The lockdown period due to Covid-19 can be very upsetting and boring. Especially when you are a foodie. You can neither go out to your favorite restaurant nor you can order food online. So, why don’t you utilise this 21-day lockdown period in a better way? Let us learn something new and what can be more interesting than food. You can make delicious and healthy homemade food with the minimum resources that you have and in that way you can make yourself and your family happy and healthy at the same time.
So, let us have a look at some quick and delicious ghar ka khana recipes that you can easily make at home:
- Whole Wheat Pasta With Vegetables
Searching for a good homemade lunch recipe? Then try some Indian pasta instead of white sauce pasta. Boil a cup of wholewheat pasta for 10 minutes and strain them properly, mix some oil to it and keep it aside for a while. In the meantime, chop some vegetables (whatever you have at home). In a pan or kadai add two teaspoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of cumin seeds, a few curry leaves, one chopped onion and some green chillies. Saute them properly and then add the chopped vegetables to it. Add the boiled pastas into the pan, stir them properly for 10 minutes and your Indian pasta is ready to be served.
- Chaat Using Brown Chickpeas
Brown chickpeas or kala chana chaat is one of the best homemade foods that you can have during this lockdown period. Soak around one cup of kala chana in a bowl of water, keep it overnight. The next day rise the water properly, add one finely chopped onion, a few chopped green chillies, one tomato finely chopped, some chopped coriander leaves, one teaspoon of rocksalt, and one tablespoon of chat masala. Mix them well and serve it with lemon squeezed on top of it.
- Green Gram Chilla
To make green gram (green moong) chillas, you will need two cups of green moong soaked in a bowl of water overnight. This is an excellent homemade breakfast that is rich in protein and at the same time is super tasty. Next day, in a mixing jar add the soaked moong dals, some green chillies, some chopped coriander leaves and some salt as per your taste. Grind them properly to make a thick paste, then add one cup of water to it. Since we are making chillas, chop some onions as well. Take a pan,grease it with one teaspoon of coconut oil, let the oil heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Once the pan is heated spread the moong dal batter on the pan like you would do for dosa. Add some onions on top of it and let it cook at low flame for about 7 to 8 minutes. Enjoy this excellent protein rich dish with some tamarind sauce or coconut chutney.
- Protein Shake Loaded With Bananas
If you are looking for a protein breakfast, then what else can be more delicious than a glass of banana shake. In a blender jar, put one ripe banana, two spoons of protein powder and since milk is readily available now, use a cup of skimmed milk. Blend them properly and garnish the shake with some dried nuts. If you do not have protein powder then you can add one more banana to it along with some almonds.
- Tadka Khichdi
Sometimes we feel too bored to cook something new. Especially during dinner time. Tadka khichdi is a super tasty and easy idea for having homemade dinner. You will need two cups of rice and one cup of yellow moong daal. In a cooker, add two teaspoon of oil, some grated ginger, two green chillies, pinch of turmeric powder, saltt as per your taste and some cumin seeds. Saute them properly and then add to it the rice and pulses mix them properly. Pour in three cups of water and then close the lid. Wait for three whistles, then open the lid and add some ghee on top of it along with some roasted cumin powder. Nothing can be as tasty and healthy as khichdi.
- Semolina Appam
Appam is a tasty south Indian dish and the best low calorie breakfast to start your day with. To make semolina or sooji appam, mix 1 cup of semolina with 1 cup of curp, keep it for 1 hour (approx). Chopp some 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 capsicum or any vegetable that you want. After an hour, you will see the semolina mix has puffed up, add half cup of water to it along with all the chopped vegetables. Mix them well with some salt, cumin powder, green chillies and a pinch of plain eno powder. Take an appam maker (you can use idli maker or cooker as well), grease the appam maker with some coconut oil and pour the batter on it. Cover the appam maker with a lid for 12 to 15 minutes and serve them with sauce or coconut chutney.
- Kanda Poha/ Onion Poha
One of the best known Maharashtrian dishes is kanda poha. We all have been ordering a bowl of poha for breakfast from online stores almost everyday. But this 21-day lockdown period gave us time to relish some home based food items. To make kanda poha you will need two big onions finely chopped, 2 cups of poha, wash them in cold water and strain them properly, some green chillies, curry leaves, some coriander leaves, 1 tablespoon of cumins seeds, half lemon, pinch of turmeric and some coriander seeds. Take a pan, heat 2 tablespoon of oil, put the cumin seeds, curry leaves, coriander seeds, onions and chillies. Cook them for about 5 to 6 minutes and then put the strained poha on them, add some salt and 1 teaspoon of sugar (optional). Toss them well for about 8 to 10 minutes, then squeeze the lemon on top of the poha and garnish it with some coriander leaves and onion.
- Leftover Roti Poha
Already learnt about kanda poha now lets learn about roti poha. The main problem is what to do with the leftover rotis? You can’t even throw them out during this time of crisis and it is very difficult to have them. So, what you can do is make a tasty dish known as roti poha which is one of the best healthy homemade snacks during this lockdown period. Cut the rotis into pieces, then put them in a mixer jar and grind them into pieces (coarsely grinded). Take a pan or a kadhai and heat some olive oil, put some cumin seeds, black mustard seeds, few curry leaves, pinch of turmeric powder, some green chillies and finely chopped onions. Saute them properly and then add the pieces of roti to it. Mix them properly and add salt as per your taste.
These were some recipes that you can try at home with whatever you have at home. There are a lot of home cooked food benefits, such as everything is pure and clean, less oily, no added artificial food color and proper use of resources during this time of crisis. Stay healthy, stay fit and let us all fight Corona!
