Muesli Peanut butter Smoothie Bowl

Start the morning with a quick, tasty & nourishing breakfast that will help you stay fit and happy throughout the day.

Ingredients:

1. Muesli - 1 cup
2. Yogurt (any flavor of your choice) - 1/2 cup
3. Milk - 1/2 cup
4. Milk powder - 1 tsp
5. Banana - 1
6. Strawberries - 5-6
7. Chia seeds - 1 tsp (soaked for an hour)
8. Peanut butter - 1 1/2 tsp

Process

1. Blend everything together in a blender, except chia seeds and muesli. Then add chia seeds and mix well.

2. Pour into a smoothie bowl, add layer of muesli on the top of the bowl and garnish with some more fresh fruits.

CHERRY CHIA PUDDING

Chia pudding is always healthy, delicious and a great option for breakfast. And when cherries are in the season and you want to give a twist on the breakfast table, then why not make this yummy CHERRY CHIA PUDDING!!

Chia pudding is a super quick to make and also healthy. We enjoyed this version of Red & White Cherry chia pudding. This can be served as dessert also. 

Ingredients

1. Fresh cherry - 1/2 cups
2. White chia seeds - 5 tsp (for serving 2)
3. Almond milk - 1 cup
4. Honey or Maple syrup - 4-5 tsp
5. Almond - 4-5 pieces to garnish

Process

1. In a large bowl, add almond milk. Add honey or maple syrup to the milk and mix well with a spoon. 

2. Now add chia seeds to this mixture and mix till everything is well combined.

3. In a small blender jar, add few cherries and grind to a good mix. Your cherry paste / sauce is ready. You can add little sugar or honey if the cherries are not very sweet.

4. Pour the chia seeds mixture into serving glassed / bowls and refrigerate overnight or minimum 5-6 hours. When ready to eat, take out of the refrigerator, top with cherry sauce and  serve immediately.

BEETROOT Appe with Sambar

Paniyaram or Appe are ball shaped dumplings made with fermented rice and urad dal batter. These are one of the everyday breakfast foods from South Indian Cuisine. To make these, a special pan is used, known as Paniyaram pan or Aebleskiver Pan. Paniyaram is very easy to make if you already have leftover idli or dosa batter at home. I had leftover Dosa batter at home and I just added a few spices in the batter and made these. Also, there are versions where the spices are tempered and then added to the batter. I have used grated beetroot to make it more healthy along with of a different color. Though the color did not came out so dark, but it was yummy.

Ingredients

1. Dosa batter - 2 cup
2. Onion - 1 finely chopped
3. Beetroot - 1 cup grated
4. Green chillies - 1-2 finely chopped
5. Ginger - 1 inch finely chopped
6. Asafetida (hing) 1 pinch
7. Black pepper (crushed) - 1/2 tea spoon
8. Salt to taste
9. Red chilli powder - 1/3 tea spoon
10. Curry leaves - 2 tsp - chopped
11. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
12. Oil - as required

Process

1. For making the batter, take the dosa batter in a bowl. Add chopped onions, chillies, coconut and other spices and mix well. Add salt if required. Add the grated beetroot. If the batter looks thick you can add some water. Combine well.

2. Heat the appe pan, add few drops of oil on each mould. Pour spoonful of batter occupying 3/4 of the mould. Allow the batter to cook for 2-3 minutes on low medium heat. Then turn each appe with the help of wooden skewer or spoon and allow the other side to get cooked and crisp.

3. Repeat the same process with the remaining batter.

4. Serve hot with hot Sambar. 

BLUEBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE

Smoothies are all the craze these days. Not that smoothies have not always been popular, but honestly, growing up I never really made smoothies. This blueberry banana smoothie is very healthy and easy and quick breakfast option. 

Ingredients

1. Blueberries - 1 cup frozen
2. Banana - 1 cup sliced frozen
3. Almond Milk - 1 cup
4. Chia seeds - 1 tsp soaked over night (optional)
5. Honey / Maple syrup / Sugar - as per taste

Process

1. Please all the ingredients on a blender jar and blend until smooth.

2. If the smoothie is too thick, you can add more milk at the time until the smoothie reaches your desired consistency.

3. If you are using chia seeds, dont put that in the blender. You can add the soaked chia seeds once the blender paste is ready.

