Let-s be honest, most of us know oats three ways — porridge, chila pancake and overnight-soaked power brekkie topped with nuts and fruits. The ingredient can be used in so many more ways. When we speak to Madhavi Shilpi, a nutritionist and certified Type 2 Diabetes prevention lifestyle coach, she tells us she had pesto and oat muffin for a snack. "I mixed in cheddar and whisked an egg in the batter and popped them into the oven," says the Malabar Hill resident.

Shilpi marries culinary cooking and nutrition together to make food that is not complicated but high on flavours. "During this time, people are realising that we can make our own food fun and tasty. From making pastes like pesto and harissa to elaborate dishes, cooking can be hassle-free with smart combinations," she says. Oats are a traditional whole grain and start out as oat groats. Steel-cut oats, traditionally soaked and cooked to make porridge, are made by chopping oat groats into smaller pieces. These are then steam-rolled to produce rolled oats that look like irregularly shaped flattened discs. Although rolled oats cook faster than steel-cut oats, they hold their shape well while cooking and are commonly used to make granola, cookies and muffins. Quick-cooking oats, in contrast, are twice-cooked and pressed thinner than rolled oats. They cook quickly but do not retain much of the lovely, chewy texture of rolled oats, and can get quite mushy. The best therefore, Shilpi points out, are old-fashioned rolled oats. "Since they have already undergone a steaming process, they can even be eaten raw and work well in recipes like overnight oats and energy balls."