An elderly couple was basking in the verandah of an outhouse. I saw them eating boiled food, which they averred to be the best option during winter.

     Go Green: Eat Lots of Veggies

And when I asked them about their diet, they were quite positive about having vegetables like carrots, beets, radishes, turnips, peas, gourds,  green leafy vegetables as well as those greens which had roots. These vegetables can easily be steamed and grilled. Always take care that the food we eat during winter must be warm.

     Oatmeal

Oatmeal prepared as porridge or added with some other curry can be very beneficial to health. It also quickens weight loss by maintaining the calorie intake.

     Broccoli and cauliflower

Broccoli and cauliflower can be eaten in any form winter to maintain body temperature. It can be grilled or baked veggies, soups, curries, etc.  When winter arrives, we become conscious of our wardrobe, about our warm clothing and it’s true that we sport lovely, colorful sweaters during winter. But during the winter, our body reacts to the cold with changes in metabolism and energy levels.

     Warm Beverages

Now, how do we react to the bitter cold waves, which sweep across our regions? Do we increase our calorie intake by eating meat and egg products to give a boost to our energies? Of course, we do indulge in warm drinks. Actually, no; cold weather encourages unhealthy food habits. You must not indulge in hot chocolate drinks, fritters, and crunchy cookies all the time. During winter, you must start with a few favorite cold-weather foods such as healthy soups, stews, honey added in warm water, honey being a natural antioxidant. But what do you feel if you are served warm spicy tuna roll with mushroom soup? For side dishes, you might prefer grilled sweet potatoes, millet,  roasted almonds and walnuts, and dates.

     Seasonal fruits

The season of ‘mellow fruitfulness’, winter arrives with all its fruity flavors. Boost your health with the juicy oranges, fresh apples, grapefruits, pomegranates, pears, kiwi fruits, and dates. These are good sources of vitamins and fibers and are high in nutrition. The consumption of these winter fruits helps to maintain a balanced diet.

An Assortment of other Food Items

Then there is the exotic makki di roti with sarson ka saag, rounding off with gajar ka halwa. For breakfast you can have thukpa, which is an Indo-Tibetan noodle soup, served piping hot, to keep you warm and cozy. You can always spice it with garam masala in the Nepalese style.

Another variant may be Gustaba, which is a Kashmiri cuisine. According to the Kashmiri custom, refusing to have the Gushtaba indicates an insult to the host. Actually, Gushtaba is a dish of minced mutton balls cooked in royal spices and curd. Legend warrants that when you have the Gushtaba, you feel the sweet symphony of the rabab at the Kashmir dal lakes.

According to Bengali tradition, one can have ‘Rasgullas’ made of jaggery called nolen gur, along with ‘Sandesh’ made of the reduced milk (kheer), followed by ‘Ras malai’ . Or you can have various forms of pitha during Makar Sankranti. Apart from the Bengali variants, you can have Til pitha, which is originally an Assamese sweet dish, a form of rice flour pancake, stuffed with sesame seeds and jaggery.

You can have several preparations of chicken curries and paneer dishes to keep you warm. And, please take into account the exotic cakes baked in the region. The winter is about to come to an end so go get your pick of savouries!

Want to know about winter super-foods? Read here: https://food.ndtv.com

Contributed by:

Subhrajit Samanta

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