Indian Healthy Rasoi-Master Indian whole plant based cooking

In this section, you will learn about whole foods. What sets them apart from the processed food, how they can be consumed and what health benefits they offer: all this is discussed in the video here. The relationship between nature and natural food is also given due attention.

Organise the basics - get kitchen ready!

Eating healthy not only starts by making the right food choices but also with the right kitchen tools. In India, there’s an ancient philosophy, “the health of the family lies in the kitchen.” In today’s fast-paced, urban lifestyles, it’s true that we don’t have much time for food prep and cooking. But, you can still ensure that your family eats healthy by investing in smart tools for the kitchen.

The right kitchen tools are your “magic helpers” for meal prep. Don’t know where to start? Make use of this guide that helps you cut down on meal prep and cleanup time.

The Must-Have List of Kitchen Equipment that makes Healthy Eating a Breeze

Food Prep Tools:

• High-quality Chef’s Knife

Invest in a high-quality chef’s knife. An 8-inch or 10-inch knife can slice through a tough pineapple as well as a delicate tomato. Make sure that you keep your knife sharp and clean. Once you get your preferred knife, the next step involves mastering some basic cuts like dicing, slicing, mashing, mincing, Julienne, and Brunoise cuts. This makes your prep work faster.

If you have kids at home, teach them some basic knife skills to practice. There are several child-safe knives available. Getting kids interested in cooking sets them up for healthy eating all through life.

• Peelers

As far as possible, eat your veggies and fruits along with their skin i.e whole- as given by nature. However, sometimes a high-quality peeler maybe needed to peel vegetables and fruit skins quickly, for mincing garlic and other condiments.

• Chopping Board

Not everyone needs a chopping board. You would have seen your grandma or mom expertly slicing veggies faster than a machine balanced on a regular steel plate or using the sit-down traditional knife known as Boti (in Bengal), aruvamanai (in Tamil), or the vili (in Marathi).

But, if you are new to the kitchen, then a chopping board would help you get a better grip. While choosing chopping boards opt for wooden ones, instead of plastic, so as to help you build a plastic-free kitchen.

• Food Processor or Chopper

When you are moving to a lifestyle high in fruits and veggies, investing in a food chopper or chopper can indeed be a lifesaver. The job of cutting, dicing, slicing, shredding, pulsing in different sizes is made easy with the food processor.

Alternatively, if you already have a food processor, and don’t want to invest in a new one, you can choose small vegetable choppers. These help in cutting vegetables in different sizes and shapes. There are several types of choppers available – from small hand-powered choppers to electrical ones. You can choose whichever fits your budget and available counter space.

• High-speed Blender

A blender is your best buddy when you are trying to eat healthily. It can help you remove store-bought sauces, dips, condiments, juices loaded with sugars, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives from your diet. By blending sauces, vegetable smoothies, and juices, nut butter, you can prepare a quick meal within minutes. Browse our recipe section for unique healthy menu ideas.

If you already have a regular mixie in your kitchen, check out if it’s possible to purchase compatible blending jars to use with it.

• Steamer

Steaming is one of the healthiest ways of cooking food. There are several types of steamers available: stove-top steamers, electric steamers, traditional steaming pots, etc. You can choose whichever model that fits your budget and your kitchen counter.

• Cooking Utensils

You need not have an array of pots and pans to cook tasty and healthy meals. Start by taking stock of what’s in your kitchen cabinets. Replace all the utensils that you no longer use. We suggest that you replace aluminium, non-stick and Teflon coated cookware with traditional cookware.

Here are a few choices -

• Regular stainless steel pans for sautéing, steaming, etc.

• Opt for earthenware pots for curries and earthen or cast iron tawa for rotis and dosas. Apart from cooking, earthen pots and jars can be used to store prepared salads, juices as it keeps food naturally cool.

• Raid your loft for old cookware used by your mom and grandmom. Cast-iron Tava, Appam Pans, Paniyaram Pans – you'll never know the treasures you can find there. Else, check out the following links for traditional cook and serve wares.

Serveware:

• Use glass containers for storing prepared food. They not only look pretty but reduces the usage of plastic in your kitchen.

• Cut different fruits and display them in closed glass bowls, somewhere visible like the dining table. This makes kids (and other family members) reach for healthy fruits when hunger strikes, instead of raiding the cupboards for chips, biscuits and other processed eats.

