Oats & Peas Congee

Hello Friends...

Getting into regular routine of life after a long much needed break is really tough to manage and need loads of self motivation to be back on track. My summer break is finally over and back to my lovely space with an exciting news of winning in Plattershare for Chicken Vs Paneer Contest which happened a month back. Felt really happy when my innovative recipe, Poached egg in chicken rasam won in the contest and icing on the cake is getting a personalised message from Masterchef. Jayanandan for this recipe. I am thankful to plattershare and feeling excited as this is the second time win in their amazing platform. Also, thanks to Goindiaorganic team for sponsoring and sending these healthy and diet friendly products.

In my today's recipe, I have used the organic porridge oats which I received from Goindiaorganic. Absolutely loved the quality of it and the texture was so perfect with less gooey consistency.

Congee is a type of porridge which is usually prepared using rice or gruel in many Asian countries. The word congee is derived from Kanji ( Tamil ), which is the prominent food of Tamilnadu. The preparation of congee and the side dish for it varies according to places. Though the congee is eaten as such, additional ingredients like meat, chicken, fish etc are added as flavourings. In my recent visit to china trip, had a great chance to taste the authentic chicken flavoured congee with delicious toppings, so thought of trying the same with a healthier version by using organic oats. I have used chicken powder in this recipe which can also be replaced with stock cubes or fresh chicken pieces.

Ingredients :

3/4 Cup Oats 
1/4 Cup Green peas
2 1/2 Cups Water 
1 Tbsp Chicken powder 
1/4 Tsp Pepper powder 
Salt, if necessary 
1/4 Tsp Sesame Oil 
3 Tbsp Spring Onion leaves, finely chopped
2 Eggs, Boiled and Sliced

Method :

Mix chicken powder and water in a heavy bottomed bowl.

Bring it to boil and add green peas followed by oats.

Simmer the flame and cook till the oats & peas gets cooked.

Add pepper powder, sesame oil and few chopped spring onion leaves.

Let it cook for couple of minutes or till you get the required porridge consistency.

Remove from the flame and transfer it to a soup bowl.

Add sliced boiled eggs and the remaining spring onion leaves on top of the porridge while serving.

Serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve with boiled eggs.

Notes :

Instead of using chicken powder, fresh chicken pieces can be used. And if using fresh ones, prepare stock out of it and then add the remaining ingredients. 

Pumpkin - Oats Soup / Diet Friendly Recipe - 98 / #100dietrecipes

Pumpkin - oats soup is a silky textured nutritious soup prepared using veggies and oats. This creamy and delicious soup can be served as breakfast along with a wheat bread toast or croutons. Veggies and oats are pressure cooked and blended into smooth puree is further cooked along with salt and pepper to get a silky and tasty soup. If you are bored of having oats in a porridge form or oats haters, include it in such a soup and enjoy diet friendly meal.

Ingredients :

1 1/2 Cups Pumpkin, grated 
1/4 Cup Oats 
1 Carrot, chopped 
2 Tomatoes, chopped 
1/4 Tsp Cumin powder / Jeera powder 
2 Tbsp Masoor dal 
1 Bay leaf
Salt to taste 
2 Cups Water 
1/4 Tsp Pepper powder  ( Adjust according to taste bud ) 

Method :

Add grated pumpkin in a pressure cooker along with chopped carrot, tomatoes, oats, masoor dal, bay leaf and cumin powder.

Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook it for 5 - 6 whistles.

Once done, switch off the flame and cool it.

Once the pressure gets released, open the lid, remove the bay leaf and blend the pumpkin mixture into smooth puree.

Add half cup of water to a pumpkin puree and boil it again for 5 minutes by adding the required amount of salt and pepper powder.

Transfer it to a soup bowl and serve hot.

Note : I usually don't strain the soup unless it is necessary, so straining can also be done in this soup to avoid the tomato skins.

 Serving Options :

Serve hot with wheat bread toast or croutons. 

Oats - Dal Khichdi / Diet Friendly Recipe - 72 / #100dietrecipes

Khichdi is a flavorful and popular dish prepared using rice and dal in which rice and dal are cooked together soft and mixed along with spices. The preparation of this recipe varies according to each state. And in my today's diet friendly series post, I have used oats and moong dal to make it healthy and I am sure, even oats haters will love this meal as it is tasty and does not contain gooey texture. As everyone must be familiar that oats is high in dietary fiber and also lowers the cholesterol level, try to include it in a different form apart from the regular porridge. Veggies like green leaves, peas, cauliflower etc can also be included in this recipe to make it more tasty and nutritious.

