Bhangda Ghashi / Konkani Fish Curry / Manglorean Fish Curry

We make two types of fish curry at home. This is the one which uses coriander and fenugreek and other one uses ginger as the spices. Ghashi is a typical Konkani curry with coriander and fenugreek added to the coconut masala to form the base gravy. Fish or any vegetables can then be added to this gravy. This curry tastes better with time and it is a good idea to prepare this curry 2-3 hours before serving. 


Ingredients
1 bhangda fish
3/4 cup grated coconut (I used frozen sliced coconut)
2-3 byadgi chili (or as desired)
4 fenugreek seeds
1 medium onion
1 green chili
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
2 pea size piece of tamarind or 1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
1 teaspoon coconut oil
salt for taste

Method
Clean the fish and cut into around an inch slices. Toast the coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds for 2-4 minutes till a little crisp. Grind it into a smooth paste with coconut, chili and tamarind. Chop the onion and green chili finely. Press it well with your fingers mixing in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix the coconut masala and cook it on a low-medium flame till the masala comes to a boil. Mix in the fish pieces and cook uncovered for another 5-8 minutes or till the fish is cooked. Sprinkle coconut oil all over the curry and switch off the gas. Keep it covered for 5-10 minutes so that the flavor of the coconut oil is infused into the curry. Serve hot with rice.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves: 1-2

Parsi Lemongrass Tea

This is the recipe shared by one of my sister N's school friend's mom. My sister had this tea at her friend's place and then it became a regular at our home. Lemon grass (called takka-tan in Konkani) was widely available in Pune and many vegetable vendors sold it. My mom would dry the grass and preserve it for the winters to make lemon grass tea as a remedy for cough and cold. I found lemon grass at a local farmer's market some time ago and I washed and dried it and stored it in the freezer in a ziplock bag. It stays good for a year I use it mostly to make tea during the cold and flu season. This recipe goes to the event hosted by RCI Celebrating Parsi Cuisine and Lakshmi .

Ingredients
1-2 strands of lemon grass
1-2 mint leaves
1 teaspoon black tea (I use brook bond Red label tea)
1/2 teaspoon sugar or as per taste
3 tablespoon milk
3/4 cup water

Method
Put the lemon grass and mint in water and get it to a boil. Add the tea leaves and cover the vessel with a lid. This helps to infuse the tea flavor in the water. Strain the tea into a cup. Add sugar and hot milk. Serve immediately.

Masoor Dal Khichdi / Masoor Ni Khichri

Khichdi means "mixture" of rice, lentils and vegetables. It is a quick way of making a healthy meal. Read more about Khichdi here. Here is red masoor dal and rice khichdi and this recipe goes to the event hosted by RCI Celebrating Parsi Cuisine and Lakshmi .

Ingredients
1/2 cup basmati rice or other rice
1/2 cup masoor dal or moong dal
1 teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
4-5 cloves
1/2 cup vegetables (potatoes, carrot, peas, beans, cauliflower)
1/2 teaspoon whole pepper corns
4-5 pieces of dalchini or cinnamon
piece of bay leaf
1 thinly sliced medium onion
coriander leaves or cilantro for garnishing
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method

Wash the rice and dal thoroughly. Drain the water and keep aside.


Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds, cloves, pepper corns, cinnamon and bay leaf. Fry for a minute. Add onions and fry the onions till golden brown. Add vegetables and fry for 4-5 minutes till the vegetables are slightly caramelized on all sides. Mix in turmeric powder and chili powder. Add the rice and dal and mix well. Boil 2 1/4 cups of water and add to the rice. Add salt as per taste. Cook till well done. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with curd or raita.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2

Alu Baigan / Potato Eggplant stir fry

Time just flies.. Diwali, Dushera are over and now we are looking forward to the festivals here..Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was was thinking about other recipes to make with the eggplant lying in my refrigerator and the potatoes lying in my pantry. Potatoes and eggplant is a simple combination but yet very tasty and delish. When we were residing in North India, my mom picked up many recipes and techniques from the North India cuisine. My most favorite sabzi's were gilki (which is a squash like vegetable..similar to zucchini ) sabzi, lauki sabzi, tamtar sabzi..and the list goes on. The other day when I was thinking which way to cook potatoes and eggplant, I decided to make this vegetable. It is spicy with lots of goodness of garlic and ginger. I forgot to take a photo of this dish when I made it and remembered only when we had eaten all of it. I will add a photo when I try it the next time. It goes well with roti and curd.

