Try some homemade recipes to stay fit

Want to lose weight, but can't get away from your favourite dishes? Try out Ayurvedic cookbook author Gita Ramesh's recipes that can satiate your taste buds without affecting your figure.

The recipes advised by Ramesh are purely Ayurvedic and have no harmful effects on body too, said a statement.

1. Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

- Tomatoes ripe out: Six to eight

- Onion: One

- Small green chilli: One

- Garlic cloves: Two

- Cinnamon: One stick

- Oil: One tablespoon

- Curry leaves: Four- five

- Peppercorns: One fourth tablespoon

- Salt to taste

Method:

- Pressure cook the tomatoes with the roughly chopped onion, green chilli, garlic, cinnamon stick and two cups of water till two whistles. Remove and keep aside to cool. When cool, blend the mixture in a blender. Remove and strain.

- Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan; add the finely chopped onion and fry till golden broen. Add the curry leaves and pour in the tomato soup.

- Serve hot seasoned with crushed black pepper and salt.

2. Papaya salad

Ingredients:

- Papaya (small, raw, peeled, grated): One

- Tomatoes (cut into small cubes): Two

- Green chilli (finely chopped): One

- Jaggery: One and half cubes

- Red chilli powder: A pinch

- Salt: A pinch

- Tamarind juice: Two tablespoon

- Roasted crushed peanuts: 100 gram

- Basil leaves: A few

Method:

- Mix the raw papaya, tomatoes and green chilli in a bowl.

- Now, prepare the sweet syrup to be added to the papaya. Heat the jaggery cubes in a pan till it liquidifies. Add the red chilli poweder, salt and tamarind juice and mix well. Remove and allow it to cool and then add it to the papaya mixture.

- Serve garnished with basil leaves.

3. Bottle Gourd curry

Ingredients:

- Gourd (small, peeled and chopped): One bottle

- Turmeric powder: Half teaspoonful

- Red chilli powder: Half teaspoonful

- Cumin seeds: One teaspoonful

- Tomato (finely chopped): One

- Green chillies: Two

- Salt to taste

For the tempering:

- Vegetable oil: One teaspoonful

- Mustard seeds: half teaspsoonful

- Dry red chilli: One

- Curry leaves: A few

- Fresh and chopped coriander leaves: Two teaspoonful

Method:

- Cook the bottle gourd, turmeric powder, red chilli poweder, cumin seeds and tomato, ornion and green chillies in a pressure cooker until one whistle. Remove and allow to cool. Add salt and stir.

- For tempering, heat the oil in a pan; add the mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add the red chilli and curry leaves. Saute for just a minute or until the red chilli changes colour to dark red. Add the cooked bottle gourds to this and mix well.

- Serve hot garnished with fresh coriander leaves.