With the holiday season behind us and 2012 having rolled around, January is the month for recovering from the frenzy of December. It’s also the time for some new year resolutions, changing food habits, committing to better health and all that’s positive.
While I don’t want to be the party pooper here, I realize that it takes a strong mind to honor a resolution. Especially when it comes to diet and food. For if you, like me, buckle under the sights and sounds of delicious Indian food, it’s almost cruel to try and stay away from it.
However, I also believe that with the right choices, it doesn’t have to be so tough. You can have all your favorite foods and yet not cheat on your diet. Yes, really. The secret lies in thinking differently. Small changes mad here and there can add up to a world of difference. A lot of Indian food is rich in fat, not always because of the ingredients but because of the way it is cooked.
When I made an assessment of all that was stocked up in my kitchen pantry, I realized that there were a lot of things in there which were adding to my already eminent weight issues. Lesson 1. Choose better (read low-fat) cooking ingredients.
Another thing I learnt, and perhaps even more valuable was that a majority of the blame was also in the cooking process. There are times when you take a recipe too literally and adopt every style of cooking to your own. But at some level, when you want to make changes to your eating habits, the only way to go is to experiment.
It’s been 10 days now that I’ve introduced newer techniques to my cooking. Swapped some ingredients. Experimented with cooking in different styles. And I’m proud to say that my resolution is holding up like I’ve never been able to do before. I’m losing all the extra holiday pounds, feeling lighter on my feet and more energetic. Also, none of the changes have been too radical or effort/time consuming enough to make me want to give them up in a few weeks. Want to know what they are? Here’s a few of them
1) A lot of Indian gravies rely on heavy cream – to thicken the base, make it creamier, richer. If you want the richness of cream without its calories, try using yogurt or roasted flour to thicken the gravy instead.
2) Substitute vegetable oil or ghee (clarified butter) with olive oil.
3) Use applesauce, vinegar instead of oil wherever possible. You won’t even realize the difference.
4) If cooking rice, wash the rice a few times under running water, until the water becomes clear. This will remove all the starch from the rice.
5) Limit the use of sugar and salt. If seasoning is required, use cinnamon, cloves and fenugreek seeds.
6) Some dishes like dal, curried vegetables require tempering (tadka). Instead of frying the tempering ingredients, dry-roast them.
7) Instead of cheesy dips, use yogurt. Make different kinds of yogurt dips like cucumber-mint yogurt dip, cilantro-pepper yogurt dip, etc.
8) Koftas, samosas, vadas, which are fried, can be baked instead.
9) When eating out, order tandoori dishes whenever possible. Don’t order anything that has “makhani” in the description. It will have a lot of cream and butter. Order your dal without tadka. Be careful when ordering Indian desserts. They are very high in calories. Just settle for a fresh fruit cocktail
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