from the kitchen...

Eating patterns and cooking methods vary widely in India, from State to State, even from region to region. The different methods determine the taste, cooking time, nutritive value and variety of food. The cooking process and eating habits are determined also by the economic status, availability, convenience, time and knowledge.

Food, if cooked with proper care, serves the main purpose of providing good nutrition. There are some scientific facts related to food preparation, and good as well as bad practices going on in families. Their important factors should be taken care of.

Food is divided into seven basic groups: cereals, pulses, green vegetable/roots/tubers, fruits, milk and milk products, oil and ghee, and sugar and jaggery. If you take non-vegetarian food, add fish, eggs and meat to the above list. Take foods from each group daily.

Good Practices

• Vegetables and fruits tend to lose their nutritive values rapidly. Therefore, right from storing, cutting, cleaning, and cooking to serving, many points should be remembered. Fruits should not kept cut for long as oxidation occurs to wipe off vitamins.
• Cereals, legumes, milk and milk products have proteins, minerals and carbohydrates, which are not destroyed quickly. Therefore, we get almost the actual content from protein foods.
• The traditional diets of our country include milk, buttermilk, or curd with food. Our lunch and dinner have some or the other preparations of wheat, bajri and other cereals. They have second class or incomplete protein and milk/milk products have first class or complete protein. When taken together, the value is enhanced and the quality of cereal protein is increased. This is a very healthy practice. We have adopted new food, but such eating habits should not be abandoned.
• You can cook most of the vegetable in water, except some. Vegetable cooked in oil contains more fat and are not digested easily. Roots and tubers like potatoes should be pressure-cooked. There are various vegetables and then season them (i.e. parwal, dudhi, potatoes).
• Seasoning can be done before and then the required water can be added (i.e. green peas, spinach, beans, brinjal, etc.) some vegetables such as tindola (tinda), kankoda, etc. don’t require water. Season and cook them without water inside the vessel, but pour water on the lid of the pan. So that the vapour will help in cooking Cook only selected vegetable like bhindi (ladies finger) with oil and no water, because it becomes very sticky with water.
• While cooking, add only the required amount of water. More time and more heat are required to evaporate the remaining water and so vitamins are lost.
• Soak pulses overnight or at least for six hours before cooking. Soaking helps in cooking and the pulses become easy to digest. Sprouting is a very good method in terms of nutrition. The B complex and C Vitamins increase much more in sprouted pulses.
• Prepare the dough of roti or paratha with whey when available. Similarly, add the stock of any vegetable to boiled legumes/ dal.
• We can also mix some dals (lentils) with vegetables. Vegetable proteins are incomplete and combination with legumes can improve the quality (i.e. dudhi-chana dal, palak-moong dal.)
• Use the tender portion of vegetables to make chutney. There are some easy ways to retain the color of cooked foods and chutneys. The decoloarization of such items is a result of chemical reaction of the natural pigments of fruits and vegetables with oxygen and heat. To keep the green color of coriander chutney, add lemon juice and salt during grinding. Sometimes, other ingredients like sesame seeds or coconut gives it a bright green color.
• Fruits are usually eaten soon after cutting. But if there is a need to cut and keep, i.e. apple, pear or peach, add some lemon juice or sugar to prevent the browning.

Bad Practices

• Some products made at home can be kept in the refrigerator or freezer for a longer time. Therefore, if possible, do not promote preservatives in homemade items such as ketchups, puree, chutney, pickles, juices, etc. In some items, sugar or salt works as a natural preservative. Therefore, use chemical preservatives as little as possible.
• Prolonged use of soda can lead to abnormalities or problems related to the bones, because soda not only destroys the vitamins but also affects the calcium phosphorus coordination in our body.
• Heat and light destroy the vitamins and some minerals. Heat destroys Vitamin C very quickly and up to almost half of the natural value. Vitamin A and C are lost when food comes into contact with oxygen. Therefore, never keep vegetable cut and uncovered for long. Some vegetable takes long to peel off. Keep such vegetable (i.e. tuver, papdi) in the fridge in nylon bags, for shorter periods.
• In the case of leafy vegetables such as spinach and coriander, if it is inevitable to chop them beforehand, keep them in the fridge but wrapped in a paper. It will become watery if kept in plastic bags.
• Many housewives cut vegetables in very small portions, for it takes less time to cook. But this practice is equally bad. The smallest portion comes into contact with oxygen and oxidation destroys the nutrients. Even if it is not kept out for long, the oxidation begins during the cutting. While making raita, the cucumber has to be grated. But in that case, cucumber is mixed with curds and generally kept in the fridge.
• It is a common practice that some vegetables are cut and kept in water for a while and before cooking, the water is thrown away. But in so doing we also throw away quantity of its water-soluble vitamins. Potatoes and brinjals can be dipped in water because these vegetables start turning brown soon. Add some salt to water to slow down the browning. Cook rice with the required water so that there is no water left. Some people throwaway rice water to remove the starch but it is not a very good practice. Rice has water-soluble vitamins, which tend to go away in water throwed.
• Do not heat the cooked food frequently. Instead, you may heat the required amount. Use of soda-bi-carb is increasing day by day. Not only for baking but also in regular cooking, especially in restaurants, it is used for many purposes. The soda retains the color of green vegetables but it destroys some nutrients. It is also used for the cooking of some legumes so that they cook quickly. Soda gives softness to cooked food but it destroys vitamins B complex and vitamin C.Such little practices decide the nutritional quality of our cooked food.

‘Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness. - Edward Stanley’