Baby Food: Moong Daal Chilla/ Lentil Pancake

Food is such an important part of our day to day lives. We finish one meal and I am already in my mind thinking of menu for the next. When I go for my grocery shopping, it’s always related to what I want to cook.

 With two kids(5 year old: Chatter Box, and 10 month old: Little Lady), full time work, busy family schedules, I really don’t get as much time as I would like for cooking. I more often than not, resort to my -quick Fixes, which HAVE to be healthy, presented well and above all delicious. I have three vegetarian foodies in my house already and the toothless Little Lady takes after us.

 Here is my 'Anytime protein rich Chilla's' , perfect for breakfast, snack, meal and oh yes: Finger Foods

 Ingredients

1. 2 cups Split Green Moong Daal soaked over night. (If you have not soaked them the night before, no worries, soak them in hot water for 30 minutes, or pressure cook them for 1 whistle)

2. Salt to taste

3. Grated Ginger: 1 teaspoon

4. Chilli Powder: Per taste (I tend to remove a part of the batter for Little Lady and then spice up the rest for us)

5. Cut Green Chilli: 2 (I tend to remove a part of the batter for Little Lady and then spice up the rest for us)

Process:

1. Grind the soaked daal with 1/2 cup water and all spices

2. Heat non-stick pan and make pancakes.

For my ChatterBox, I tend to make shapes using an assortment of cookie cutters I have gathered over the years.

For my Little Lady, it does not matter what shape it is, since it gets cut in tiny pieces anyways.

For Hubby and Me,  I spice it up and make thinner pan cakes (read crispy), top it off with Chaat Masala and enjoy with Green Chutney

I have made several variations of this pan-cake/ Chilla:

For Lunch: Grate Paneer with carrots and Cilantro. Adjust spice and make it like a filling to the pan cake.

For more wholesome meal: Feel free to add grated vegetables of choice. I have experimented with Kale, Brocolli, Carrots, Onions

In the batter, I have added other lentils but somehow, the most basic: Green Moong Daal has turned out the best so far.

Vanilla Date Smothie

1/2 cup almond milk (vanilla flavored)
3 medjool dates, remove seeds
4 tbsp greek yoghurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whirr everything in a blender to a thick puree. Add ice cubes as needed. It was simply delicious!

Simple Breakfast Sooji Utthapam

This is a traditional Konkani breakfast specialty. It's easy to make, and reminds me so much of home!

Serves 2 people

Sooji (semolina), 2 cups

1 onion, chopped

1 green chilli, chopped roughly

cilantro, 8 strands chopped

yogurt, 3 tbsp

water, as needed

In a bowl, combine sooji, onion, chilli, cilantro and yogurt. Add 1/4 cup of water and mix to form a smooth batter. Add more water as needed. The batter should be thicker than dosa consistency, but not too runny. Add salt and cover and keep for 1/2 hour. In this time, sooji will fluf a little. Check consistency and add some more water if needed. Grease a flat pan and spread batter to make a thickish dosa. Cover with a round lid while cooking. Utthapam takes about 3-4 minutes to cook on both sides.