• You can also use wooden bowls and ladles for preparing and storing fruit and veggie salads.

• If you don’t have fancy glass containers, no worries, store and serve food in regular stainless steel serving bowls.

Optional

While these are not must-have, they are good to have, if you can afford them.

• Cold-pressed Juicer

A juicer extracts the juice from the fruits and vegetables you put in it, in a separate outlet/container. Unlike the blender where you add water, the juice doesn’t mix the pulp, skin or peels. The juice is undiluted and contains all the vitamins and minerals intact.

• Spiralizers

It’s an inexpensive tool that converts veggies into spirals, resembling noodles. You can increase the veggie quotient of your kids’ meal by offering them spiralized vegetables like carrots, beets, zucchini, radish, sweet potato, and more.

• Baking

Baking is not just for cakes and desserts. You can also bake healthy eats like protein bars, baked veggies, etc. Baking helps to limit the amount of oil used in traditional recipes and is a good replacement technique for frying foods.

Ideal

These are some tools that you can cook without, but it helps to have them at your disposal.

Measuring tools

While we mostly cook with instinct and spontaneity on a regular basis, sometimes having accurate tools to measure quantities is not only desirable but essential. This proves especially true in case of baking. Some tools that you may want to have:

• Measuring Cups - separate the ones for liquid and dry ingredients as liquid and dry ingredients need separate kinds of measuring tools.

• Measuring spoons - A measuring spoon is a spoon used to measure an amount of an ingredient, either liquid or dry, when cooking. Measuring spoons may be made of plastic, metal, and other materials. They are available in many sizes, including the teaspoon and tablespoon.

• Weighing Scale - Kitchen scales are available in balance or spring models. A balance scale will give a more accurate reading than a spring scale. Using a scale will result in a more accurate measurement of the ingredients than by measuring it by volume.

Sprout Maker

Sprouts are one of the most nutrient-rich natural foods that can be eaten raw as well as lightly steamed. Sprout Maker (or Sprouter) adapts traditional method to grow sprout beans & pulses in the most hygienic way.

• It adapts water dripping method through syphon button from top tray to one at the bottom slowly creating enough humidity for beans to grow into sprouts

• It does not require any additional electricity or power to grow sprouts from the seeds and pulses.

• It is a good investment as it makes sprouting easier and faster to ensure your kitchen has a regular stock of sprouts.

You can choose a two-tier or a three-tier sprout maker. These are easily available online as well.

This section covers methods like blending and grinding. Easily available home appliances can be used for these cooking methods. Blending is required for making gravies, fruit smoothies and nut milk. The grinder is used for making nut butter and chutneys.

You'll also get to know about hand grinders like pestle and mortar, whisk, and spatula that can be used for blending and grinding.

Further, you'll learn the usage of hand tools like nut-milk bag or a muslin cloth. Usage of plastic mesh sieve is also recommended.

Sprouts are alive, whole, living foods. Easy to digest and bursting with nutrition, they can add body to your salads, soups etc. Do you shy away from sprouting because you are unfamiliar with the process or don’t know how to use them? Don’t miss out on their nutritional benefits.

What are sprouts?
These are seeds that have germinated and become very young plants, theyare the very first shoots of various kinds of seeds. Along with fruits, vegetables and nuts, sprouts are our natural foods.

• Sprouts are very nutritious, as they contain all the elements that a plant needs for life and growth.

• The simple process of sprouting brings out many dormant enzymes in germinated seeds, legumes, and grains, making them easier to digest.Many difficult to digest acids like phytic acids in grains get neutralized by the act of sprouting.

• It also increases the amounts and bio availability of protein, vitamins and minerals, transforming them into nutrition powerhouses.

• Sprouting whole grains reduces the amount of starch they contain and boosts their nutritional value. Because there’s less starch in each sprouted grain, the proportion of protein and fibre within each seedling becomes higher. The proteins found in sprouts are predigested (in the form of amino acids) and are thus easily utilized by the body with no extra energy.

Benefits of sprouts
This multi-purpose food supports a wide range of needs.

• If you are into running or visit a gym regularly or a fitness enthusiast, then load up on sprouts daily to support your fitness resolution this year. Sprouts are protein rich.

• If you are feeling energy drained at end of day, add a handful of sprouts to your meals. Sprouts are easy on the digestive system as they are natural, live foods. Eating them reduces digestive load & saves on your energy reserves, making you feel more energized.

