Easy Food makes you Happy

NEGI RK Monday, July 06, 2020

Easy Food makes you Happy

One key difference growing up in India though was that meals were cooked for the entire family by either Mom or Grandmom on weekdays and Dad and me on weekends. So there was always something to eat. Always.

What I’ve talked about below are just the four main meals. There was always a ton of random snacking in between that largely consisted of various kinds of chips and fried snacks as well as chocolates and candy.

It was definitely not a super healthy lifestyle, but honestly, it is what growing teenagers with super active lives need. In retrospect, the only thing I would honestly change in the intermittent snacking. That one habit has stuck with me for a decade after my teenage years and has been the hardest one to break and move away from. The rest of my food habits self-moderated as I grew up and over time I automatically reduced my portion sizes as well as improved the quality and nutrition of the food I consumed.

So teens who are trying to get onto the hipster California diets at your age; please don’t. Your body needs the excess energy to grow and your brain needs those kicks of dopamine triggered by the aromas and flavors of delicious food. Take time to cook and eat with the people who matter in your life. You have the rest of your life to try out funky diets; don’t rob yourselves of your youth. You only get it once.

Breakfast

My day usually started at 4am with assignments, studies and tuition classes on weekdays and birding hikes on weekends. Breakfast was always a heavy meal that had to sustain a hectic day in a very hot climate and so was usually carb heavy and delicious.

Dosas and Idlis with Sambar and Chutneys

Poha

Sabudana Khichadi

Rawa Upma

Masala Omelette Pav

Misal Pav (Rare weekend treat)

Lunch

After a hectic morning running around between classes, lunch was a super quick affair and was typically chapatis and rice with one vegetable and a dal. Typically this would be packed up in my lunch box, something I grabbed at the canteen or on the rare days when there was time, eaten at home.

Poli-Bhaaji, Amti-Bhaat (Roti-Veg Sabzi, Dal-Rice)

Sometimes there would be some variants to this like

Bhakri Pithla (Jowar/Bajra Roti with Spicy Chickpea Flour Curry)

Puri Bhaaji (Fried bread with spicy potato curry)

Evening Snacks

Evening time is when the high calorie, low nutrition snacks make their way to every Indian tummy. They are for the most part extremely unhealthy but they serve one very important purpose. They liven up your mood after a hard and tiring day. They give you a reason so spend those few extra minutes with friends and family, pause the hectic schedule and indulge and be happy. They are almost exclusively street food and spicy and savory and tangy and often the best meal of the day.

Wada Pav

Samosa

Pakoras

Pani Puri/Golgappa

Bhel Puri

Maggi Noodles (It’s not a dish, it’s an emotion)

Dinner

Dinners were always a late night affair in India compared to most parts of the world. 9:30pm was usually an early dinner. By that time, all the other food I had gobbled during the day had digested and I was back to being hungry. Dinner was always a special meal. The whole family would sit and eat together and share stories from their day. On most days dinner would be the same as or very similar to lunch. Sometimes there would be special treats for dinner.

Homestyle Chicken Curry (Once or twice a month)

Fried and Curried Fish (A couple times a year on special occasions)

Mutton Curry, Sukkha and Biryani (A couple of times a year on special occasions)

Dessert

This was an absolute must after dinner. I personally don’t like sweets so rarely ate them much but most kids, teenagers, adults, old people, ghosts, reincarnated spirits, multi-dimensional specters, etc. will not go to bed without dessert.

Gulab Jamun