Being a food blogger I am often asked the question about healthy eating. Being a simple software engineer not a dietician or a nutritionist I feel it morally wrong to advise individuals on healthy eating. I also try my best to avoid these tags like vegan, gluten-free, healthy, lactose free, weight losing etc all the good eating terms which revolve around the current dietary pattern.
The recipes posted here are generally those which are served to my family. They are cooked in limited portions and cooked fresh and the portions if prolonged while shooting are simply disposed. I would abstain from cooking larger portions just for a great looking photograph. But rather prefer eating the entire cooked portion for the designated meal and not carry it forward for the next day exception here would be some desserts and non-vegetarian dishes.
Now for coming to the theory of what is healthy. I realised with time everything is going in a direction we never anticipated before. I never knew sugar-free meant stevia or Aspertene or bread has gluten and burgers and fries have saturated and non saturated fats while growing up.
I grew up in an environment where my mother brought us up in a very focussed and disciplined way.The way she was brought up by my grandparents. I do not think I am replica of my mother but I have borrowed a few of her traits. She believed home cooked food is the best food. Somehow the word balanced diet was a part of every household earlier implicitly. No one voiced it loudly and it was more an heirloom tradition followed. The breakfast was a heavy along with a small portion of fruits and a small glass of milk or homemade yoghurt.The lunch had always been carbs, vitamins and proteins owning to our Indian dietary system there were no slip short ways, a small portion of rice, plain dal, sautéed or curried vegetables, pickle and salad or raita. The days we grumbled about food then there would be occasional servings of papads or poppadums on your plate. 🙂
The evening snack as prepared by mum which would be Sheera, Upma, Poha or Pancakes. Once a week dad would get us some kind of street food like Kachori, Samosa, Vada , Idli, Patties and Pastries from Howrah Bakery.
The dinner should always be light with chapatis and a vegetable fry and an additional portion of a dessert like Kheer or custard during weekends. Poori, Pakodas, Sweetmeats were moody oriented foods.
“Oh, Its raining, how about some Hot chai and Pakodda”.
“Oh, what a great day, please cook something savoury”.
Such occasional blurts from Dad, my sister and I coaxed mum to cook these indulgent recipes.
Non-veg was more of a celebratory food every Sunday and on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. You valued those portions and relished the taste better. It was an also a part of the budget plan. We never received any pocket-money but once a month mom gave us some coins to get something our choice from the nearby market.
Eating at restaurants was again reserved purely for celebratory occasions make it 3-4 times a year. (Yes you heard me right ;-))
Whenever she learnt or read about a new recipe she would experiment and create them for us. I don’t remember buying churan from a peddler or a candy floss. No matter how may times the ice creams man could screech but ice lollies was more of a borrowed taste. 🙂 Carbonated drinks are expensive and not meant for children was the cautionary board. A bar of dairy milk for every good achievement. Juices are too much of an effort so we had fresh seasonal fruits.
So if you closely follow this diet plan then you would realise that there was no deliberate attempt to feed us pure healthy. The sentiment is way too complex for us to understand at that stage in life. It was the value of taste, the value of self-control, the value of home, the value of achievement, the value of money and most importantly the value of love which our parents had for us.
I have been pending the discussion about mother’s health calculator. But I will reserve it for some other time. Well as for the mood of photography. I was really feeling giddy and nauseous. I spent a few days on the bed already. Since you could see I haven’t posted for a while. Reading a few magazines, painting my talons and pure lounging. So I decided to stir up this dessert to change the taste of my mouth. Its looks slightly medicinal but if you ask me the taste its delicious and addictive. The hint of turmeric balances the strong flavor of basil. The addition of balsamic creates a delicious blend of tart and sweet.Being healthy doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun.
P.S : They are worst feet for photography but I have just been bold and shameless. 
Basil Panna cotta With Balsamic Berries
Today, I am cooking a traditional Italian dessert with a delicate flavour of basil. A perfect match for juicy summer berries. I share a weak spot for panna cotta and this would be my third recipe for this dessert.
