zetsui
July 17, 2014, 11:11pm
36
Re: Pakistani Food is one of the worst for your health and well being. ME food the be
Pakistani cuisine is certainly healthier than Arabian (Peninsula) diet. I used to work with a half Arab, half Pakistani colleague of mine who proudly preferred Pakistani cuisine over Arabian. Not only because of its taste, but also due to the fact that how varied, rich, complex and intricate our culinary tradition is. I mean how do you get the perfect blend of spices and texture for dishes like Nihari, Biryani, Achar Ghost, Haleem, Kofta, Qorma etc? A person like me can keep trying for eternity and still not get anywhere close to achieving that right blend. So Pakistani, food in my opinion is the finest form of fusion food, if you know the history of the land and origins of some of our classic dishes. And the fact that we eat vegetables is such an underrated fact. We may not eat vegetables that way they should ideally be eaten, but that doesn’t change the fact that we still eat vegetables (lol yeah I know…) and it is an integral part of our everyday diet (but it may not be the grace of most party tables).
However, my issue with general Pakistani eating habits is that how ridiculously extravagant it has become (the whole idea of banquet style ‘dawats’ and 30 course meal menu, seriously?). Most people eat far more than we actually need, and on top of that, they don’t necessarily feel that we have a responsibility towards our bodies to burn off the extra bit of fat and calories. In other words, majority of us are missing out on active lifestyle to support and neutralise our heavy eating, and this is basically the mother of all our health related issues.
From my personal experience, I feel people in rural areas still eat relatively healthy than Urban population. For starters, they rely on fresh local and home grown ingredients, they don’t have the luxury and time to follow fancy recipes that includes ten different cooking procedures and hours of chopping, cutting and stirring. They don’t tend to overcook their food. The idea is to prepare a fresh warm dinner by making most of readily available and inexpensive ingredients with minimum labour and time . I often get surprised how incredibly modern my Grandmother’s approach is towards cooking. For a strictly traditional woman, she thinks it’s absolutely crazy to spend hours and hours on cooking. If she’s surrounded by someone who spends most part of the day in the kitchen, she’d be quick to ask that person that don’t you have anything else to do? Yeah, that’s my Granny, bless her and bless my Mother for also inheriting the same approach and taste in her hands. I can write a whole book praising my mother’s cooking skills and philosophy of food, but let’s leave it that.
First off most salans (ie kofta) + roti is considered a full dinner…Pakistanis can go without vegetables for days. That is non sensical and a stupid culinary cuisine. Your body can live without meat, not veggies.
Secondly the superstitions, lack of self doubt and certainty about things which pakistanis have no clue are rife in this thread. You can eat 22000 calories late at night or early in the morning. Eating late at night doesn’t mean anything. What you eat is 100x more important.