Ingredients
2 cups cubed eggplant or brinjal
1 cup cubed potato
2 medium tomatoes
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder or as per taste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method
Heat oil in a pan and add oil. When the oil heats, add cumin seeds and turmeric. Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw smell goes away. Add chopped onion and fry till golden brown. Add tomato and fry till the tomatoes are soft. Add coriander powder, chili powder and garam masala powder and mix well. Add the cubed eggplant and potatoes. Add 1/8th cup water and cook covered on medium flame till the potato and eggplant are well cooked. Add salt for taste. Serve hot with roti.

Healthy Butternut Squash Soup

My hubby surprised me with dinner at California Cafe on my birthday. It was a nice cozy restaurant and the seafood there was fabulous. We also had butternut squash soup which left a great impression on both of us. It was a very simple recipe with saffron, nutmeg and cinnamon. Butternut squash is rich in beta carotene and eating orange and yellow colored vegetables offers protection against cold and flu.

Today, while the cold winds have been roaring outside, we got butternut squash from Safeway on the way back home and I recreated this soup. It takes around 40 minutes to make this and it is a perfect recipe for the cold winter. The verdict- creamy texture, great flavor, yummy and it goes on the once-to-be-tried-every-week list.

Butternut squash

Ingredients
3 cups roughly cubed butter nut squash
1/8th teaspoon cinnamon powder or as desired
1/4 cup tangerine juice or mandarin orange juice or canned tangerine or mandarin orange( I used canned tangerine )
8-10 strands of saffron
2 pinches of nutmeg powder
3 tablespoon thick cream (I used 5 tablespoon reduced fat milk)
2 tablespoon butter
pepper and salt for garnishing

Method
Heat butter in a pan and caramelize the butternut squash till it is light brown on all sides. Don't let it loose its orange colour while caramelizing otherwise the soup may turn brown in color. I cooked it covered it on medium flame for 20 minutes with occasional stirring. Cool it for 10 minutes. Grind it into a smooth paste with the tangerine juice or canned tangerines or mandarin oranges, nutmeg powder, cinnamon powder, salt and pepper. Add salt carefully as the butternut squash is very flavorful. Add saffron and get the ground paste to a boil. Add thick cream and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Banana Flower Stir Fry / Bondi Upkari

I find this vegetable most of the times when I visit my local Indian grocery store. This stir fry is a very interesting combination of coconut and the banana flower. Banana flower is considered to be a little heaty for the body so I mostly make it in the winters and the cold season. We never used a lot of it in India, but I tried to make this like any other Upkari's or Sabzi's I make. It tastes great with rice and a spicy curry like Sambar.

Ingredients
1 banana flower
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 cup grated coconut
3 tablespoon gur or jaggery or sugar
2 dried red chilies
salt for taste

Method
Remove and discard the first few layer of petals (i remove at least 3-4 layer of petals) covering the banana flower and use the flowering buds found inside the petals. The petals are discarded as they are very fibrous in nature. Chop the rest of the flower into very fine pieces. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When the mustard splutters, add the red chili and fry for a minute. Add the chopped banana flower and a cup of water. Cook covered for at least 30 minutes or till it is soft. Add gur or sugar and salt and cook for another 5 minutes. Garnish with grated coconut and serve hot.

Zucchini Spice Bread

This is the first time I participated in Taste and Create event, a challenging event hosted by Nicole of For the Love of Food. In this event two bloggers are paired against each other. Each of the paired bloggers has to select and make a dish from the other's blog and send the entry to the event. I feel that it is an amazing way to get to know other bloggers and expand one's horizon in the world of recipes. I was paired with Stephanie from Iron Stef . I short listed many of her recipes including Zucchini Spice Bread, banana bread , bruschettas, potato chips in microwave, Falafel. I loved the falafel recipe as it is on my soon-to-do-list but when I saw the zucchini spice bread I fell in love with it instantly. Both I and my husband love zucchini and I try to use it in soups and sabzi's. I also saw a Zucchini bread recipe in her blog, but choose the spice bread as it made use of plenty of spices. I used half quantity of whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour. I didn't have walnuts on hand, so I used cashew nuts and black raisins. Half way through the baking process the whole house was filled with the sweet aroma of spices. The bread was delicious and we had it for tea. Check out the recipe here.

