Month: May 2017

Laziza Biryani Mix

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I’ve had a few people asking me for the biryani recipe I posted on my Instagram a few days ago, so I thought I’d write a post about it so people can refer to it when needed!

Laziza Biryani Mix

Laziza Biryani Mix

 

I use Laziza Biryani Mix spice which is syn free. You can keep the whole dish syn free by replacing the oil with a syn free spray oil or count the syns accordingly if using regular cooking oil. Remember 1 tbsp of oil (regardless of what type – sunflower, vegetable, olive etc) is 6 syns. I know a lot of my members use only water to fry the onions which is possible but may be a little time consuming.

I also use a fat free natural yogurt instead and sometimes I even leave the yogurt step out if I don’t have any and it tastes just as good too!

I cook for a family of 5 (2 adults and 3 children) and use half of one of the spice packets as that is spicy enough for my family, I don’t use the whole packet. I like my food super spicy so I usually cut up green chillies to add to my food separately.

I follow the recipe on the back of the spice box and once I’ve layered the rice with the chicken/meat, I add a few drops of yellow food colouring to the top of the rice to add some colour to the rice. And that is it! It really is a very easy and simple recipe to follow.

 

I absolutely love the Laziza brand spices as most are syn free and they are very easy to follow, even if you are not a very confident cook. Hope this helps those that were wondering how to make biryani Slimming World friendly 🙂

If you do anything differently please do share how you make yours.

Chicken Biryani

Chicken Biryani

Mithai!

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Mithai an Indian Subcontinent Sweet

Mithai

One of the most common syn value questions I get asked quite often from both my members and other people is the syn values for Mithai and related products. These delicious treats originating from the Indian Subcontinent are often eaten at special occasions like weddings and Eid. Well you can eat (and buy them) them all year round if you wish but be careful of over consuming these lovely delicacies as they are extremely high in sugar and fat content!

To get accurate syn values for mithai is not an easy task. Mithai vary from shop to shop, there are many variations in recipes, different sizes and unfortunately they never come with nutritional information on the boxes.

I have done some research and tried to work out average syn values for common mithai so my members can have an idea on how many syns roughly to count for them. I hope this is useful especially with Ramadan coming up, the Eid celebrations straight after and then particularly the summer Wedding season. Please bear in mind that these are average syns values, not exact figures so please use your best judgement and adjust syn values accordingly. If you are still not sure of syn values, it is better to over estimate rather than under estimate to protect your weight loss.

The values are per one standard ‘shop bought’ piece unless specified.

I have to admit I was so shocked with the syn value for Halwa Puri with Chana. It is crazy how high it is!

Balushai – 6.5 syns

Barfi – 6.5 syns

Bessan Ladoo- 7 syns

Boondi- 13.5 syns

Jalebi – a single piece weighing on average 25g is 4.5 syns

Gajar Halwa – 13.5 syns

Gulab Jamun – 7.5 syns

Habshi Halwa – 41 syns

Halwa Puri with Chana – 60 syns

Kaju Katli – 3 syns

Kheer – 1/2 cup serving 14 syns

Ladoo – 12.5 syns

Patissa – 7.5 syns

Rasgulla – 9.5 syns

Shakarpara – 6.5 syns

White Cham Cham – 9 syns

 

 

 

Carrot & Cinnamon Baked Oats

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I’ve had quite a few people ask me for the recipe for the carrot and cinnamon baked oats I posted on my Instagram and Facebook page. The basic recipe is exactly the same as I’ve posted previously here but this one should be clearer to follow if you intend on doing this flavour baked oats. Enjoy, and remember to tag me on your posts when you make them!

Carrot & Cinnamon Baked Oats

Carrot & Cinnamon Baked Oats

 

Serves: 1

Syns: 0.5 syn plus healthy extras A & B choices

Time Taken: 25 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 40g porridge oats
  • 50ml milk (any of your choice, I use skimmed milk normally)
  • 1 tbsp sweetener
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 small carrot, peeled and finely grated
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp cinnamon powder

Method

Weigh out the porridge in a bowl and add all the ingredients to it apart from the carrot. Squeeze out any water from the grated carrot before adding it to the oats mix.

Spray a small baking dish with spray oil before adding the mixture to it.

Bake in a pre heated oven gas mark 6 for around 20-25 minutes.

Once baked, you can add any toppings of your choice. Just remember to syn accordingly!

