Breakfast bonanza for diabetics

The 'World Diabetics Day' is being celebrated on 14th November. To mark this occasion, nutritionist Naini Setalvad suggests healthy and delicious breakfast recipes for diabetics. After all, what better way to celebrate any occasion than food, right?

As a diabetic, it is very important to eat the right food to control the disease and breakfast plays a major role in it. “For diabetics, food needs to be low in the glycemic index to give substantial energy for a long period of time and prevent blood fluctuations. All vegetables are low in the glycemic index. While amongst the grains, barley and oats are really low in the glycemic index and perfect to start your day with,” says Naini. So, ensure you try to include these ingredients in your morning diet. But perk it up a bit with a traditional twist as mentioned in the following recipes.

OATS UPMA
A traditional variation to the regular oats and milk combination, this recipe has the goodness of vegetables and is power packed with proteins.

Ingredients
1 cup oats
2 cups of mixed vegetables like carrot, green beans and peas
Onion - 1 medium
Few curry and coriander leaves
1 small piece ginger
3 green chillies
1 tsp chickpeas powder (chana dal)
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Method
1) Heat one tsp of olive oil in a pan or kadai.
2) Add mustard, jeera and channa dal. Once it splutters, add chopped onion and sauté till golden brown.
3) Add chopped chillies and ginger and saute for 3 minutes.
4) Bring to a boil.
5) Add salt and oats and mix thoroughly.
6) Cover with a lid and cook till the oats are cooked.

INSTANT OATS DOSA
Whisked together with rice and buttermilk, the oats dosa spiced with green chillies, coriander leaves and cumin seeds, is really delicious.

Ingredients
2 cups oats
2 tbsp rice
Buttermilk/Yogurt (enough to soak and cover the oats)
2 green chillies
A pinch of asafoetida
Water as required
2 tsp finely chopped coriander
1 tsp cumin seeds (optional)
Salt to taste

Method
1) Add the rice and oats into a bowl carefully seeing to it that all the husk if any is removed. To this add buttermilk or yogurt and allow it to soak for 20 minutes.
2) When soaked, pour it into a blender and grind well.
3) Add salt, asafoetida, chopped green chillies, coriander and a little water to get the dosa batter consistency.
4) Heat the girdle and start making dosa. Please note, this dosa will not be crisp. It will be a little soft but very tasty. Savour it with coriander chutney.

BARLEY PARATHA
Enjoy the goodness of barley in a paratha. A rich source of essential amino acids, it is the perfect ingredient for diabetics to start their day with.

Ingredients
¾ cup barley flour
2 tbsp wheat flour
Half onion chopped
1 tsp Garlic paste
1tsp Ginger chilli paste
1 extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

Method
1) Chop onion and make a coarse puree in the mixer.
2) Make dough by mixing all the above ingredients, water and 1/2 tsp of oil.
3) Roll into a paratha.
4) Heat the pan, smear it with oil and place the paratha on it and cook.
5) Relish with coriander and mint leave chutney or tomato sauce.