Bhaja Muger/Mooger Bhoger Khichudi

This is my mother's recipe. This is the proper way of making Khichudi for Pujo.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice

1/2 cup mooger daal

Whole gorom moshla (2 sticks cinnamon, 2 cardamom, 2 cloves)

1-2 Tej pata (Bay leaves)

2-3 green chillies chopped

1 small tomato, chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)

1/2 inch ginger chopped fine or turned into a paste

2 tbsp ghee

1 cup water

Salt to taste

Important Note on Bengali tradition: There is NO Haldi or red chilli in this recipe. Niramish khabarey holud porey na. There is no Haldi in 'Niramish' food.

Steps:

1. Dry roast the moog daal on low-medium heat. The daal must change colour to a light brown. Set aside.

2. Wash the rice. Set aside.

3. In a medium pot, warm the ghee on medium heat. When it's hot, add gorom moshla, tej pata. Cook till aromatic or just starts to brown slightly.

4. Add green chillies and ginger. Fry lightly till ginger is lightly cooked.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 3 minutes.

6. Add rice, moog daal, 1 cup of water. Add salt to taste. Cover and cook till rice and daal are cooked.

Serve with Begun Bhaja.

Holy Awesomeness.

Weight Loss Truths

Some things to always remember:

1. Don't eat after 6:30p.m. (or 4-5 hours before going to sleep): Let the food get digested and get used in your activities so that it doesn't get stored as fat while you sleep. This rule really works. Really really works.

2. Drink 8 glasses of water in a day: If you don't add water to your body, it won't have the necessary fluids it needs to process all the chemicals/hormones/wastes/etc. If you don't drink the water and do everything right, after 2-3 days you'll stop losing weight.

3. Eat till you aren't hungry anymore: Don't finish what's on your plate for the sake of finishing what's on your plate. Eat till you aren't hungry anymore and leave the rest for later.... and don't worry....

4. Eat frequently: Eat 6 meals a day and point #3 won't be a problem. Eat your leftovers from the previous meal. Don't be afraid, you won't starve to death. And remember, you WILL lose weight if you follow these rules.
I can't over emphasize this point. If your body obtains a little bit of food, and processes it for it's function, then obtains a little more and processes, then it doesn't get the chance to digest a large amount of food and store the excess energy as fat. Again, this rule really, really works. Do it.

5. Replace all your refined carbs with complex carbs: This is applicable only during your weight loss period. So if you love rice or bread, you can pick it up again when you're taking a break from weight loss. But during weight loss: Don't eat rice, bread or pasta. Replace all your rice, bread and pasta with vegetables cooked with a little fat or steamed. I love using steamed or sauteed cauliflower florets, broccoli, spaghetti squash, lettuce, mixed greens, steamed beans, brussel sprouts, etc. If you do this you will:
    (i)   Get a lot more vitamins and minerals than if you were to stuff down a bowl of pasta
    (ii)  Eat a lot of soluble fiber that will help cleanse your system
    (iii) Will feel fuller (than if you ate rice) because of all the fiber content + you can eat so much more vegetables than rice for the calories
    (iv)  You blood sugar levels will not spike because of the low glycemic index of the vegetables.

6. Exercise after supper: The toughest one for me. But this one really guarantees the burning of all your supper calories. And I always weigh less on the scale the day after.

7. Don't worry about the scale too much: Our body's moisture content varies tremendously from hour to hour and from day to day. If you're 5 lbs lighter after 4 weeks, that's a better indicator than if you didn't lose any weight from one week to the next.

Super Awesome Shaak Chingri (Bengali Shrimp and Greens)

 

Yaaay! Another fabulous Bengali dish with no onions!

I had been craving leafy greens for a few weeks, and couldn't get enough of it. But this time I wanted a bit of a taste of the ocean with my greens. This dish satisfied all of that. Not to mention, I loved the 'Shorshe bata' or Mustard seed paste AND the 'Panch Phoron' (just google it).

Substitutions: I didn't have 'Mulo' or turnips, but I cared not! I had many carrots, so I used them instead. That added a lot of colour too! 

TASTED AWESOME!

Well, here's the recipe:
http://bhalokhabo.blogspot.ca/2011/04/pui-shaaksaag-chorchori.html

Eat with rice.

ZIIING!!!

These photos are taken by me, so please respect that. If you want to use them, please just ask.
Thanks!

