Coat your Oats

Now everyone by now knows how good Oats are for us. They are high in fiber have a low GI, there by being the food of choice for better health and fitness. But making people eating oats can be a task. Somehow for me the prepacked instant oats doesn’t work. I don’t like there taste nor the gooey texture. But remember where there is a will there is always a way. Thus began my quest of making the all so healthy oats taste better.

So in my quest to make oats palate friendly I started experimenting, and this time by the grace of god succeeded in most of my attempts. Also I realized that Oats are tasteless so can be incorporated into almost anything. Also they can be very well disguised and used in most of the foods and unless you say no one will notice the change in taste the only thing I am sure everyone around will notice will be your shrinking waist and better health. 

Okay so lest begin with  listing my best experiments that have helped me embrace oats into my daily life. These are basically where I have made sure that taste is the hero oats are disguised to the T. So these are ways that help you up the health index for our existing recipes just by the addition of oats.

Oats and vegetable thepla: This one is basically simple just add all your cooked and uncooked veggies to the flour. Makes sure you chop them real fine. You can also add finely chopped garlic, grated ginger, they really add to the flavor. Plus a sprinkle of Ajwain and some bhuna jeera powder add that smoky flavor and aroma. Finally add oats to the flour in the proportion of 1:2. One parts oats to every 2 parts of flour. Just knead the dough and let it rest for 30 mins. After 30 mins make roll thin roti and shallow fry them with some ghee on the skillet. Serve with curd/pinkle/chatni/sauce. You can also knead dough with leftover dal and rice. Dal gives it even better taste and rice makes it crispy.

Oats and vegetable khichadi: Mix split green moong dal, oats and wheat Dalia in 1:1:1 proportion. Add veggies of your choice, onion tomatoes all beans, green peas, lauki (can’t remember the English nameJ), cabbage , cauliflower. And cook them in a pressure cooker for 3-5 whistles. Enjoy with a sprinkle on lemon juice and some alu bhujia.

Oats and rava uttapam: Soaks rava and oats in sour butter milk in the proportion of 1:1 for at least 30-45 mins. Add salt, onion and tomatoes. Just a small tip add onion and tomatoes right at the time when you start to makes dosa, the vegies will remain crisp and the uttapams will taste better. Once the batter is ready, whisk it properly to get rid of any lumps. Use a non-stick pan and start making uttapams like you always do. Serve them with coconut chatni and Sambar.

Oat and dal wada: Soak chana dal, urad dal(with skin) overnight. In the morning grind them together. Make a coarse mix, add to it equal amount of oats. Mix them well and add salt, turmeric powder and some ajwain seeds.  Now for the wada you can deep fry them, or use a appa tawa and shallow fry them, you can add chopped onion and  green chili for enhanced flavor.

Oats and besan chilla: make a batter of  Besan, oats and rava in the proportion of 1:1:0.25. Add salt, chopped onion, Tomatoes, green chillies, coriander and mix well . Just a small tip add some hot oil in the batter and the chilla will turn out much better. You can also soak some chana dal and use its coarsely ground paste instead of besan, it will taste much better. Once the batter is ready, whisk it properly to get rid of any lumps. Use a non-stick pan and start making chillas like small dosa. Serve them with pickle or pudina chatni.

So what are you waiting for, I am sure most of the ingredients are readily available in every Indian house hold except Oats. I would recommend Quaker Oats. It is trusted brand and is very economical. Try out these recipes without letting anyone know the additional ingredient. Capture there amazed reactions when you eventually let go of the secret. I am sure everyone in the family will welcome the healthy habit.

So go ahead and coat your oats under taste and help your family build health in the best possible way!