FOODIES: LET’S GO DESI

 

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ith all its exotic ingredients , unfamiliar dishes and tongue tingling flavours ,Indian  cuisine can be both exciting and intimidating. It’s a complete world of taste where one can combine all the techniques, add magical spices to get a tiltilallating  food experience .

But underneath all the façade of taste , flavor and spices people are forgetting the  true essence of  Indian cooking i.e  “ BALANCE ,HEALTH  AND FLAVOUR “

There is a great misconception amidst the western countries regarding Indian cuisine ,for them Indian food is just hot and spicy which is completely wrong, as it is much more than that. Indian food is all about balance. Balance of flavours and all the food groups in right amount. The shinning example of this balance can be showcased by our “Thalis”.

Thali reflects all the intense flavours, colours, textures and balance of this unique cuisine. Whether it is a vegetarian gujrati thali or a non vegetarian mughalai thali. The idea behind is to offer all the 6 different flavours of sweet, sour, salt, bitter, astringent and spicy on a single plate, using array of aromatic spices which add bite to every dish and even offer numerous health benefits. As spices are heart and soul of Indian cooking we are habitual to use certain spices which add zing to our dishes.

Researches have been conducted on these spices and we came to know about their health benefits which are key to healthy life. Spices contain an impressive list of plant derived chemical compounds that are known to have disease preventing and health promoting properties. They have been in use since ancient times for their anti inflammatory, carminative, anti flatulen, anti clotting and augmenting properties.

Careful studies shows that basic composition of thali corresponds to that of the food pyramid which is relatively new and result of research in field of nutrition. The thali on the other hand is an ancient cultural traditional, part of hindu socio geographical landscape since thousands of years.

The thali is a complete meal and provides a balanced diet for example a veg thali is composed of dals and beans which is a wholesome substitute for animal product, bread like chapatti and paratha, rice, vegetable, milk product like raita and to the end of a meal a dessert.

In today’s scenario world might be misinformed on what Indian food really is? There is a myth seeped people’s mind that Indian has more fats and trans fatty acids which pose a higher risk for various diseases which is completely misleading. Western dishes are full of fat lard butter and what not. Even the amount of oil there recipe calls for a salad is much more than oils used for making a curry. There is a big emphasis on plant based ingredients in Indian cuisine saving us from all the diseases caused by meat consumption.

So its time we embrace our roots and be a TRUE INDOPHILE!!!

BY: KRITIKA JHARKHARIA

MSC 1^ST SEM

INSTITUTE OF FOOD TECNOLOGY