Quick, Lazy, Ricotta Cake

The texture of this cake is surprisingly good. It holds together on the plate, moist when you chew it but breaks up in a surprising crumbly way.

Ingredients:
1 454g tub of Ricotta cheese
2 scoops Vanilla protein powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 325 deg C.
2. Mix all ingredients together.
3. Grease a 9" round pan and pour batter into it.
4. Bake for 45 minutes or until done (test by sticking a tooth pick/knife in the thickest part of the cake and when you pull it out, it should come out clean.)


This is surprisingly good. And so easy to make!
Makes 16 slim slices. Or 8 decent sized slices.

Pointsplus for 1/16th of a cake: 2 points
Pointsplus for 1/8th of a cake: 5 points

Nice Bengali Recipes

A very nice site with some lovely pictures and recipes. I might try the "Piaj-kolir Jhal" today... Very interesting!

http://kichukhonn.blogspot.ca/search?updated-max=2013-04-29T10:17:00%2B05:30&max-results=1&start=6&by-date=false

Bengali Dal: Fat Free or Low Fat Bengali Recipes

Bengali people have gotten into the bad habit of choking their food with oil. It doesn't have to be this way. My grandmothers were both from present day Bangladesh: one cooked with almost no oil, and the other one cooked with lots of oil. The former was frugal, the latter was extravagant.

And what are we all, today? LAZY.

Here's a low fat recipe. Measure your oil with a measuring spoon.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup musoor dal (red lentils) washed
1 tsp oil (mustard preferred)
1/2 tsp Kalo Jeera (kalonji) - NOT onion seeds
1-2 dried whole red chilli
1/4 tsp haldi (fresh or powder turmeric)
1 cup water
salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat the 1 tsp oil in a pan on medium heat. When it gets hot, add the Kalo Jeera and dried red chilli.
2. As it starts smoking, take the pan away from the heat, add haldi, dal.
3. Put the pan back on the flame, add water and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes on medium low. You dal should be gently boiling. If you bring it to a rolling boil, then keep checking and adding water until the dal is completely cooked.
4. After the dal is cooked, add salt to taste.
5. Optional step: if you want, you can take a hand blender to the cooked dal, blend it a little till it's a nice thick smooth-ish dal and let it come to a boil once more.

Serve 'Daal Bhaath' by pouring Dal over fresh Rice.

Low carb Sweet and Sour Shrimp

You won't be able to stop eating this. The sweetness is mild... not the comatose sweetness one is accustomed to at the Chinese store (which I absolutely love... that sweetness that makes you wonder why it isn't in the dessert menu).

It's quick to cook, but if you buy shrimps with their heads on, it takes a while to shell and devein them. If you get the pre-shelled deveined stuff, this is going to be a cinch. But leaving the head on the shrimp makes a big difference in the end product. I think the bulk of the shrimp flavour is left in the shrimp head.

Sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sweetner (Splenda)
2 tbsp cooking wine or sherry
2 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup water

Stir Fry:
2 lbs shrimp
2 cups red onions, cut into chunks
2 cups green or red or yellow peppers, cut into chunks
2 cups of pineapple, chunks

2 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Steps:
1. Heat the oil on medium high. Add oil.
2. When hot, add ginger, garlic. Stir till fragrant.
3. Add onions, green peppers. Stir fry on high for 2 minutes.
4. Add shrimp. Stir fry till it turns pink. Turn heat to medium.
5. In a separate bowl, mix all sauce ingredients together and add to the stir fry. Stir until sauce thickens.
6. Add salt to taste. Stir thoroughly.
7. Mix in pineapple pieces. Turn off stove and let it stay on the heat so the pineapple pieces get warmed through.

Enjoy with rice/barley/noodles/shirataki noodles.

yum, yum, YUM!

Avoid Drinking when losing weight

Drinking alcohol while losing weight is extremely tricky. So tricky in fact that I have decided to stop drinking until I've achieved my target weight. It's not easy saying no to a glass of wine when it brings back pleasant memories.

(source:http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ Danilo Rizzuti)

The disadvantage is not strictly in the alcohol in itself. It is in the temptation to eat junk food WHEN buzzing or drunk.

