An easier and healthier version of Haleem made with oats, lentils and protien of choice…
As I was sitting to compose this post of mine, I had the recitation of Surah Ar-Rahman in the background. As I kept my this window open, my eyes fell on the translation mentioned below each of the verse. We hear most of the chapters in the Qura’n like a melody to our ears. Yes, Alhamdulillah it is. A very disturbed heart is always immediately put to ease by the beautiful verses of the holy book. As much as I would want to read with the translation, time constraints always make me want to go ahead and just recite. But there are times when I sit and try to read, and it simply leaves me in awe as to how the Almighty puts certain things into perspective.
Surah Ar-Rahman has such a vivid description of the Jannah that it becomes humanely difficult to imagine how it would be. For us, our capacity is limited to the extremely beautiful green and brown space that we get to see on the world, through our eyes direct or through our television and other screens. But is that how it is going to be in Jannah? We for sure know it isn’t. It is going to be far more than what we comprehend, SubhanAllah… Having said that, I always wonder if I am doing any enough to even get close to the eternal home promised. Whether it is my deeds, or my level of patience with HD and the girls, or on an overall utilitzing my time effectively, I always have my doubts. But I shouldn’t doubt the mercy of Allah. I should strive to get myself better and do things better to the best of my abilities…
I have already posted a recipe of an Easy Haleem using storebought haleem masala last Ramadan, and Lubna had already given us a quick fix haleem as her guest post on the blog some time ago. At that time, the main message I kept getting was to make something which didn’t involve a particular masala powder. I totally understand that feeling. Even I am not fond of recipes that use instant mixes or store bought masalas. If you see my recipes, I like to stick with what all I have in my pantry without having to buy anything extra. There are very limited masala packs that I use at home and hence I also like to try out recipes that won’t need anything extra ordinary. That is how I decided to try haleem with oats, and use spice powders from the pantry to give a flavor quite close enough to the original deal.
Haleem traditionally involves a lot of non-activity time like soaking, which is not a requirement in this recipe. I have basically used two pressure cookers to get the work done. One cooker cooks the meat with some basic spices and the other gets the lentils done. Then the whole thing is put into the bigger cooker to get the oats cooked. It takes lesser time and doesn’t even make you miss the wheat factor. That is one thing with oats, isn’t it? It has come into our life to make things easy. 😉 My next target is to try the Harees with oats. Hehe… Off to this simple recipe…
Oats Haleem | Easy Haleem
Ingredients
FOR COOKING MEAT
- 500 gm boneless meat add a couple of bones for stock purpose
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- Salt to taste
FOR HALEEM
- 3/4 cup mixed dal soaked for 30 minutes and drained
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 cup quick cooking oats
- 1 tsp chaat masala powder as required
FOR GARNISH
- fried onions, as needed
- chopped coriander leaves
- ginger juliennes
- melted ghee
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker, add all the ingredients under "for meat". Mix well and keep for 10 minutes. Pressure cook for 5-8 whistles or till the meat cooks till melted.
- In another pressure cooker, add the dal, pour water upto one inch level of water. Add turmeric powder and salt and cook till done - 2-3 whistles.
- From the cooked meat, take out the bones and discard. Add the cooked dal into the meat pot. Bring to boil.
- Add the oats and sufficient water to cook the oats. Adjust the seasoning and cook till the oats is completely done.
- Now using a hand blender, blend the mixture till smooth. Add the chaat masala and mix well.
- Serve hot with a drizzle of ghee, fried onions, coriander leaves and ginger juliennes (I didn't use since my family isn't fond of it.)