Malai Overnight Oats

 I love Overnight oats for breakfast and sometimes even lunch.  Overnight oats offer several health benefits, including improved digestion, sustained energy, and weight management. They are also a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The soaking process enhances digestion by breaking down starches and reducing phytic acid, making nutrients more accessible. 

I have several variations of overnight oats (Maybe I will share them all one of these days), but for now I wanted to share my recipe for Malai Overnight Oats. Creating the malai flavour using cardamom and saffron. I did not add any fruits to this recipe, but you can always any fruits you want either in the soaking period or if you like them crunchier - just before eating (Please adjust macros based on what you add extra to this recipe).

Ingredients:

Rolled Oats - 1 cup

Amaranth Flakes - 2 tbsp

Chia Seeds - 1 tbsp

Honey - 2 tbsp

Vanilla Protein Powder (that gives you 25 gms of protein) - 1 scoop

Fairlife or High Protein Milk - 3/4 cup

Unsweetened Almond Milk - 3/4 cup

Pre soaked whole almonds - 4 tbsp 

Almond Butter Powder - 4 tbsp

Saffron - 10-15 strands

Cardamon Powder - 1/2 tsp

Sliverd Almonds - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Blend - Vanilla Protein powder, Honey, soaked whole almonds, almond butter powder, saffron, cardamom powder and the milk together to a smooth consistency.

2. In a container - mix rolled oats, chia seeds and amaranth seeds.

3. Add the blended mixture and mix well - to make sure that all the oatmeal flakes get throughly wet. If needed a little bit of water.

4. Divide this into two servings and top it off with 1/2 tbsp of Slivered almonds for each serving.

5. Cover the individual containers and keep it overnight in the refrigator. 

6. Enjoy the malai flavoured oats next day morning for a healthy protein rich breakfast.

Serving size - 2 servings

Basic Nutrition Information: Per Serving

(This will vary on the product brand that you are using, change the quantity or add additional ingredients)

Calories - 606 kcal

Protein - 36 g

Carbs - 61 g

Fiber - 13 g

Sugars - 14 g

Fats - 23 g

Notes:

1) You can add more chia seeds if you like, please make sure that you adjust the macros.

2) You can either skip honey, reduce it or add some other sweetner insetad of it - like stevia, monk fruit sweetner or anything else of your choice. Just make sure you adjust the macros accordingly. Also if your vanilla protein powder is quite sweet, you might not need honey. But honey also adds to the flavour profile.

3) You can use only one type of milk insetad of two like I used. I use fairlife milk because of the higher protein content. If you use all almond milk, your protein content will reduce. I would not recommend oat milk.

4) I like to use Almond Butter Powder instead of regular almond butter because it is easier to measure and blend, but you can easily use regular almond butter. Almond butter powder and almond flour is not the same. But in a pinch you can use almond flour - but the taste and texture will vary and you will for sure need more liquid like water or milk. Please make sure you adjust the macros if you are substituting almond flour instead of almond butter powder.

5) Don't miss the saffron and cardamom as they add the biggest flavour profile.

6) You can add any fruits like banana, appple, berries to this - either before eating or while you soak the overnight oats. You can also add other nut toppers like walnuts or pistachios. Just be aware of the changing macros with these additions. 

Oats and Poha Chivda

 (From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 Cup of Old Fashioned Rolled Oats

1 Cup of Thin Poha Flakes

1/2 cup of Peanuts

1/4 cup of Almonds (whole skinned)

1/4 cup of Broken Cashewnuts

1/4 cup of Roasted Bengal Gram Daal

1/4 Cup of Dry Coconut Slices

3-4 Red Chilies

8-10 Curry Leaves

1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds

Salt to Taste

Olive Oil for Sautéing - About 2 Tbsp

1/4 - 1/2 Tsp of Amchur Powder

1/4 - 1/2 Tsp of Chaat Powder

1/2 tsp of Red Chili powder (or more per your taste)

1 Pkt of Stevia in Raw

1/4 Tsp of less Hing

1/4 Tsp of Turmeric Powder (Optional)

Method:

1. Heat a pan on low to medium heat and roast the rolled oats until they become crisp. They also start changing color slightly and also you can start smelling them. Roast them well on low heat (patience) until they are crisp. You can crunch them with your fingers. Set them aside.

2. In the same pan, roast the poha flakes. I have used the thin flakes, you can use a bit thicker one too. Roast them in low/medium heat until you start to see them brown slightly. Set aside.

3. Clean the pan out of all debris, wipe it down and and heat the 2bsp oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds. As the mustard seeds crackle, add the curry leaves, red chillies and Hings. Saute for a few seconds. Add the dried sliced of coconut and all the nuts and roast them well on medium heat. If you feel like something is burning - you can reduce the heat some more. 

4. Once all of these are roasted well (peanuts will start peeling skin when it is well roasted),  add the poha and oats to this mixture. Add turmeric powder, salt, stevia packet and all the spice powders. Mix well but gently. You do not want to break the oats and poha too much. Do wide sweeps to mix it well. If you feel like the mixture is too dry, you can add a bit more olive oil. 

5. Reduce the heat to lowest setting as you mix the Chivda together. Taste and adjust Salt and Stevia powder as needed. 

6. Switch off the heat and let it cool and come to room temperature and Oats/Poha Chivda is ready to be had with a cup of hot tea or coffee. 

Notes:

1. Almonds being meatier of all the nuts takes the longest to roast. So, if you want super crunchy almonds, Roast them separately well and then add it in the end before the spice powders and mix it well,

2, You can add plain sugar or raw sugar or cane sugar or organic sugar instead of the Stevia. I just did not want to add Sugar. You would have to experiment with these - start with less and add more as needed. 

3. You can add raisins too, but I do not like the raisins when they are fried or sautéed, so I did not add them. 

4. I will experiment with Walnuts and Pecans next time and keep you posted.

5. You can do this just with Oats and skip Poha if you want. 

6. Turmeric powder is optional.