Why Nothing Beats Indian Breakfast Recipes

Breakfast, especially a healthy breakfast, is the most important meal of the day because it is the first meal you have after a gap of 6-8 hours. Unlike your dinner, a healthy breakfast should be fulfilling and heavier. A tasty and healthy breakfast can make your day better and give you the energy to kick-start your day. Also read Best 12 Ideas For a Healthy Breakfast

Why Nothing Beats Indian Breakfast Recipes

Indian cuisine has many fulfilling and healthy recipes. From upma to poha and parathas, there are many healthy breakfast recipes that you can try to give your mouth a treat while making sure your body receives its daily nutrition. Indian healthy breakfast recipes are prepared in a way to provide you with nutrients while being delicious. Indian healthy breakfast recipes are not just restricted to your morning but can also be prepared for brunch, lunch, and even evening snacks. 

Many salads for weight loss and high protein breakfasts are also a part of the Indian healthy breakfast recipes. For thousands of years, Indian cuisine, with the help of Ayurveda, has formulated many healthy recipes that have the key ingredients to give you nutrition. These healthy recipes differ from region to region, but their goal is the same; to provide people with the option of having healthy recipes that taste good. Given below are some healthy breakfast recipes that you can include in your breakfast routine:

Healthy Breakfast Recipes

1. Poha 

Poha is a countrywide favourite healthy breakfast dish. It is light, fulfilling and easy to cook. Poha is one of the most famous healthy breakfast dishes all over the country. There are many ways to make this healthy breakfast dish, and it is cooked differently in different parts of the country. 

Kanda poha, Soya poha, Indori poha, and Nagpur Tari Poha are a few examples of the different kinds of poha made all over the country. Poha is not just tasty but also a healthy breakfast. Some of the benefits of this healthy breakfast include:

• Controlling blood sugar levels - Poha is rich in fibre, making it a good meal for diabetics and a healthy breakfast for everyone.
• Good Prebiotic - Poha is made by parboiling paddy and then drying it out in the sun and beating it flat to make poha. The final product goes through fermentation, making it healthy for your gut. 
• Easily digestible - Since poha is a light and healthy breakfast, it is easily digestible. Poha does not cause bloating and keeps you full for a longer time. This quality of poha also makes it the perfect breakfast for weight loss.
• Rich in Iron - Flattening the paddy helps retain the iron, making poha rich in iron. This quality of poha makes it especially beneficial to pregnant women. 
• Low in Calories - Another reason poha is the perfect breakfast for weight loss is that one bowl of cooked poha has just 250 calories. The curry leaves add minerals and antioxidants to the dish. 

Recipe

Given here is a healthy recipe to make poha for breakfast. The ingredients used in Poha include one cup Poha/Chivda, One tbsp oil, ⅛ tsp asafoetida, one tsp mustard seeds, ½ cup finely chopped onions, eight to ten curry leaves, two to three whole red chillies, ½ cup diced potatoes, ½ tsp turmeric, two tsp salt, one tsp finely chopped green chillies, one tbsp lemon juice, one tbsp chopped coriander leaves, and lemon wedges for garnishing. 

To start, put poha in a sieve and wash it, making sure to not let it soak for too long. Then, leave it in the sieve to drain the water out completely. Next, heat oil in a pan and add asafoetida, curry leaves, mustard seeds, whole red chillies and onions. Saute over low heat till the potatoes are cooked, after adding turmeric. Add salt, and mix green chillies, coriander and lemon juice. Serve it hot in a serving dish. 

Poha makes for not just a healthy breakfast but also a healthy Indian snack for the evening. You can put your spin on this healthy recipe to suit your needs. 

