Avoid - Britannia's treat biscuits with trans fat

Having been subjected to watching frequent advertisements of Britannia Treat biscuits, kids obviously ask for it, preparing themselves for the first taste. Then it becomes a habit.

Only couple of days back, wanted to check the ingredients - expecting kid healthy choices.

Shocked to see that the biscuits contain hydrogenated vegetable fat aka trans fat. City kids having trans fat foods with least physical activity is a definite bad idea. I believe government should not allow such products to be advertised in the first place. Kids are not mature consumers to understand what is really good and healthy for them in the long run.

A brief search in Google took me to this page: http://www.britannia.co.in/brandstories_treat.htm

The product seems to be a huge success but are the consumers aware of health implications. I have loved Britannia products for a long time and been a loyal consumer. Particularly, the healthy and nutri products of Britannia. Perhaps, emphasis and advertising should be encouraged on these products rather than the unhealthy ones.

Going a step ahead, advertisements in kids channels should be closely monitored. In fact, ideally should be eliminated from kids channels. Advertisements are negative in their very nature of telling consumer what they don't have and motivating to get it.

Varieties of mango

Yesterday I got a chance to visit an agricultural professor's house to pick up farm fresh, naturally grown ripe mangoes. The professor's mother asked me what varieties I would like. As textbook knowledge I know mango comes in different varieties. Practically, mango has been a synonym for 'banginapalli' variety. Admitted to her that I do not know of any varieties. She showed me 'mallika' 

, 'himasagar' and 'suvarnarekha' varieties along with regular banginapalli variety. Promptly chose a couple of mangoes a variety each to try. 

Tried the three varieties yesterday. Each is so different and distinct in taste and flavor. Overall, enjoyed the mango tasting exercise. Himasagar is the sweetest of them. Suvarnarekha is also sweet but has a distinct flavor and smell. Mallika not too sweet but thoroughly tasty.

Catching with a school friend after many years!

I just want to note this down as a memory. I read an article about a kuchipudi dancer in the Hindu newspaper. The dancer is none other than my school mate, a year junior to me and a great companion. I immediately logged on to Facebook and messaged her if we could get in touch and left my phone number.

Couple of days later, received a call from her and was I thrilled! Exchanged pleasantries and caught on what happened in each other's lives since school. Awesome! Had a long talk and decided to meet each other next time we both get a chance to.

Nostalgic!!!

Whole wheat pizza

Whole wheat pizza

Ingredients for base:
Whole wheat pizza (1 cup)
1 tsp active yeast powder
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Water (enough to prepare dough)

Warm the water and add active yeast. Let it stand for 5 mins and then add all the rest of the ingredients. Mix them well and knead them into a soft dough. Let it stay for a while - 30 mins or so. The dough will raise in the mean time.

Ingredients for toppings:
1. Tomato sauce
2. Sliced tomatoes
3. Sliced onions
4. Mozzarella cheese
5. Sliced green chilli pepper, soaked in some salt

Grease the pizza oven plate with oil. After the dough raised, spread the dough evenly with hands in the pizza oven plate. Sprinkle the vegetables evenly on the spread dough. Sprinkle cheese over the vegetables.

Preheat the oven to 220 degree Celsius. Pop in the filled up pizza oven plate. In 15-20 mins, the pizza will be ready. Please check if the pizza looks done before removing it out.

Kattu pongali

Kattu pongali (mashed mung beans + parboiled rice)

Ingredients
1/2 cup parboiled rice
1/2 cup mung beans (with or without peel)
1 cup of Sliced mixed vegetables (Carrots, peas, corn)
A handful of cashews
1 tbsp of oil for frying
Spice: Black pepper (whole), cumin seeds and salt

Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a pan and add black pepper, cumin seeds and cashews.
2. When they are lightly fried, add the vegetables and washed mung beans and parboiled rice.
3. Pour 3 cups of water and salt as desired.
4. Let it boil on medium flame till it turns out finely boiled and soft (porridge Like consistency)
5. Serve hot with some sauce and fruit pieces/juice for breakfast.

Lemon marmalade

Lazy weekend afternoon; wanted to try something new. Just recently successfully finish organic lemon pickle (andhra style). Recipe of that some other time. I had some more lemons left and wanted to try something sweet.

So, took four lemons, washed. The end of the lemons cut and placed in a pan with 600 ml of water. After 1.5 hours of boiling, set it aside to cool it down. After cooling down, cut the soft lemon into small pieces, removing the seeds. Put these pieces back into the boiled liquid remaining, add 400 gm of brown sugar. Add grated ginger to the boiling mixture. Boil it till the syrup is thick and required consistency is acquired. Consistency is tested by letting a drop of the syrup to cool down. The drop should be thick like jam.

Marmalade experiment: success.

Vegetable Idli

Vegetable Idli

Vegetable Idli served with Peanut chutney, tomato chutney and sliced mango pieces.

Ingredients:

1. Batter made from fermented black lentils and whole grain rice.

2. Thinly sliced string beans, carrots and sweet corn.

3. Pinch of salt.

Idli is a traditional south Indian breakfast item. It is usually made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented black lentils (de-husked) and rice. The lentils and rice are soaked for four hours or more. After soaking, they are grinded in a blender till the desired texture is obtained.

This traditional recipe is modified with adding 3 different colorful vegetables (carrots, string beans and sweet corn).

1. Take thinly sliced vegetables (carrots, string beans, sweet corn) and steam them briefly for 5 mins.

2. After steaming, add a pinch of salt and mix with the Idli batter.

3. Steam the vegetable idli for 10 mins before serving.

4. Serve it hot with a dash of peanut sauce or tomato sauce. A cup of freshly sliced fruit (in the picture uploaded, it is Mango) will go great with this item.