Bruschetta

What do you do when you feel like eating something special without taking a lot of effort to make it? This weekend I made bruschetta for late evening snack. Bruschetta pronounced as "brusˈketta" is usually served as an appetizer along with soup. It is a beautiful dish which has all the three favorite Italian colors- White, Green and Red. It makes a tasty tangy and cheezzy snack to make without spending much time. The toppings may vary-one can experiment with different kinds of vegetables like pepper, beans; different meats and cheeses can be substituted as per one's taste. I have even seen fruit bruschetta's recipes made using peaches, apples and various cheeses in some of the television shows. My version includes cilantro which I love a lot and use to make the basil flavor a little milder. I am sending this recipe to WYF: Light Meal event announcement. I served it with coffee, but it can also be served with minestrone soup.

Ingredients

loaf of Italian bread or French bread or garlic bread
2 tomatoes
powdered parmesan cheese
olive oil
chopped coriander leaves or parsley as per one's choice
chopped basil
pepper and salt for taste

Method
De-seed the tomatoes and dice them. Slice the bread loaf into 1/2 inch pieces. Drizzle olive oil on the bread. Sprinkle the diced tomatoes, parsley or coriander leaves, basil and cheese on the bread. Sprinkle salt and pepper for taste. Bake the bread till the cheese melts on the bread. Serve immediately to avoid a soggy bruschetta.

Serve hot with minestrone soup.

Happy Diwali 2009

Hope this Diwali fills your year with joy, peace and prosperity and continues to brighten the rest of your life. Wishing you all a Very Happy Diwali.

My Diwali Nivedya thali (offering during puja)
Chole, Poori, Sheera, Chooda, Nariyal Barfi

Other Diwali Treats:

Bottle Gourd Barfi
Dudhpak

Narla Khadi / Coconut Khadi / Coconut Barfi / Nariyal Barfi / Coconut Fudge

My grandmom was an expert cook and sweets and snacks were her speciality. She would always make special items when we would visit her during the holidays. She also made various kinds of khadi's (burfi's)- rava, coconut, cashew nut, only milk burfi, banana and wheat khadi. This is one of her recipes passed on by my mom to me. This year I decided to leave behind all the rules of healthy diet and decided to make this coconut burfi. Though this takes a little longer than wheat and rava burfi, it is far more superior in taste that the other two. The verdict- the burfi just melts in mouth with the sweet and nutty flavor of the coconut.


Ingredients
2 cups grated coconut
1 cup besan or chick pea flour
1 1/2 cup whole milk (I used 1 cup whole milk and 1 cup milk powder as I had some on hand)
4 cups sugar
10-15 cardamom
1 cup ghee

Method
Roast the besan on low heat till it gives out a sweet smell. Let it cool down. Mix the grated coconut, milk, sugar and ghee.

Cook on a low flame till it leaves from the sides and almost solidifies. I take a pea sized sample of it and check if it solidifies upon cooling.

Pour immediately on a plate greased well with solid ghee (if liquid ghee is applied to the plate then the burfi sticks to the plate). Flatten it with the back of a glass so that it is smooth on the top. Cut into squares when hot. Cool it down and then separate the squares. Store in air tight container.


The above measurement makes around 75 burfi's.

Chooda / Chuda / Chiwda

Chooda is one of the popularly made festival food at my home. My mom would start making Diwali goodies a week before the festival. She would make Phenori, chooda, tukudi (shankarpali), chakkuli (chakli), churmundo (rava laddu), sev, fried masala peanuts and khadi (barfi). Every time my mom started to make a new delicacy I and my sister would wait eagerly wait for the first batch to devour. Narakchaturdasi and Lakshmi puja are the most important days for us. We worship water and then take oil bath. The legend behind this is that when Lord Krishna killed the demon Narakasura, he took oil bath after returning home and then worshiped Goddess Lakshmi. To mark this event everyone has bath before sunrise and take oil bath. In India people also burst crackers early in the morning to mark this event. But here in US with all the work deadlines placed right after Diwali (read 19th Oct), I could make Chooda and Khadi for Diwali this year. Here is the recipe for the chooda and it goes to Priya's event Diwali 2009. and Sunday Snacks - Festive snacks of Navratri & Diwali .


