00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Best way of cooking?
00:13 I think it's difficult to kind of define
00:16 what is the best way of cooking, because it may not give you
00:20 the desired results every time.
00:22 So one way to simply put it is steaming food is the best way.
00:26 But is it desirable?
00:27 Is it sustainable?
00:29 No.
00:29 So because-- and plus, you cannot steam every food
00:32 and eat it.
00:33 It's impossible.
00:35 Nobody is going to follow that.
00:36 So I think the best way of cooking any dish in a layman's
00:39 term, if I have to put, is to be conscious of what you are
00:42 putting, what you are adding.
00:44 And more or less, we have a certain level of knowledge.
00:48 Everybody knows what is good and what is bad.
00:52 You don't need to be a doctor to understand
00:55 that if you eat fried food all the time,
00:57 or if you're eating charred food or grilled food all the time,
01:00 that is going to be healthy for you.
01:02 So there is a certain basic knowledge and understanding
01:04 we all possess.
01:06 When we put that butter on the bread,
01:08 or when we add that extra dollop of cream
01:10 on your favorite palak paneer, or when we order that extra
01:14 cheese pizza, we already know that we are eating,
01:18 let's say in this particular three cases, excess fat.
01:20 Similarly, there could be excess carbs.
01:22 There could be excessive eating.
01:24 So method of cooking is not the culprit, I always say.
01:29 And also, we have this tendency as individuals,
01:32 not as doctors, but as individuals,
01:34 to define food as healthy and unhealthy.
01:38 I personally feel that there is no such food which
01:41 is unhealthy at all.
01:43 It is our intake.
01:45 It is our lifestyle that makes it unhealthy for us.
01:49 So where if I am used to working out,
01:51 if I'm a very active person, I can take enough of, let's say,
01:57 for example, ghee.
01:59 And I'm keeping other parameters as OK,
02:03 where I don't have a certain condition,
02:05 or I'm not allergic to certain things.
02:07 So it is not unhealthy for me because I'm
02:09 able to burn it out.
02:10 But at the same time, if I'm sedentary,
02:12 and if I'm somebody who is unable to move around,
02:15 whether it's for old age or some incapacity,
02:17 I need to reduce my certain foods.
02:19 That's all.
02:20 So no food is unhealthy.
02:22 Every food gives you nutrition.
02:24 The art of balancing nutrition from every meal,
02:28 every ingredient, is what we need to focus.
02:32 And that's where we learn, not necessarily from chefs,
02:36 but from nutritionists, from doctors,
02:38 who kind of recommend certain things to eat and in proportion.
02:42 And like I said, everybody has a basic knowledge of what
02:45 is right and what is wrong.
02:47 And when you get interested about such things,
02:49 the information is right there.
02:51 Somebody who's listening to or watching us now,
02:54 there's a whole lot of information
02:55 that from Dr. Sisodia to Mr. Chadha to Tiana,
03:00 everybody has already shared.
03:02 So it's all about implementing, keeping that, and moving on.
03:06 Now, talking about certain foods that one
03:11 can have while they are on, let's say, a certain recovery,
03:14 whether it's from COVID or not.
03:16 And also, personally, let's say, if somebody
03:19 is trying to rebuild, whether he was suffering from COVID
03:22 or not, or kind of getting onto a recovery road,
03:25 I think there are certain parameters
03:27 from what I understand as a chef, I can share.
03:30 One is definitely proteins, because those are your building
03:34 blocks in your body.
03:35 So whether it's a plant-based protein
03:37 or if it's an animal-based protein, that is important.
03:41 Then it comes to fats.
03:42 Fats are very important, but the good fats.
03:46 Let's say, if you're taking fats in terms of eating almonds
03:49 or eating different kinds of nuts.
03:51 So this is a good source of fat.
03:54 Similarly, there are certain healthy oils as well.
03:57 So you cannot have a fat-free diet.
04:01 It's not good for our own body.
04:03 Similarly, limiting your carbs or taking carbs
04:05 in the form of carbs coming from, let's say,
04:09 a whole wheat or a whole meal or a mixed grain meal
04:12 rather than a very super-refined flour, for example.
04:17 So there are these subtle things.
04:19 At the same time, somebody who's recovering,
04:21 I think fresh food, freshly prepared, helps a lot.
04:24 When I say fresh food, it should be
04:27 seasonally-available fresh fruits and vegetables,
04:31 something that you can eat raw, something which
04:35 requires minimalistic cooking.
04:36 For example, if you want to eat charred,
04:41 you can always add a whole lot of sprouts to your char
04:44 to make it more healthy.
04:45 Like someone was talking that the moment you sprout a dal,
04:49 you are increasing the iron absorption or the iron
04:52 or the nutrients.
04:54 When you sprout, it kind of increases.
04:56 In fact, some time back, two, three years back,
04:58 I had this entire craze about doing micro--
05:03 these small little micros that you can grow from seeds,
05:07 different seeds at home.
05:09 And all you need is a little small bowl and with a cotton
05:11 pad, add some water, add some, let's say, throw-in mustard
05:14 seeds, and you get those small little shoots.
