Eat a Red Apple Day: 5 healthy apple recipes to boost your immunity

Sweet, juicy and sometimes tart, apples are delightful to eat in any season. Their unmatchable taste makes them the perfect choice for bakery items as well as jams, jellies, smoothies and pickles. Apples have been trusted as a wonderful fruit for building immunity against various diseases since centuries. In Greek mythology, apples are considered symbol of love and beauty. Low in sodium, fat, and excellent source of Vitamin C and fibre, it’s the perfect fruit for people with diabetes as it has antioxidants that reduce insulin resistance and help balance blood sugar. (Also read: Green apple: Nutritionist shares amazing health benefits of the fruit)

“Apples are a rich source of polyphenols, quercetin and phlorizin, an important group of antioxidants which reduces the insulin resistance and lower your sugars. Hence, lower your chances of type 2 diabetes. It improves your gut health. Since pectin a type of dietary fibre present in apples cannot be digested, pectin reaches your colon intact, promoting the growth of good bacteria. Helpful in treating constipation and diarrhea, apply may reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Since it is high in fibre, it is an ideal fruit for weight loss,” says Jagriti Barar Nutritionist Cloudnine Group of Hospitals Malad, Mumbai.

Barar also shares with us a few easy-to-prepare, unique and healthy recipes of red apple:

1. Apple Oats Appam

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tbsp oats flour

• 2 tbsp whole-wheat flour

• Apple puree (made out of two red apples)

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp honey

• 150 ml milk

• 1 tsp butter

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Dice the apple roughly and make puree out of it.

2. In a bowl add apple puree, oats flour and whole wheat flour. Mix them well.

3. Then add cinnamon powder and 75ml of milk and mix well.

4. To adjust the consistency, add the remaining milk and make a flowy consistency. Lastly add honey.

5. Heat the appam stand and add little butter to it. Pour the mixture on it cook until light brown, flip and cook on other side.

6. Serve hot.

2. Apple Mango Salsa

(Serve with ragi nachos/multigrain nachos)

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups apples, diced

• 1 cup mangoes, diced

• 1 cup corn

• 1/2 cup red peppers, diced

• 1/2 cup onions, finely diced

• 1 jalapeno, finely diced

• 1/4 cup coriander leaves, finely chopped

• 2 tsp lime juice

• 2 tsp honey

• Salt (according to taste)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Boil corn and keep it aside.

2. Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.

4. Give a quick stir before serving.

3. Apple Peanut Jam

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups diced apples

• 2 cups dates, chopped

• 1 cup roasted peanuts

• ½ cup water

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Roast the peanuts on low flame for 10 minutes. When crunchy remove it from the pan.

2. Let it cool and grind it with 1 tsp coconut oil.

3. In pan add 1 tsp coconut oil, add apple and seedless Dates in a medium sauce pot over medium heat. Add a pinch of Cinnamon powder

4. Stirring consistently, let the mixture boil, Turn the heat down to medium-low and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

5. In the end add roasted peanuts to it. Mix well.

6. Let mixture cool for about ten minutes. Place mixture in a blender and process until desire texture is reached.

7. Store in the air tight container and in refrigerator.

8. Apply apple peanut jam on freshly cut apple and serve chill.

4. Apple Coconut Rasam

INGREDIENTS:

• Apple

• 1 teaspoon rasam powder

• 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns

• 3 curry leaves

• 2 tablespoon Refined oil

• 1 tomato

• Grated coconut

• 1 pinch powdered turmeric

• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

• 1 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To prepare this Rasam recipe, peel and grate the apple.

2. In pan add peeled apple, finely cut tomato and add pepper powder to it.

3. Now, in a sauce pan add apple with a cup of water and cook on medium flame, cook for 5-7 minutes, then add tomato, rasam powder, turmeric powder, and salt. Mix all the ingredients well and cook the rasam.

4. When the raw smell subsides, add 2 cups of dal water to the rasam along with pepper powder and 1 cup of water.

5. When the Rasam starts to boil, remove the pan from the stove, and keep it aside.

6. To prepare tadka, take a frying pan, and heat a little oil in it and add mustard, when mustard seeds starts spluttering, add curry leaves, dry coconut pieces into it. Then add rasam and let it boil properly.

7. Garnish it with some grated coconut. Serve Hot.

5. Apple pumpkin smoothie

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium apple

• ½ frozen banana

• 2 tbsp rolled oats

• 2 seedless dates

• 1 tbsp ground almonds (for garnishing)

• ⅓ cup plain, milk

• 1 tbsp curd

• 1 cup pumpkin puree

• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 pinch ground nutmeg (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Place all the ingredients into a blender and blend on high until completely smooth, about 1 minute.

2. Garnish with freshly roasted almonds.

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