Thayir Oats

Oats is full of fiber that helps remove the bad cholesterol. Also, recent studies have shown that it has a specific type of antioxidants that reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. On top of all this, any dish which has oats as its primary ingredient is normally easy to prepare. If you have "moar milagai" (sun dried green chillies that are soaked in buttermilk prior to drying them), it tastes out of the world with this dish, but again, it is not a requirement. Since I don't quite like oats with milk and sugar, I use thayir/dahi/plain yogurt instead.

Ingredients (1 serving):

Oats (not oatmeal) - a handful
Plain yogurt (also called thayir in Tamil) - 3 to 4 tablespoons
More milagai - 3 to 4 (can vary this based on your taste)
(You can use dried red chillies or green chillies as well)
Cooking oil - 1 teaspoon
Mustard seeds - 1/4 teaspoon
Asafoetida - a pinch
Cilantro (optional) - a few strands finely chopped
(I use cilantro only if I don't have moar milagai)
Salt to taste

Procedure:

1. Microwave oats with water (just enough to cover the oats) in a bowl for about 1.5 minutes (could be a little more or less based on the power level of your microwave).
2. In a small pan, heat some cooking oil, pop mustard seeds, add dried red chillies or green chillies and asafoetida after the mustard pops and transfer the contents to the oats bowl from step 1. If using "moar milagai", after the mustard pops you can simply add the asafoetida, transfer the contents to the oats bowl and fry the "more milagai" in the same pan until it turns dark brown in color. Now, crush the "moar milagai" by hand and add it to the oats bowl.
3. Add plain yogurt and salt to the oats bowl, mix the contents well and serve :-).

Note:
The same item can be prepared with aval/poha. If using aval, just soak 1/2 cup (using a measuring cup) of aval in hot water (enough to cover it) for about 5 - 7 minutes and follow steps 2 and 3 from the above procedure.

This serves as a quick, healthy and tasty breakfast for me on most of the working days :-). It may look a little mushy, but trust me, it tastes great!