Eating healthy. While most of us wish to do so, we do not always know how to go about it. Even if we know certain “diet recipes”, the thought of buying the expensive tofu or spending on asparagus gives us jitters. Moreover, most of us do not have that extra time to cook these cumbersome recipes on a daily basis, nor do our family members have the patience to try out new dishes that might not be that scrumptious after all! In such situations, it’s best to rely on these simple yet effective ways of making your daily cooking healthy, without letting the taste take a hit!
1. Boil the veggies before frying.
Indian style cooking requires vegetables like potatoes, round gourd (tinda), peas et al to be cooked in oil, and lots of it. You can control the quantity of oil that goes in these, by boiling them beforehand. Once that is done, you can then easily sauté them in a much lesser amount of oil, along with your favourite spices.
2. Wash starchy foods in water.
Make sure to drain the remaining starch after you cook the rice. Also, run a glass or two of cold water over the cooked rice in order to drain some additional starch. In case of potatoes, wash them after peeling, and once again after you have diced them. This simple trick will help you cut down on those extra calories without any evident change in the taste.
3. Prepare the tadka in bulk.
In case dal is a part of your everyday meal, prepare the tadka in a large quantity all at once. You can easily store it in the refrigerator for eight to 10 days. By doing this you can cut down a significant quantity of ghee or oil from your meal. Simply because, if you are using two tablespoons of ghee every day, when you make the tadka for the entire week, you will need, say just 4 to 5 tablespoons of oil. Now that amounts to cutting a straight 10 spoonfuls of fat, every week. Incredible, isn’t it?!
4. Add veggies wherever you can.
Be it the morning poha or upma, or just some fried rice for the evening, you can always make the food more palatable with some added vegetables. While this will help in increasing the fibre content and the necessary nutrients in your diet, you will also feel full with a considerably less amount of food. A pure win-win!
5. Decrease the amount of salt and sugar.
This is the most important of all. While cooking each day, make sure that you gradually decrease the amount of salt. You can instead add lemon juice or vinegar to maintain the taste. In fact, adding a little extra spices can also balance the lesser amount of salt. And this goes without saying, cut down on sugar, whenever and wherever you can.
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