4. Serve chilled.

PANIYARAM or PADDU

Paniyaram are ball shaped dumplings made with fermented rice and urad dal batter. These are one of the everyday breakfast foods from South Indian Cuisine. To make these, a special pan is used, known as Paniyaram pan or Aebleskiver Pan. Paniyaram is very easy to make if you already have leftover idli or dosa batter at home. I had leftover Dosa batter at home and I just added a few spices in the batter and made these. Also, there are versions where the spices are tempered and then added to the batter. 

Ingredients

1. Dosa batter - 2 cup
2. Onion - 1 finely chopped
3. Green chillies - 1-2 finely chopped
4. Ginger - 1 inch finely chopped
5. Asafetida (hing) 1 pinch
6. Black pepper (crushed) - 1/2 tea spoon
7. Salt to taste
8. Red chilli powder - 1/3 tea spoon
9. Curry leaves - 2 tsp - chopped
10. Grated coconut - 1/2 cup
11. Oil - as required

Process

1. For making the batter, take the dosa batter in a bowl. Add chopped onions, chillies, coconut and other spices and mix well. Add salt if required. If the batter looks thick you can add some water. Combine well.

2. Heat the paniyaram pan, add few drops of oil on each mould. Pour spoonful of batter occupying 3/4 of the mould. Allow the batter to cook for 2-3 minutes on low medium heat. Then turn each paniyaram with the help of wooden skewer or spoon and allow the other side to get cooked and crisp.

3. Repeat the same process with the remaining batter.

4. Serve hot with coconut chutney. 

PAPAYA BANANA SMOOTHIE

A smoothie is a drink made with pureed fruits or vegetables just using a blender. Smoothie has a liquid base like fruit juice, milk or curd or any other dairy product of your choice. The topping and ingredients are totally based on personal choice. I have made this smoothie with papaya banana and milk with my favorite fruits as toppings. This is so healthy and power packed smoothie bowl to start your day with. Smoothies are always good for breakfast and tastes amazing. Do try this and I am sure you are going to love this.

Ingredients

1. Papaya - 1 cup (frozen)
2. Banana - 1/2 cup (frozen)
3. Almond milk -1/3 cup
4. Honey or sugar (optional)
5. Toppings as per your choice (I have used banana, strawberry, kiwi, cashew and sunflower seeds)

Process

1. Add all the ingredients in a blender a make a good paste.

2. You can use sugar or honey if you want to make it more sweet. The papaya I have used was already very sweet, so I have not used any additional sweets.

Rose & Almond Chia Pudding

Rose and Almond Chia pudding is healthy, delicious and a great option for breakfast. Chia seeds pudding is super quick to make and also healthy. Here I have used rose water and rose petals to make this delicious chia pudding. Its one of the most commonly used flavor in Indian Desserts along with cardamom and saffron. And if you love the amazing rose flavor, just you need to add almonds for this chia pudding. We enjoyed this pudding as our breakfast, can also be served as desserts. 

Ingredients

1. Almond milk - 1.5 cups
2. White chia seeds - 5 tsp (for serving 2)
3. Rose water - 1 tsp
4. Honey or Maple syrup - 4-5 tsp
5. Almond - 4-5 pieces to garnish
6. Rose petals - to get the pinkish color and garnishing

Process

1. In a large bowl, add almond milk. Add honey or maple syrup to the milk and mix well with a spoon. Add rose water.

2. Now add chia seeds to this mixture and mix till everything is well combined.

3. In a small bowl, add 2 tsp almond milk and put some dry rose petals, grind to a good mix, and add this pink mixture to the chia seeds bowl. You can also use pink color to get the color (Optional)

4. Pour this mixture into serving glassed / bowls and refrigerate overnight or minimum 5-6 hours. When ready to eat, take out of the refrigerator, top with chopped almonds and rose petals and serve immediately.

CHOCOLATE CHIA SEED PUDDING

Upon discovering you could use chia seeds to make creamy, dreamy pudding for your breakfast, I am just in love with it, and became my favorite breakfast during this Covid-19 pandemic. Anyone can make this easy breakfast, plus its so healthy. Make this at night for breakfast or a mid-day meal, or prepare it in the morning for a simple desert. You can make chocolate chia pudding in many ways, below are two of them I tried out with.

