masala is almost empty. (I normally buy ready made masala pack, never had the guts to try making from scratch.) So I go like, lets try.  I scan the list of ingredients mentioned on the box, estimate the amount minus all the preservatives and chemicals and tada! The ready dish of haleem turns out to be better than all my previous ready masala haleem.

For making haleem I use broken wheat /burgul. It soaks in no time and cooks faster than whole grains. 

Use the dal mixture of your preference or whatever is available in your pantry.  All these beautiful dals serve as powerhouse of proteins.

Dry roast all the spice mixture till fragrant and powder them in a grinder.

For those of you who like chicken just substitute the meat.

This recipe serves 8 people.   Each serving of haleem gives approximately 385 calories and 25g of proteins.

Here is what you’ll need:

½ kg mutton

1 cup broken wheat (burgul)

¼ cup red dal

¼ toor dal

¼ cup urad dal (mash dal)

¼ cup any dal of your choice (optional) (channa dal)

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garlic paste

3-4 tbsp oil/ghee

4 tbsp chopped Coriander

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

½ cube maggie stock (optional)

Fried onions (for garnish)

Lemon (for garnish)

Whole Spices:

1 tsp whole cumin (jeera)

1 tsp whole coriander (dhaniya)

½ tsp whole black pepper

4 cardamoms (elaichi)

1 cinnamon stick (dalchini)

1 bay leaf (tej patta)

4 cloves (lavang)

10 curry leaves 

1 tsp onion seeds/ kalonji/ nigella seeds

Method:

1. Wash and soak the dal and broken wheat in lukewarm water for 1 hour.
2. Dry roast all the whole spices on low flame till fragrant. Once cooled, grind it into a fine powder.
3. In a pressure cooker, heat ghee/oil and fry the ginger garlic paste till the raw smell goes. Add turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
4. Add the cleaned mutton and the powdered spices.To this add 4 cups of water and pressure cook on low flame for 20-30 minutes till all the meat falls off the bones.
5. Separate the meat and bones and shred the meat finely.
6. In a pressure cooker, cook the burgul and dals with 10 cups of water for 20 minutes.
7. Once cooked, add the mutton pieces and soup of the mutton to the dal base.
8. Adjust salt and add  stock (optional). Add the chopped coriander.
9. Let the haleem cook till desired consistency.
10. Garnish with fried onions and coriander leaves. Squeeze in a slice of lemon.

Learn to make perfect fried onions/Birista in the The Kitchen Counter.

Recipe by Zohra Sada

Diet for Underweight

Just exactly opposite to obesity is the problem of underweight. The concern for this condition also remains equal to as that for obesity. There there, now you know the importance of being just the right weight and not being the cause of global worries. J

People with BMI less than 18.5 are categorized as underweight. People who are underweight have reduced capacity for sustained heavy work and lower productivity. Immunological deficiencies are seen. Undernourished children have lower heights and weights. Pregnant women show a proportional increase in the risk of an underweight baby born. Greater proportion of time of such people is spent off work or in bed ill when BMI levels are below 17 in men and women.

The causes of underweight are many, such as, famine conditions or an inadequate diet in proteins or an attempt at reducing weight; debilitating diseases like TB, diabetes, malabsorption syndrome or cancer; anorexia nervosa; pathological conditions like fever, gastrointestinal disturbances and in hyperthyroidism.

The signs and symptoms of being underweight are thinning and dryness of hair, pituitary hormone abnormalities, reduced heart size, slowed heart rate, mild anemia, constipation, diminished muscle mass, dry skin, lowered total sleep time, mildly altered thyroid function, cold sensitivity, lowered body temperature, light headedness, absence of menstrual periods, brittle nails, loss of subcutaneous fat, slower reflexes and edema.

The dietary modification for an underweight person calls for a high calorie, high protein, and high fat diet with liberal vitamin intake. The cause for under-eating should be determined and eliminated before starting a diet.

Regular outdoor exercise helps to stimulate appetite. Emotional well being is essential to have a good appetite. Constipation may reduce appetite, so the bowel movements should be regulated with adequate fluids, exercise and fruits. Synthetic drinks, soft drinks, alcohol, aerated drinks, too much of tea and coffee reduce appetite and should be avoided.

Therefore, avoid the two extremes of body weight. Read Healthy. Stay Healthy.

Post by Faiz Lahori 

Pav Bhaji

A popular Indian fast food originated in the Maharashtrian cuisine, the pav bhaji is the most widely sold food on Mumbai’s street. Everybody’s favorite lunch, snack or dinner, the word bhaji means vegetables and pav means bread roll. The pav bhaji is a spicy tangy mixture of vegetables largely of potatoes, generous amount of tomatoes, topped with butter. It’s served hot with warm soft rolls of bread or pav toasted in butter.

