Vermicelli/Semiya Upma

Semiya Upma

This is one of our family's favorite breakfasts and my husband craves for this dish quite frequently.Growing up i have always had semiya/vermicelli as a sweet but never imagined we can also make a yummy upma using it.Semiya upma comes to my rescue whenever i need to cook something quick.The best part of this dish is that it can be had by itself without any sides like chutney/pickle/sauce.


Ingredients

- 2 cups Vermicelli/Semiya(I prefer roasted one to normal as it is not very sticky and easy to handle)
- 5 cups water
- Salt per taste
- 1 Carrot(finely chopped)
- 1/2 medium onion(thinly sliced)
- 1/2 cup peas/lima beans
- 1 tomato(thinly sliced)
- 1.5 Tbsp oil
- 1 Tbsp peanuts
- 1/2 tsp chana dal
- 3 Green chillies(slit lengthwise)
- 2 Dried red chillies
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 strand curry leaves(8-10 approx)
- 1/2 inch ginger finely chopped
- 1/2 cup Cashewnuts(optional)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Vegetables of your choice(optional vegetables include green beans)

Recipe

- Boil 5 cups of water in a large vessel ,add vermicelli to it along with salt and 1 tsp oil.
- Once Semiya is cooked ,drain the water using a strainer ,run it under cool water and keep it aside to drain off the remaining water.
- Heat the remaining oil in a non-stick pan,add cumin seeds,mustard seeds,chana dal,groundnuts,curry leaves,cashewnuts,chillies,ginger and fry for 3 minutes.
- Add the onions,carrot,peas,vegetables and tomato and cook for another 3-4 minutes.Add salt to it.
- Now add cooked semiya to the pan and mix all together.Cook for 2 minutes with lid closed.
- Add lemon juice to the pulao and stir properly.

Vegetable Upma

Vegetable Upma

This is one of my favorite breakfasts.Here goes the recipe

Ingredients
1 cup Upma rava (sooji/cracked wheat)
2 cups water
Salt as required
2-3 green chillies
2 carrots thinly sliced
1/2 onion sliced lengthwise
2 tbsp soya beans/lima beans or any beans
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Tadka
1/4 tsp zeera
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
5-8 groundnuts/cashewnuts
1/2 tsp chana dal (optional)
1/4 inch ginger finely chopped
4-5 curry leaves

Method
Toss the oil in a pan and heat it o n medium flame.
Once the oil is hot , toss all the ingredients listed under Tadka.Fry them for 3 mins
Now add the green chillies, onions and vegetables.Fry them for another 3-4 min.

Now add water, salt and let it boil until you ser bubbles

Roast the cracked wheat/rava in a separate pan until it turns light brown
Stir roasted cracked wheat/rava slowly into the boiling water so that there are ni lumps
Reduce the flame to low, cover it with lid and cook for another 7 mins.keep mixing occasionally
Serve it with groundout chutney/mango/lime pickle

Quinoa Pancake/Dosa

Quinoa pronounced as keen-wah is a very healthy whole grain.It provides all 9 essential amino acids and hence is an excellent source of protein and calcium
I have always had it in a salads and loved it but was dreading to cook it as I never managed to cook couscous properly.
A good friend of mine suggested me this recipe and to my surprise this turned out awesome.So this is now part of our regular breakfast  due to its health benefits

Ingredients
- 2 cups quinoa
- 1/2 onion finely chopped
- 2-3 green chillies finely chopped
- 1/4 cup finely chopped coriander leaves
- 1/2 cup  grated carrot(optional)
- salt as required
- oil as required

Recipe
- soak quinoa atleast for 4-5 hrs and grind to a batter similar to pancake/Dosa batter
- mix salt, onions, chillies, carrot and coriander leaves to the batter
- heat a non stick pan and spread some oil on it(I used no stick cooking spray)
- pour some batter on the pan and spread it to make thick pancake/dosa
- flip on the other side and cook it till it turns brown

Avocado mozzarella sandwich

Looking for some ideas for a quick breakfast? Or a snack to pack for travel or picnic you gotto try this amazing sandwich. It takes just 2 mins to prepare the sandwich with just 3 ingredients

Ingredients

- 3 slices of white/wheat sandwich bread
- fresh mozzarella cheese as required
- avocado slices

Recipe

- Toast the bread slices on a pan until golden brown
- Stuff mozzarella slices between two slices of bread
- Top it with avocado slices and cover it with another slice of bread
- Cut the sandwich into two halves diagonally
- Serve it as it is or with some ketchup

Wholewheat blueberry pancakes

Banana berry smoothie for breakfast