Ways of eating idlis

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 During my trip down South, I had the opportunity to watch common people enjoy traditional southern foods. Idlis are one such popular food items that can be consumed anytime of the day. They can be had during breakfast, lunch, or dinner or anytime in between.  Idlis are traditionally South Indian delicacies. They are rice and lentil cakes that are steamed. They are usually salty but in Mauritius, you will find sweet varities as well in small shops and restaurants there.  Idlis are healthy food items and are a good source of carbohydrates, proteins, and healthy fats. They have minerals and vitamins and have the goodness of fermented foods too. They are served with sambhar (curry made of dal) and chutney (coconut, tomato or the like). Some also savour them with yoghurt, ghee (clarified butter) or spice mix (podi).  Idli pizza A modern twist to idli dish has been as idli masala (idlis usually small-sized covered with spices), idli fry (idlis usually small-sized that are...
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Food companies and their misleading labels

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Food is for nutrition and to provide the body with energy and vital nutrients. Names of foods help us to know what the likely ingredients might be in it. But often, we notice that food names are misleading. They can fool a person into buying only to realize that it did not meet their expectations and imagination.

For instance, take the example of samosa. An ideal samosa is refined wheat flour (maida) wrap with mashed potatoes and boiled peas inside. And when we say paneer samosa (cottage cheese stuffed fried dumplings), the picture that comes to our mind is of a wrap of refined wheat flour dough with paneer inside. But to your disappointment, you will find that these samosas are nothing but the normal samosas with mashed potatoes with or without boiled peas and just 1 small piece of cottage cheese at one corner!!!

If we talk about rusks, most of these are made of refined wheat flour or maida which is not healthy. Maida is stripped of all the vital nutrients such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals. They are empty calories. And when companies such as Kitty (in Uttarakhand) market Suji (semolina) rusk, you think that it is made of suji (wholly or atleast 50% of the mixture). But alas! This is not so. It is tactics to fool people. Actually these so-called suji rusks have only 4% suji in them while the rest is refined wheat flour!


Same issue occurs with Atta (whole wheat flour) bread. In this, the amount of atta ranges from 32-63% and the rest is maida and other ingredients that go into the making of the bread. In brown bread, the amount of whole wheat flour is less than 32% and the rest is maida (refined wheat flour) and other ingredients. Hence, brown bread may be better than white bread but is still inferior to atta bread. Moreover, brown bread has added caramel in it for the color. So though brown bread looks brown, it is not whole wheat bread. Hence, opt for atta bread over brown bread. But most grocery shops, bakeries, and supermarkets sell more brown bread than atta bread since people are ignorant about the difference between the two. And they do not want to know it or do not have time to know it. Sad.

Read here: An Apple a day keeps the doctor away! Does it?

It is vital as a Woke consumer to always check the ingredients on the food products before purchase. This will help you to know which products are genuine and which companies are fooling you. FDA needs to check on these fake and misleading labels but it does not. So the responsibility rests on the consumers to pick up the best of the lot.

If the label list is long, it means that the product is ultra-processed or highly processed. Better to not buy that product.  You are paying for everything you buy. And it is for your nutrition. So why compromise on it?

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