The recipe for pav bhaji may vary largely but the basic ingredients and general method of cooking remain the same. Potato is the base vegetable and to that cauliflower, carrots, peas or even beets can be added. Sometimes cooked and mashed toor or masoor dal is also added to maintain consistency. Capsicum is another essential ingredient that is added which gives a distinct flavour.

This recipe serves 4 people providing approximately 200 calorie per serving of the bhaji.

Here is what you’ll need:

2 large potatoes

1 cup of vegetable (carrot/cauliflower/peas)

2 tbsp butter

¼ cup capsicum

2 large tomatoes

1tbsp tomato paste (optional)

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

3-4 green chillies chopped

 6 pav for serving with the bhaji

Garnish:

1 onion finely chopped

2 tbsp coriander

Butter

Lime wedge

Pav bhaji masala powder:

¼ tsp turmeric

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

½ tsp garam masala

1 tsp chat masala

Method:

1. In a pressure cooker, cook the potatoes and optional vegetables till soft.
2. In a flat bottom pan, melt the butter. Add the ginger garlic paste and chillies till the raw smell goes.
3. Chop the tomatoes finely and fry it in the butter till the tomatoes soften and became mushy. Add salt to hasten the process.
4. Add finely chopped capsicum to the tomatoes and sauté for a few more minutes.
5. To this sprinkle all the masala powders, be careful not to burn.
6.  Immediately add all the cooked vegetables and required amount of water.
7. Mash the vegetables till they lose their shape and form a thick gravy like paste.
8. Cook further till the bhaji reduces to the desired consistency.
9. Garnish with chopped onions, coriander, fresh butter and a wedge of lime.
10. Serve hot with warmed pav.

Recipe by Zohra Sada

Diet in Obesity

Obesity is the major health concern today. It tops the list of major problems that the world has to conquer. The battle with bulge is definitely not an easy one, but proper knowledge about the issue and appropriate measures to combat it will help achieve the weight loss goals.

Obesity can be defined as the generalized accumulation of excess fat in the body.  Overweight is a condition where the body weight is 10-20% greater than the mean standard weight for age, height and gender. Obesity further leads to disability, disease and premature death. Usually obesity is due to positive energy balance i.e. the intake of calories is more than the expenditure of calories.

Obesity results as an interaction between numerous factors such as social, behavioural, psychological, metabolic, cellular and genetic.

Genetic inheritance influences 50-70% a person’s chance of becoming fat more than any other factor. Within families, the chance is 80% if both the parents are obese and 50% if one person is obese.

Obesity can occur in any age in either gender as long as the person is under positive energy balance.

Certain types of eating habits may lead to obesity such as nibbling between meals, eating faster thereby consuming more food, responding to external cues to eat rather than internal cues such as eating according to timings and type of food, business executives who frequently attend business lunches, housewives who do not want leftover foods to be thrown out, people who eat outside more frequently, people who eat more junk food, certain cultural practices of making and distributing sweets on festive occasions, non-inclusion of fruits and vegetables in the diet, people who eat processed, concentrated and high fat food, eating as per mood and eating as per advertisements, supermarkets and restaurant trends.

Obesity is found in persons who lead sedentary lifestyles and pay less importance to physical education.

Self-gratification, self punishment, depression, anxiety and stress may lead to excess calorie intake.

Obesity is found in hypothyroidism, hypogonadism and cushing’s syndrome. It is common during puberty, pregnancy and menopause.

Obesity is common among people from higher socio-economic status as they have the purchasing power and availability of surplus food.

Obesity can be assessed in one of the following ways:

Obesity is graded into the following types:

There are several complications associated with obesity, such as, Physical disabilities like flat feet, osteoarthritis of knee, hips and lumbar spine; metabolic disorders such as diabetes, hyper-insulinemia, excess cholesterol in plasma; high BP, increased incidence of varicose veins; sleep apnea; prone to accidents; gall stones; osteoarthritis; obstetrical risks because of hypertension, diabetes and postpartum infection; psychological disturbances like self blame, withdrawal and feeling of inferiority; low life expectancy and cancers, digestive tract diseases and skin disorders are more prevalent in the obese.

The various treatment methods for obesity are Diet therapy, physical exercise, stress management, pharmacotherapy, weight loss surgery and behavior therapy.

Low calorie, normal protein – vitamin & mineral (except sodium), restricted carbohydrate, restricted fat and liberal fluid, high fibre diet is recommended to manage obesity.

Read wise. Eat Wise. 

Post by Faiz Lahori