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