Let’s accept it. Oats perhaps evoke the same emotions as khichdi or lauki and their other unappetising peers. But they are healthier than any mean ingredient lying around in your kitchen, so how does one make oats sound interesting and taste delicious to a child – like pizza or burger or a chocolate cake? The key is not in overkill but in devising dishes to not just make the oats look appetizing but taste fantastic!
Here are a few recipes that use instant rolled oats (say Quaker oats) as one of the chief ingredients yet don’t taste like them, are simple to cook, and last but not the least, are absolutely mouthwatering!
Mini Poppins
This recipe makes for an ideal breakfast item, an ideal tiffin meal, and a great party snack, depending on how you serve it.
Ingredients
1 cup instant oats
½ cup rawa or sooji
½ cup fresh curds
½ tsp fruit salt
Veggies: finely grated carrot, semi-mashed, parboiled peas
Finely chopped coriander
For tempering
2 tsp ghee or oil
Mustard seeds
Split urad dal
Curry leaves
1-2 green chillies chopped
Method:
1. Dry roast the oats in a pan till they turn crispy, emanate a lovely aroma, and change colour (light pink). Coarsely grind them on cooling.
2. Dry roast the rawa or sooji till it changes colour and allow it to cool.
3. Sizzle the tempering ingredients together and add the veggies to the tempering.
4. Add salt to taste and stir the veggies together for a bit.
5. Mix the coarsely ground oats, roasted sooji, and tempering in a bowl
6. Add curds and salt to taste to the mixture and mix well to make a batter. Ensure that you perform this step just before loading the idli moulds.
7. Add water till the batter is not too lumpy and heavy or too runny – more towards the thicker side
8. Lastly add fruit salt for soft and porous idlis.
9. Grease the idli moulds and load them up with the batter. Steam them like you would cook regular idlis till they are done.
Serve hot with sambhar and coconut chutney or garnish with grated cheese and ketchup! You can also use the batter minus the curds and fruit salt to make dosas and upma!
Instant Crispy Dosas
These dosas are a 10-minute wonder! Quick. Healthy. Tasty. Good lookin’!
Ingredients
1 cup instant oats
½ cup rawa or sooji
Veggies as per preference – I’d add finely grated carrot, finely chopped onions and coriander
Salt to taste
Finely chopped green chillies (you can avoid this if kids don’t like it spicy)
Finely grated ginger
Oil or butter to cook
Method:
1. Soak the oats and sooji in water for 10 mins (more if you have time) so the oats soften.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
3. Add water to make a runny batter (like rawa dosas).
4. Heat a pan on high flame and spread the batter like a regular dosa.
5. Cook it with butter or oil till they turn into a beautiful golden brown, crispy delight!
6. Serve hot with chutney and sambhar.
Banana & Jaggery Delight
A lovely chocolatey porridge that makes for an ideal, energy-packed breakfast for kids and adults alike.
Ingredients
1 cup Instant oats (I use Quaker)
2 tsps nachni satva (fortified millet powder available at local kirana stores)
Jaggery to taste
1-2 cups milk
Powdered dry fruits like almonds, walnuts, pistachios, raisins (for infants or toddlers), whole dry fruits for older kids and adults
Dry fruit or any other muesli
1 banana mashed
Method:
1. Mix the nachni satva and milk in a pan and stir well till there are no lumps.
2. Add oats and jaggery to the mixture and cook on low flame till it turns into a not-too-thick, not-too-runny porridge.
3. Take the porridge off the flame and add the dry fruits and mashed banana. Mix well.
4. Garnish with muesli and serve hot or cold – however the kids like it!
You can even add apple sauce/steamed apple puree instead of the bananas – goes really well with the rest of the meal.
I sincerely hope your kids enjoy these recipes.
There’s much more to this humble, versatile (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack or just garnishing!), superfood called oats. I’m not yet done with it…
Some fast facts about oats:
1. Great source of both soluble and insoluble fiber for they are a by- product of whole wheat grain.
2. They help reduce weight and bad cholesterol.
3. Lovely texture with a nutty flavour that adds a punch to many a delightful meal.
What is fruit salt? I have never heard of it.. does it have some local name? is it some kind of salt? HELPPPPPPP i want the idlis!
Fruit salt is Eno. As an equivalent, you can use baking soda (little less than 1/2 a tsp). Hope this helps!
Thanks !!!! Very Useful…. Planning to give the oats -suji idlis in the tiffin to Neal tomorrow morning ….