Sweat it out..;-)

Do you Live to eat and not eat to live?
Well join the club. The last thing a foodie needs is Calorie count of every meal. We just love to eat and there should be no problem with that.

Until comes the time to draw your blood and know your 'numbers'. Blood sugar, BMI, good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, thyroid and what not.

Its very important to keep these critical numbers in check and the best way is to do it naturally.

It is not as difficult to get all your numbers right as it sounds.

Follow few ground rules-eat fresh, eat everything in moderation and burn out that food.

I have collected my favorite routines here to sweat it out.
Do these thrice a week (well at least one of these) and you will be able to enjoy more guilt free meals.

Latin Dance Fitness, Beginners 1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa2IWYs3ags

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred: Level 1-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pc-NizMgg8

Have also combined a list of few metabolism movers to keep those calories burning :)

• Broccoli, 
• Green tea, 
• Citrus fruits, 
• Almonds, 
• Curry powder, 
• hot peppers, 
• spinach 
• and last but not the least-water.

More great tips to follow in upcoming posts. Stay tuned!

Easy Churma recipe

Churma is a delicacy served with Dal-Bati. There are various versions of churma- churma laddoos, deep fried crumbly churma, etc.
My version is healthier (read less ghee :D), and a very easy recipe. Get all the right ingredients in right quantities, mix them and you are done.

Ingredients:
(for 6 people)

6 batis
Sugar: 1 cup or to taste
2 tsp Mishri: crushed coarsely
4 elaichi: crushed coarsely
Kesar: few strands
2 tsp Gulab jal
1tbsp raisins
1/4 cup broken unsalted cashews
1/4 cup unsalted pistachios
1 tsp black pepper: crushed coarsely

Method:

1. Make batis with this recipe without adding salt.
2. Once the batis are cool enough to handle, crumble them with hands and crush in food processor.
3. Mix rest of the ingredients and you are done!
4. Churma tastes great by itself . Also tastes great mixed with dal, try it to believe it :)

Bati recipe

Marwari food is incomplete without dal bati churma. Crispy hot batis drowned in melted ghee along with spicy dal, chutney, bharta with sweet churma is a party in mouth!
Recipes of each of the above will be given in separate posts.

After lots of hits and misses, have come up with the following recipe which always makes perfect batis. An ideal bati should have golden crispy crust and crumbly inside.

Ingredients for 6 batis-
(Please double the quantities for more batis)

1 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup sooji (the coarser the better)
1 tbsp yogurt
salt to taste
lukewarm water-about 1 cup
2 tbsp melted ghee( for dough)
1 cup melted ghee ( for dipping batis)

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients except for water and knead till the mixture looks like crumbled bread.
2. Slowly add lukewarm water and make a dough. Please note that the dough should not be hard else it would make very hard and dense batis. (The dough should be harder than chapati dough but softer than poori dough)
3. Cover the dough and let it sit for half an hour.
4. Heat oven at 400F.
5. Make 6-7 balls, taper them a little at the center and heat in oven for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes, flip them over and heat again for 15 minutes. While batis are heating, warm one cup ghee in a bowl.
7. Take the batis out from the oven. The color should be golden brown from both sides and should have cracks all over which means the heat has penetrated inside.
8. Immediately transfer the batis in melted ghee.
9. Enjoy with dal, chutney, bharta and churma.

3 ingredient Chocolate Fudge

There are recipes with a long list of ingredients and tips on all the finesse required for each step. And then there are recipes you are too embarrassed to share because they are just too simple! This is just one of those recipes. Easy, quick and only 3 ingredients! When you are out of ideas for dessert, what else can you ask for?

Ingredients:

One 14Oz sweetened condensed milk can
3 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup roasted almonds-roughly chopped (or use almond slivers)


Method:

1. In a large microwaveable bowl, add condensed milk and chocolate chips.
2. Microwave for 1 minute.
3. Take out the bowl, add almonds and immediately mix well with a spatula.
4. Put a lightly greased aluminum foil in a square container and pour the fudge mix(just as in picture).
5. Refrigerate for about 2 hours, take off the aluminium foil from fudge and cut in desired shapes!

Double Chocolate Chip Pancake

What is better than a warm, melt-in-the-mouth buttermilk pancake? Of course Chocolate chip pancake! And what is better than a chocolate chip pancake? Double chocolate chip pancake!!

Here is an easy chocolate pancake recipe to fulfill your chocolate cravings. Its an all time favorite of kids too!


Ingredients:
(for 1 big pancake)

4 heaped tsp pancake mix (I use Hungary Jack's buttermilk pancake mix)
1 heaped Hershey's unsweetened Cocoa powder (regular or special dark-both work well)
1 tbsp semi sweet choclate chips
1 tsp brown sugar
Milk: few teaspoons to make the batter
Butter for cooking pancake

Method:

1. Heat a medium sized skilled on medium. 
2. In a small mixing bowl, add dry ingredients to milk making a thick batter; whisk until just moistened (do not overmix; a few small lumps are fine).
3. Rub the skillet with butter stick. Put the batter on the skillet.
4. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more.
5. Rub some more butter on the top of the pancake before serving.

The world's easiest and yummiest CCC!

Taking a break from spicy stuff for a mouthwatering treat!. Who doesn't like chocolate chip cookies? As Mickey mouse says-"The only thing better than a chocolate chip cookie is a double chocolate chip cookie :)".

 I found this recipe by sheer luck, had bought all purpose baking mix instead of all purpose flour by mistake. Didn't know what to do with the big bag! So found this recipe and was an instant hit! The only problem with this cookie- cannot keep both the boys at home off from the jar :)

 

 Ingredients

2 cups baking mix (or Pancake mix)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 stick softened butter(1/2 cup)              
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg * (See notes for egg substitute)

Method

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
2. Add vanilla and egg and beat again.
3. Add Baking mix; beat on low speed until combined.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Onto ungreased cookie sheets, drop dough by tablespoonful about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set on edges and golden brown.
7. Cool on cookie sheets for 5 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets and once cooled, store in an airtight container.

 Notes:

• For eggless version try any of these instead of egg in step 2- One tablespoon yoghurt, Half mashed banana, 1 tablespoon flax seeds ground and added with half a cup of water.
• When you take the cookies out of the oven, they will be very soft and almost doughy on the top. Do not panic, they will solidify once cooled.
• These cookies are cakey and very soft, if you prefer crunchy cookies, this is not the recipe for you :)
• For smaller and sturdier cookies, drop the dough by a small spoon, they melt in oven and spread a lot.

ChOcOLaTe..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chocolate is one of the worlds most craved foods. Ah, every bite of chocolate is pure joy. Eating a piece of that delectable chocolate arouses all the five senses- Smell the scent, judge the rich color, hear that snapping sound, feel the velvety texture in your hands and take a bite!

Last week I took a tour of Seattle's chocolate factory. It was hard to fathom that the hard bitter cacao bean transforms into delectable chocolates. In the honor of this 'food of the Gods', all of this year's post are going to be chocolaty!
So all you chocoholics, be ready for this sinful decadent journey of chocolate. 

We will have the easiest and yet most delicious recipes for chocolate chip cookies, chocolate pancakes, chocolate fudge, chocolate sauce and many more!