Ingredients
3 cups thick pova or beaten rice
1/2 cup groundnuts or peanuts
1 cup putana dal or dalia or split and roasted bengal gram
15-20 broken cashew nuts
15-20 curry leaves
3 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/2 cup coriander seeds
3 tablespoons jeera or cumin seeds
2 tablespoon saunf or fennel seed
1/4 cup red chili powder or as desired (I used byadgi chilli powder)
2 tablespoon turmeric powder
1/4 cup sugar
salt for taste

Method
Roast the coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fennel seeds till crisp and grind it into a fine powder. Mix in sugar, salt, turmeric and chili powder as per taste and mix it with the ground spice powder. I just mix it in grinder and give it a pulse or two so that all the powders are integrated well.
Fry the pova, ground nuts and dalia in a fryer. I have a steel fryer in which I put the pova or dalia and dip it in a pan of hot oil. In this way the pova does not spill into the pan and is easy to remove from the oil. Optionally fried dry coconut slices or copra slices can also be added. As soon as one batch of pova, dalia or peanuts is fried, add a teaspoon of masala powder and mix well. The masala powder mixes well when the ingredients are hot. Let the oil cool a little bit and then fry the curry leaves ( the curry leaves will burn if fried on high heat). Add 2-3 tablespoon oil and fry the mustard till it starts to splutter. Mix the mustard and curry leaves well with the chooda. Store in airtight container.

Granola

This weekend was pretty busy with all the Diwali preparations and cleaning going on around the house. I made chooda/chiwda and and coconut barfi following my mother's recipe. They will be appearing very soon on the blog. I made the coconut barfi for the first time. The verdict- my husband has been eating it day and night...I just hope it lasts till Diwali. My whole home was filled with the enticing aroma of coconut and cardamom for hours. It was amongst these plans and tasks I decided to make granola.

I have been always looking forward to eat sugar and chocolate free granola cereal for breakfast and evening snacks, but I never thought it could be made so easily at home. Thanks to Priya from Akshaypaatram, I have finally found my heart's wish come true :). Here is the link to Priya's blog post.

I had maple syrup, honey and vanilla in my pantry, so the only things I needed to buy were the hazle nuts, oats and the pecans. It is interesting to go shopping for things which you have never shopped for before. I found Wheat Germ in the breakfast section tucked on the top most aisle...I guess it is not usually picked up by many people. I then started searching for flax seed and I could not find it in the breakfast aisle. I asked a staff "Where can I find flax seeds"...he turned towards puzzled and asks "Umm.. whats that..can you spell it for me". I say "F-L-A-X". He says "I do not think we have that in our store". I tell him that I was expecting to find it somewhere near wheat germ in the breakfast section. He says "Wheat germ...whats that? "...that is when I realized that he could not be of much help! It shows how much people know about health foods as compared to fast, frozen and ready to eat food. I again went to the breakfast section and a old lady helped to to find the flax seeds. But by then I found a organic mixture of Whole Rolled Oats, Wheat, pumpkin seed and ground Flax seed. It was a 400gm packet and I used all of it to make the granola.

Ingredients I used: 3 cups - Rolled oats + Whole Wheat (flattened wheat..looks just like oats but browner in color)+Pumpkin seeds + Flax seeds
1/4 cup each (unsalted)- Walnuts, Pecans, Hazelnuts - coarsely chopped
1/4 cup - Wheat bran
1/4 cup each (packed) - dried Cherries, plump Golden raisins - coarsely chopped
10-15 dates -coarsely chopped
10 cashew nuts- chopped
1 Tbsp - Butter
2 Tbsp - Oil (I had olive oil, but any vegetable oil works too)
2 Tbsp - Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp - Honey
1/2 tsp - pure Vanilla extract

I followed pretty much the same procedure as Priya's to make this granola. Here is how it looked before going into the oven.
It was raining cats and dogs here due to some storm in the Pacific ocean. It reminded me of the heavy rains in Pune and at times it would rain non stop, day and night for many days in a row. In such rainy days, my mom would make fried jack fruit papad's which we would get from Mangalore and various bhajiyas (vegetable fritters). We had ganola with yogurt, sliced bananas and strawberries on Monday and the granola with hot milk made a hearty breakfast on Tuesday morning when it was raining hard.

With my job there is not much time now a days for doing other activities like reading which I used to previously do very frequently. I mostly find time on weekends and during the week nights to catch up on my reading. I subscribe to Reader's Digest and Good Housekeeping and always eagerly wait for the latest issue to arrive by mail. Here are a few books I plan to finish soon...
Sense and Sensibility-- Auther: Jane Austin (Pride and Prejudice is another of her famous novel)
Reader's Digest
Healthy Living from the Inside Out (I picked up this from the library last week..found the introduction very interesting!)

