FOOD / HEALTH SPECIAL..THE SCIENCE OF SLIM VADA PAV

THE SCIENCE OF SLIM VADA PAV

Indulging in your favourite snack needn’t be a guilty pleasure.

Diet guru Suman Agarwal shows how it’s done

    It’s 4 pm and time for guilty pleasures. You reach out for your daily vada pav fix, even though there’s a health clock ticking inside your body that’s not very happy. What’s the alternative? Nothing healthy after all, can beat a vada pav’s fulfilling taste or refresh you like a pani puri.

    Diet guru and fitness expert Suman Agarwal argues that there are healthier alternatives that taste just as good. Her book Unjunked is full of recipes of snacks with half the calories and more nutrition. “Being a foodie at heart, I knew that taste buds govern the success of any diet. My aim is that dieters don’t compromise on their love for food. My effort is to make the diet more interesting and easy to follow,” she says.

    Agarwal says healthy options need not always be tiresome to prepare.

GET RID OF THE JUNK

Dr Varsha Gore, dietician, says junk food is full of empty calories — food that contains calories through fats, sugar and starch in excess. They lack in essential vitamins and minerals. “Vada pav for instance,” she says, “is termed junk because it is high in starch content from the potato and the maida in the pav. Deep frying adds to the calories, while the baking soda in the besan can cause digestive complaints such as acidity, constipation and flatulence.”

    Unjunking food, Agarwal explains, transforms the way you eat by adding or replacing ingredients to increase the nutrition value of the food.

    Unjunked recipes rework the ingredients. For instance, the percentage of potato used is less, replaced by gobi or bread. Paneer is replaced by tofu, which has the same amount of protein but has lower saturated fat and salt. Agarwal has also explored options such as steamed dahi wadas, veggie alfredo toast and Lebanese pizza.

    For instance, the sev puri detoxed has just 115 calories while what your hawker serves has 300. Agarwal uses cucumber slices as the base instead of the deep fried puri, thus lending it a healthy crunch.

HEALTHY SNACKING

We are so accustomed to snacking that dieticians include it in their prescription. Gore says it is okay to have one or two snacks a day between meals. She says snacking on fruits or vegetables is a good idea as they are good anti-oxidants. But if an apple doesn’t cut it for you, Agarwal suggests switching to better methods of cooking — baking, grilling, braising and steaming — is an option. “Snacks can also be made healthy by substituting refined flour with whole flour or multi-grain atta. Adding a vegetable filling will make it more nutritious.”

    Replace trans or saturated fats with vegetable oils using fresh chicken or fish instead of frozen/ preserved cold cuts. Have sprout or corn bhel and rolls with soya, chicken or fish filling.

TAKE IT EASY

Agarwal doesn’t say no to sugar or oil. “I do not believe in using artificial sweeteners but have tried and used more fruit and dates in the desserts. Diabetics can use natural and artificial sweeteners.”

    She advises a minimum of three to four tsp of oil a day since fats are essential for the body. “Oil acts as an insulator for vital organs, for lubrication and absorption of fat soluble vitamins. Butter should be used only if you consume skimmed milk as milk has hidden fats.”

VADA PAV UNJUNKED

The same taste of a vada pav, but fortified with paneer and baked, not fried Makes: 8 toasts Calories: 158 kcal (per serving) Serving size: 1 toast Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 10 minutes Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS

8 slices whole-wheat or white bread (4x4) or French baguette, 1 litre double toned milk (1.5% fat), 4 medium potatoes (boiled, peeled and diced), 2 garlic cloves (chopped finely), 10-15 curry leaves (chopped), 2 tbsp coriander leaves chopped finely, ½ tsp mustard seeds, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, juice of 2 lemons, salt as per taste, 1 tbsp oil

METHOD 1. Bring milk to the boil and turn off flame. Immediately add juice of 1 lemon and stir until milk curdles. Strain through a muslin cloth, making sure all the whey is removed. What remains in the cloth is paneer. 2. Preheat the oven at 160 degrees centigrade for seven-10 minutes. 3. Heat the oil in a pan, add mustard seeds; once the seeds begin to splutter, tip in the garlic, green chillies and curry leaves. 4. Add potatoes, turmeric powder and salt. Mix well. 5. Transfer to a large plate and cool. 6. Crumble the paneer and combine with the potato mix, along with coriander and juice of 1 lemon. 7. Mash this mixture lightly by hand and divide into 8 portions. 8. Lightly roast the bread. Spread the mixture on the toasted break and bake in preheated oven for 4-5 minutes. Serve hot.

Aruna Rathod MM 130309