• Fighting the battle of bulge? Sprouts must be consumed as salads before or with your meals. They are a wonderful source of fiber and definitely your best ally in your weight loss program.You digest fibre more slowly than simple starches and sugars. Hence, it fills you up for a longer time & you eat less.

• Constipation troubles? Eat daily and see the difference!

But most importantly eat it because they are live foods, full of wholesome nutrition.

How to eat sprouts?

It’s best to eat sprouts in their raw form as cooking is likely to destroy the heat-sensitive enzymes present in them. You can read more about food enzymes in our blog on raw foods. In case you are more comfortable eating cooked sprouts, then lightly steam them in a steamer. Lesser the exposure to heat, the more nutritive value will be retained.You can add the sprouts in salads, soups, roll them up with rotis, mix them in chaat, make condiments like raita and pickles(like methi sprouts pickle) or gently stir fry them. Do not discard any part of the sprout - use the whole sprout - the seed, the shell, the root, the stem and any tiny green leaves.

Grow your live food at home!

For people who tend to skip the sprouts routine because it feels cumbersome, here is a step-by-step guide to help you get started.

What can you sprout?

Many different types of seeds, any whole legume or grain can be sprouted. Our favorites are moong daal (saabut green), moth daal, kala chana, lobia (raungee) and peanut.

You can even try sprouting grains like ragi and whole wheat or seeds like mustard and fenugreek etc.

Experiment sprouting a new item every week till you get it right. Some pulses and seeds are easier to sprout but others take more time. However, with patience and trials, you can become a sprouting ninja.

Try sprouting a variety from our sprouting chart.

Legumes:‘Moong’ (gram), whole ‘masur’ (red lentil), ‘chowli’ (black-eye pea), ‘chana’ (chickpea), ‘kala chana’ ( black chickpea), ‘matki’ (moth bean).

Nuts and seeds:Alfalfa seeds, sesame (‘til’) seeds, fenugreek (‘methi’) seeds, coriander (‘dhaniya’) seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, muskmelon seeds and mustard (‘rai’) seeds.

Grains:Wheat, jowar, bajra, ragi

Sprouting exercise - What you need?

• ½ cup of moong daal

• 4-5 cups of water

• A bowl for soaking

• Clean kitchen cloth

• A steel colander or sieve – for keeping the daal to sprout

Prep time: Total 24 hours of which our prep time – 15 minutes (the rest is nature’s work!)

What to do?

1. Clean the daal for debris and wash thoroughly with water (until water runs clear)

2. Put in a bowl and soak in 5 cups of water (cover completely)

3. Leave overnight (8-10 hours) – some variety need longer soaking. The skin on the daal must be broken – then its right time to start the sprouting

4. Wash in clean water again

5. Keep in a steel colander

6. Cover with wet clean kitchen cloth – sprinkle some more water if need be

7. Cover with a lid & set aside in a dark corner (away from direct sunlight).

8. Make sure the daal doesn’t dry out. Sprinkle water if needed.

If not sprouted by next day – rinse, drain and keep aside again. Don’t worry! Nature will take its own course!

You can even make healthy sprouted grains malt drinks like a ragi malt. It is a great replacement to tea,coffee or commercially bought packaged drinks.

Wellcure tips:

• They sprout faster in summers versus winters.

• It is best to consume them fresh. They can stay in fridge for 2-3 days.

• Choose good quality seeds for sprouting. Some seeds are highly sprayed and will not sprout.

In this section, you'll learn about 'the 'Baking' technique. You'll get to know about the equipment requirements, safety steps to keep in mind while baking and also the health aspect of this cooking method.

Nature’s fast food streaming for thousands of years in vibrant colors, attractive flavors and many textures. Get introduced to the Fruit categories; why, when and how of having fruits.

Add zing to the fruit routine by blending fruits into an easy to have a smoothie. These non-dairy smoothies can be very handy in the rush morning hours.

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 bananas

• 1 apple

• ½ tsp cinnamon

• 2-3 dates, deseeded

METHOD:

You can blend with water in a Nutri bullet or a high-speed blender.

Options:

Papaya, Lemon

Figs, strawberry. Black grapes

Apple, chikoo, banana

Banana, strawberry

Vegetables are a central part of a plant-based diet. In this lesson, we will understand different groups of vegetables, different functions of vegetables through our diet and their importance.

