My cookbook, recipes, tips, reviews, and much more…

Hello Everyone,

Hope your 2017 has started off in a great way! Here’s a gentle reminder for you to keep track of your health goals and grab a copy of my educational cookbook in case you missed the social media announcement.

My much-awaited debut cookbook, LOVE THY LEGUMES, was published on Dec 21, 2016!! Did you know that 2016 was the International Year of Pulses? This book will help you get started with your celebration of legumes for the many years to come.

No more canned legumes and messy kitchens – learn how to cook delicious legume dishes in ~ 30 minutes, while preserving as many nutrients as possible. Pair them with vegetables or animal proteins and enjoy them as you move towards a more plant-based sustainable diet.

First and foremost, let me tell you that Love thy Legumes ain’t just a cookbook — it’s an educational cookbook! It goes beyond recipes to empower the reader with the knowledge of meal balancing, healthful cooking practices and techniques, and menu planning for long-term good health. I believe that learning to balance a meal is the most important step towards understanding how to eat healthy. 

FRONT COVER

 

BACK COVER

Dedicated to the humble and nutrient-dense legumes, this book is packed with lip-smacking recipes and photos. Enjoy these dishes while also learning the health benefits of eating legumes, and simple food pairings to balance your meals! Experiment with some new strategies for cooking and menu planning as you transition towards a plant-based diet. Recipes come with a nutrition profile and tips on how and why the ingredients are important.

It is available in the paperback format in the US, Canada, and Europe, and the Kindle format is available worldwide including India, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Australia, etc. One can use the free Kindle app and read it on any device be it a PC, Mac, tablet, or phone.

Here are some quick links, but do check out my SHOP section for all options. Discounts are available for purchases through my e-store. Please send me a note through the facebook page if you are interested in buying the book at the discounted rate.

Amazon US Paperback: https://goo.gl/TSnokY
Amazon India: https://goo.gl/ISWe5S
Worldwide options, e-store promotions, and app download details: https://quicklydelicious.com/shop/

 

If you live in the Bay Area, you can get your copy from the East West Bookstore in Mountain View (324 Castro St) or from the Indian Spice Bazaar grocery store in Sunnyvale (1637 Hollenbeck Ave).

Love thy Legumes at the East West Bookstore in Mountain View, California

Love thy Legumes at the Indian Spice Bazaar in Sunnyvale, California

SPECIAL THANKS

My sincere thanks to Amber, Heather, and Lara for their editorial reviews, and to my family and friends who have helped me in different ways to reach this milestone. Here is what my reviewers have to say:

Sonali Suratkar’s debut book “Love Thy Legumes” is a great addition to anyone’s healthy-eating toolbox. Having practical and appealing recipe ideas on hand is of high priority for being consistent with goals to reach or maintain optimal health, and this educational cookbook delivers. Not only does this book provide recipes, but also the myriad nutritional benefits from legumes and other healthy foods that pair well with them. As a legume-lover myself, I found the book full of ways to use one of my household staples in new and exciting dishes while keeping my plate healthy and balanced. I look forward to sharing this resource with my vegetarian and non-vegetarian nutrition clients, friends, and family, and I recommend that others do the same.
-Amber C. Summers, PhD, RDN, CHES

In her debut cookbook, nutritionist and legume enthusiast Sonali Suratkar celebrates the often overlooked, but high-nutrient legume. Teeming with dozens of varied recipes and complimented with beautiful photos, “Love they Legumes” will inspire readers reach for this high-protein, high-fiber food group. Whether as the centerpiece of your meal, or paired with other dishes, Suratkar invites readers to appreciate the deliciousness of legumes. Readers will learn about the nutritional content and health benefits of legumes as well as practical advice to incorporate legumes into their diets.
-Heather Lukolyo, MD, MHS

 
Whether you are a vegetarian or not you’ll learn to “Love thy legumes” after reading this book. Filled with delicious healthy recipes and useful tips on incorporating legumes into your diet, this cookbook includes a wide variety of ways to prepare legumes. While there is an Indian influence to many of the recipes, there is also something for every taste.
-Lara Ho, RN, PhD

 

 

AMAZON CUSTOMER REVIEWS (ABBREVIATED)

Loved Love thy Legumes: Every inch of the book speaks highly about author’s knowledge, expertise, creativity, hard work, and, above all, her passion and commitment to make difference in the way we eat. LTL would be a staple cookbook for Indians and warm invitation to others. My wife and I have personally tried out and savored few recipes and we even found few dishes to feed our toddler son. It’s my pleasure to strongly recommend this book to all and one.

