skinnyDESI

Brown Basmati Rice

March 12, 2010January 4, 2017Leave a comment

I found it! Brown basmati rice, with all of the aroma and nutty flavour of white basmati rice. In the traditional grocery store… it didn’t require a search party. But don’t be mislead, in the rice aisle you will find Texan, Native and Californian brown basmati rice. This is not acceptable for a desi family. In the “ethnic” aisle you will find India’s Own Brown Basmati, grab it and bring it home. I did and promptly cooked a cup with some green peas. It was delicious. I did omit the butter yet added a teaspoon of olive oil, fearing that the rice would turn out too dry, but infact it was not. What is proving difficult is finding all of the nutritional information I need for my comparison, search party now required. I will add the info later once I have it.

Brown Basmati Rice with Green Peas.

1 cup of brown basmati rice

1 cup of frozen peas

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of olive oil

1. Wash rice thoroughly.
2. Soak rice for 45 minutes
3. Drain rice and place in Hundi, add cup and 1/2 of boiling water
4. Add salt and olive oil
5. Add 1 cup of frozen peas.
6. Cover hundi and place in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

Channa Masala – Healthy Version

February 19, 2010March 11, 2010Leave a comment

I chose an easy recipe to start this project with. There is not too much to change from the original channa masala recipe as it is a pretty healthy meal already. But the process was far from easy since my husband had a melt-down when he walked into the kitchen and saw a can of crushed tomatoes beside a bowl of chopped tomatoes. I tried to explain to him that tomatoes were needed to replace the oil and thicken up the masala, but he wasn’t having any of it. He firmly believed that I was turning his childhood favourite into a form of basterdized indian food a la chef boyardee. After his tantrum and my threats to throw this whole project into the trash, we agreed to disagree and I proceeded with the cooking.

Original recipe:

4 cups cooked chickpeas

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 medium onions (peeled and minced)

1 clove garlic (peeled and minced)

1 teaspoon fresh ginger

1 tablespoon ground coriander

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon tumeric

1 teaspoon red chili powder

6 tablespoons chopped tomatoes

1 cup water

2 teaspoons ground roasted cumin seeds

1 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 lemon (juiced)

1 fresh, hot green chili pepper

2 teaspoons chopped fresh corriander

Directions:

Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onions until golden brown, then add the garlic, ginger and chillies. Sauté until the garlic changes colour, then add the tomatoes and the coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli powders, lower the heat. Add the chickpeas and salt and most of the chopped coriander leaves, garam masala, crushed cumin and coriander seeds. Add lemon juice, and top with remaining coriander leaves.

Revised recipe:

Replace 2 cups of chickpeas with 2 cups of cooked peas.

Replace olive oil with 1 can of crushed tomatoes.

I used pam spray on my pan to sautee the onions, then garlic, then ginger and finally chillies.

Next I quickly added my can of crushed and fresh tomatoes.

Everything else remained the same.

The meal turned out lovely. I served 1 cup of Channa Masala over 1/2 a cup of white basmati rice (see picture). The white rice has to change, however I wanted husband to lick his plate full of Channa Masala, rice and a little crow.

I did learn that I have more investigating to do as I want to know if:

1. Is there brown basmati?

2. What is the difference in calories?.

3. Can I find low calorie naan? or Roti?.

Will keep you updated on my investigations.

The Battle Begins

February 16, 2010February 17, 2010Leave a comment

Trying on my wedding sari proved to be very difficult, there just did not seem to be enough fabric to cover my new body ( pictures to follow). But the experience did not render itself completely awful, there was one huge positive, my husband has joined the battle. He watched me wrestle a rich red sequined opponent and lose. So he decided to join the fight by committing to eat every revised Indian dish I cooked. I have to admit that I did have an ulterior plan when I handed him the camera and asked him to follow me into the basement.

My husband also has put on some weight since our nuptials. In our dark basement, out came his Salwaar and Kameez and a lot of shock. How did this happen? cried my poor little Shahrukh Khan. I guess as the years go by fashion changes and you buy new clothes in slightly bigger sizes each time, not realizing how tight your old clothes have become. Then suddenly you are in the basement with your wife participating in another one of her shenanigans and you find yourself facing your big fat self. Yes, there are little warning signs along the way that you choose to ignore, like all your aunties telling you how mota you are, but really when are you going to put on your wedding Salwaar Kameez and rock out? For us, it was last night.

So I took his measurements as well as some pics, and with a big sigh of relief that I don’t have to cook separate meals, began to work on my first recipe. Channa Masala.

One Hundi at a time

February 14, 2010February 16, 2010Leave a comment

The journey starts here, sick of being moti, but even more sick of tasteless diet food. I can’t diet anymore this has to be a lifestyle, my lifestyle and I need the heat, the flavour and the satisfaction of spice. When I eat a hot delicious curry I really feel as though I am full, unlike bland and often boring diet food I never feel content and I leave the finished meal starving and thinking about the next time I can eat. With my curry I don’t need a large amount, just a tasty little portion, but it is so calorie dense.

So I must do something about it, I plan to convert all my Indian meals into healthy nutritious fuel for my weight loss . This blog is to track the success, which recipes work the best, sorry taste the best, and what are the best healthy substitutions. This blog is also for my Indian family, who will watch my weight loss and constantly ask “what are you eating beta?, make me a diet too”. Ok here it is.

My Goal is to fit into my wedding Sari (big picture goal is to help prevent diabetes and heart disease in our community one hundi at a time). How long?, not sure yet. Lets try on the Sari and get some starting measurements and weight.