Ingredients:

1. Chia seeds - 1/2 cup

2. Maple syrup or honey - 3-5 tsp

3. Milk - 1 cup

4. Cocoa powder 1/4 cup

Process 1 :

In a mixing bowl add chia seeds, maple syrup or honey, milk and whisk until a paste forms. Divide the mixture in two bowl. One bowl you can cover and refrigerate overnight. In the other bowl add cocoa powder and whisk properly. Now cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, you can present these two different mixtures by layering in a single glass and decorate with some crashed chocolates or any desired toppings like fruits of your choice or whipped cream.

Process 2 :

In a mixing bowl add cocoa powder and maple syrup or honey and whisk to combine. Then add milk and whisk until a paste forms. Add chia seeds and whisk until smooth. Then over and refrigerate overnight until its achieved a pudding like consistency. Before serving, add your desired toppings,you can use any fruits of your choice, nuts, choco chips, crushed cudbury or freshly whipped cream.

SABUDANA VADA

Sabudana vada is a popular crisp fried snack made with tapioca pearls (sago). It's a popular Maharashtrian snack that is eaten not only as a tea time snack but also as a fasting.  It is served with sweet yogurt. I keep on seeing people in my office used to have this as "a whole day meal" when they are fasting, and was always wondering "Fast me log khana kyun khate hai". Being a bong, I have always observed this in my family, we do not eat anything while fasting. Different people follow different cultures.

But these Sabudana vada are not too shabby, nothing too fancy and super easy to make, all you need to do is soak the sabudana overnight in water. Here is my recipe after my first experiment with these yummy vada's.  

Ingredients:

1. Sabudana (Tapioca pearls or sagu)- 1/2 cup (soaked over night)

2. Potato - 2 (boiled & mashed)

3. Salt to taste

4. Peanuts 1/4 cup (you can also skip this if not available)

5. Green chilli - 1 (finely chopped)

6. Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tsp (finely chopped)

7. Lemon juice - 1 tsp (optional)

8. Flour - 1 tsp (optional)

9. Cumin or Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp

Process:

1. To start with, if you are using peanuts, roast them until golden and aromatic in a frying pan and let them cool completely. Then grind to a coarse powder. Keep aside.

2. In a mixing bowl, mix together soaked sabudana, boiled and mashed potatoes, peanuts, green chillies, salt, cumin or fennel seeds (whichever you are using) and coriander leaves. Add lemon juice (optional) and mix them well.

2. Make small balls and then slightly flatten to make the vada. Do not make them too thin as they may break.

3. Heat oil in a pan and start frying them on medium flame, once they are golden and crisp, remove the flame.

4. Serve hot with sweet curd or any chutney of your choice.

ALUR DAM || BABY POTATO CURRY

Luchi Alur dam is typical Bengali cuisine and the most favorite breakfast of Bengali's. There is a famous saying "Eat your breakfast like a king" and we Bengali's love to eat. I have made this alur dam with baby potatoes along with the skin.

Ingredients:

1. Baby potato - 300 gram

2. Onion - 1 big (finely chopped)

3. Tomato - 1 (finely chopped)

4. Ginger - 1 inch (chopped)

5. Green chilli - 2-3 (slit)

6. Salt to taste

7. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

8. Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

9. Cumin seeds - 1 tsp

10. Ghee - 1 tsp

11. Cumin powder - 1 tsp

12. Bay leaf - 1

13. Hing (asafoetida) - a pinch

14. Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

15. Fresh coriander leaves - 1 tsp (finely chopped) - for garnishing

Process:

1. In a pan, add oil and deep fry the baby potatoes for 3-4 minutes, adding a pinch of salt and turmeric powder, keep aside.

2. Remove the excess oil and start making the curry. Add bay leaf, hing and cumin seeds, saute by adding ginger, onion, tomatoes and green chillies. Add salt and all the powder spices, sprinkle a little water and let it cook on low flame til it starts to spread good aroma. Cook for 4-5 minutes.

3. Once the curry is half cooked, add the fried baby potatoes and half cup of water and cover with a lid. Cook for another 5 minutes and check if the potatoes are boiled properly. Once done, add ghee and garam masala powder.

4. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve hot with Luchi.