A couple of simple ways have your desi food and eat it too!
I have always been an advocate for eating closer to your roots, the food that our ancestors ate which is simple and packed full of nutrients. In our house Pakistani/ desi food has always been at the forefront of most of our meals. Overtime, through trial and error my family have managed to make a few changes in how we prepare and cook our food so that we maximize the nutritional value but still keep the same ‘ghar ka khana’ (home cooked food) taste. Below are some of the ways I get to have my desi food and eat it too!
Reduce the amount of oil a recipe calls for by half. Trust me on this one, at times I even reduce it further, the food may not look pretty but this has no impact on the flavour at all.
Substitute regular cooking oils with (desi) ghee, avocado oil, mustard seed oil or flaxseed oil. These are richer more nutrient dense ingredients and a little goes a long way.
Use whole raw spices where you can so things like fresh ginger, turmeric, red whole chilis and rock salt, instead of packaged mixed masalas. This also allows you to control the sodium levels in your food.
Load up on veggies as much as possible, for instance we love to add chopped spinach or swiss chard to our daal and always have a chopped salad with every meal. We even experiment making our favourite meat dishes as vegetarian ones, like my moms vegetable biryani that is loaded is beetroot, carrots and green beans.
When making rice or a gravy that requires using stock cubes or stock, use bone broth/ desi yakhni. This not only adds a depth of flavour but it also increases the nutritional value of your food.
Lastly and most importantly don’t shy away from experimenting with traditional ingredients, use that jaggery, millet, chickpea flour and those home made pickles and chutneys. Eating close to your roots means eating a wholesome, balanced diet that is packed full of goodness.