Lasagne – Béchamel Sauce

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Lasagne is one of my children’s favourite meal, they have it quite often but it is never a Slimming World friendly version for them! They love it with homemade béchamel sauce which can be very high in syns for us slimmers, so I make my own for myself so I can still enjoy the meal guilt free! I use this recipe here for the mince.

Serves: 1

Syns: FREE if using cheese as healthy extra A choice

Time Taken: less than 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Lasagne

Lasagne

Ingredients

  • 1 tub of cottage cheese (plain or flavoured, check if syns! I use Aldi’s cottage cheese with chives and onion, FREE)
  • 2 eggs
  • A pinch of mustard powder
  • 40g light cheddar cheese
  • Seasoning to taste

Method

Blend the cottage cheese with the eggs, mustard and seasoning with a hand held blender till smooth and no longer lumpy.

Add half of the cheese allowance into the cottage cheese mix.

Layer lasagne with mince, lasagne sheets and cottage cheese mix in an individual dish.

Top the lasagne with the remaining cheese and bake in the oven for around 40 minutes till the pasta is cooked. Cook the first 30 minutes with foil over the dish so the cheese doesn’t burn quickly.

 

 

Egg Fried Rice

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This recipe took me less than 10 minutes to prepare using leftover rice! It is a delicious way of using up leftover rice. You can serve it with any meat or fish or have it on its own too. We had it with grilled salmon. You can add any veg to this as it is such a versatile dish, I was pressed for time when I made this so kept it really simple. But veg like peas, sweetcorn, grated carrots, peppers, mushrooms etc work really well with this.

Serves: 2

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 10 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Egg Fried Rice with Salmon

Egg Fried Rice with Salmon

Ingredients

  • 3 spring onions, chopped
  • 1 green chilli, chopped (remove seeds if prefer less spicy)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp Chinese 5 Spice
  • 3 tbsp dark soya sauce
  • 3 eggs
  • 1.5-2 cups cooked rice

Method

In a hot wok fry the spring onions with the chilli for a couple of minutes with spray oil. Add the garlic powder.

Add the cooked rice to the wok and stir to mix everything together. Add the Chinese 5 spice powder (available in most large supermarkets) and soya sauce. Stir again.

Move the rice to one side of the wok and spray more spray oil to the wok and crack the eggs to it. Stir the eggs till cooked and mix with the rice.

Bassar Mix!

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I realise that not everyone knows what bassar is, I didn’t either till after I got married. I am from an Indian background and growing up my mum used a mixture of different spices for curries. Cooking Indian food looked really difficult and it never interested me. Being the youngest child I guess I got away from going in the kitchen too!

When I got married that is when I came across bassar, it was widely used by the in-laws. It makes life so much easier using this ready made spice mix! My mother in law makes her own, I have bought many different brands over the years and my favourite is the one pictured.

I have recently bought some bassar mix from a lovely lady who makes it herself and that’s what I have been using lately and it is the best! I have no idea what exact spices goes in it but it tastes amazing!

So in my recipes where I state curry powder, that’s what I use – bassar. You can get this from most of your local Asian supermarkets. If you are in Birmingham you can definitely pick this up from shops in Stratford Road, Ladypool Road, Alum Rock Road etc.

If you use bassar in your cooking, comment below which one you use. Do you use a homemade mix or buy ready made? Have you come across a good ready made brand?

Pakistani Bassar

Chana Daal

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Another really simple and very easy to make recipe. All my recipes that state curry powder, I use a Bassar mixture. You can get it ready made from most Asian supermarkets or make your own! I don’t know how to make my own so I buy ready made. The one I buy is quite spicy hence why I only use a bit. You can adjust the level of spiciness to your taste.

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: less than 1 hour plus soaking overnight

Difficulty: Easy

Channa Daal with Boiled Rice

Channa Daal with Boiled Rice

Ingredients

  • 250g channa daal, soaked in cold water overnight
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1 tsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1.5 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree

Method

Fry the onion till golden with the cumin seeds. Add the chopped tomato, ginger/garlic paste, tomato puree and curry powder. Fry for around 5 minutes. Add hot water if the spices start to stick to the pan, season to taste.

Drain the water off the daal and add it to the spice mix. Add enough cold water plus a little extra to cover the daal and cook for 30-45 minutes on a low heat. If the daal is too dry, add water accordingly.