Summer Fun- Mango Granita

With the mango season just around the corner-here is a simple dessert for those days when you want to have something ‘icy’!

Ingredients:

Mango-3 cups cubed

Water-1 cup

Sugar- 1 tbsp. (can be omitted if the mangoes are very sweet)

Rose petals- for garnish

Method:

Blend the mangoes, water and sugar in a blender and blend till smooth(add more water if it is too thick)

Pour onto a large, flat baking tray and freeze for about an hour.

After that, take it out and run a fork along the sides of the container to break up large chunks of ice. Repeat this process for every hour till you have a grainy texture.

Freeze again till serving time. When serving, fork out the portions into a small bowl, top with a rose petal and serve immediately.

Note: You can add a little ginger for variation.

Watermelon Granita

Beat the HEAT with Granita

Granita is a kind of semi-frozen Italian dessert more like a grainy slushie or sorbet. It is a simple, refreshing and exotic sounding dessert which is bound to impress everyone. Simple, as it usually consists of not more than 3 ingredients and refreshing, as it mainly consists of water, which is perfect on a hot summer’s day.

Watermelon Granita: (serves 8)

Ingredients:

Watermelon: ½ (deseeded and cubed)

Lime juice: 1 tbsp

Sugar: 5tsp

Mint leaves: for garnish

Method:

Blend the watermelon, sugar and lime juice till you get a smooth puree.

Take a wide pan or baking tray and pour the puree, cover and freeze for about an hour and a half.

Take a fork and stir the frozen mixture, breaking any frozen pieces.

Take it out and again scrape with the fork making small icicles when you do so.

Cover tightly and freeze till you need it.

When serving, scrape with a fork and place the icicles into a small bowl.

What’s in your kid’s lunch box?

Check out my article published in Complete Wellbeing magazine (14th Dec 2014):

A few smart ideas to pack a healthy and interesting lunch box for your kids: What's in your kid's tiffin?

Back To School-7 Healthy Lunch Box Ideas

 (Japanese Bento box-Image courtesy BBC News )

Getting a child to eat his lunch at school and making sure it's also a healthy meal can be a daily nightmare for most parents. A child's lunch plays an important role in meeting their day to day nutrition needs. To know more about the right foods for your child you can read  Is Your Child Getting the Right Nutrition .
Packing a healthy lunch box for a kid isn't always difficult. Sometimes it may not be always possible to pack a balanced meal into a child's lunch box. Just make sure to avoid packing junk food or processed foods like cookies,chips, jello's and such. Here are 7 Healthy lunch box ideas for your child: 

1.  Parathas+ Yogurt+ Salad/Fruit: when made with less oil can become a healthy and filling lunch box favorite. Avoid the frozen commercially packed varieties (which may be more convenient) as they can be too oily. Alternatively (if time is a constraint)you could roll out the parathas in advance and cook them in the morning. Kids love aloo parathas,methi parathas, gobi parathas, radish parathas and even the most fussy kid will devour a broccoli paratha.
2. Sandwiches/Wraps+ Fruit: (Use 100% whole wheat/ double fiber breads,pita breads or whole wheat tortillas/wraps). Fillings can be with the good ole' P&B(Peanut butter) or other nut butters(almond/sunflower/cashew nut,etc), chutney, guacamole, hummus, tofu spreads. You could add freshly cut fruits like bananas, strawberries, peaches  or vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce to the filling or put it as a side. Avoid adding salt/sugar as this could make the sandwiches soggy.Cold cuts of turkey,tuna, eggs, grilled chicken, or cheese slices could also be a filling option for kids
3. Roti's, tortillas,bagels, English muffins (whole wheat)+ egg/paneer/tofu burji(scrambled), chole/rajma(lentil/pulse/bean) curry + salad/fruit.
4. Rice dishes+ low-fat yogurt/Greek yogurt+ fruit/salad. You could make a mixed vegetable pulav, mint/pudina pulav, palak/spinach rice, peas pulav, curd/ yogut rice, egg/chicken fried rice and such.Try adding some pulse/lentil/paneer/tofu/soy nuggets to add some protein to the rice dish. Avoid dishes like khichdi, bisibele bath which are not palatable when eaten cold.
5. Idli/dosa/dhokla + chutney/nut butters+ salad+ Low-fat milk. You could try out different varieties of dosas like adai, pesarattu, neer dosa and idlis like rava, coin, stuffed vegetable idlis.
6. Mixed vegetable upma + low-fat yogurt+ fruit. The upma can be made from rava/semolina, oats, vermicelli poha or dhalia/broken wheat.
7. Noodles, pasta+ salad+ 100% fruit juice. Try adding some mixed vegetables to the noodles/pasta along with chicken/tofu/paneer/egg to increase the fiber and protein content.

