Can’t
stop eating and always craving for something yummy? Then you and me are just
the same. I came up with ‘Trick’ Eating, so I can have something yummy without
having to land a double chin soon. Ad commercials, newspapers and food posters
on my way to work, make me really hungry. Loud growling stomach, embarrassing
me in front of other shoppers at the supermarket! ‘Look at your own chubby
face, Lady!’ Isn’t it always the story, hungry at the supermarket, when work
gets boring or on Sunday seated in front of the television? I realised that it
is the great flavours that I crave. I came up with a few tricks of my own to
conquer my craving.
- Soup
Dinner. Liquid food, can be full of flavour and without having to
compromise on meal portions or starving yourself, you can have some great
meals, with minimum carbohydrates in the evening. (We all know that
evening carbs are not good for us!) You can try out my Tom Yam Kai recipe.
It is the flavour or ginger, lemongrass, chilli in a flavourful stock with
mushrooms and chicken or tofu if you are vegetarian. It is just like
drinking water, yet so flavourful, lean with pieces of chicken and veggies
for the nutrition bit. You can also have dal or vegetable curry as soup
without the rice or roti in the evening.
- Cheat
Creamy Textures. You and I are both big fans of mayonnaise and sour cream.
Dips or sandwich spread or for a salad dressing, you can’t do without that
creaminess. Whip up some fresh hung curd, but drink the whey don’t throw
it away! Use this thick, creamy yogurt by flavouring it with herbs and
spices. It can be used as spreads,
dips and salad dressing.
- Curry
Wise. Indian food uses a whole lot of fried onion and cashew paste and
other rich ingredients for curries. Use minimum oil and cook the meats or
vegetables on low heat so that they cook in their own juices. High heat
dries the meats or vegetables to which you end up adding more oil. Go for
thin flavoured curries, with spices without using fried onion or cashew to
thicken. You can try out my Gawti Chicken recipe, which is a flavourful curry
without fried onion or cashew paste.
- Red
Instead of White. When eating pasta or other European dishes, go for the
options with tomato sauce over white sauce. Tomato sauce flavoured with
fresh basil, is a winner. Most lean sauces are beautifully flavoured with
herbs and leave out the excess cream and flour involved in making white
sauce based pastas. Spaghetti in tomato sauce is my favourite. Here is the
recipe, try it out!
- Grill,
Bake and Roast. Don’t Fry. Vegetables or meat, while cooking, use the
least oily option. Chicken skin can be made crispy in its own skin if you
pop it in the oven instead of frying. Marinated pieces of chicken can be
roasted or grilled instead of frying before you add it into the curry. In
Ayurvedic cooking I learnt, oil enhances the flavour of the spices but
heat is the medium in which actually cooks it. Did you know, you could add
in rai and curry patta to sambhar without adding oil too? A teaspoon of
oil is enough for flavour, on low heat the veggies won’t burn or you can
steam veggies before adding the tadka, so they are already cooked without
the oil.
- Choose
your bread wisely. Opt for Phulkas and chapattis over parathas and puris.
I am a big fan of tandoori rotis and kulchas too, they are delicious with
minimum oil or butter! Also, go for
gobi, palak stuffing in breads over potato and paneer.
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