Perfect Oats Porridge Breakfast

Hello everyone! After much thought and counter thoughts I am finally launching my new blog. This is not my first blog that I am writing. I have another blog(now a private blog) where I write about anything and everything that catches my fancy. But not being a first time blogger doesn't make the butterflies in my stomach vanish. I am nervous but happy that things have fallen into place to help me get back to my first love - blogging.

This blog will be mostly based on my experiments with food, new recipe ideas and inspiration. My cooking odyssey began after I got married (before my marriage I considered cooking as a headache and something requiring a lot of patience). I remember what disasters I used to (and still) create in the kitchen. Those disaster are worth a mention as a separate blog post after all, the mistakes we make help us improve and in hindsight make us laugh at our silliness as well. Skype helped a great deal in getting recipes and other cooking tips from my mother. I owe it my mother-in-law too who taught me the art of making the perfect parathas (Indian flatbread) (stuffed and simple) and chapattis during my vacation visits to Delhi in the first two years of my marriage. MIL's karela aloo sabzi with ambi (bitter gourd potato stir fry with raw mango) is to die for, something I would like to share on this blog soon!

Looking back at these six years of happily feeding my family with healthy homemade food, I feel I have come a long way. Being a foodie, this passion for experimenting with food was fueled from my taste buds that demand variety every single day. This blog will have my memories eating food cooked lovingly by my mother and grandmothers, a few tidbits about my food disasters, many of my favourite traditional Punjabi recipes that are loved by my family and some experiments on different cuisines that I have luckily encountered living in the UAE which I believe has an international diaspora offering authentic cuisines from all around the world.

Let me start this blog on a sweet note like we always do in India by eating dahi shakkar (curd and sugar) before starting anything important. A very simple fast breakfast option is this porridge.

Do you or your kids love porridge like my family and I?

Which ingredients are a must in your porridge?

Please do share with me on whether you like your porridge to taste sweet or just prefer the raisins and fruits over sugar!

This recipe is not a traditional Indian recipe but it very much akin to our humble dalia. In fact, I always combine 3/4th cup of oats with 1/4th cup of dalia when making this porridge. This porridge tastes amazing even when warm but I prefer the overnight version served cold with toppings of fresh fruit available in my fridge.

I think what makes it even tastier is mild roasted taste of the grains which can be sauteed for a minute or two in butter before adding milk. I always put three times the amount milk to the oats and dalia combined. So its always 1 cup oats and dalia, and 3 cups of milk for us.

The recipe makes 4-5 cups
Cooking Time: 5 min
Preparation Time: 5 min

Ingredients

3/4th cup oats (quick cooking)
1/4th cup dalia
4 tbsp butter
Chopped fruits of your choice for topping
2tbsp crushed almonds
1tbsp sesame seeds
2tbsp raisins
5tbsp sugar


1) Start by melting butter in a pressure cooker.

2) Add oats and dalia, sauté it until you get the roasted fragrance.

3) Add in sesame seeds and crushed almond, this is optional but I like to include it as it makes the porridge even more power-packed.
Sauté for a minute.

4) Pour in the milk while stirring continuously to avoid lumps.

5) Bring to boil while stirring and then pressure cook until it starts to whistle.

6) Turn of the gas. Let the steam escape from the pressure cooker.

7) To serve hot, top with raisins and chopped almonds.

8) To serve cold, let the porridge cool down completely and then put it in fridge for an hour or overnight. Chop fresh fruits just before serving and add to the refrigerated porridge.

I used apple, strawberries and grapes but you can add sweet melon, bananas, pomegranate and pear too.

Tips:
I prefer keeping the peel on for apples and pears as it adds some crunch to the bites.

Benefits of this recipe:

• Quick and easy
• Nutritious (high fibre, protein, and goodness of nuts, fruits and dry fruits)
• Ideal Baby food (Please omit raisins and chopped fruits if you are planning to give to your infant. Instead you can can add powdered nuts and banana pieces)
• Low on fat
• Delicious and unique breakfast as opposed to the usual stuffed parathas.

So what's stopping you from trying it? Go ahead!

Also I would like to request you to please please please do let me know you thoughts and suggestions on this post and do not forget to follow and subscribe to my blog. Thank you so much for reading through!