Health positive ...:P

High on taste and low on calories

Eateries doing it right and helping foodies to expand their culinary tastes and not their waistlines

In their bid to pamper themselves a lot of people substitute healthy food with high-calorie food. How many people are considering the fact that four out of ten leading causes of illness are food-borne?

Restaurateur Shaan Jhaveri says, "In Gujarati cuisine, using oil or butter will speed the cooking process. At Swati Thali we make sure the food tastes and looks the same though we add the least amount of oil or butter.

" Eatery offers a variety of healthy recipes like pudina bhakhri, vatano sheero, jalebi sticks, dosa bhakarwadi, dudhi doodh pak, gatta pulao, kand dahiwada, ponk bhajiya and corn rice. "We try to use minimal oil."

Earlier the trend with corporate lunches or businessmen coming home for lunch and then moving back to office to work. "Employees in corporates are now global employees. So they want the same things made 'low cal' for them," says Reena and Esha Kakkar.

Low calorie as the general perception is not very high on taste but when you try their palak bread topped with a paneer, olives and green chilly pesto, you feel that with details, even an ordinary recipe can be made interesting.

Food consultant Sharmila Shah says, "We make Indian curries with seasonal vegetables and offer tandoori food that can be easily had with drinks and dinner. "As awareness increases, people realize that sandwiches, noodles, pasta can be had the healthier way."

It would be a relief if you can happily enjoy the food and not count the calories as soon as you indulge.