i have transitioned from someone who loved desi food to someone who hated desi food because they are so oily to someone re-discovering the benefits of some desi foods…the key being ‘some’…i just wanted to share some of the stuff used in desi dishes i discovered to be healthy…if anyone has more please share!
cumin(zeera), red pepper, green pepper, bell peppers, coriander, cilantro
Turmeric…an anti-inflammatory for skin too.
yogurt, gram flour(besan) but not too much…
onions, ginger, garlic, tomatoes, eggplants, spinach and other sabzis…
basically i found the herbs and spices healthy but the fact that we eat so much white rice and add so much oil to it makes it unhealthy…
Yes, it's true. We do use to much ghee or oil and we cook our veggies too long, the vitamins disappear when you do that.
I guess in Pakistan because of the weather conditions people can have more oily and fatty foods without becoming fat as quickly as people living abroad. Plus the whole lifestyle is different.
But many of the ingredients are very healthy, some examples:
hari mirch have lots of vitamin A and C.
Sonf are good for the digestion.
Kurkuma is seen as a disinfectant.
Methi is calms down the alimentary canal.
Hing is also good for the digestion.
sadya-what is kurkuma?
yeah for some reason i always lose weight when i got to pakistan (besides the loose stomach problems ;) ) even though the only exercise we get is shopping on tariq road.
desi foods can be good for you if u replace some ingredients. Instead of white flour, use whole wheat for rotis and nans and stuff. For salans, use olive oil, NOT GHEE. It takes some time to get used to whole wheat though but my mother would gradually mix in the whole wheat flour wiht the regular white flour lil by lil until our rotis are entirely whole wheat.. honestly i can't remember what white roti tastes like but my moms cooking is superb anyway :D