Oats for dinner

The Indian population is becoming more health conscious by the day. How else do you explain products like whole wheat biscuits, sugar free cookies, fat free tea whitener, fat free real fruit yogurt - flooding the markets? Bagrey's oats, muesli and other cereals were the ones to hit the market early on, some 4 years ago. Between Bagrey's quick cooking oats and Quakers (Lays) Instant oats, I prefer the former, making sure I never run out of it.

A heaping into a bubbling soup or for a 2 minute breakfast, it is the best we can have. Oats being rich in fibre and low in Glycemic index, it is one of the most healthiest foods for weight watchers, diabetics or simply health conscious.

My two minute breakfast with oats goes like this - 1/4 cup oats + 1 cup water + 1/4 tsp salt + handful of frozen peas --> Microwave at HIGH for 1 and half minutes, stirring once inbetween. Remove and add a dollop of fresh yogurt - serve HOT!

Oats is best for dinner if you have only yourself to feed or if you have come in after a tired day and in no mood to make anything elaborate. A regular salt and pepper seasoned porridge might sound quite boring though. Hence this nutritious, filling, Indianised Oats porridge.

Oats for dinner
Category - Quick dinner, dinner for one
Serves - 2
Time taken - Under 20 minutes

Ingredients
1 tightly packed cup quick cooking oats
1 tsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/4 cup green beans, finely chopped
1 tomato, seeds removed and chopped finely
2 cups water plus some more
1 tsp salt

For tempering
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp udad dal
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 sprig curry leaves


Directions
In a wok, lightly toast the oats for about 2 minutes, on a medium flame until fragrant (yes, they do get fragrant) and remove onto a plate.

In the same wok, heat 1 tsp oil and put in one by the one the ingredients for tempering in that order. Saute until the udad dal (split deskinned black gram dal) turns golden.

Put in all the vegetables with a pinch of salt. On low flame, saute them until somewhat soft, for 3-4 minutes.

Add 3 cups of water to the wok, remaining salt and close with a lid. Turn the flame on high, cover with a tight fitting lid, bring the water to a boil and once it starts boiling, let it simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables are almost done. At this point, add the toasted oats, give it a stir to break any lumps, keep the flame on medium to low and cover it with the lid. Let this cook for 5-7 minutes, until the oats are cooked thoroughly to make a creamy porridge.

Note

• This can be eaten with a bowl of yogurt and it makes a complete meal, without too much effort.
• You can get this ready even faster if you use one and half cups of frozen chopped mixed vegetables instead of the ones mentioned

A-Z of Indian Vegetables
Ok- here's what! I did do my bit of thinking for O of Indian Vegetables at Nupur's - Omelette would have been too common, for the pumpkin curry Olan, i would have to go the market and Onions - I have left it for the others to attack LOL - so when I blogged about Oats quite coincidentally, I asked Nupur if I could send this to her and she obliged.

O is for Oats, this one has plenty of veggies and it is made in true Indian style, tadka and all - so it does fit in a way doesn't it?

Tags: oats, quick dinner, dinner for one, diabetic recipe, Saffron Trail, Recipe, Food, Indian food blog, Healthy eating, Healthy living, Mumbai, India