Twitter
Advertisement

Shedding weight the tasteful way

The world of the fit food gourmet is exploding as home cooks and restaurants discover newer ways to cater to the discerning diner who insists that healthy should not translate into boring. Aalok Wadhwa tracks the foodie trail

Latest News
article-main
Quinoa, kohlrabi, langoustines and couscous are now being used more frequently in Indian kitchens, and Aalok Wadhwa
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Fit food has captured the fancy of foodies all over the world, including in India. What was once a fad is now a lifestyle choice, aided by programmes like Masterchef and the buzz on social media about what to eat and where to get it.

The change is visible on supermarket shelves and grocery baskets. White bread is a no-no, brown rice is making its presence felt and sinful foods, be it mayonnaise, peanut butter, ice-cream, chocolates or colas, can be found in their more acceptable, lower calorie avatars. Even the vegetable basket has fewer starchy vegetables and more leaves.

Fit and healthy food is increasingly not about sacrifices. In fact, diners today aim to get the maximum out of every calorie and are firm in their belief that healthy should not mean boring. They seek gourmet diet food and restaurants and home cooks are discovering new ways to make it happen.

Restaurant menus are going through a sea change. Soups and salads are now mandatory and red meat only has a token presence, with chicken dominating the non-vegetarian menu. Pizzas are thin crust in most places and grills more popular than ever before.

It is easier to be a fit gourmet today. Indigenous produce like ragi, jowar, amaranth (laal saag), kohlrabi (gaanth gobhi), Indian salmon (rawas) and goat meat are now kosher with western nutritionists certifying them as healthy, fibrous foods. Even oils have undergone a rethink. It is no longer necessary to use the very expensive olive oil, when our own peanut oil, mustard oil and even ghee are deemed to be as good.

Foreign ingredients like couscous and quinoa as well as familiar ones like pearl barley and oats are easily available, pushing into the background refined carbohydrates like polished Basmati rice and maida. Zucchini, various kinds of mushrooms, basil, parsley and other such 'foreign' vegetables and herbs can be bought from the local vegetable vendor. Avocados and olives are now being grown in India commercially, so things are only going to get better. Besides, exotic seafood like sea bass, red snapper, scallops, oysters and langoustines have been discovered off the coast of Kerala and Lakshadweep.

The Indian foodie world is also expanding beyond Indian, Chinese and Italian cuisines. So we don't just make rajma, we make refried beans and chili con carne, the humble chana has evolved from just chhole to hummus or falafel and chicken is being transformed into satay, shish touk or even coq au vin.

With all this happening in the home kitchen, restaurateurs are under tremendous pressure. So in many restaurants, chicken is slow cooked 'sous vide' and paneer is steamed and served 'en papillote'.

Spa cuisine
Now an even more sophisticated gourmet fit cuisine has emerged for the upper-classes. It is called spa cuisine, and the pioneers are Ananda in the Himalayas Spa, and the iconic Delhi restaurant Indian Accent's Zehen Spa. Hotel chains like the Leela and the Taj Group also coming in with their own spa menus. Essentially, food tastes just as posh as it would in a calorie agnostic mainstream gourmet restaurant, but is much healthier and has a fraction of the calories.

Manish Mehrotra, the genius chef at Zehen, for instance, has brown rice puff, sprout bhel and masala bajra khichdi with cumin yoghurt on the breakfast menu. Main course dishes include slow stewed lamb with walnut couscous and raita, pumpkin and brown rice risotto, gluten-free uttapam pizza with parmesan cheese, pasta made out of zucchini strips to look like spaghetti and quinoa biryani. Dessert can feature brown rice and jaggery kheer, fresh fruit kulfi sorbet or the chocolate-dipped amaranth laddoo. A royal feast is very much possible at less than 700 calories in total.

Never before has shedding weight been such a tasteful experience.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement