Easy and healthy one-pot meal ideas for busy weekdays
This is a contribution post by Dr Surbhi Prapanna
We all know that eating healthy and nutritious meal is one of the prime factors for good health. Eating healthy homemade meals helps in maintaining ideal weight and also works great in fulfilling daily nutritional requirements.
Although eating healthy homemade meals offers plenty of health benefits, with a busy schedule cooking a full platter meal (dal, rice, vegetable and chapati) may become a daunting task for many. After having a long tiring day at work, many of us have no mood or energy to prepare an elaborate traditional Indian meal. But at the same, we do not want to compromise on nutritional factors of everyday meals.
Ordering or picking an easy take-out meal or making some instant (but unhealthy meals like instant noodles and pasta) may seems like an easy solution. However, it is not a good option for our health in the long run. Frequent eating out also put a negative impact on our budget and may cause indigestion, acidity and other gastric health issues.
In this scenario, cooking a “one-pot meal” can be a great solution. It can help a lot in solving many problems all-together and can become a go to option for busy weekdays dinner.
What are one pot meals? What are some amazing benefits of making one-pot meals? What are some heathy and easy Indian one-pot recipe ideas? Read on to know more!
What are one-pot meals?
As the name suggests, one pot meals are cooked in one-pot. Unlike, other traditional recipes, one-pot meals requires less time and efforts to make a complete meal. With some planning and efforts, you can make a wholesome meal by using only one-pot. One pot meal can be a great choice for busy families who have less time to cook, but still want to eat healthy and homemade meals on regular basis.
What are the benefits of making one pot meals?
Here are some amazing benefits of making one pot meals.
- They are easy to make. It takes less time and efforts to make one pot meals.
- It reduces burden of dishwashing and clean-up after making a meal. You will need less utensils for making one-pot meal.
- Despite being quick in preparing, they are wholesome and nutritious. You can add all essential components of healthy meal (carbohydrate, protein, veggies and healthy fat) in a single pot and can eat a healthy wholesome meal even with an over busy schedule.
- Though one-pot meals are helpful for everyone, but they can be a life savior for working women, bachelors and students who often have a hectic schedule and less time to cook lengthy meals.
Three easy Indian one pot meal recipes for busy weekdays
There are many Indian and western one pot meal ideas which can you make during busy weekdays. Here, I am sharing three easy and healthy Indian one-pot meals which you can cook in less than 30 minutes.
Multigrain Khichdi
When we talk about one-pot meals, the first recipe that comes in our mind is “Khichdi or tehri”. It is a common one-pot recipe which cooked in many Indian households regularly. The routine khichdi recipe made of using white rice and pulses (mostly either by using tuar dal or moong dal).
Here, we make a slight variation to routine recipe and make it healthier. For making multigrain Khichdi, we will take brown rice instead of white rice. And we will use mixture of 4-5 pulses (like moong dal, chana dal, masoor dal), instead of using only one pulses. In this recipe, we will also add plenty of vegetables to make it nutri-dense and enhancing nutrition quotient.
For making multigrain khichdi, first take 1 bowl of brown rice and 1 bowl of mixed pulses. You can take any pulses of your choice. Take 2 TSP of each to keep a balance. Now, wash these things thoroughly and soak the dal-rice mixture for at least 30 minutes. Now, chopped the onion and green chili finely. If you want, you can also use finely grated or chopped ginger-garlic paste. Next, take fresh vegetables of your choice (potato, cauliflower, tomato, peas etc.) and cut them in fine pieces.
Now, add the oil or ghee in a cooker and heat it. First add cinnamon stick, clove, cardamom or other whole spices of your choice. Next, add curry leaves, cumin seeds and mustard seeds for tempering and allow them to splutter properly. Now, add finely chopped onion, green chili, ginger-garlic paste and sauté them for 3-4 minutes.
Next, add finely chopped vegetables of your choice and salute them for few minutes again. Add other routine spices like red chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder and mixed all things well. Now, add the mixture of brown rice and pulses and add 4 and ½ cup of water. Add salt and mixed everything well again. Now, put the cooker lid on and take 3-4 whistle on medium heat. Within 30 minutes, your tasty and healthy multigrain khichdi is ready to enjoy. Garnish it with coriander leaves and serve hot with curd, papad and pickle.
Masala vegetable Daliya
If you are not a big fan of eating rice khichdi in dinner or just want to try another healthy and interesting one pot meal, then masala vegetable Daliya can be a great option. The recipe of masala vegetable Daliya is similar to routine khichdi recipe, but here we replace the rice with broken wheat. as a source of protein, we will use moong dal. You can use yellow or green moong dal as per your choice and availability. For making this recipe quicker, you can roast the broken wheat ahead for 15-20 minutes and can store it in an air-tight container.
For making, first take 1 cup of roasted broken wheat and 1 cup of moong dal in a bowl and wash them thoroughly. After washing, soak them for at least 20-30 minutes. Next, in a cooker, heat the ghee and add whole spices, cumin and mustard seeds one by one. After they spluttered, add green chili and finely chopped tomatoes. Next, you can add the finely chopped vegetables of your choice. Add routine spices, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and mixed everything well.
Now, add the mixture of broken wheat and moong dal. Add salt and then add double water (4 cup). Put the cooker lid on and take 3-4 whistle on medium flame. Your tasty and healthy masala vegetable Daliya is ready to enjoy. You can add 1 TSP of ghee while serving to enhance the taste of masala vegetable Daliya.
Dal dhokli
Dal dhokli is a traditional Gujarati one-pot meal which is great in taste and healthy too. The recipe is made in various state of India with slight variations and named differently like in Maharashtra, it is called “Chakolaya or Varan phal” and in Bihar, it is called “Dal ki Dulhan”.
To make Dal-dhokli, first you have to knead a medium soft dough. Take wheat flour in a bowl, add 1-2 TSP ghee, 1 TSP carrom seed and salt. Mixed everything well and knead a medium soft dough by adding little water at a time. Keep it aside and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes. Next take 1 cup arhar dal and wash it thoroughly and soak in clean water for 15 minutes. Next, finely chop the onion, green chili and tomato.
Heat the oil in a cooker and add Hing, cumin seed and mustard seeds. Allow them to splutter. Add finely chopped onion, green chili and sauté them for few minutes. Next add finely chopped tomato and sauté it again for few minutes. If you want, you can add few roasted peanuts at this stage. Next, add your regular spices (red chili powder, turmeric powder and coriander powder). Add soaked arhar dal and 1 cup of water. Mix everything well and allow it to cook for few minutes.
Meanwhile, take the kneaded dough and roll it in a one big chapati. Take knife and cut the diamond shaped pieces from the big chapati. Put the cut pieces in boiling arhar dal mixture and add 2 cup water more. Close the cooker lid and take 2-3 whistle on medium flame. Open the lid, after cooker cooled down. Your tasty and healthy Dal-dhokli is ready to enjoy. You can serve this with papad and extra ghee.
So, these are some amazing healthy Indian one pot meal ideas for busy weekdays. Which one is your favourite? Please share with us.
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Dr. Surbhi Prapanna is a homeopathic therapist by profession and a writer and blogger by passion. She is the founder of India’s leading lifestyle blog surbhiprapanna.com.
She has more than 5 years of professional writing experience and her work has been published on various prestigious online platforms like Momspresso.com, kidstoppress.com, cureJoy.com and shivanaspirit.com.
Health, parenting and creative activities for kids (art, crafts, DIYs etc.) are her niche. She has won so many awards for her academic and professional excellence but winning the “Best parent award” is the most precious and satisfying experience of her life. Connect with her here.
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