05:17 And you cut them, and you eat them.
05:18 And they don't taste much.
05:20 They're not mouthful.
05:21 But they're very nutritious.
05:23 So these are the few things that I can put forward.
05:26 And I mean, the list is endless.
05:28 There are so many other things that you
05:30 can kind of eat while you are on the road to recovery.
05:35 And one of the important things is that to not overindulge.
05:40 Because the moment you are into that recovery mode,
05:43 you start feeling hungry.
05:44 You tend to go back to the same old habits.
05:47 [NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
05:49 I can eat.
05:49 I need nutrition, Baba.
05:52 That theory and that thought in the head,
05:54 you really have to fight it and kind of pace out your meals.
05:59 I've been somebody on to a very high side of weight
06:03 and kind of reduced it over a period of time.
06:06 I've realized one of the things that works for me
06:09 is portioning at the same time, having the right time to eat.
06:14 So I try and limit my dinners.
06:18 There are a handful of days that I actually
06:21 indulge in a nice, good meal and then go off to bed.
06:25 Otherwise, I usually try and finish my light meal by 7, 7:30.
06:29 So that has really helped me.
06:31 Somebody asked me, how did you do it?
06:33 What are you eating?
06:33 What is your diet plan?
06:34 I said, you know what?
06:35 I've just had like liquid dinner, literally,
06:38 maybe a glass of milk or a fruit or maybe a small bun.
06:41 But the rest of the day, I've been eating.
06:44 So that really helps.
06:45 And again, it's very dependent upon body to body,
06:49 type to type.
06:50 And that's where doctors and nutritionists
06:52 come into play who give you a certain--
06:54 who identify you as a body type and then kind of suggest you
06:59 or recommend you a certain diet to follow.
07:01 That's where the chefs come in to make sure
07:03 that it's nutritious.
07:04 At the same time, it's tasty.
07:06 I think local berries are fabulous.
07:11 They're full of antioxidants.
07:12 They're small.
07:13 They don't fill you up as much.
07:15 But yet, they give you a whole lot of nutritional benefit.
07:17 So every state--
07:20 and I've been doing a bit of research.
07:21 I'm trying to put a book together
07:22 on local ingredients.
07:24 So I've been researching that every state has a certain berry
07:28 that comes in a certain season.
07:29 For example, I'm in Delhi right now.
07:31 Delhi UP Belt has this falsa that comes in.
07:34 And I was just reading about it that it is high--
07:37 no, it's all Google information.
07:39 So I can't vouch for it.
07:41 But that's what it says.
07:42 And somebody over here, if you can kind of enlighten,
07:45 that'll be great.
07:46 But it is full of vitamin C. It is full of antioxidants.
07:49 It's a small berry.
07:50 You can just keep snacking on it.
07:52 So rather than replacing your--
07:54 sorry, trying to go on a crash diet,
07:57 replace your butter popcorns while you're
07:59 watching your Amazon or Netflix with a healthier berry.
08:02 Similarly, if you go towards the Northern Indian Belt,
08:06 [INAUDIBLE]
08:08 Kilmora is a tiny little yellow-colored raspberry,
08:11 which is very, very indigenous to this entire belt.
08:15 And it's brilliant, very tasty, very elusive.
08:18 If you're in-- somebody who's staying in the hills,
08:20 you really don't have to make an effort
08:21 because [INAUDIBLE]
08:26 So I think a simple thing like going out and researching
08:30 which fruit belongs to which season
08:34 and pick that up as a snack is one of the wonderful things.
08:39 I think another thing which is really coming up
08:41 is chia seeds.
08:42 Now, chia seeds is simple seeds which are basically--
08:46 they belong to the same as the mint family.
08:48 Though they don't taste like mint,
08:51 they actually taste like nothing because it
08:54 doesn't have any taste.
08:55 It's more playful.
08:56 It looks like that [INAUDIBLE]
08:59 More like what sabza is, which is basil seeds.
09:02 [INAUDIBLE]
09:03 Very similar looking.
09:04 They kind of pop up.
09:05 They give a lot of nutrition.
09:06 They give a lot of fiber.
09:07 And they naturally curb your hunger.
09:11 So somebody who was planning to kind of start reducing--
09:14 because [INAUDIBLE]
09:17 Undernutrition is not the only problem.
09:20 [INAUDIBLE]
09:22 [INAUDIBLE]
09:24 He has gained a lot of weight.
09:26 And gaining weight is the biggest disease, I feel.
09:29 You keep that complicates everything in your system.
09:31 So we need to address undernutrition,
09:33 whereas we also need to address overnutrition
09:35 because [INAUDIBLE]
09:37 [INAUDIBLE]
09:38 Because everybody is just sitting and eating.
09:45 So I think chia seeds or sabza or [INAUDIBLE]
09:49 [INAUDIBLE]
09:50 [INAUDIBLE]
09:51 They bloom.
09:52 They soak up a lot of water.
09:54 And once you consume it, it naturally curbs your hunger.
09:57 You start eating less.
09:59 Plus, they give you nutrition.
10:00 [INAUDIBLE]
10:02 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:05 you
Comments