Simply Fantastic: This is one of the best cookbooks which covers Indian recipes from a nutritional point apart from being very tasty, colorful and flavorful. The recipes are very easy to follow using minimal steps and ingredients making it very user-friendly for a busy lifestyle. Sonali’s in-depth knowledge and her love and passion are quite evident on all the pages. The tips are very useful and help one understand the importance of adding certain ingredients to enhance nutrition. A job well done!

Read, eat & be nourished: It’s a lovely book. The author writes in a direct, engaging tone, clearly trying to explain everything as best she can—almost as if she were here in my kitchen. While the first part of the book is devoted to nutritional analyses and dietary guidelines, for me, the recipes are the highlight. They cover the entire range of Indian delights, from dals to desserts, including such specialties as sambar, bisibele, idli and dosa—boiled, baked and fried. Amazing. And not only that, every recipe I’ve tried so far (admittedly only three!) have produced delicious results. This is rapidly becoming my Indian cookery book of choice.

 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BOOK

• Learn about the health benefits of eating legumes regularly, how much to eat, how to pair, etc. whether it is for optimal health, for losing weight or getting better control over your blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.
• Check out ways for improving the nutritive value of your meal by following good cooking practices
• Understand basic concepts of nutrition through charts and photographs
• Build your menu by balancing your meals with simple food pairing ideas
• Enjoy the recipes in different ways by trying out the variations shared in the recipe
• Adjust the servings of the recipes to fit your caloric intake by following the nutritive value calculated for each recipe 

Hope you enjoy the recipes and also feel empowered with practical tips and most relevant nutrition information to prepare well-balanced nourishing meals for yourself and your family.

 

SOME OF MY FAVE RECIPES FROM THE BOOK

Simply Chole

Restaurant-Style Dal Makhani, No Cream

Sambar (without any ready-made sambar masala)

Ragda Pattice

Black beans patties

Turkey Kebabs

Chicken Dhanshak

Fennel-Infused Chicken and Mung Beans Stew

Soy Kheema

Tofu Bruschetta

Tofu Pakoras in Silky Spinach Curry

Whole Mung Kebabs or Dosa

High Fiber & Protein Packed Idlis and dosas

Whole Mung Khichadi

Lentils and Brown Rice Pulao

Toasty Idlis

Multi-grain Thalipeeth (gluten-free)

Hummus

Chana dal chutney

Chutney podi

Puran Poli (simple and easy)

Chocolate crepes

Fenugreek crepes

Mung Dal Kheer

Kulfi

Tofu Mocha Soufflé

So, wait no more and grab your copy today!! 🙂

 

 

Exclusive Offer for National Nutrition Month (valid 7 days only) :)

Hello everyone,

I have a special offer for you to gift yourself or your family and friends!! 🙂 It is available exclusively through my e-store. Make good use of it as it is valid only for 7 days…until Mar 31, 2017…hurry! Cook delicious legume dishes as you learn more about healthy food pairings, incorporating plant-based protein and fiber-rich legumes in a variety of ways, and balancing meals for good long-term health. Wrap up this month with Love thy Legumes! In case you did not know, March is celebrated as National Nutrition Month!

Boost your health beyond this month by enjoying appetizers to desserts offered in my educational cookbook, Love thy Legumes. 

From fiber-packed idlis to protein packed-dosas, from turkey kebabs to chicken dhanshak, from chocolate crepes to kulfi…it will leave you wanting for more.

Learn how to pair foods to balance your meals for weight-loss, pre-diabetes, diabetes or general well-being along the way.

Special discount of $10 only until Mar 31, 2017  exclusively on my E-Store. Payments are secured by Createspace, an Amazon Company.

Just follow the steps given below: 

• Visit:  https://www.createspace.com/6713182
• Enter password LTL to access the book
• Add to cart and create an account
• Apply the discount code 586RNJFB and check out.
• Book is on its way.

Enjoy the recipes as you learn about nutrition and balancing meals and feel healthy! 🙂 And, don’t forget to write a review on Amazon.

 

 

 

 

 

Keshari Modak (Ukadiche) – sweet dumplings with coconut-almond filling

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to everyone!

May Bappa continue to bestow His love and blessings on you. Show your love for Bappa in any way you like and connect with Him 🙂 on this auspicious day.

Ganesh Chaturthi cannot be complete without Ganpati Bappa’s favorite modak, or shall we say, our favorite as well! 🙂 My mom’s modak are the gold standard- in terms of the taste, the delicate petals that make her modak so flawlessly  beautiful. It takes skill and a lot of practice to get the dough, taste of the filling and shape of the modaks right. This is just another attempt to get better at making modaks, till I reach a level of expertise. I remember how I used to struggle making them while  I watched my mom fold the petals (pakli). Although I have made a lot of progress, but it still seems like a long way to attain perfection.

