Healthy Soya nuggets with Turai (ridge gourd)

In my childhood days, we got a pack of soya nuggets free with some other grocery we bought. Before that we never had them. So knowing how healthy soya is for us, my mom asked someone about its recipe,and cooked it. But...., we being pure vegetarians, didn't liked it(somehow it had the non veg feel, and its called vegetarian meat.....). After that day i never tried to have it, or introduce it to our diets. But what now, due to kids nowadays i do try anything healthy...:)

To my surprise, we loved it so much..., Apart from being healthy(soya), i found a yummy way to cook turai or luffa ,which we disliked so much....

About soya nuggets,the nuggets have a protein concentration of 50-55%, the highest for any vegetarian source and negligible fat content ,free from cholesterol.The boiled nuggets turn spongy, ready to absorb any flavours you dunk them in. Biting into one of the nuggets and letting the absorbed juices explode in your mouth is a delight.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soya nuggets
500 gm luffa , Ridge Gourd, cut in small pieces.
1/2 tsp Cumin seeds (jeera)
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 inch ginger chopped
2 3 green chillies slit
2 cloves garlic chopped
2 medium onions - chopped
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder (dhaniya powder)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1 tsp Garam masala powder
3 tbsp Coriander leaves chopped
2 tbsp Oil
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak the soya nuggets in hot water for about 10 mins and keep aside (as per instructions in the packet).Squeeze and drain excess water from it(the chunks shall be quite soft now)

Heat the oil ,add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add asafoetida, ginger, green chilli, garlic and saute. Then add onions and saute till the onions are trasclucent.

Add Soya nuggets, turmeric powder,salt ,chopped coriander leaves and cook on medium flame till all the water evaporates(this step requires time, as tuarai also releases a lot of water).

When all the excess moiture is gone,add the chilli powder and coriander powder and Garam masala and simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Serve hot with roti, puri, rice

Note: I prefer adding small soya pieces(not the big big nuggets). if they are not available i just crush the nuggests in 4 5 pieces before soaking them, so that it easily blends with turai..

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Now here comes, one of my previous post, Healthy Palak Tofu, can view its recipe here.


I'm sending Palak Tofu along with Soya Nuggets and turai for the event Eat healthy,Protein rich

Posted by Neha 8 comments

Labels: dry veggie, healthy

Announcing SWC: Maharashtra

Few months back, Lakshmi of Taste of Mysore,started the event for SWC(Singapore Women Community). Every month one state is selected and its cuisine explored. When i came to know about this event, i asked lakshmi, can i host one?? I being so new here, was quite excited about it (and even now i am....), and she said why not. So here comes July month's cuisine, "Maharashtrian Cuisine" .

Actually earlier being myself a Rajasthani, first thought of hosting Rajasthani cuisine, but only a few months back Rajasthani food was being cooked in every bloggers home..:), so next what came in my mind , going a little down, Marathi food. I stayed for about a year in Nagpur,during my PG, in hostel. And being among so many hostelers (marathi), i did had feast every now n then.And i simply loved those snacks..

Now something about maharashtrian food....

Maharashtrian or Marathi food consist large variety of vegetables, fish and coconuts. Maharashtrian food is rich in ginger, garlic and lots of spices. Tomatoes, brinjals and other vegetables stuffed with masala fillings and cooked in oil till soft are very popular in Maharashtra. Cooking is mainly done in groundnut oil but it is made sure that the oil is minimum. Bharwan Baingan, Kohlapuri Rassa, Puran Poli, Aamti, Bombay Chiwda are some of the popular recipes.

If you are not familiar about marathi food and its recipes(as myself), i just googled out few links for our help, like mumbai masala, can see in wikipedia in details, some here and here.

And also there are a lots n lots of blog of fellow bloggers, having authentic marathi food, just search around.

So you wanna participate,rules are very simple, here are some guidelines...

Make any dish, be it Appetizer, Main Course or Dessert , Vegetarian/Non -Vegetarian,from the Maharashtrian cuisine and post the recipe in your blog and link it back to this announcement. Non-Bloggers don't worry, please do send me your entries with a picture, your name and recipe to the mail given and I will post it in the round-up with your details.

There is no limit to the number of entries that you might want to contribute.

Older entries on blogs are also accepted, only republish them during the event period with a link-back to this announcement.

You can also attach this nice logo designed by Vani (thanx to her), so that others can also link back.

Email the following details to neha.agrawal.2610[at]gmail[dot]com with SWC:Maharashtrian cuisine as the subject line by 31st July.

• Your name
• Your blog name
• Name of the Recipe
• Permalink of your post
• A photograph of the final dish (Any size is fine.)

Please all, do email me your entries,as it won't be possible for me to include them in the roundup, unless they are mailed to me, before 31st of July.And also do remind me if you don't get a reply in 2 to 3 days.

So now all, lets cook...

Posted by Neha 12 comments

Labels: event

Healthy Oat Dosa (pancakes)

Being a mother of two small fuzzy eater kids, i am always searching for something or the other healthy food to feed them.I heard oats are very good for them as they are full of protein and are fibre rich (can see about its nutrional value here and here).But feeding them ..???

I found this recipe(in a forum by Deepa), and thought its worth try.It makes a really yummy breakfast, Easy to make, very filling and so healthy too.

We too had this, i should say, we didn't felt it extra ordinary yummy(actually i don't have the taste buds for oats yet), but if we consider its nutritional value too, then i must say its real tasty..

Ingredients:

250gm Rolled Oats
50gm Sooji (semolina)
Green chilli 2
Ginger 1 inch
Coriander leaves 2 tbsp ,chopped
onions 1 medium, chopped(optional)
Salt to taste

Method:

Soak oats for 30 mins. Drain all the water. Grind it with 1-2 green chillis and a little bit of ginger, without adding much water. Dough should be around the idli-dough consistency. Add around 50gm semolina to the grinded dough, and add salt to taste.
Add corinader leaves and chopped onions.
Thats it, dough is ready.
Make thick dosas(pancakes) with the oats dough. Serve hot, with coriander chutney or tomoto ketchup.

Variations: You can add firm veggies (like grated carrots) or mashed veggies (like mashed broccoli ), to make it even crunchy, yummy and healthier too.

Posted by Neha 19 comments

Labels: breakfast n brunch, healthy

Its Aryan's b'day

Today Aryan turned four,my god i can't believe i have such a big boy(as he always says for himself...:) )
We celebrated his b'day in his school, with his friends, as par his wish. It was nice to see so many small small kids in the class ( i don't understand how these teachers manage them though..)

Can see here Aryan, Myself and my younger one , Anuj..

Posted by Neha 5 comments

Labels: miss.