Iron Rich Poha Beetroot Cutlet

A woman's body is prone to iron  & calcium deficiency which lead to serious health hazards later. Iron deficiency, especially after child birth, complicates lot of things. Failing to compensate the low levels may lead to hair fall, brittle nails, fatigue, paleness in skin and much more. Anemic women face trouble in keeping energy levels intact which adversely effects their social, economic status. Why wait for the consequence to take a toll when little changes in food habits can do the job? In association with livogen.in, here is an attempt to create iron rich recipes for women and help fight anemia. 

I love having poha for breakfast and keep giving twists to it for interesting recipes. Hereby, presenting tikki or cutlets made with poha, beetroot and potatoes.

Health goodness
Beaten rice or rice flakes, also called poha is a rich source of iron. Every 100 grams of raw rice flakes has 20 milligrams of iron besides a good value of carbs and minerals. Experts suggest that regular consumption of flattened rice can prevent iron deficiency and form hemoglobin that carries oxygen to blood cells. Beetroots are also iron rich and proven extremely beneficial in case of anemia or low hemoglobin.. 

                          

 

Ingredients

1. Poha- 2 cups
2. Potatoes- 3-4
3. Beetroot-1 medium size 
4. Salt to taste 
5. Green chili- Optional- 1-2
6. Black pepper- Half tea spoon 
7. Coriander powder- 1 teaspoon
8. Cooking oil- 3-4 tablespoons

Method

1. Soak poha in water for 10 minutes. Drain water. Keep aside. Make sure all water is drained out from poha. 
2. Boil  potatoes. Peel and mash them. 
3. Peel and grate beetroot. Keep aside. 
4. In a large bowl mix the mashed potatoes, soaked poha and grated beetroot. Bind them together to make dough. Add salt as per taste. Mix black pepper and coriander powder. Churn the dough well. 
5. Make little round shapes from the dough, pressing them gently to flatten them. 
6. In a pan, heat oil and shallow fry the cutlets. 
7. Flip and fry till the pink tikkis turn brownish on both sides.

Tip: Flame should be kept low to medium. Potatoes give cutlets a binding texture and body. Do not over-boil potatoes. Since beetroot is used raw in the dough, it will give crunchiness to cutlet. You can add onions to the tikkis if you like. I wanted to keep it quick and simple, hence skipped it.

For more iron rich recipes visit http://www.livogen.in/iron-chef

Love the #DovePlay

What is the biggest strength for a girl? I know few would say, her smile, or confidence..so on and so forth. What if I'd say her beautiful tresses which she can flaunt? That's where my strength lies. Surprisingly it is my weakness as well. I want to flaunt my hair, play with them, but I am afraid. Caring about my precious locks and the thought of damaging them, makes me go weak in my legs.

I inherited wavy and thick hair from my Bengali parents. I had been possessive about my hair since childhood and was encouraged by my mom to lengthen them. Looking at other girl of my school, I wanted to style my hair. Since my mom did not let me shorten my hair, I would often end up experimenting with my wavy locks at some friend's place. At times I would cut fringes which was popularly known as "Sadhna Cut" or would play with razor cut. However, I could not leave my hair open because my hair texture wasn't smooth and straight. It was my biggest disappointment. For any girl who wants to leave her hair open, needs good shiny and strong hair. Isn't it? And that did not happen for two reasons- The hereditary waves in my hair and environmental stressors like pollution, weather etc.

I would love to play with my hair like I did in childhood. Straight at times, a french pony at times, some day fringes and one day color them! However, I could not grow my locks more than shoulder length because of the weak structure. On my hairdresser's advise I wanted to get my hair cut in layers. Haircut boosts you mentally, but when you can't flaunt them,  you find it totally pointless!

Often I would braid my hair or tie them in a bun, especially during an overnight stay at friend's place, because its embarrassing to see your strands of hair on bed, bathroom, floor, and everywhere. Come on, at girls night out, you are supposed to let your hair down and not tied in a bun! But who really understands the pain of having rough, dry hair?

The idea of pressing my hair and then coloring them struck me once. I got my hair pressed but ended up with split ends and losing more hair than the remaining ones on my head. That hurts! Looking at the rough strands and breakage, I grew paranoid of coloring my hair hence. What if they break post applying those dyes and chemicals? The fear of losing more hair held me back from playing with colors on my hair. sob sob. So, be it an attractive burgundy or amber brown, they scare me more and attract me less.

The only accessory for my hair is a clutch-er, that holds my locks together.

While wet look was an "in" thing some time back, I gave it a try. Wet look makes you look sexy and fresh. I applied gel to acquire that look. My hair turned brittle and could not resist breakage. I crave for that wet look, even today. But I am paranoid of hair sprays and gels that might damage my hair of what's left now.

My hair breakage had become so prominent that I had to consult a doctor to confirm if my body lacks iron! With so many shampoos and conditioners available in the market, irrespective their claim of being gentle and chemical free, the thought of dry,damaged hair and losing them soon, stops me from using them.

This blog post is a part of the Indiblogger #DovePlay contest http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=105

The video seems to answer that how girls want to play with their hair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rebjJcnactk