Tag: anurita gupta

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Swaad 'Anu'saar

Break that fast

There’s something called a ‘dashboard breakfast’ getting popular among busy people. And it’s not doing them a bit of good.
by Anurita Gupta

‘Subah ho gayee mamu’, the radio rings in a new day and you yawn back into a morning slumber only to ‘sleep think’ the deeds of the day. You mentally start processing your work day: files, Facebook, presentations, lunch meetings and before all that, What To Wear?

But between all this, are you also thinking: Breakfast? I am sure not. Robert Heinlein said, “One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast.” Par log toh apni mummy ki nahin sunte, Robert ki kya sunenge!

No wonder then, I see so many people driving to work in the morning with one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding a sandwich. This phenomenon has become so common that psychology has given it a very apt term – ‘dashboard breakfast’.

vermicelli upmaDr Anjali Chhabria, renowned Mumbai-based psychiatrist speaks about this lifestyle trend thus: “The culture of ‘dashboard breakfast’ is very common in urban cities where there is no time to stand and stare. A leisurely breakfast is unfortunately considered a waste of time. In the morning, people have so many things to do. While driving the car, attending work calls and trying to have a breakfast at the same time gives you stress even before you start your day.”

This means that in our bid to be a Jack of all trades, we have learnt to robotically plan the day but we’ve forgetten to fuel it with a hearty breakfast.

To me, breakfast is a joy. It is merawala time with my choice of food that is guilt-free, with no added tension of counting calories. I start thinking of the aloo ke paranthe with home-churned white butter happily sitting on top, meethe dahi ki vaati, kaanda poha, vegetable upma, idli with fresh nariyal chutney, freshly-squeezed orange juice, French press coffee, and masala chai.

And then there are the firang days filled with fresh waffles with blue berry compote and maple syrup that the husband proudly makes, or lustrous cheese scrambled eggs with burnt garlic twirls and parsley on top, hot brown bread, soft butter in a dish, strawberry jam, and yummy sausages and ham.

I am so grateful that breakfast has always been a celebration in my house from the very beginning! Whether it is indoors while the July rains tap dance on the windows, or in the light winter sun enjoying the company of my extended family, it is one meal that really gets the ball rolling for the day, not just physically but emotionally as well.

Dr Chhabria very rightly explains, “The minute you start your day, you should spend some time with yourself. Breakfast is, in fact, a good time to gather your thoughts and be in touch parathewith your innermost feelings. That helps you to become a collective calm self which will make you rather successful, in comparison to someone who is always rushed like a headless chicken.”

So the effort to save those 15 minutes in order to spend them on a Powerpoint Presentation may not really be a wise decision. That is precisely the reason why I am not going to give you some quick fix, ready-in-a-jiffy breakfast recipes because I don’t think our first meal of the day deserves that. It is called breakfast because it comes after at least 10 hours of fasting after the night before dinner. It ought to be treated with respect otherwise, like our own shastras say, we become what we do while we eat. Just think – do you want to be a bag of nerves who is always pressed for time or a calm, positive and confident human being who enjoys life?

The choice is yours.

Anurita Gupta is a media professional who is passionate about two things – food and radio. Her love for all things food makes her a foodie with a cause.

(Pictures courtesy www.parentsociety.com, honestcooking.com, www.tarladalal.com)

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Swaad 'Anu'saar

Kuchh meetha ho jaaye

Indian desserts are easier to make than Western ones. Our food columnist presents five quick, easy to make dessert recipes.
by Anurita Gupta

‘Life is uncertain.  Eat dessert first’  said Ernestine Ulmer. Now, I don’t quite know who Mr. Ulmer is, but what he has said surely makes him a sensible man in my eyes.

After many a dinner date or lunch break, dil kehta hai ‘kuchh meetha ho jaaye’! Although this is a popular tagline for a chocolate brand, the true meetha of our country is thankfully not chocolate but a ton of desi mithais that are true to the Indian palette and find place in its history.

