I am not a very big foodie , so is my husband and my daughter . Whenever we happen to go to any restaurant or any party , we just get confused reading the complex names of dishes under the different food styles . Most of the times we end up eating our North Indian dishes only – Dal makhani , Karahi Paneer , Malai Kofta or Karhi Pakora . That’s something we relish . But these favourite dishes too when consumed outside home , put a burden on the stomach as they are made rich with oils , creams and nuts . So while we are coming out after attending the party , we often say “Ghar ka khana ghar ka hi hota hai ” That’s one of the times we come to know of the importance of home cooked food . The food we cook at home is cooked with love , keeping the health of family in mind . It is served also with love and that makes it even more tastier . Don’t we all miss the taste of the food cooked by our mothers ? Why so ? Because it was cooked with love while she recited the sacred prayers and it was served to us with so much love and blessings .
“The family that eats together , stays together ” is a quote since old times -the golden times . There are many benefits of cooking at home and eating together at home . Cooking at home to eat more Mindfully is going to be the most important focus of 2018 , as the Godrej food trends report says . Here are some of the benefits I feel :–
1. Hygienic food :: When we prepare food at home , we take lot of care cutting and washing the veggies , sometimes in hot water too . So we are sure of the hygiene unlike the food we consume outside in restaurants or street food markets .
2. Healthy food :: The commercially prepared foods are rich in fats , sugars and preservatives . But when we are ourselves cooking at home , we are very careful of the ingredients which suit the family ‘s health and happiness . Like we keep minimum oil for Dad as he is heart patient and we keep a watch on Mom that she doesn’t eat sweets because she is diabetic .
3. Saves money :: Cooking at home is much cheaper than eating at restaurants . You just load your kitchen with all the raw stuff at the start of the month and then there are no worries . I would like to share one incident here . Few years ago , I and my friend landed in a restaurant and ordered paronthas with lassi . Although the place was not very hi-fi but it was bit shocking to see the rate of one parontha as Rs 100 in the bill . My friend’s immediate reaction was ” 10 rs ke ek kilo alu leke sara parivar paronthe kha leta ” So see what an example of saving money when we cook at home .
4. Cook together , eat together , stay together :: While cooking and eating together at home , we share so much about our lives . It’s that one family time out of the busy modern life schedules of every member . The eating together maintains a happy atmosphere at home . Apart from eating , if cooking also is done collectively , it has many benefits like children learn the cooking skills and the parents are able to revive up the romance through food .
Let me put a brake on mentioning the benefits of cooking at home and share with you something that I had cooked today only in the lunch . I have a big mango tree in my home ‘s back courtyard and every summer, my house gets plenty of mangoes which I distribute to my friends too . Mangoes and summers can’t be separated and raw mangoes are used in variety of ways to beat the heat .
Today’s lot of mangoes from My own tree
Today I made the dish which we call Gudamba . The name defines the dish as it is Gud (jaggery ) plus Amb (mangoes ) . Take raw mangoes (kache aam) ,wash them and steam for two whistles in cooker . After cooling , Peel the mangoes and squeeze out some pulp from them , keeping some pulp on the seeds . Heat oil in a pan , add chopped onions and saute . Now add all masalas as per your taste – salt , turmeric , red pepper , dried mint powder , roasted cumin powder and bit of sugar /jaggery . Add the pulped out mangoes and some water if you find its consistency thick (This dish has to be semi solid) Let it simmer for few minutes and Gudamba is ready .
My today’s mango dish to beat the heat turned out really tasty and the mother inside me felt more successful when my daughter asked ” Mumma , aur hai ? ” We enjoyed having it with our Dal Chawal , licking and dipping the mango seeds again and again . Go here and have a taste of it .
My bowl of GUDAMBA
Let’s keep cooking together at home , eating together at home and make memories too !!
This post is part of Godrej food trends blogging contest in association with vikhrolicucina.com
Comments
Post a Comment