Vegetable juice

Reasons to add vegetable juices in your daily routine:

• INCREASE RAW FOOD INTAKE - A great way to add more raw foods to your routine, it breaks the monotony and adds variety.

• SUPPORT FOR BUSY LIFESTYLE - Easy to carry as opposed to a salad. It works out to be a convenient way to add on raw veggies in today’s modern, urban lifestyle.

• SPECIFIC CONDITIONS - Easy for those who have dental issues, especially for elderly and kids.

They are especially useful for detox and occasions when you need to increase raw intake like during illness or fasting.

What not to add:

• Salt /Sugar/Spices

• Fruits

• Avoid some veggies like radish,cabbage,shalgam etc strong pungent flavour

Formula to prepare juices

• Fresh seasonal vegetables like carrots, gourds, cucumbers, etc.

• Greens like spinach, chaulai, celery, etc (please avoid bitter or pungent greens like radish leaves, beetroot leaves).

• Flavouring with herbs like mint, coriander, basil, ginger, curry or betel leaves. Seasonal food like amla (in winter), mango (in summer) or lemons (all year round) for a sour taste. This also helps do away with the need to add salt or sugar to your juice

The above ingredients could be blended and juiced. In blending, you retain the fibre but juices are thicker in consistency. In juicing, fibre is less and they have watery consistency. Based on your preference, you can choose a juicing method.

Tips for incorporating juices in your daily regimen:

• Incorporate juices slowly and steadily into your routine; this is not a replacement for having whole veggies. Listen to your body. If you do not like the taste – it’s time to reinvent, try different combinations or different flavours and go easy. You can start with simple mono-juices.

• Do not add any fruits in your veg juice as they both need different enzyme profile to digest.

• Dilute your juices: If you are using a juicer addition of water is not required, but if a mixer is used a small amount of water may be added with the vegetable. Slowly progress to more pulpy vegetables.

• Relook at the time you are having juices: Juices are best had at around noon. You could either have it 30 minutes before your meal or 2 hours after your lunch.

• Remember to drink slowly, just like you would have slowly chewed on your veggies!

RECIPE

Serves 1

INGREDIENTS:

• 10-12 leaves spinach

• 1 cucumber

• 1 tomato/ a small piece of pumpkin

• 1 fistful mint/ coriander

• 1 lemon, juiced

• 1 inch ginger grated

• ½ amla (optional)

• ¼ glass water

METHOD:

1. Wash all the ingredients

2. In a mixer add water and grind the greens first

3. Then add all the ingredients except lemon juice and blend well,

4. Strain the juice into a glass, add lemon juice and drink fresh

Fresh, raw salads and a variety of vegetables are the mainstays of the Whole natural plant-based diet. While healthy, salads need not be dull or monotonous. In this lesson, you will learn the basics of making a vegetable salad.

INGREDIENTS:

Peanut / Gado gado dressing:

• Peanut butter: ⅓ cup

• Soy sauce/ tamarind juice: ½ cup

• Jaggery powder: 1-2 tbsp

• Lime juice: 2 tbsp

• Thai red chili: 1 tsp minced OR Red pepper flakes: ¼ tsp

• Water: 2-3 Tbsp

BUDDHA BOWL:

• Carrot: 1 large (cut into ribbons / spiralized)

• Yellow zucchini: 1 (cut into ribbons / spiralized)

• Tomatoes: 2 (cut into rings)

• Cherry tomatoes: 6-8

• Purple cabbage: ½ cup (grated long)

• Spinach leaves: 1 cup (shredded or left whole)

• Moong sprouts: ¼ cup (steam lightly if needed)

• Raw mango or amla (optional): a few cubes

• Seed sprouts: 1 cup

METHOD:

For the Peanut/ Gado Gado Dressing:

1. In a blender, blend all ingredients until smooth.

2. Refrigerate the excess in a glass jar. The peanut sauce keeps good for about 1 week.

FOR BUDDHA BOWL:

1. Prepare your veggies. You can use a mandolin, potato peeler or julienne peeler.

2. Next, arrange your veggies and sprouts in a shallow bowl or a large plate.

3. Finally, top with your desired amount of peanut sauce.

Fresh, raw salads and a variety of vegetables are the mainstays of the Whole natural plant-based diet. While healthy, salads need not be dull or monotonous. In this lesson, you will learn how to make sesame chutney.