Soornali or Surnali or Sweet Set Dosa

This is a breakfast regular at my parents home. My mom makes this early in the morning and the whole smells with the sweet aroma of the dosa and the jaggery cooking on the iron griddle. The sweet aroma would make us wake earlier than usual :) The sweet surnali with butter and honey is beyond description and one must taste it to enjoy the wonderful soft dosa along with the butter melting due to the heat of the surnali. The non-sweet version of this dosa can be made by skipping the jaggery, but I always prefer the sweet version. Methi or fenugreek seeds are added to facilitate fermentation and to make the dosa more softer.

Ingredients

2 cups rice (preferably raw rice)
3/4 cup pova or beaten rice (thin)
1/2 cup butter milk or 1/2 cup curd
1/4 teaspoon methi seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 cup gur or jaggery(skip, if you want the non-sweet version)


Method

Soak rice and methi seeds for 6-8 hours. Rinse the soaked rice and methi. Wash the pova and drain the water. Grind rice, methi, curd or buttermilk, pova and coconut to make the dosa batter. You should feel the coarse rice pieces in the batter and the batter should not be very fine in texture. Make sure that the batter is not too runny.

Cut the jaggery into very small pieces using a knife and mix it along with turmeric powder into the batter. If you don't want to make sweet dosa, you may skip the jaggery. Another option is to grind the jaggery pieces with the batter. Keep it in a warm place overnight for fermentation. The batter will rise and will double in volume. 
Heat a non-stick tava or griddle and rub it with oil. Pour ladle full of batter on the tava and gently spread it from center with a spoon. It is very similar to making pancakes. The dosa should not be very thin, so take care not to spread the batter on the griddle as you do for masala dosa. Cover and cook the dosa. This dosa is to be cooked only on one side and should not be flipped to the other side. Hence, it should be cooked on a very low flame till the top of the dosa looks well done.

Serve the sweet surnali with a dollop of butter and honey. The non-sweet version can be served with chutney or pickle.

Preparation time: 45 minutes excluding the soaking time.

Serves: 4-5

Paneer Sabzi

Last week I had delicious salmon curry at my friend P's home. She found a new recipe on the internet and modified it as per her taste to make dry salmon curry. My husband Atul doesn't eat meat, so I tried the same recipe and substituted paneer instead of salmon. The verdict- awesome paneer curry with a new twist!

Ingredients
1 cup cubed paneer
1 cup thick curd
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
1 medium tomato
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon sugar
salt for taste
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/4 teaspoon pav bhaji masala powder
handful coriander leaves
1.2 teaspoon butter
oil for frying

Method
Saute the paneer cubes in 2 tablespoon oil till light brown. Grind the onion, garlic, ginger into a fine paste. Add 2 tablespoon oil in a pan and fry the paste till the raw smell disappears. Puree the tomato and add it to the paste and fry till the tomato is cooked. Cool it down completely. Add curd and the rest of the ingredients except the paneer and salt. Heat the masala on a very low flame (I heat it on 2 on the range of 1-9). If the flame is high the curd curdles and the masala becomes watery. Heat it for around 10 minutes stiring occasionally. Add the paneer and cook it on low flame for another 15 minutes or till the paneer has absorbed all the masala. If the masala is very thick then warm milk can be added to make the masala liquidish. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Mooli Raita / Radish Salad

I was wondering the other day when I published the Mooli sabzi recipe "Why have I not put the mooli raita recipe yet?". We have this raita every other week and especially in this season when mooli is available in plenty. This raita tastes great as a side dish with spicy sabzis and helps to cool down the pungent flavor of chillies. I also love this as a side dish with alu or mooli parathas.

Ingredients
1 mooli or radish
1/2 cup curd or yogurt
3 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
chopped green chillies or red chili powder
salt for taste

Method
Wash and peel the skin off the radish. Grate the radish and apply 1/2 teaspoon salt to it. Keep it aside for 20 minutes. Squeeze the water from the radish. Mix in curd, chopped green chiles/chili powder, chopped corianader leaves. Adjust salt for taste. Serve immediately.

Mooli Sabzi / Radish Sabzi

I am very satisfied on the days when we are done with our dinner earlier than usual and have time available to relax and catch up on other things like reading or watch TV. Yesterday was one of such days when made a quick (count 20 minutes) and simple sabzi from the fresh organic radish or mooli I got from Farmer's market. Another of my favorite buy at the Farmer's market during the Fall and Winter are the freshly picked zucchini blossoms. I use these to make tava-fried fritters. Other than that I buy pumpkins in plenty as they are a rich source of vitamin A. We usually make radish salad with curd or lemon. But in the cold winters I do not find it very pleasant to eat the cold curd salad, though it is my husband's favorite. So I modify the radish dish and make radish sabzi. This is ready in a jiffy and tastes great. The fresher the radishes, the better the sabzi tastes.