2. Idli 

Idli, a traditional South Indian healthy breakfast dish, is nutritious, light and fulfilling, making it the perfect healthy breakfast. Idli is paired with coconut/peanut chutney or sambhar and can be consumed at any time of the day and not just in the morning. Idli can also be categorised as breakfast for weight loss. With its various health benefits, idli is the perfect healthy Indian snack. Some of the advantages of this healthy breakfast include:

• Low calories - Since idli is made by steaming, it has a low-calorie count. You can also replace the rice with pulses and vegetables. 
• Good for digestion - The fermentation process makes idli easy to digest.
•  Rich in fibre - Idli is rich in fibre, making it just the right fit for weight loss and good digestion.
• Contains Iron - The lentils used in the idli make it rich in iron. Idli can fulfil your daily iron requirements if consumed daily. 

Recipe

The healthy recipe for idli is short, simple, and requires minimal ingredients. To make a healthy breakfast idli, you need three cups of boiled rice, one cup of split and husked dhuli urad, and two tsp of salt. To make rice idli, soak some rice and lentil in water for five to six hours in separate bowls. Next, grind the lentil, until it forms a smooth paste, and grind the rice a little coarse. 

Put the two ingredients in a bowl and mix them with salt and enough water till the batter has a dropping consistency. Leave the batter in a warm place overnight to allow it to ferment in a spongy batter. Steam the batter in an idli steamer and serve it hot with coconut/peanut chutney and sambhar as your healthy breakfast. There are many healthy recipes available for sambhar and chutney as well. This healthy breakfast recipe can also be prepared a day before breakfast to save time. You can substitute a few ingredients in this healthy recipe for idli to suit your preferences.  

3. Spinach Paratha

Spinach is a superfood which means that this healthy breakfast will revitalise your body with a healthy start to your day. You can pair the paratha curd, chutney or sauce. This healthy Indian snack is very versatile as you can have this dish for any meal of the day. 

The benefits of this healthy breakfast mainly come from spinach. Given below are some of the health benefits of spinach: 

• Good for Skin - Spinach is rich in minerals, vitamins and antioxidants. Vitamin A and Vitamin C are natural antioxidants and spinach has these vitamins in abundance. This quality of spinach has made it a part of many healthy recipes. 
• Prevents Hair Loss - Vitamin A, C, and E and Iron are essential for good hair growth, and spinach is rich in these nutrients. 
• Helps in Weight Loss - Spinach is low on calories and helps in reducing your craving for food. Spinach is also high in fibres and nutrients. 
• Helps with Vision - Spinach contains lutein and zeaxanthin which are essential nutrients in preventing age-related eyesight loss.

As seen above, the health benefits of spinach are many, which is why spinach is not just a key ingredient in this healthy recipe but is used worldwide in different healthy recipes. 

Recipe

To start, you will need to take cleaned and chopped spinach leaves, green chilli, garlic, and cumin seeds in a grinder and grind them till they form a smooth paste. Chop spinach to make it easier to grind. Only add water spoon by spoon if the paste is not smooth. Next in a mixing bowl, add spinach puree, salt and wheat flour. Make a dough out of this mixture and add one tsp of oil. 

When you are ready to make the parathas, divide the dough into little balls. Take the balls one by one and then flatten them, roll them in dry flour and then roll them on a rolling surface. Once rolled, add them to the pan and cook them on medium flame on both sides. Serve your healthy breakfast with chutney, curd, or sauce. This healthy breakfast recipe will not just give you your necessary nutrients but will also give your taste buds a treat. 

Conclusion

Indian breakfast has many benefits, as can be seen from the healthy breakfast recipes given above. Apart from these recipes, there are also many salads for weight loss and high protein breakfasts that will help you get a healthy start to your day. Indian cuisine is not just flavourful but also has very nutritious and healthy recipes, as mentioned above. The healthy breakfast recipes given above are just some recipes that you can try. Various other such recipes are not just easy to make and tasty but also nutritious and healthy. Many healthy breakfast recipes in Indian cuisine are easy to prepare, which is the beauty of Indian cuisine. You get healthy recipes that take little to no time to prepare and taste delicious.

Authored by: Bhavishya Pahwa

About the Author: Bhavishya Pahwa is a budding writer who has always confided in a pen. He believes that art is a cure-all and that introspection followed by writing can add to the sanity of the world.