If you and your kids have been frowning over the increasing variety of oats adorning the shelves of departmental stores, tune into Mallika Badrinath. She will tell you — even show you — how the cereal can be turned into an exciting and healthy dish on your plate.
From soup to porridge, upma to cutlets, milkshakes to waffles, vadais and biriyani, Mallika has come out with a new series sharing exclusive recipes made with this ‘wonder cereal' which contains 18 amino acids and no cholesterol.
“I always have a big jar of roasted oats powder on my kitchen shelf waiting to be mixed in any preparation,” says Mallika, who read up every bit of information on oats to understand its qualities before deciding on the permutations and combinations to win over peoples' palates.
A woman of many talents — chef, prolific cookbook author, television host and educator — Mallika's mantra is “to be positive, understand and enjoy.” She charmed her way into the hearts and stomach of Madurai women after a gap of two years with culinary wisdom and simple techniques that make cooking an enjoyable experience.
“The joy of cooking and eating nutritious food has lifelong impact,” she reiterated while giving live cookery demo at the Inner Wheel Club's fund raising for its service projects at Sakkimangalam village and the Indian Association for the Blind at Sundararajanpatty.
She leads the charge in her kitchen:“When you cook at home, you can't just cook something that nobody will eat. The idea is to see a smile on each face at the dining table. This is easy when you know and understand the base well. With combinations of various ingredients and their colours you can create just about anything.”
She admits that she rediscovered the pleasures of cooking because of her husband and sons. “My husband used to travel a lot on work and ate out. When he came home, I tried to give him something different and healthy. My children would also fuss over routine food and I had to keep them attracted to nutritious food.” That is when she started experimenting.
“It's a record, each time I tried something new I flopped miserably. But I never give up till the perfect recipe shows up. If it is liked, I make a note of it in my diary. It is a habit as many of my recipes are mix-and-match discoveries.”
It was her husband's suggestion that she compile all that she was jotting down in her diary after each successful recipe. It led to a cookbook of 80 side dishes that changed her life in 1988. As a Mahila Sabha committee member, she circulated her first publication among all her friends and members. “The response was amazing. I was flooded with calls as women wanted to know more variations and also correct their mistakes.”
Soon Mallika's fans multiplied. She never looked back after that. So far, she has authored 27 cook books — and countless articles for various newspapers and magazines.
Her latest book containing recipes for children below one year was released in Madurai.When you wish to follow recipe books you may find majority of the ingredients aren't on hand. A self-taught cook like Mallika is aware of this and provides concise descriptions and definitions along with tips that make cooking a better experience. She is the friendly woman next-door even though the reality food shows for various TV channels since 2002 have made her a star chef.
“When I cook I have an idea what I want to cook. If it requires any kind of specific, complicated preparation, I refer to books or Internet for information. But I never copy any recipe from elsewhere. I do my own thing. It helps in learning the essentials of improvisation.”
It was this innate confidence that shone through the packed demo sessions attended by Tupperware and Inner Wheel members. Much like the rustling silk attires of ladies that created a visual riot of colours inside the auditorium, a heavenly concoction of flavours and aroma filled up the room tickling the taste-buds.
Mallika's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as eager women vied for an opportunity to ask questions and took copious notes of whatever she said. The passion for cooking was evident. Doling out tips liberally, she prepared strawberry-pineapple eggless cake, stuffing for multi-coloured wheat cutlet, multi-layered vegetable biryani, capsicum oats and broccoli oats lemon soup, apple cheese dip, paneer cucumber salad roll, tricoloured halwa.
“To all that you prepare, just add an extra ounce of love,” she said, amidst loud applause. “Culinary expertise is not easy as everybody you serve is a critic. I am like an antenna that receives and gives. I don't hide anything but love to share what turns out to be the best after all my culinary mishaps each time,” smiles Mallika.
With inputs from S.S.KAVITHA
RANDOM TIPS:
* Learn to read the ingredients mentioned in the packets
*Before packing apples in kids' snack-box, soak the cut apples in sugar water for a second to retain it freshness.
*For oil free cooking, use milk or curd as base instead
*While using non-stick vessel for cooking, place a banana leaf at the bottom cut in the shape of the vessel
*Never over-boil soup or else vitamin content goes. Instead of plain water add vegetable broth in any soup to enhance mineral content.
*Instead of corn flour or maida, add roasted oats powder as binding agent.
*Comfort food need not be greasy and fried and don't be afraid to substitute your ingredients
MALLIKA'S RECIPE
Methi rawa oat waffles
Ingredients:Ten bread slices, 3/4 cup each of rawa and Oats, Salt and butter as per taste, One and a half Tbsp finely cut carrot and capsicum, One Tbsp finely chopped onion, Two Tbsp oil.
Method:Grind together two small bunches of methi (fenugreek) leaves and two green chillies. Powder the oast and keep aside. Soak rawa in enough water to cover for two hours. Add together all the finely cut vegetables, ground paste of methi, powdered oats and mix oil to it. Pre-heat the waffle maker and place in it the bread slice with butter applied on it and the soaked rawa and vegetable mixture spread on it. Cook until crisp brown and serve with tomato ketchup