Try to be as creative as possible with the foods. Children love fun shapes, so use a cookie cutter to cut the salad vegetables/ fruits. Even sandwiches can be made into different fun shapes with the help of different sandwich cutters. Use desserts as an occasional treat for the kids. Don't make it a habit of giving a sweet drink (juice, flavored milk) on a daily basis.
Take a look at these creative Japanese moms: Japan's Amazing lunchboxes

 Bento Box-Image Courtesy BBC News Magazine

Tricky Treats!!

Found this wonderful clip on the CDC-TV site:
Introduces the character of Coyote, a trickster, and shows children the difference between healthy snacks and sweet treats.
Watch it:

Healthy snack ideas for kids

 Kids are picky eaters and not eating enough at meal times is a common complaint. That's why snacks play an important role in providing the extra nutrition that they tend to miss out. Most parents tend to focus more on providing a nutritious meal and overlook the importance of giving healthy snacks. Chips, cookies, cheese puffs, cupcakes are convenient snacks but not the healthiest choices. Here are some healthy snack ideas for kids:

• Sandwiches (with 100% whole wheat breads)-you can use cheese, tofu, nut/peanut butter, guacamole, paneer, egg, vegetables as the filling.
• Seasonal fresh fruits-cut them up in fun shapes/ sizes(use a melon scooper/cookie cutter), mix them in low-fat yogurt, make smoothies or plain fruit salads.Fruit and cheese kebabs are also a fancy way of serving fruits that kids will love.
• Fresh vegetables: cut them into strips and serve with dips like guacamole, hummus, peanut/almond butter.
• Steamed snacks: like idli's/vegetable stuffed idlis, dhoklas, khandvi's can be cut/decorated into fun shapes.
• Mini- rolls/burritos: whole wheat chapathis/rotis can be used to make rolls with egg/paneer/tofu burji(scrambled), rajma/ channa, mung(pulses/lentils) curry/usal or cheese spread.
• Tikkis/cutlets can be made with soy chunks, mixed vegetables, lentils and shallow fried or baked (instead of deep fried). These can also be served inside a pita bread or sandwich.
• Mini/triangle/cone dosas/uttapams: these fun size/baby dosas can be more interesting for kids than the regular adult size ones. Serve them with chutney/ketchup/peanut butter (you can even draw a smiley face on the dosa with it)!
•  Nuts and dry-fruits: older children can be given a handful of mixed nuts and dry fruits.

These snacks can be served with either a glass of low-fat milk/soy milk, water, 100% fruit juices or homemade juices.
Make sure to serve these snacks at least two hours before meal times, otherwise they may not be hungry enough for it.
Here's a great clip that I found on CDC-TV- it introduces Coyote, a trickster and teaches kids the difference between healthy snacks and sweets:

Is Your Child Getting the Right Nutrition?

A common complaint that most parents have is that their child doesn't eat (enough). The question that then arises is whether the child is getting the right amount of nutrition that is required for growth. There are even instances of parents requesting the pediatrician to prescribe some supplements or health tonics.
Most of the times these are not required as parents just wrongly assume that their child isn't eating enough just because the portions they eat are too small. Keep in mind that they are kids and will not be able to eat as much as an adult. One way of knowing whether is to check the child's growth records. If the child is around or above the 50th percentile,then he/she is getting enough calories to grow. If at any point, the percentile keeps dropping below the 50th percentile in terms of weight and the height doesn't seem to be increasing too much over a period of time, then that may be a sign of under-nutrition.
Sometimes, just getting sufficient calories for growth is not enough-the child may be eating and drinking the wrong foods (chips,candies, cookies, soda/aerated drinks , chocolates and such) most of which which provide nothing other that empty calories.
To ensure that a child is getting adequate nutrition through his/her diet, here are some guidelines:

•  Make sure that the child eats at least 3 meals (breakfast, lunch,dinner) and has 2-3 small snacks in between. 
• Serve the meals and snacks at the dining table and not in front of the TV. 

