I thought when I hit 1 million hits on this blog I would bake something special. I would celebrate it with something sweet. But today I decided to start a diabetic section- a section dedicated to people who struggle with recipes for diabetic members at home. The reasons to begin with this section are many but the main motivator behind this mission is my mom- in-law. She is blessed with all the three lifestyle diseases one can manage in one's lifetime- Diabetes, Cholesterol and Blood pressure. Her readings have exceeded the permissible limits and I wish those could be her examination results from school. Her visit to Bangalore brought in a new challenge to me- a quest for recipes that could fix her diabetes and could also add a twist to our health regime. An average malayali cannot survive without rice and now that I started paying attention- our breakfast menu was always steeped towards starch in the form of appams, dosa, idli, steam cakes, string hoppers, tapioca, other tubers, ada, upma. And to be frank I love rice. But making two different breakfasts in the same kitchen at morning 6.30 am is not my idea of fun. My alternatives were wheat, samba rava, oats, ragi and other alternative grains, something my hubby can never warm up to. And then began my war with these ingredients. Though the doctor said coconut was not an issue I did not like the idea of consuming it daily for chutneys so my research spread to finding alternative chutneys for daily use. I must say my Telugu friends were quite helpful, I was deeply inspired by my neighbor Rupa who gave me tips on chutneys and variety of dosas they prepared at home. For many Keralites including my mom-in-law the initiation into a rice free diet is a difficult transition. Oats and Ragi is something they have at home and consume in the form of porridges but giving a twist to one's daily breakfast is something they find very hard to follow.
Right now I treat her like a kid, I invent dishes that preserve her curiosity, wonder and excitement, constantly instilling in her confidence to try these recipes when she gets back home. I guess today is the seventh day of my experiment and we have not used any rice based items in our kitchen for any meals. My hubby and I have rice occasionally but mom-in- law is under constant surveillance. And we are happy to see her blood sugar level lower.
I have many young friends who are diabetic and who constantly pester me for recipes but it never motivated me to go ahead and try something that could be blogged here. But finally, I have arrived and with a whole new section on recipes for the diabetic. None of these recipes require tedious measures, they aren't labour intensive,time consuming, expensive or tasteless. But perhaps they need an open mind- a mind willing to experiment with healthy alternatives which also means stepping out of one's familiar, comfort zones. Let me assure you it's worth a diet, great if we introduce our kids to this from a young age. Nothing excites me more than more options for breakfast. I still can't warm up to Kellogg's and Oats for breakfast, I want it heavy but nutritious. So for all of you out there who think like me- here's a new health section. jai mom- in- law ! :)
That's my sous chef ( Dosa expert) who loves making dosas and posing for my pics :)
Ingredients for Ragi Dosa ( Recipe from Padhu's Kitchen)
Urad Dal- 1/2 cup
Ragi flour- 4 cups
Salt- to taste
Gingelly Oil- Optional ( I didn't use it)
Directions
Soak the urad dal for 5-6 hours. Grind it and let it ferment for 3 hours. I soak the dal in the morning and grind it by afternoon which means I let it ferment overnight. Add the ragi flour and salt to the fermented batter before making the dosas. Add water sufficient enough to make dosa and you are ready to start.
I use a non stick pan so I avoid using oil (though I love greased dosas) so use oil if you like your dosas coated with a bit of oil, it tastes fine even without oil.
In the pics above I have made a ginger chutney, but I will share that recipe separately in another post.
We had ragi dosas again today and I guess I could get used to having these even when my mom-in- law is not around :)