Ingredients
2-3 radishes with leaves
1/4 teaspoon haldi or turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
pinch of asafoetida
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon jeera powder or cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon dhania powder or coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon amchur or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon oil
salt for taste

Method
Wash, scrape and grate the radishes. Chop the leaves into small pieces. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and asafoetida. Fry for a minute and add turmeric powder and red chili powder. Then add the coriander powder and cumin powder to the seasoning. Add the grated raddish and the leaves and mix it well with the seasoning. Cook covered for 8-10 minutes till the radish is tender and the leaves are cooked. Add amchur or lemon juice and salt as per taste. Serve hot with roti.

Top 10 foods that make you feel full -TOI

I love to read the Diet section under Health and Fitness on our own desi online newspaper TOI . It was my favorite newspaper and I read it regularly when I was in India. I always waited for the Sunday section as the Sunday special section always had a variety of articles on health and lifestyle and latest fashion in town. We do not get any news paper here in US as the newspapers are full of Ads and hardly any useful news. Hence we mostly browse the online TOI daily to get the lastest ongoings in India and the world. TOI had introduced many new sections in the online version in the last few years which contain some of the very informative articles and columns. Here [1]is one of the articles I recently read on TOI and which I thought was worth making a note of.

Top 10 foods that make you feel full[1]

Fatty Fish
Fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring and sardines contain large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids which, besides lowering cholesterol, also hasten the metabolism rate. Omega-3 fatty acids alter the level of leptin — a hormone that directly influences metabolism and determines whether you burn calories or store them as fat. Fish also provides ample protein and the best way to eat it is grilled, with steamed vegetables on the side.

Citrus Fruits
Fruits such as grapefruit, lemon, sweet lime, papaya, guava and tomatoes are rich in Vitamin C and fibre. Vitamin C helps the body process fat faster and also stimulates the amino acid known as carnitine — carnitine speeds up the body’s fat-burning capacity. Citrus fruits also have high water content and provide around 50 to 75 kcal, leaving us satiated for a longer period of time.

Green Vegetables
Spinach, asparagus and broccoli have a high thermic effect on the body and a low calorie density. This means that it’s almost impossible for them to be stored as fat because most of their calories are burned off in the digestion process. Apart from that, the fibre in these foods provides roughage and contains antioxidants, vitamins and minerals that help you feel full.

Popcorn
Popcorn is rich in fibre and low on calories. Also, since eating it keeps our mouth busy for a longer time, the satiety levels are high. However stay away from the overly buttered, caramel and cheese cousins.

Oatmeal
Oatmeal is a complex carbohydrate which takes longer to digest — hence it releases energy slowly, keeping you feeling full for longer. It also keeps blood sugar and insulin levels stable, which helps prevent fat storage. Oatmeal is the most satisfying breakfast cereal, providing more protein per serving than any other grain. Mix it with yoghurt or skimmed milk and it’ll keep you full all morning.

Almond and Walnuts
Raw, unsalted nuts, especially almonds and walnuts, provide essential roughage, protein, fat, minerals and micronutrients. Munching on handfuls of these nuts keeps you full and energetic for longer without adding to your waistline.

Low-Fat Dairy Products
Skimmed milk, low fat cheese and yoghurt are a good source of calcium, which helps break down fat cells. Some studies indicate that not getting enough calcium may trigger the release of calcitrol, a hormone that causes fat storage.

Beans
Beans are high in fibre and a good source of protein. They also take longer to digest, making you feel full for a longer time. Also, protein has the highest satiety index (which determines how long will you feel full) than any other element.

Whole grains
Jowar, bajra and ragi contain complex carbohydrates, which release glucose slowly when broken down during digestion. The glucose helps in maintaining your blood sugars levels and combats sugar craving. They are also a rich source of fibre and Vitamin B complex that play an important role in metabolic control.

Apples
High water content and ample fibre is the reason why you feel full after eating an apple. An apple’s skin contains pectin soluble fibre that is a natural appetite suppressant. Seems like an apple a day keeps the weight away.


Reference: [1]Sneha Jain (2009, October ). Top 10 foods that make you feel full. The Times Of India. Retrieved from http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/diet/Top-10-foods-that-make-you-feel-full/articleshow/4890340.cms