5 desi breakfast ideas with seeds: dahi, paratha, lassi, daliya and chaat

You do not need a new diet to eat more seeds. These five ideas use breakfasts most Pakistani homes already make, with about one tablespoon of seeds per person.

Each seed is used the way it works best: chia soaked, alsi ground, and pumpkin and sunflower as they are, for crunch.

You need: 1 katori (about 1 cup) dahi, 1 small banana, 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds, 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds, and a drizzle of honey or a pinch of cinnamon if you like.

Slice the banana over the dahi and scatter the seeds on top just before eating so they stay crunchy. For a namkeen version, skip the banana and add roasted zeera, kala namak and chopped kheera.

Per USDA, a tablespoon of pumpkin kernels (about 8 g) adds roughly 48 mg of magnesium, and a tablespoon of sunflower kernels (about 9 g) adds about 3 mg of vitamin E.

You need, for 4 parathas: 2 cups chakki atta, 2 tablespoons freshly ground alsi, 1 tablespoon til (sesame), a pinch of salt, water, and a little ghee or oil.

Mix the ground alsi and til into the atta, then knead as usual. Alsi soaks up water, so the dough may need a splash more and a 10-minute rest. Roll and cook the parathas the way you normally do. For roti, use the same dough and skip the ghee.

Each paratha carries about half a tablespoon of alsi. Til ki khushboo aur alsi ka halka sa nutty zaiqa: bachon ko pata bhi nahi chalega.

You need: 1 tablespoon chia, a quarter cup of water or milk, 1 cup dahi, half a cup of cold water, and either a pinch of salt and roasted zeera (namkeen) or 2–3 dates or half a banana (meethi).

Soak the chia in the water or milk for 15–20 minutes, stirring once after 5 minutes. Blend the dahi with the cold water and your flavourings, pour into a glass and stir in the soaked chia.

Summer swap: use 1 teaspoon of soaked tukh malanga instead of chia.

You need: half a cup of daliya (cracked wheat), one and a half cups of milk or water, 1 tablespoon freshly ground alsi, 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds, and chopped dates or fruit.

Cook the daliya until soft, about 15–20 minutes, stirring now and then. Take it off the heat, stir in the ground alsi, and top with pumpkin seeds and fruit.

For namkeen daliya, cook it with onion, tomato and vegetables, then finish with sunflower seeds and fresh dhania.

Toast 2 tablespoons of pumpkin and sunflower seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until they smell nutty. Let them cool.

Scatter over fruit chaat (seb, amrood, kela, papita) with chaat masala and lemon, or over chana chaat with onion, tomato and imli chutney. Toasted seeds add crunch without frying.

Lemon and amrood bring vitamin C, which the NIH notes helps the body absorb the plant (non-heme) iron found in seeds and chana.

Soak chia at night so it is ready in the morning. Grind a few days of alsi at once and keep it in a closed jar in the fridge. Keep pumpkin and sunflower in a jar next to the dahi.

Measure: a level tablespoon of seeds is roughly 40–60 kcal depending on the seed, so about 1 tablespoon per person per dish is plenty. Why one tablespoon? Read how much seeds per day.

For young children, use ground or soaked seeds in small amounts.

Chia: anything wet and cold, such as lassi, dahi and overnight jars, because it needs liquid to soften. Alsi: anything with atta or porridge, because it should be ground and mixes in well. Pumpkin and sunflower: toppings, added at the last minute for crunch. Til: parathas, naan and anything that goes on a hot tawa.

Monday and Thursday: dahi bowl with pumpkin and sunflower. Tuesday and Friday: alsi wala paratha or roti. Wednesday: chia lassi. Saturday: daliya with seeds. Sunday: fruit chaat with toasted seeds for the family.

Seven days, four seeds, no new recipes to learn. The Four-Seed Box has chia, pumpkin, sunflower and alsi with a measuring spoon, and sesame seeds cover the til.