Choco-Nut Kheer

A never before interview with a chocoholic nutritionist !

Q : Pray, what are the four food groups ?
A : The four basic food groups are: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.
Q: Is Chocolate bad for health ?
A: OMG! Absolutely not ! On the contrary, Chocolate is a Vegetable: chocolate is derived from cocoa beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable. To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy. So chocolate is health food.
Q: How does eating chocolate help ?
A : Chocolate causes certain endocrine glands to secrete hormones that affect your feelings and behavior by making you happy. Therefore, it counteracts depression, in turn reducing the stress of depression. Your stress-free life helps you maintain a youthful disposition, both physically and mentally. So, eat lots of chocolate.
Q: According to you, what is a balanced diet ?
A: A balanced diet is a chocolate in each hand!
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Dear Chocoholics, perish the guilt and now indulge in this chocolaty Kheer that is truly low-calorie.
An Indian kheer with a choco twist and crunchy nuts to top it.
I have adapted this recipe from my friend Deepali’s chocolate-walnut rice kheer.

Ingredients

¾ cup dalia (broken wheat)
1 lt milk (skimmed)
1 heaped tbsp vanilla custard powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
½ cup Sugar
8 cashews (roasted and broken into tiny pieces)
5-6 almonds (blanched and broken into tiny pieces)

Method
Mix the custard powder and cocoa powder in ½ cup cold milk
Pressure cook the broken wheat with 2 cups milk
Add sugar and remaining milk to this mixture and bring it to a boil , stirring all the way
Add the custard, cocoa mixture and let it cook for 5-8 minutes. Keep Stirring.
Add the nuts and take it off the stove
Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

You will be surprised that this creamy kheer is made without butter, ghee or full cream milk ! Enjoy it without a pang of guilt!

Cream of Spinach

Another Wednesday , another soup, this time it is spinach …


"Beautiful soup, so rich and green
Waiting in a hot tureen!
Who for such dainties would not stoop?
Soup of the evening, beautiful soup!
Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish
Game, or any other dish?
Who would not give all else for two
Pennyworth of beautiful soup?"
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Well, it seems Queen Victoria herself enjoyed Alice In Wonderland so much that she suggested Lewis Carroll dedicate his next book to her, and was accordingly presented with his next work, a scholarly volume entitled "An Elementary Treatise on Determinants", a serious mathematical work. He was a great mathematician too!

Sorry about the off-topic, random rambling!
Back to the spinach soup recipe , here it is !

Ingredients

2 Cups spinach (washed and chopped)
2 Tbsp butter
1 tbsp maida
1 small onion chopped
2 cups milk
1 bay leaf
Pepper powder (suit your taste)
Salt
Method
Melt 1 tbsp butter add chopped onion.
Add chopped spinach to this and sauté it thoroughly.
Cool this and blend it into a puree.
Melt 1 tbsp butter , add bay leaf and maida to this.
Add milk to this and make sure there are no lumps.
Add salt and pepper.
Add water ( 1.5 cups) to alter the consistency and bring it to a boil
The soup is ready!

I tried serving this with cheeselings instead of the usual bread croutons – tasted good !