If one of your New Year's resolutions is to eat healthier, you know that researching and planning dishes to feed your weeks and months ahead might be difficult. These quick and easy recipes use whole foods and healthy ingredients to help you cook better. These ideas will keep you fueled throughout the week, from incredibly nutritious dinners to protein-packed snacks to sugar-free treats.
2 delicious breakfast recipes to try at home:
1. Bread Omelette by Chef Ajay Chopra
Bread Omelette is one of India's simplest and most popular breakfast dishes. Chef Ajay Chopra's dish will make you drool. Read on.
Ingredients:
- 4 - 5 eggs
- 5 - 6 slices of bread
- 2 chopped onions
- 2 chopped tomatoes
- 3 - 4 green chillies
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- salt to taste
- fresh coriander
Preparation:
- In a bowl whisk 2 whole eggs, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, green chillies, coriander, red chilli powder and salt.
- In a pan, add some ghee, and spread the egg mixture on the pan, let it cook on a slow flame.
- Once the omelette cooks from both sides, serve it with buttered bread.
- In a bowl whisk 2 whole eggs, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, green chillies, coriander, red chilli powder and salt.
- Heat oil on a pan and pour the egg mixture on it. Place two slices of bread in it.
- Wrap the omelette around the bread.
- Flip the omelette and cook from the other side. Omelette cooked with bread is ready to serve.
2. Corn Upma by Harish Thaker
Corn upma is famous in Gujarat and is quite simple and quick to prepare. Here’s how you can prepare this dish by Harish Thaker.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Cornflour (coarse texture)(yellow)
- Ghee/oil
- Mustard Seeds
- Garlic
- Chillies
- Peas
- Carrot
- Ginger
- Turmeric
- cinnamon
- Cloves
- Tamal Patra
- salt
- Ajwain
- Cumin Seeds
- 2.5 cups water
Preparation:
- Polish corn flour with little ghee, with the help of both the hands.
- In a pan, take some oil/ghee, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon and tamal patra for takda, along with sliced chillies.
- Add water and boil.
- Take boiled peas and carrots, add them to the hot water.
- Add coarse corn flour, slowly and cook well.
- In cooked corn upma, mix well with ghee.
- Now, corn upma is ready to serve (you can mix corn upma with milk or butter milk also).
- Garnish with coriander.
2 tasty dishes that you can try for lunch:
1. Kuttu Ki Kadhi and Sama Ke Chawal by Pankaj Bhadouria
Ingredients
For the pakoras
- peanut oil for frying
- 1 diced potato
- rock salt to taste
- 3 tbsp buckwheat flour
- water as required
For Kuttu ki Kadhi
- 1 cup curd
- 2 cups water
- 2 tbsp buckwheat flour
- 2 tbsp desi ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 chopped green chillies
- rock salt to taste
- freshly chopped coriander
For Sama ke Chawal
- 2 tsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 cup barnyard millet
- 2 cups water
- freshly chopped coriander
Preparation:
- Peel and dice potato and set aside in a bowl.
- Add rock salt, 3 tbsp buckwheat flour and water to the bowl and mix.
- Coat the diced potato with the batter and deep fry like pakodas.
- In a bowl, mix 1 cup curd, 2 cups water and 2 tbsp buckwheat flour.
- Heat 2 tbsp ghee in a pan and add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 chopped green chillies, curd mixture and cook.
- Add the potato pakodas to the kadhi and mix.
- Heat 2 tsp ghee in a pan and add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 cup washed barnyard millet and roast it well for 2 minutes.
- Add 2 cups water and cook it for 5-10 minutes. Then switch off the flame and cover it up for 10 minutes.
- Add freshly chopped coriander in samake chawal and kuttu ki kadhi and serve.
2. Soya Nugget Biryani by Chef Pankaj Bhadouria
Who doesn't like a tasty food? Originally made with meat and rice, these tasty Biriyani recipes are now made with a variety of ingredients, including chicken, fish, seafood, veggies, mushrooms, and even soya nuggets with a nice meaty taste! Here’s how you can prepare the soya nugget biryani.
