Why?

I have created this blog to share the recipes I have come up with during my 5 weeks (so far) on the Dukan Diet.

This diet has been an inspiration. I am a mid 40s male with a partner and grown up kids who enjoys cooking. When I started on the Dukan diet 5 weeks ago, I expected I would be eating fairly boring foods given the restrictive nature of the ingredients list available to me. Instead I find I am eating better than before with a wider range of breakfasts, lunches and main meals that both I and my partner (who is not on the Dukan diet) can both enjoy.

It is said that great art comes from adversity and constraint.  Just as the finest poetry benefits from a definate form such as the fixed metre and rhyming structure of a sonnet within which the poet's creativity and inspiration is expressed, so I have found the constraints of the Dukan diet in terms of ingredients has forced me to research and in some cases invent new ways of doing old things. 

There are many excellent websites with Dukan friendly recipes out there but on this site I plan to give the recipes of favourites that I didn't expect to be eating until next year (I have a lot of weight to lose!) such as oil-free Indian style curries like my version of a Madras, fat-free Mexican dishes, sauces that can be user sparingly as condiments on protein days and generously as stir-fry sauces on protein+vegetable days, and even biscuits and a flatbread.  This process has made me realise how unnecessary the fats, oils and refined carbohydrates that I previously used in my cooking actually are to preparing a tasty and filling meal. I now have recipes for healthy meals where you do not notice the absence of fats and oils in terms of taste, that I am happy to serve to non-Dukaners, and which I fully expect to still be cooking even after my dieting goals have eventually been reached.

The name of this blog is Fried Porridge. This may seem a little odd, perhaps even off-putting, but it is named for the first recipe I am going to post. This is for a flatbread which is made by dry-frying an oat bran batter which starts off as what is effectively a partially cooked porridge. Disgusting as this may sound, the eventual product is an egg-free alternative to the famous Dukan Galette that can serve as a tasty and filling replacement for both a chappati when cooking 'Dukan Indian' and a tortilla in the Dukan friendly Mexican recipes.

All comments are welcome so if you enjoy any of these recipes then please let me know and please also feel free to post any variations you come up with.

I am thoroughly enjoying the Dukan diet. For the first time in my life I feel like I have the power to decide what weight I will be and I can do this without needing to go through the hassle and pain of calorie counting and feeling hungry all the time. This blog is my way of giving back a little.

I hope you enjoy the recipes.