INGREDIENTS:

• Sesame seeds: ½ cup (unpolished)

• Water: ⅛ cup

• Dates: 4 (deseeded, soaked) OR Jaggery powder: (i added)

• Lemon juice: 1 tbsp

• Green chili: 1/4th

• Salt: as per taste

For Garnish (optional):

• Grated coconut: ½ cup

• Mustard seeds: a pinch

• Curry leaves: a few

METHOD:

1. Roast the sesame seeds for 2-3 minutes in a pan till they pop. Set aside to cool.

2. In a mixer add roasted sesame seeds with soaked dates, green chillies and a little bit of water and blend.

3. Add salt and lemon juice

Optional: You can add ½ cup shredded coconut and do dry tadka with mustard seeds and curry leaves for a different variation.

Makes about 12 laddoos

INGREDIENTS:

• ½ cup Rajgira/ amaranth flour

• ½ kopra/ dry coconut grated

• 2 tblsp kharik/ dry dates powder

• ½ cup date paste

• ¼ tsp elaichi/ cardamom powder

• 1 tblsp cashew, chopped into small bits

• A pinch of salt

*Slivered pistachios or roasted sesame seeds for rolling

METHOD:

1. In a pan, roast the rajgira flour on low heat for 5 minutes or till it smells fragrant and roasted.

2. Remove from flame and transfer on to a plate to cool.

3. Add to the flour the rest of the ingredients and mix well till it forms a soft dough.

4. Roll with hands and make small balls.

5. Can roll on a plate of roasted sesame seeds or slivered pistachios.

6. Keep in a container in the fridge. Keeps well for a month

Making a transition to this new lifestyle could become challenging when we are either with our family or friends. When we make this change, it is important to understand that these changes must be included slowly so they are acceptable. For instance, the addition of more fruit in the diet, the next addition of salads before every meal, etc. When stepping out for any social outings it is always better to consume your intake of salads and then politely eat a small portion of what is being offered. This helps in avoiding and being a topic of discussion.

Organizing and planning ahead of time is the key to be successful at following this new lifestyle. You could plan effectively for the meals ahead of time and make a checklist so that all the necessary vegetables, grocery etc. is available at the time of cooking. Other members of the family could also contribute so that this does not seem like an overwhelming task. On weekends you could make pastes may be of dates, nuts etc which could be used to either prepare nut milk or use them in salads. Vegetable stock could be prepared and stocked in the refrigerator which could be used as a base for gravies etc, for those busy days. Certain planning is also required for soaking and sprouting of pulse or grain beforehand to avoid any inconvenience

These days as we have all gone more global. This has brought about a greater variety and availability of fruits and vegetables throughout the year. It is important to eat seasonal and local fruits and vegetables because” Mother nature Knows Best”. It is not only good for the environment but also for your own body since it is in sync with nature. You could reach out to your elders, grandparents in the family to understand which season has which fruit or vegetable. You could also visit the local farmer’s market to help you identify with the local and seasonal produce available. Also, check for the pricing. The more plentiful and reasonably priced the fruit or vegetable is, it denotes it is seasonal. To assist you with this, a list/calendar is provided with the seasonal availability of fruits and vegetables.

During our course, we have learned that fruits and vegetables need to be incorporated into plenty every day in our daily eating regime. The moment vegetable incorporation is mentioned the only thing which comes to our mind is either salads, sabji or juices. Apart from this, a conscious effort must be made to include vegetables into our rice, chapatis, chilas etc. in grated, pureed or chopped form.

These days when our environment is polluted, vegetables are loaded with pesticides it definitely more advisable to pick organic produce. It is always better to visit the farmer’s market and establish contacts so that you are more confident about the source of fruits and vegetables. Though you might feel it is expensive or higher than your budget, it is still better that you pay the farmer for the vegetables than the pharmacist for supplements. If for certain reasons, organic produce is inaccessible, it is still advisable to include a wide variety of fruits and vegetables rather than not consuming them. They can be washed and cleaned in the methods as discussed earlier.

Is a natural food-based lifestyle expensive? This is a common question people ask when considering a switch over to a natural lifestyle. Let us delve into this question in this lecture.

Do you often wonder how am I going to manage the shift to a natural food-based lifestyle with children around me? It would be difficult to make children accept all the changes! Yes, it is a common challenge in many households. Let us understand simple ways to overcome the same.

It is said that we eat first with our eyes! How food looks sure makes an impact on our decision to consume it or not. Discover simple tips to manage the aesthetics or appeal of the food for your family in this lecture.