Tofu Bhurji

Recently at one of our friends meet, the topic of healthy foods was being discussed and one of them was Tofu. I realized that though everyone had heard of Tofu but only a few of them had a clear idea on what exactly is the stuff made of or its various preparation.

So, what is Tofu?

Tofu, also called bean curd, is a food made by coagulating soy juice and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. These soft white blocks resemble paneer (cottage cheese). In fact these are sold in the supermarket in packets as soya paneer. Ofcourse, tofu is a much healthier option than paneer. Tofu can be substituted for paneer.

And what is Bhurji? “Bhurji” is another name for scrambled (like in scrambled eggs).  I would like to call “Tofu Bhurji” as vegetarian’s or vegan’s scrambled eggs!

In this preparation of “Bhurji”, I have used very few ingredients. You can spice it up with any masala of your choice and also add a few vegetables if you so desire to increase its nutritive value.

Ingredients:

Tofu	200gms
Onion (chopped)	1 medium
Green chilies (thinly sliced)	2
Ginger (chopped)	1” piece
Salt	As per taste
Oil	3-4 tsps
Coriander leaves(chopped)	1 tbsp

Method:

1. Firstly, crumble the tofu (using your hands) and keep it aside.
2. Then heat the oil (on a medium flame) in a pan.
3. Add to it the chopped onions, thinly sliced green chilies and chopped ginger. Saute them till the onions are translucent.
4. Add the crumbled tofu and salt. Lower the flame, mix well and cover it with a lid. Keep it covered for about 2 mins and remove from flame.
5. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.
6. Serve hot with buttered and toasted bread.

Tofu slab

Crumbled Tofu

Chopped onion, ginger and sliced green chilies being sauted

Tofu Bhurji - almost done

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time      :  about 5 mins

Serves                  : 2 -3

Note:

• This is a healthy breakfast for the whole family especially if you use whole wheat bread or 7-grain bread instead of the white bread.
• I generally serve it with sliced tomato, cucumber and capsicum on the side. I did not have cucumber at the time of preparing this dish.

For more info on Tofu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofu

Quick Oats Idly

Every housewife faces this dilemma in the morning regarding the preparation of breakfast for the family.
And now-a-days everyone is very health conscious and they try to include healthy foods in their daily diet. But at the same time, the so called "healthy foods" should be easy to prepare and tasty too.  My family is no exception. Oats is one such cereal where every one would love to include in their daily diet because of its nutritive benefits but the thought of eating the bland and easy to make porridge is not everyone’s cup of tea. 

But I found, that this quick idly is an ideal healthy breakfast for the whole family and requires only about 20 mins of your time and no grinding !  The idlis too come out very light, soft and fluffy. This is a basic recipe. Variation can be made by adding chilies, ginger or even vegetables (like grated carrot) to the batter. The choice is yours.

 

Ingredients:

Oats	½ cup (about 50 gms)
Fine Suji/Semolina	½ cup
Eno fruit salt	1 tsp (level)
Salt	As per taste
Curd	1 cup
Water	½ cup
Oil	For greasing idli cups

Method:

1. Powder the oats in the mixie. This will take just a few seconds.
2. Place the powdered oats in a bowl. Add to it, the suji/semolina, salt, eno and curds. Mix it well and see that there are no lumps formed.
3. Add water to make a smooth batter. Keep this batter aside for 10 mins.
4. In the meantime, boil water in the cooker (with the whistle/wieght removed) and grease the idli cups.
5. Fill the idli cups with the batter and place the idli stand in the cooker and steam it on a medium flame for about 12 mins.
6. Cool and remove the idlis.

Ingredients 

Idly batter and greased idly cups

Batter filled in the cups

Idlis steamed and kept to cool

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time    :  12 mins

Makes                : 16 idlis

Note:

• I have used Quaker Oats and this recipe came with the pack. The only change I made in the recipe is the use of Eno instead of baking soda. If using baking soda, use ½ tsp.
• These idlis look and taste almost like Rawa idlis.
• Serve it with chutney (coconut or coriander) or sambhar or rasam.