Fruit crumble (very low in fat and refined ingredients)

Fruit Crumble

First time I ever had crumble was in a canteen in the company I used to work in. I was a savoury crumble and I actually liked the dish. However, I never got to try the sweet crumble for some reason. When I used to watch the food channels, sometimes I would run into crumble recipes and the amount of butter and flour would put me off. In the recent past, I did get to try crumble in some nice restaurants but did not quite enjoy it as the crumble itself seemed to have been made with crushed biscuits and nothing exciting. I then decided to make a version of healthy crumble that can arrest any sugar craving one may have while being healthy at the same time. I used oats to get the crumbly texture and the coarsely crushed nuts also add to the lovely texture. I have used very little refined flour and just one spoon of sugar in the crumble mixture as I was hoping this would be enough to trigger the fruits letting out their juices. If you are on a calorie controlled diet or you just like to be mindful of what you are eating, this is a great dish to fill you up so you can reduce the main meal. The oats provides some carbohydrates, so you are not drained and needless to say how good fruits can be for you. Although cooked fruits may not preserve all goodness from uncooked state nevertheless, it is still nutritious. You could start your day with this too if you are not a porridge person. Nuts are an essential part of a balanced diet and they are also said to help protect against cardio-vascular problems. Whenever I have over ripe fruits, I just roughly cut them up and bingo, a lovely dessert is ready. I am trying to watch the quantity of food I eat and this dish is a lovely way to cut out the junk. This could be a snack or a dessert or even a breakfast. I urge you to try it and let me know what you think.

¾ cup oats

2 tablespoon flour

1-2 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon sugar

2 pears, 2 apples, 2 bananas chopped (I add cherries, raspberries, strawberries as well when available)

Handful of raisins or currants

Handul of nuts, chopped

Put all fruits together in a oven safe dish

Mix the flour, butter, oats, nuts and sugar and spread over the fruits to cover evenly. Use cold butter an duse your fingers to work the butter into the mixture

Bake in preheated oven at 180degC for 15 minutes or until top turns golden brown

Serve warm. It is even better when served with ice cream but that is not if you are watching what you eat.

Barley Kheer

Barley Kheer

I do not know why but I do seem to have been left with a liking for sweet dishes after both my pregnancies. While I would not say I have a sweet tooth now, I am not all that hesitant to try sweets. To me, moderation is the key and being clever about what I add to my food makes all the difference. I normally make a kheer or any other simple sweet on Fridays and recently I tried barley kheer. It was ok but not that I would have blogged about. I then decided to refine the recipe to make it more similar to almond kheer and did some modifications, bingo! The use of barley, I think, would make this suitable for diabetics as well as people on 'diet'. Barley has plenty of good fibre, an important part of a healthy balanced diet. It also has a low glycemic index and that in simple terms, just means it will not shoot up the blood glucose soon after you eat it. A food with high glycemic index, like white bread, polished rice etc. would cause the blood glucose to rise soon after consumption. For diabetics, it is very important to avoid the fluctuation in blood sugar.

If you want to replace the dairy milk with any other milk, like almond or oat milk etc., you may do so but make sure it is okay to let that milk boil, if not just add it before serving. Adjust the quantity of sugar to taste. I like it less sweet so I get to enjoy the flavours from saffron and the nuts. If you like it thicker, add some more barley.

For one serving:

1 tablespoon barley, pressure cooked or well cooked by any other method

Sugar to taste

2 teaspoons of powdered nuts like cashew, almond, pista

Some chiroli seeds

Pinch of saffron

1 cup milk

Grind the barley well and pour it into a sauce pan, add some water and bring to boil. You need to stir often else it will stick to the bottom and burn

Add the milk and required sugar and allow to boil

Add the ground nuts and saffron and boil for couple or minutes. If you have the time, steep the saffron in some hot water so it releases its flavour quickly before adding.

Garnish with chiroli seeds and serve chilled