Ingredients:
- 3 cup Basmati Rice
- 3 cups Soya Nuggets
- 50g Butter
- 2+2 large Onions, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp Saffron strands, soaked in 1tbsp Milk
- 5 Green Cardamom, slit
- 1 tsp Caraway Seeds
- 5 cloves
- 3 tbsp Oil
- 2tbsp Biryani Masala
- 1 cup thick Yoghurt
- a handful of Mint leaves, torn
- a handful of Coriander leaves, torn
- 1tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
- Salt to taste
For the rice:
- 2 Cloves
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- For the masala:
- 2 Black Cardamoms
- 2 Bay Leaf
- 5 Green Cardamoms
- 3 Black Cardamoms
- ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
- 2 cinnamon Sticks (2”each)
- ¼ Nutmeg
- ½ Mace Flower
- 1 Star Anise
- 4 Cloves
- ½ tsp Caraway Seeds
- 1tsp Pepper Corns
- 2 Black Stone Flowers (Dagad Phool)
- ½ tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp kewra water
Preparation:
- Soak the soya nuggets in boiling water for 20 minutes.
- Squeeze the water out of the soya nuggets.
- Lightly roast the spices for the masala on low heat for 2 minutes or till healted through.
- Remove and grind to a fine powder.
- In a big bowl whisk the yoghurt, biryani masala, Kashmiri red chili powder, mint and coriander leaves and and mix well.
- Add soaked soya nuggets to the yogurt mixture and mix gently. Let it marinate for half an hour.
- Heat 2 cups oil in a pan.
- Add 2 finely sliced onions to medium hot oil and fry until golden.
- Remove on an absorbent paper.
- Heat oil and ghee in a pan and add caraway seeds, green cardamoms and bay leaves and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add 2 thinly slice onions and sauté till golden in colour.
- Add marinated soya nuggets with all the mixture and saute for 3-4 minutes till the soya nuggets become tender and give out moisture.
- Bring to boil 8 cups of water with 3tsp salt and the whole spices mentioned for the rice. Add the rice and cook till half done.
- Drain the rice and reserve 1 cup of the drained liquid.
- In a wide-bottomed pan, spread half the rice and cover with a layer of the cooked soya nuggets. Cover with the remaining rice. Add the reserved ½ cup liquid.
- Add saffron strands soaked in warm milk.
- Dot the rice with butter.
- Sprinkle rose water and kewra water on top.
- Cover with a tight lid and seal with dough.
- Put the pan on high heat for 5 minutes and then on very low flame for 20 minutes.
- Remove from fire and let stand for 15 minutes before opening the seal.
- Using a fork fluff the rice gently.
- Garnish with caramelized golden onions slices to serve.
Tasty dinner recipe to try at home:
1. Tawa Pizza by Chef Ajay Chopra
Here is an exciting and tasty food item, Tawa homemade pizza recipe to excite your palate. Here’s how you can prepare this homemade pizza by Ajay Chopra. Read on.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
- 3 tbsp warm water
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 cup Maida
- water
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp olive oil
For the topping:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup Mix vegetables ( Capsicum of all types , olives, onions , mushrooms )
- Salt to taste
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
For assembling:
- 2 tbsp pizza sauce
- ¼ cup mozzarella cheese
- Cooked Veggies
- 7-8 black olives pitted
- seasoning
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Preparation:
- In a bowl add in warm water and dry yeast and add in sugar and keep it aside for 5 mins
- In another bowl take maida and make a well in the centre add in a little bit of sugar and the yeast mixture and water as required, add in salt, and knead the dough on the table platform using 1 tsp oil.
- Once the dough is formed, apply oil on the top of the dough or cover it with a muslin cloth and keep it aside for 30 mins to ferment
- Now for the topping, in a pan add in oil, add in mix vegetables and salt, sauté for 2-3 mins
- Add in dried oregano and chilli flakes and sauté
- Now take the fermented dough and roll it out into a rough circle either by using hands or a rolling pin, take a tawa and place the pizza dough, prick it with a fork and cook it lightly till half done
- Now take pizza sauce and spread it on the base, add in cheese, and veggies, and put it on a tawa and season it with oregano and chilli flakes, add in olive oil, take a lid and cover it and cook till the cheese melts. Remove the pizza on a board and cut and serve.