Here is the healthy Wednesday menu for all our toddlers.Paniyaram is a traditional chettinad recipe.It can be served as both break fast and evening snacks.The texture of Paniyaram is so soft that nobody can stop eating it.
BreakFast
Kara Paniyaram
Ingredients
Raw Rice - 1 cup
Boiled rice - 1 cup
Urad Dal - 1/4 cup
Curry Leaves - 1 tea spoon
Fenugreek seeds - 1 tea spoon
Green chillies - 2 to 3
Chana dal - 1 tea spoon
Broken Urad dal - 1 tea spoon
Mustard seeds -1/4 tea spoon
Small Onion - 6 to 8
Oil - as required
Salt - as required
Method Of Preparation
1.Soak the raw rice,boiled rice,urad dal and fenugreek seeds for 3 to 4 hours.
2.Grind it well and keep the batter aside.
3.Let it undergo the process of fermentation the whole night.
4.It is good to start preparing paniyarams in the morning.
5.Heat Oil in the kadai and add mustard seeds,curry leaves, broken urad dal and channa dal one after the other.
6.Allow all ingredients to splutter.
7.Add the finely chopped green chillies and the small onions and saute it well for 2 to 3 minutes.
8.Do not allow the small onions to turn brown.
9.Add this mixture to the batter and add the required amount of salt and mix it well.
10.The consistency of the batter should not be too loose.It should be thick in consistency as the idli batter.
11.The Paniyaram moulds are readily available in market.
12.Pour some oil in to the moulds and fill the moulds with the batter.
12.Once the paniyarams are steamed turn it to the other side and cook it.
13.The colour of the paniyaram would be white with brown mixed.
14.The tasty "Kara Paniyaram" would go good with tomato sauce.
Variations
Similar to "Kara Paniyaram" we can make "Vegetable Paniyaram" by adding cooked vegetables of our choice to the batter.
Lunch
Fruit Curd Rice
Ingredients
Fresh Curd - 1 cup
Rice - 100 gms
Grapes - 10
Pomegranate - 1/4 cup
Apple - 1/4 cup
Cucumber - 1/4 cup
Cashew - 2
Dry Grapes - 4
Corriander Leaves - 2 tea spoon
Salt -as required
Oil - as required
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Ginger - 1/2 tea spoon
Method of Preparation
1.Wash all the ingredients thoroughly.
2.Boil the rice with three cups of water in a cooker. Always the ratio of rice and water is 1:3.
3.Turn off the flame after four whistles.
4.Mix all the fruits,cashews and dry grapes in a large bowl and add the fresh curd to it.
5.Add the required salt to it, mix it well and keep it saide.
6. Heat Oil in a Kadai and add the mustard seeds and the grated ginger to it.
7.Let the mustard seeds splutter.
8.Add this tadka to the mixture which was kept aside and finally add the soft cooked rice to it and mix it well.
9.Serve it with freshly chopped Corriander leaves.
10.This fruit curd rice goes well with any pickle.
Benefits of Curd
Though children hesitate to drink milk they love to eat curd rice. Curd has got more nutritional and health benefits.Many Indian families include curd as a part of their daily diet.My lunch always ends with a curd rice.I would say C in Curd stands for "Completion" of lunch.As curd is rich in calcium it is helpful in enhancing the bone strength and also it is easily digestable.It helps to increase the immunity level of a person.
Evening Snacks
Fig and Beetroot kheer
Ingredients
Beetroot - 2
Fig -2
Milk - 100-150 ml
Dates - 2
Badam - 3
Cardamom -1
Condensed Milk - 2 tea spoon
Sugar -as required
Ghee - 1 tea spoon
Method of Preparation
1.Peel the skin of the beetroot using a peeler.Grate the beetroot using a grater.Boil the grated beetroot with little amount of water.
2.Once it is bolied, drain excess of water and allow it to cool.
3.Soak the badam,dates and the figs in milk for 2 hours.
4.Now add the grated and cooked beetroot,badam,dates,figs,50ml to 100 ml of milk in to a blender and blend it to a fine paste.
5.Heat the remaining milk in a pan and add the paste to it and stir it well for 5 to 8 minutes.
6.Add a spoon of ghee and condensed milk and the required amount of sugar and stir it for 2 minutes
7.Sprinkle some cardomom powder to enhance the flavour.
8.The colorful "Fig and Beetroot kheer" is ready to eat.
Benefits of Beetroot
It is rich in Beta-Carotene which makes it a good anti-oxidant.It helps fight infection and diseases.It is rich in fiber, folic acid, iron and calcium.Last but not least,Beetroot is a blood purifier.
Benefits of Fig
Fig is also called as Anjeer.It is rich in Vitamin A,Calcium and Iron. It helps to fight against Constipation.Dried figs are available in all supermarkets.As it is rich in calcium it is a good bone strengthening agent.
Dinner
Aloo Chapathi
Ingredients
Atta - 1 cup
Potatoes - 2
Green chillies - 2
Ghee - 2 tea spoon
Salt - as required
Jeera powder - a pinch
Amchoor powder - a pinch
Corriander Leaves - 2 tea spoon
Method of Preparation
1.Boil the potatoes in water and peel off the skin.
2.Add the required amount of ghee,water and salt to the atta and prepare the chappati dough.
3.Keep it aside for one hour.
4.Grind the green chillies and corriander leaves in a blender.
5.Mash the potatoes well.
6.Add the green chillies,corriander leaves paste to the mashed potatoes and add the jeera powder,amchoor powder and salt to it.
7.Make the chapathi dough in to small balls and place the prepared mixture inside the dough and make small chapathis.
8.Add little ghee to the tawa,and cook the chapathis on both sides.
9.This "Aloo Chapathi" will go good with curd raitha.
Hope you all find my article interesting!!!