For instance, our famous white rassagolla, one of the most popular sweetmeats in India has been funnily attributed to the Bengalis. But did you know that this golden ball of sin was created in the town of Puri, also famous for the popular Puri Temple in the eastern part of Orissa? Rassagolla has been enjoyed in Indian households since medieval times and if you want to enjoy this juicy cottage cheese mithai in all its glory then you ought to make a trip to Salepur near Cuttack. Ab wahan tak nahin jaana hai toh you can stop by at your nearest Sweet Bengal!

Western India has the popular shrikhand and aam ras, the only two things I wait for in a Gujarati thali (this thali is usually not my favourite choice for dinner or lunch). North India’s balushahi, jalebi, malpua, ras malai, mohan thal, besan ka laddu and motichoor ke laddu are pure delights for the sweet tooth. And how can one forget the legendary paan? The gulkund ki khushboo and the meethi supaari – everything just makes the whole experience so shahi and complete, without the calories!

In the cold department, nothing beats pista, anjeer, and elaichi kulfi which now comes with various fruit flavours at many stands, especially with Gupta Kulfiwallahs. For sure, the Western world has gifted us the very special ice cream that satiates many varied palettes, what with flavours ranging from vanilla to jackfruit, but trust me, it can only be a great accompaniment to our royal gulab jamun.

Why am I doing this to you, by the way? Am I a sadistic foodie whose sweet tooth on a piece of soan papdi? Not really. All I am trying to do is tell a fairy tale of mithaas that has gotten lost in the pool of firang chocolates and yoghurts. It’s a fact that Indian sweets have lost their lustre in comparison to all the gelato and yoghurt shops mushrooming everywhere, and the easily-available ‘home-made’ chocolates. Why is it that we are carrying the ‘white man’s burden’ into our desserts as well?

Have you noticed that it takes such little time to make desi mithai than actual western sweet concoctions? Let me help you with a few:

Shahi tukda: The shahi tukda can be made with a bag of bread that simply needs to be fried and put in sugary chashni. Sprinkle some  elaichi on top and serve (see pic on right).

Aata ka halwa: Aate ka halwa is an age-old favourite for me, also because my late daadi used to love it so much that she used to make it in a jiffy! All you need is nicely-roasted aata on a non-stick pan and some boiled water with jaggery in it as a healthier alternative to sugar.

Kulfi: There is such little effort that goes into making kulfi in comparison to churning a load of ice cream! All you have to do is evaporate milk for an hour as you simmer it over a low flame so as to reduce it to a quarter of its original quantity. Add sugar and mango puree, and maybe some mango pieces in a bowl. Mix together with hand and refrigerate. Serve and enjoy!

Kheer, payasam: The delectable kheer or payasam is pretty much the most heavenly way to make use of stale rice at home. Take one and a half cups of stale rice and put it in a pressure cooker with half a cup of water, 3 cups of sugar (caramelised or jaggery, in case of payasam) and cardamom powder along with double the quantity of milk. Give it a couple of whistles, and your kheer/payasam is ready! To complete this delectable dessert, fry some kaaju-badam in ghee and use as garnish.

Gujarati shrikhand: This one’s a summer delight. Use plain dahi and drain excess water by tying it in a cheese cloth. Let it rest for a couple of hours in the fridge. Take the thick curd and add some saffron soaked in two spoons of milk, along with sugar, cardamom powder and nuts. Wait for it to chill, then wallop with a vengeance! You can also add chopped mangoes or a seasonal fruit to enhance its flavour.

It’s time to quit phoren sweetmeats for the asli meetha. Let’s revive the malai ka khaja instead of crème brulee, malpua in place of pancakes, mawa cake over muffins, nan khatayi instead of cookies. After all, what fun it is to see the jalebi getting made from scratch in an old beaten down black kadhai and then watching it soak up kesar chashni…slurp!!

Anurita Gupta is a media professional who is passionate about two things – food and radio. Her love for all things food makes her a foodie with a cause.

