Oats are considered to be a wholesome, healthy food, especially for seniors. It provides many health benefits and has slowly and steadily found its way into Indian cuisine. The simple fact that it is easy to cook, eat and digest is what makes it a senior-friendly food as well. It could be eaten as breakfast, lunch, evening snack or for dinner. There are many simple recipes that you can rustle up in a jiffy with oats. If time permits, you could even bake oatmeal cookies or cakes. Here are a few recipes that you can experiment with to bring in some variety to your oats consumption.
Oats Upma
Ingredients:
Join Now >
Rolled oats – 2 cups
Mixed sliced veggies – 1 cup
Sliced onions – ½ cup
Chopped green chillies – 2
Turmeric powder – 1 pinch
Salt to taste
Oil, curry leaves, urad dal, mustard – for tempering
Grated coconut (optional), chopped coriander leaves – for garnishing
Lemon juice (optional)
Preparation:
Roast the oats in a dry kadai till it turns slightly brown. Heat oil in a kadai, and add the tempering ingredients and turmeric. When the mustard splutters, add the green chilli bits and sauté for a minute. Then add the onions and sauté till they turn translucent. Follow this up by adding all the sliced veggies and sauté for two to three minutes, cover and cook on sim for about another two minutes. Add salt and two cups water, bring it to a boil and then add the roasted oats and constantly stir on medium flame till the oats are cooked soft. Keep a little hot water by the side, and you can add it in if required to adjust the consistency to your desire. Remove from flame, garnish with grated coconut, coriander leaves and lemon juice, before serving.
Oats Dosa
The South Indian Dosa is a favourite across many Indian households today. The typical dosa needs to be planned by soaking, grinding and fermenting. But, here is an instant and healthy version of oats dosa that you can make at any time.
Ingredients:
Powdered Rolled Oats – 1 cup
Rice flour – 1 cup
Semolina or sooji – 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder – 1 pinch
Cumin (jeera) seeds, curry leaves, oil, green chilli bits, ½ cup sliced onion – For tempering
Preparation:
In a small kadai heat oil and add the cumin seeds and once they splutter, add the green chilli bits, curry leaves, turmeric powder and onion, and saute till onions turn translucent. Keep this aside.
In a slightly deep vessel, mix the oats powder, rice flour, and the sooji, along with salt and enough water to make it into a runny mixture. Once the consistency is right enough for pouring into a pan to make dosa, mix in the prepared tempering into this. Grease the dosa pan with oil and sprinkle the runny mixture across rather than spreading it like for the other dosas. Flip and cook both sides to slightly brown. You could even make masala dosas by spreading the potato bhaji on this dosa or just eat it with chutney or sambhar according to your taste.
Oats Idli
Steamed idlis are any day good for health and digestion, and when you use oats for the preparation, it is also easy to make. This recipe, more or less, follows the Rava idli method, can be made with or without the rava.
Ingredients
Rolled oats powder (roasted) – 1 cup
Semolina (Sooji/Rava) – ½ cup
Grated carrots – ½ cup
Chopped coriander leaves – ½ cup
Oil, mustard, curry leaves, chopped green chilli and ginger, cashew bits, chana dal – For tempering
Curd – ½ cup
Salt to taste
Preparation:
First, prepare the tempering by heating oil in a small kadai and add the ingredients one after the other. Keep this aside and mix the oats powder and sooji in a bowl along with curd, grated carrot, coriander leaves and salt. Adjust consistency to idli batter by adding little water if required and mix in the salt. Add the tempering and mix well. If you like to have fluffy idlis, you could also mix in a pinch of Eno fruit salt or baking soda (optional). Grease the idli moulds with oil and pour out the batter and steam for 15 to 20 minutes. It can be served with chutney and sambhar for a sumptuous meal.