Here is a nice list of items to order when out "drinking" with your friends:
http://voices.yahoo.com/non-alcoholic-drinks-order-bar-1756261.html

I think Virgin Daiquiris and Virgin Pina Coladas are calorie dense. I really like the "Bartender's suggestion" idea. You'll be up for a surprise each time. Just say, "I want a non-alcoholic drink that's not too high in calories... a little calories is okay :)" Always finish the request with a winning smile :D

(source:http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ Danilo Rizzuti)

Did you know TONIC WATER has CALORIES? How can you call something "Water" and add calories to it? It's so wrong! So unethical. Here's an idea... How about I open a hamburger store and call my main dish the 'Water Hamburger'. It sounds like it's low in calories, but it'll have double the calories of a BigMac. No one will clue in, and it'll be a big hit. Then I'll be sued on grounds of being unethical.

Silly.

Fruit Salad - A Delicious Lowfat Treat

Shopping in a certain pattern means your pantry is filled with foods of a certain kind ... which leads you to create dishes that line up with that pattern. Logical.
I found a few ingredients in my kitchen this weekend that when put together were absolutely delicious and to my surprise the whole thing was very nearly fat free!

This is absolutely delicious, creamy and really feels like a treat. It is sweet, though.

(source: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ Sura Nualpradid)


Ingredients:
2-3 cups (total) of fruits, chopped
          Kiwis
          Apples
          Grapes
          Bananas
          Strawberries
          Anything you want
1 package Vanilla fat free instant pudding mix
1 cup fat free or 1% milk
1 cup fat free Coolwhip, thawed in the fridge
2 tbsp of fat free or regular Sour Cream

Method:
1. Take a bowl into which all of the ingredients will fit.
2. Mix the Vanilla pudding mix with milk.
3. Stir in the coolwhip and sour cream.
4. Mix in the fruit, thoroughly.

Refrigerate for 1-2 hours and serve.

So so so so good.

Eggplant Lasagna

This is absolutely and incredibly delicious. Try it.

Substitute "noodles":
1 large eggplant, cut into 3mm thick slices
White sauce:
1 small clove garlic, minced
150g low-fat cheddar cheese
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp flour
1 cup skim milk
1 tsp oregano
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
Red sauce:
1 cup pasta sauce
1/4 cup ground beef
a few sliced black olives


Salt to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lay out the eggplant in single layer and bake for 20 minutes.
2. The white sauce: Make a roux with the oil, flour and garlic. Stir in the milk, mushrooms and cheddar cheese until it all mixes together and thickens. Taste and add salt if necessary.
3. The red sauce: Cook the ingredients for the red sauce together. Add salt if necessary.
4. Layering: 1 layer eggplant, all the red sauce, remaining eggplant in 1 layer, all of the mushroom white sauce, and a thin layer of cheddar cheese.
5. Bake in 350 deg oven for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Lau Maach, Squash with Salmon in a Mustard and Poppyseed sauce, লাউ মাছ পোস্ত দিয়ে

I couldn't find a Bengali recipe for Squash or Lau (Gourd) with Salmon. Since Lau-Chingri (Gourd with Shrimps) exists, then why not mix Lau with another oceanic creature?

So here is my lovely creation. I have to say, it tastes absolutely wonderful with some rice. Doesn't take long to prepare either.

400-600g salmon, cut into 100g pieces
1 large squash cut into thin 1 inch pieces (roughly 3-4 cups)
2 tbsp black mustard, ground
1 tbsp white poppy seeds, ground
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp turmeric/haldi powder
2 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp panch phoron
2 green/red chillies (optional)
salt to taste
1.5 cups of water

1. Place the ground mustard seeds, ground poppy seeds, 1 tsp red chilli powder in a non-reactive bowl and add 1/2 cup of water to soak the seeds in. Leave this for 10 minutes or so. If the mixture looks dry add a little more water until it is the consistency of cooked oats  or beaten eggs.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the Salmon with 1 tsp of haldi and some salt. In a heated pan, add 1-2 tsps of oil and lightly fry the salmon for 1 minute on each side.
3. Remove the fish from the pan and keep it on a separate plate.
4. To the pan still on the heat, add the remainder of the mustard oil. Wait till it's hot then add the panch phoron.
5. Once the panch phoron sizzles, add all of the squash/gourd/lau at once and mix thoroughly. Add salt to taste.
6. After about 5 minutes of cooking, add the mustard/poppy seed paste, 1.5 cups of water, green chillies and stir till everything is evenly combined.
7. Drop in the salmon pieces gently. Submerge under the liquid. Cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat to medium-low and let it come to a boil.
8. Cook all of this for at least 10-15 minutes.

Serve with hot rice.