So, don’t fret if there is a tear here and there….it will get better. Bite into your modaks, and you will know what I mean. The feeling is very special…:)

Don’t lose heart – keep working on it and you will enjoy it. Here’s a recipe to help you get started. Sorry, no video yet…but figure out the petalling while I capture the petalling of modak.

Instead of making the usual smooth white modak, I added the saffron to the dough. My jaggery was super dark and so, my filling is quite dark – rich in iron. Almonds add some vitamin E and coconut some medium chain fatty acids.

Ingredients (7 modaks; 1 hour)

Keshar Modak cover

1/2 cup rice flour

1/2 cup water

a pinch of salt

a few saffron strands

1 tsp ghee

Coconut-Almond filling

1 cup fresh or frozen coconut (dessicated/grated)

1/2 cup jaggery powdered

1/4 cup almonds, coarsely ground or chopped

a pinch of salt – it enhances the perception of sweetness

cardamom powder as much as you want – I love cardamom, so I add generously

1/2 tsp ghee, optional

Per modak: 170 Cals | 4 g protein | 9 g total fat | 2 g fiber | 8 g sugar

Method

Start by making the cover of saffron modak – heat the water in a pot and add the salt, ghee saffron strands. When it begins to boil, add the rice flour and mix well. Cover and let it cook in the residual heat.

In the meantime, prepare the filling. Combine all the ingredients and heat them in a pan on medium heat till the jaggery melts and dries out a bit. Set it aside.

Now, work on getting the modak dough ready. Sprinkle some water over the rice flour mixture and bind it together to make a dough. Knead well and moisten the dough as needed to hold it together. If it does not hold shape and breaks easily, then add some more water.

Divide the dough into 7 balls. Flatten the ball and press the edges with your thumb, index and middle fingers of both hands, to make a katori (bowl) of about 2″ diameter. If you find it hard to make a katori, then just roll it out to make 3″ puris.

Place a small amount of filling at the center of the katori and seal it by making petals at the outer perimeter, and bringing them together to merge at the top. If the dough tears, then do some patch-work and mend it, and moisten the dough and knead well to make it more stable and pliable for the next modak.

Grease a steamer basket and place all the modaks in it. Store remainder filling in a jar or enjoy it as is – like the way I do 😉

 

Let us get ready for steaming the modaks. Prevent the modaks from losing moisture by covering them with a moist cloth or keep them in a container. Add some water to a steamer or pressure cooker, seal it (remove the whistle or pressure regulator in case you are using the pressure cooker), and turn on the heat to high.

When you see a continuous stream of vapor from the steamer, turn off the heat and open the lid when it is safe. Slowly and carefully place the steamer basket  in the steamer or pressure cooker and close the lid.

 Turn on the heat to medium and let the the modaks steam for about 15 minutes.

Turn off the heat, and release the lid when it is safe.

Very careful pull out the steamer basket from the pressure cooker or steamer. Serve the modaks and enjoy them without much delay!

 

Bappa Morya! 🙂

 

 

My first interview

Hello everyone,

In case you missed the announcement on FB about my first ever interview, then here it is: My First Interview! Yay!

ItsPotluck is a great platform for bloggers and non-bloggers to share recipes and even get food delivered (in Ahmedabad area). If you are interested in sharing recipes and do not have a blog yet, you may want to consider posting here.

 

 

🙂

– Sonali

 

Leftover Bisi bele bath kebabs

My cookbook has kept me busy and away from most things I would do or find a reason to do. Now, I have some time to post a recipe today.

I love khichadis – a comfort food made with soft cooked rice and dals (split pulses). They are easy to make, and very versatile too. Depending on my mood, I alter the dals or whole legumes, add different vegetables (or skip them), lightly season or experiment with interesting spice powders to make different flavored khichadis. Khichadis can make for a well balanced meal (all-in-one) when served with raita (yogurt veggie dip) and an irresistible side of masala papad & some pickle! Who can say no to such a delicious meal? Well, the only disadvantage of khichadis is that they are no fun as a leftover. This time, instead of my regular khichadi recipes, I got adventurous and made Bisibele bath (a, the flavorful south Indian dal and rice preparation with vegetables and ground spices). Now, I am wondering what to do with the little that is left over.

 

Itspotluck is hosting #itsLeftoverMakeover contest as part of the EarthDay2016 campaign, a step towards reducing food waste. Itspotluck is a great platform for posting your recipes. They also deliver home-cooked food in the Ahmedabad area.

So I am thinking of making kebabs using a cupful of bisi bele bath (recipe in my upcoming cookbook) and the two baby eggplants I found in the fridge. Alright, let’s get started with the leftover makeover recipe and create an interesting breakfast or light lunch.