healthy starter Archives - Complete Wellbeing

Zucchini corn fritters

Anjana Devasahayam — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 04:30:27 +0000

Bursting with the flavours of fresh zucchini and corn, these are a snap to make and go well with your evening cuppa or even as a side for your main meal.

Makes 6 large fritters

Ingredients

2½ cups zucchini, coarsely shredded
½ tsp salt
1 cup corn kernels
½ tsp red chilli flakes
1 tsp cumin powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
½ cup chickpea flour [besan]
¼ cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
2 tbsp oil

Preparation Method

Take the coarsely shredded zucchini in a bowl and sprinkle ½ tsp salt over it. Rest for 10 minutes to draw out the liquid from the zucchini.
Squeeze out the water from the zucchini. Add the zucchini, corn, red chilli flakes, cumin powder, garam masala powder and chickpea flour to a mixing bowl. Mix well with a spoon to form a batter. If you feel the batter is runny, add breadcrumbs, few spoons at a time, till batter comes together. If you do not wish to use breadcrumbs, you can add more chickpea flour. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Divide batter into 6 portions. Form each portion into thin patties with your hand and pan-fry on both sides till nicely browned, 2 – 3 minutes per side.
Serve the fritters hot with a chutney or dip.

Notes:

You can add any of your favourite vegetables in this recipe. Think shredded carrots, finely chopped broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
To make this recipe gluten-free, skip the breadcrumbs and keep adding more chickpea flour till the batter comes together. The batter should be wet but not runny, so that you can form the patties easily.
Don’t discard the liquid drained from the grated zucchini. Add it to your smoothies, roti dough or dal.

This recipe was published in the April 2016 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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Try this better-than-restaurant Bruschetta recipe, that’s healthy too

Michael Swamy — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 09:36:27 +0000

Bruschetta, pronounced Brus-ketta, is an Italian starter dish that is basically just tomatoes flavoured with herbs and olive oil and then scooped over perfectly toasted bread slices. This recipe uses multi-grain bread.

Tomato and yoghurt bruschetta

Ingredients

For oven-dried tomatoes

3 large tomatoes [deseeded and quartered]
⅓ tsp rock salt
½ tsp crushed black pepper
⅓ tsp dried oregano
2 tsp olive oil

For the hung yoghurt

750 gm yoghurt made from skimmed milk
3 sprigs holy basil [shredded]
Salt to taste
1 small multi-grain French bread [cut into ¾ inch thick slices]

Preparation method

For the tomatoes, preheat oven to 120⁰C.
Crush the salt, pepper and oregano in a mortar pestle to get a coarse powder. In a mixing bowl, combine crushed spices with olive oil and mix well. Toss in the tomatoes and mix very well. Keep aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
Spread the tomato marinade over a baking tray and grill in the hot oven for 7 – 8 minutes till a bit dry and wrinkled. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
For the hung yoghurt, place a muslin cloth/cheesecloth over a bowl and spoon yoghurt into it. Keep aside to drain away the moisture for 2 hours.
Remove the hung yoghurt into a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon till smooth and creamy. Mix in shredded holy basil and salt.
To compile the bruschetta, spread some flavoured hung yoghurt onto the multi-grain French bread slices and top with oven-dried tomatoes. Serve immediately.

[Note: The oven-dried tomatoes can be stored in a refrigerator for up to three days.]

This was first published in the December 2014 issue of Complete Wellbeing.

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