Raspberry and Prosecco Panna cotta
- For the panna cotta
- 25 g fresh basil
- 300 ml semi-skimmed milk
- 40g castor sugar
- 3 sheets of leaf gelatine
- 300 ml double cream
- a pinch or hint of turmeric
- For the mixed berries
- 100g strawberries
- 100g blueberries (I had no blueberries I used black grapes)
- 125g raspberries
- 1 tsp castor sugar
- 1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- Roughly chop the basil. Put the milk in a saucepan with sugar, a hint of turmeric and chopped basil and bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 15 minutes. Soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes to soften.
- Return the milk to the boil and strain through the fine sieve into a large jug. Lift the gelatine out the water and lower into the hot milk. Stir until dissolved.
- Stir in the cream and then pour into 6 tea cups (pure styling) or ramekins.Chill for at least 6 hours or until set.
- Pierce the berries with the tip of a knife and mix with the balsamic. Spoon on top of the panna cotta and decorate to serve.
- I ate them directly from the tea cups, otherwise immerse the ramekins in a bowl of hot water and invert them well to loosen.
Awesome
Lovely recipe just and simply stunning clicks! loved them all!
Beautiful post.. I am feeling nostalgic remembering the awesome delicacies Mom churned out so easily . Being a mom now surely puts things in another perspective.
Thanks for the lovely post and pics will try this coz I have these ingredients already 😄
Perfect write up! Hits so many soft and sweet spots. Growing up eating home cooked food was a luxury that we never acknowledged then. And I guess most of what you have mentioned is so relatable 😊😊 Sunday and celebratory food – so true those days!
Lovely recipe too!
I guess many of us grew up the same way… today’s life is so fast that you end up having outside food at least once a week… 🙁 Truly madenning… For us too, we had outside food once a month or so, and pocket money was never our thing. I guess things change with time. I hope you are feeling much better after having this pannacotta with different flavors… Yes the pictures are bold, especially the one with your tall legs and stripped pyjamas 😛 But all of them looks good… Get well soon…
I was nodding my head all through the write up. It felt like I was revisiting my own childhood. I keep thinking that we must be the twins born to two different mothers, but this post of yours made me realise that our mothers food sentiments are just the same. The first time I actually visited the restaurant for full meal was when I was in class 10 and it was my uncle who took us bunch of kids. The street foods were never entertained for a very long time (read until I left home to pursue higher education) and the occasional visit to ice cream parlours were kept for celebrations or achievements. It was only after I left home I realised how fortunate and privileged I was to eat fresh home cooked food every single day! Every evening after school we were welcomed with warm hug and warm snacks. Mom went out of the way to learn all our favourites, including baking cakes and cookies without an oven and making creamy ice creams without an ice cream maker. I don’t know if I can do half of what she has done in spite of owning so many kitchen gadgets and gizmos! Moms are made of something else; unconditional love and patience of a saint! Beautiful post with stunning photographs of an interesting recipe.
Hope you are feeling better now, Just! And those toe rings and anklet look so pretty on your looong feet 🙂
Hello Sia,
I like that about your posts from the time I followed you. You carry the essence of your childhood upbringing into your current life. We are a confused generation we are trying to balance two worlds together. While our parents had no threshold to meet. They partake their responsibility as they saw their parents. But we will do within the parameters of the modern times. I totally agree when I left the house for further studies, money became easy initially I enjoyed the freedom it got me but then the crave started which was a part of my everyday life. Too tired to cook Maggi to rescue. But those warm hugs and warm snacks were missing.
I wish to meet you someday and I think it will be a beautiful experience meeting your mirror image. To that day, I will keep counting…..
What a lovely post filled with beautiful sentiments. Being a hoteliers daughter I was actually brought up in kitchens / hotels all around the world. Regardless of this my mother made it a point to cook her own meals in the big kitchen for us. I had the best of both worlds. Today I am particular about what we eat and where we get it – but we have fun and I am not too stressed about it. I love these panna cottas one of my fave desserts!
Hello Meeta,
When I read your posts I realise that you have had hybrid upbringing and with time it has got amalgamated. But you have never left your inherited ways of cooking wholesome meals for your family. Whether you do a detailed post or tweet about it. Its quite apparent. I really appreciate that about you. Lots of Love!!