Ingredients :

3/4 Cup Oats
1/4 Cup Moong dal
1 Tsp Olive oil
1/2 Tsp Mustard seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds / Jeera
A pinch of Hing
2 Springs of Curry leaves
1 Tsp Ginger, Finely chopped
3 Garlic pods, Finely chopped
1 Onion, Finely chopped
1 Tomato, Finely chopped
1 Green chilli, sliced ( adjust according to taste bud )
Less than 1/4 Tsp Turmeric powder
1/4 Tsp Red chilli powder 
Salt to taste
3 Cups of Water 
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method :

Wash and add moong dal in a bowl along with 2 1/2 Cups of water.

When the dal gets 3/4th cooked, add oats and simmer the flame.

Cook till the oats and dal gets cooked.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds.

Once it starts spluttering, add jeera seeds followed by hing, garlic, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves.

Add the chopped onion and saute for a minute.

Add the chopped tomato and saute till it turns soft.

Now add turmeric powder followed by red chilli powder and salt.

Add the remaining half cup of water and cook for 5 minutes.

Add the cooked oats - dal mixture and mix well.

Simmer the flame and cook it for couple of minutes.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with any vegetable curry. 

Oats Pongal / Diet Friendly Recipe

Are you on diet and bored of regular Oats and Milk  ? Then, this is a recipe for you....

Generally, there is a saying that all healthy foods are not tasty but I always believe that, it can converted into tasty dish by giving a twist. Though Oats has lots of nutritious values, there are lots of Oats haters because of it's unique taste and gooey texture. But when it is prepared in a different way, it tastes very delicious too. Various dishes can be prepared using oats like oats buttermilk, oats dosa, oats omelette, oats idly etc.. Personally, I use Oats powder to replace bread crumbs for fried items.

Oats pongal is a tasty, healthy and filling breakfast. As, this is a diet- friendly recipe, I have used Olive oil for seasoning. But regular oil or ghee can also be used for extra richness. Diet watchers can skip cashews too. I have added only 3 for the garnishing purpose.

Ingredients :

1/2 Cup Moong dal
1 Cup Water
3/4 Cup Oats
1 1/2 Cups Water
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1/2 Tsp Jeera
8 Pepper corns
Handful of Curry leaves
3 - 4 Cashews ( Optional ) I have used only for garnishing.
1 Big Green chillies, sliced
1 inch Ginger, chopped n crushed
Salt to taste

Method :

Wash Moong dal and pressure cook it for 4 -5 whistles by adding 1 cup of water. Keep aside.

Take a non - stick pan and add 1 1/2 cups of water and salt.

Let it boil and add the oats.

Simmer the flame and cook it for 5 minutes or till its done.

Add the cooked dal and mix well.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan and add Jeera followed by pepper corns, ginger, green chillies, Cashews and curry leaves.

Fry it for half a minute and add it to oats pongal.

Mix well and serve.

Serving Options :

Serve hot with Coconut chutney and Sambhar.

Oats Moong dal Payasam / Oats Pasiparupu Payasam

Day 4 Sweet Recipe :

Prepared this sweet yesterday for our dinner..Oats lover will love it for sure..Since my husband doesn't like oats as such, powdered it and prepared this payasam. You can cook oats without powdering it too.
I prepared this as thick consistency, you can add extra milk according to your wish.
  

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp CupMoong dal
1/2 Oats, Powdered
2 Cups Water
1 Cup Jaggery, grated
1/2 Cup Boiled Milk
2 Tbsp Ghee
5 Raisins, chopped
6 Badams, chopped
6 Cashews, chopped

Method :

Roast Moong dal with little ghee and cook in pressure along with oats for 5 whistle.

Meanwhile add jaggery in water and heat it for 2 mins or until jaggery gets dissolve, filter the residue which presents at the bottom of jaggery water.

Add this jaggery water to the cooked oats n moong dal.

Simmer the flame and cook it for 3 minutes. Keep stirring.

Heat ghee in a pan and fry the cashews, badam,and raisins.
Now add the fried items to payasam and mix well.

Add boiled milk and serve hot or cold.

Note :
You can add crushed elachi too for the flavor.
Grated coconut, fried in little ghee can also be added.