• Ensure that the child gets a helping from all the food groups at meal times:

Grains: Rice, breads, pasta, roti/chapathi, or ragi/jowar
Protein:Pulses/lentils/beans(e.g dals, mung,rajma,soy, etc) eggs, chicken, fish.
Vegetables: make sure the child eats a variety of veggies and also green leafy vegetables (palak/spinach, amaranth, collard, chard,etc). Limit using only potatoes as a vegetable.
Fruits: can be served at the end in lieu of dessert. Here again choose fresh seasonal fruits rather than canned fruits(which can be loaded with sugar).
Dairy: Yogurt/curd, skimmed milk, low-fat cheese, soy milk are also excellent sources of calcium. These can be served separate or mixed with the meal-cheese sandwich, curd/yogurt rice.

• Serve water instead of juices with the meals.
• Healthy snacks can also contribute to the child's nutrition. Avoid foods like cookies, pastries, jello, chips, chocolates. Fruits, cheese sticks, fruits in yogurt, fruit smoothies, mini sandwiches(with cheese, guacamole, almond/nut butter), dhoklas, mini-uttapams, mini-burritos(with cheese/scrambled eggs,pulses ) nuts and dry fruits, coin idlis, sukha bhel, popcorn(with less butter/oil), etc. Use your imagination and make the snacks more attractive when serving. A glass of skimmed milk/ soy milk or 100% fruit juice can also be served with the snacks. 
• Make sure there is at least a gap of 2 hours between snack time and regular meal times, otherwise the child may not be hungry.

Moreover, keep the child engaged in some kind of physical activity (outdoor play, swimming, cycling, etc) for at least an hour each day. This will not only keep the child occupied instead of sitting glued to the T.V or video games, but will also increase the appetite.

Sweet Mango Dosa

Mango Dosa

It's mango season,and I just had to try something different.I tweaked this traditional Manglorean(a small seaside town in South India that my side of the family is originally from)Sweet Dosa recipe and added mangoes instead of cucumbers.As a kid,I grew up watching my mom and gran starting the next day's breakfast preparations a day in advance.We always woke up smelling the wonderful aromas wafting from the kitchen. This recipe too is no exception,I had to soak the rice once we were done with breakfast,grind it in the evening and let it ferment overnight,and voila the batter for the next day's breakfast was ready.
Traditionally it's made with either Southekai(Kannada for cucumber) or with watermelon. Otherwise it has all the original ingredients like:Beaten/Flattened Rice: 'Poha' is rice that is dehusked and then flattened into light flakes. Traditionally flattened with iron rods,it used to contain more iron than regular rice.
Jaggery: or 'gur',is a traditional non-refined sugar(made from either cane sugar or from date palm) which is rich in non-heme iron and other mineral salts.
Fenugreek seeds: 'Methi' seeds as it's commonly known in India, is a known galactagogue and recent studies have shown that it has cholesterol and serum glucose lowering properties as well.
Ingredients:

• Rice: 1 cup
• Flattened rice/Poha: 1/2 cup
• Jaggery(scraped): 3/4th cup (or sugar-1/2 cup)
• Yogurt(preferably homemade)-1/2 cup
• Fenugreek/Methi seeds-1/2 teaspoon
• Ripe Mango:1 big or 2 small
• Salt:1/2 teaspoon

Method:

1. Wash the rice and the fenugreek seeds,then soak it in water for at least 6-7 hours.
2. Wash and drain the flattened rice and let it stand for about 10-15 mins.
3. Grind all ingredients(except the mango) till you get a fine batter.Let it ferment for at least 8-9 hours or overnight(works well in warm weather). The batter will double in volume.
4. Make a puree of the mango pulp(when sugar is added to this pulp,it's called 'aamras').If using cucumber instead of mangoes,then grate half (a big) cucumber and mix with the batter.
5. Mix this puree with the batter and pour a ladle of the batter onto a hot non-stick pan and spread.
6. Cover with a lid and cook on medium flame for two or three minutes. Then cook uncovered till the dosa is done.
7. Serve hot(you can serve it with cut mangoes or even with some 'aamras').

Note:

1. If the weather is not warm enough(as was the case when I made it),the batter will not ferment and the dosa will not get tiny little holes on it( the dosa will be flat as seen in the snap).
2. The jaggery tends to add a brownish colour to the dosa(if you add sugar,the dosa will turn out a lovely yellow colour) but the dosas are more nutritious when made with jaggery.
3. Traditionally the dosa is eaten hot with a little ghee spread on top. Since the dosas are sweet, you can eat it as it is.
4. I used the Scarlet Sweet mango for this recipe,you could use any of the sweet mangoes available.