(Pictures courtesy marrymeweddings.in, chefinyou.com, www.ahomemakersdiary.com, www.leicestershirediabetes.org.uk)

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Eat

Diet ki dukaan

Why do we complicate our diet by bringing in dieticians? What’s wrong with home-cooked Indian food for our dietary needs?
by Anurita Gupta

“Yeh chaar goli, teen teen ghante mein ek baar.” Remember this typical setup of a doctor’s clinic, with a compounder in the next room putting together a pink concoction for cough syrup and some tabs in a small white paper ki pudiya? These days, new-age diet consultants and nutritionists have replaced these doctors, with their ideas of eating small meals every two hours to lose weight.

My visit to a high profile diet consultant,who is not even a doctor in terms of having a degree, was like a flashback to such a doctor’s dawakhana. Just the way the doctor would pretty much hand over the same meds for everything from viral to tummy complaints, this nutritionist had her lines rehearsed: “The key is to eat, but not all at one go!” This instruction was not even given in person. A bunch of us were hustled to a tiny room with a TV by a rude receptionist, and made to watch a video presentation by this nutri-queen telling us about how eating healthy (read: wheat grass juice) would make all the difference.

It didn’t occur to me then, but in the name of personalised advice, this one was doling out tips wholesale.

Dr Loveleena Nadir, renowned gynecologist and nutrition advisor with the Fortis chain of hospitals, says, “It’s quite simple, and yet people are not willing to accept that being fit can be as easy as eating regular home-made meals that are freshly prepared. They will try and figure various formulae, instead of having a typical Indian meal that is automatically filled with protein in the form of dal, complex carbohydrates in multigrain rotis and rice, and iron and other minerals and vitamins that are found in fresh and green leafy vegetables.”

The home connection
Cut to the 90’s when I was in my early teens and would find a trip to the sabzi mandi a great outing with my badi mamma. She was in her 60s then but more fit than many 30-year-olds. Her mantra? Khao sabb kuchh per kaddo vee (you must eat everything but burn it)! We would both walk more than two kilometres each way and carry back huge bags of sabzi and fruit.

Badi mamma would sweat but never be out of breath. Each of her chores required physical labour – no washing machines for her, and she would lug heavy buckets of hand-washed clothes to the roof to dry. The breakfasts she made were healthy – a grated apple, one bolied egg and two rotis with the sabzi of the day. She was her at her ideal weight of 56 kg with a height of 5ft 6in.

Work complicates matters
We have complicated our lives not just with work but with such little time to concentrate on our health that we pay money for someone to take us back to ‘ghar ka khana’. All our pre-packaged makhani dal and pulao for lunch and many dinner outings have made us ill. No wonder, then, that we are told to have healthy meals in small amounts, just like a medicine.

However the modern concept of ‘eating everything healthy’ in regular doses bears the hazard of completely unhealthy thoughts in our minds against a thali full of proper khana. With a dietician’s advice, we plan ahead and get ziplock bags of healthy, nutritious food. It doesn’t stop there. Many phone apps assist us in carefully calculating our calorie intake of the day.

Dr Nadir says, “It’s important in general to keep your salt intake balanced which, unfortunately, is our biggest problem, because all packaged and fast food is very high in sodium.”

So what’s healthy?

The humble dal chawal and bajre ka rotla were such favourites with gharelu aam ka achaar and mutthi maara pyaaz. I feel so deprived at times, because I don’t have the liberty of time to make or eat the food of my childhood.

Of course, our lives are different than before. Food is mostly a ‘comfort’ for us after a long battle with traffic and sometimes, a painful boss. So fatty, junk food becomes instant relief. With that, we drag our unhealthy selves not back to the kitchen to make a simple, healthy meal, but to knock on the doors of a ‘magic doctor’ who tells us to eat seven medium-sized rotis a day – something that our mothers told us ages ago, for free!

(Pictures courtesy www.myvistahealth.com, www.kidspot.com.au, www.spiceflair.com)

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