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Low-fat low-points Banana Pineapple Walnut Cake

Makes 12 slices

Ingredients, PointsPlus value
Group1:
2 cups flour, 24
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup Splenda
1/4 cup powdered or regular sugar, 4
1/2 tsp cinnamon
a little freshly ground nutmeg

Group 2:
1 cup (8oz.) pureed pineapple or 1 can crushed pineapple
2 cups pureed or mashed bananas
2 tbsp oil, 6
2 eggs, 4
1 egg white

Group 3:
1.5 cups chopped or sliced bananas
1/2 cups chopped pineapple
1/4 cup walnuts broken, 4

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix Group ingredients
3. Mix Group 2 ingredients
4. Combine the Group 1 and Group 2 ingredients till just thoroughly combined
5. Add in Group 3 ingredients and fold everything together till thoroughly combined.
6. Divide into 2x9-inch round baking tins. Bake for 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

This cake is quite moist and quite sweet. I left a little bit of oil and sugar in for a nice taste and partly for texture.

Delicious served cool or warm. If you can splurge a few calories, a light cream-cheese frosting will be nice.

PointsPlus value per slice: 3.5

Lower Calorie, Yet Delicious, Cakes

Some ways to get lower calorie yet very delicious cakes:
1. Replace oil with apple sauce.

2. Use diet-soda instead of eggs and oil while making a box cake:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/12/diet-soda-cake-35-pts.html

(source: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ Stuart Miles)

Example:

Here is a lemon-poppyseed cake I love, but I replaced the oil with apple sauce and eggs with mostly egg whites:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/lemon-poppy-seed-bundt-cake/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=poppyseed&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e13=A%3aSearch%20Results-List%28control%29&e7=Recipe%20Search%20Results

PointsPlus Calculation:
1 box cake (lemon flavour) = 55 PointsPlus
1 instant pudding mix (vanilla flavour) = 11 PointsPlus
1 egg = 2 PointsPlus
4 egg whites = 1 PointsPlus
1/2 cup apple sauce = 1 Points Plus
TOTAL = 70 Points Plus

Total weight of cake made = 892g
Each slice (1/6th of cake) or 1 Cupcake = 72g

Points per slice or per cupcake = 6 PointsPlus

Broccoli with besan

A very nice idea.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZibdpSaep4

I also added a bunch of vegetables I had in the fridge: cauliflower + green peppers.

A Treat: Stuffed Peppers

And its low calorie + low carb!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aQat94Ixig

Guaranteed Tasty Chhole/Chick peas

 Forget about frying onions. It ruins the nice authentic "chhole" or Indian Chickpeas taste. I was floored with how GOOD this tasted! And I got an AWESOME complement for it too!

3 cup cooked chhole/chick peas/garbanzo beans
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
3-4 cloves garlic minced
1 inch ginger minced
1 dried red chilli
1 tsp whole garam masala (2 cardamom pods, 1 small stick cinnamon, 2 cloves, 2 whole peppercorns)
1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tbsp MDH chana masala powder OR 2tsp cumin powder + 1tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 large tomatoes
2 tbsp oil
1/2 to 1 cup water

1. Heat oil on medium heat. Add cumin seeds, garlic, ginger, whole garam masala, dried red chilli. Let it sizzle.
2. Add tomatoes, haldi, garam masala powder and haldi powder. Cover and cook till tomatoes are cooked and reduced to a thick gravy.
3. Add chick peas, salt. Stir well. Add 1/2 - 1 cup water. Cover and cook for 20 minutes.
4. Once it's all cooked, Mash the chick peas in the pot with a potato masher or the back of your spoon  to make the sauce thick.

DELICIOUS Low Carb Fajita/Taco Salad

I had this for supper today because I had all the ingredients in the fridge and I wanted to avoid refined carbs if I could for supper. And MAN was this ever a delicious dinner!

2 oz. cooked meat/chicken/turkey/fish cut into bite size pieces and warmed through (I had leftover chicken drumsticks and some leftover leg of lamb)
2 cups romaine lettuce, washed and sliced
1 spring onion, sliced
3/4 cups salsa
1-2 tbsp fat free sour cream

Combine everything except the sour cream in a bowl and mix together.

Dot with sour cream and dig in!

This was delicious, satisfying, filling and awesome!!
Naturally, the success of the dish is dependent on how much you like your salsa. Also, I had previously cooked the chicken drumsticks with a dry taco seasoning with no added fat.

Weight Watchers points: 5