(Oat, Oatmeal Dishes)
In many south Indian homes especially families comprising of old parents, the commonest breakfast choice is kanji or porridge. We can make porridge with many ingredients like different varieties of millets, cereals, wheat rava etc but the most preferable choice is oats. I always wonder…why oats?? Agreed, that it is healthy, but can we have only oats porridge as breakfast every day. Well... not necessary!!! Well known nutritionists around the world say that oats are rich in soluble fibers which help in lowering cholesterol levels. These soluble fibers help increase intestinal transit time and reduce glucose absorption. Oats also contain beta glucan which is a lipid lowering agent. In layman language, oats is one super food which is designed to boost energy levels and help us lead a healthy life style.
Oats are not only healthy but are interestingly super filling, satisfying and versatile. Oats contain wide range of nutrients like fiber, Vitamin E, essential fatty acids which make them top the healthy food charts. To list a few nutritive benefits of oats are:
- Prevents cardiovascular diseases
- Prevents constipation
- Controls blood sugar levels
- Reduces cancer risk
- Reduces hypertension
- Supports weight loss
- Enhance immune response to disease
- Protects skin
So many nutritive advantages give oats the edge of being the healthiest option for breakfast and even dinner. But it is absolutely not necessary to include oats only in its porridge avatar. There are umpteen option and many recipes to include oats in our daily menu. One of the simplest twists is to make the curd savory oats. Just addition of curd in the boiled oats with the choicest seasonings, curd savory oats is the best mouth watering dish to all curd lovers. The probiotics from curd added to the nutritive oats makes the whole dish a “super power dish”. Similar to it is the oats bisibela bath, the best alternative to spicy, rice bisi bele lovers. It is the best and quickest one pot meal that can be made for dinner. If there is left over sambhar from lunch, oats bisi bele can be made with it for dinner.
Oats need not be consumed just by boiling it and adding the accompaniments. It can also be ground with pulses to make oats idly or dosa or even oats adai. If you are thinking that oats can be eaten only by old people then it’s a total wrong perception. Make oats cake or granola or even apple cinnamon oats or oats soup to see children enjoying their favorite snacks and sweets made with most nutritive ingredient. I have tried all of these and many more recipes with oats which were thoroughly relished by my family. Do try at your end and reap in the nutritive benefits of oats not only in breakfast but at any meal of the day. Cheers!!!
Recipes With Oats