Check out Anjula’s article for Talking Point in The Healthy Food Guide

THERE ARE MANY STRANDS to the ever-increasing obesity crisis. Our fast-food culture, which includes Indian takeaways, is one of the significant ones. Not only are many dishes posing as ‘Indian food’ very unhealthy, but they’re nothing like the dishes you’d find in an authentic Indian kitchen. I was taught to make wholesome and healthy food from a very young age that was not only tasty, but could also make a huge difference to your long-term quality of life. They say the customer is always right, but when clients come to me to help them plan a special dinner party and the first dish they suggest is chicken tikka masala, I want to scream! Yet it’s not surprising if the only Indian food you know is your typical order from an Indian restaurant – chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, lamb rogan josh, saag paneer, aloo saag, vada pao (a batter-fried potato ball stuck in a bun). These dishes all contain far too much fat, cream and salt, so it’s no wonder people are shocked when I open their eyes to the world of amazing Indian food and help them to design a very different menu. The nation’s favourite? Many of the better-known Indian dishes have been composed for a British audience. They’re sold by a huge number of takeaways and restaurants and are often characteristically unhealthy and lacking in authentic Indian flavours. While chicken tikka masala may well be the UK’s most popular dish, in many ways it has helped to give Indian cuisine a bad name. Just how unhealthy it often is has also gone largely unnoticed: layers of fat and cream, too much salt and an unconvincing touch of spice. My dinner party menus include three gems of Indian cuisine that are far less well-known as they aren’t offered in Indian takeaways and restaurants: makki ka dhokla (soft, savoury steamed doughnuts that originate from the Indian state of Rajasthan); masoor dal (brown Indian lentils cooked in a Punjabi onion and tomato gravy); and cabbage and carrot thoran (a light stir-fry from South India). All delicious but wholesome. The real deal, cooked at home Understanding Indian food and how to cook it is essentially about understanding the spices in your ‘masala dabba’ – a simple but essential spice box – and acquiring the knowledge of the flavour each spice brings and how to effectively blend them. Most Indian households will have a masala dabba containing their own preferred combination of spices.

The food eaten in Indian homes is generally very healthy. You’d rarely find Indians eating the various types of naans made with white flour and often smothered with ghee that are found in your local takeaway. The staple in Indian homes is roti, which most people know as chapattis. Made with finely milled wholewheat flour, these breads are a far healthier alternative. Indian home-cooked food often features an amazing treasure chest of fresh vegetables, lentils and pulses. The dishes are usually cooked fresh every day, retaining valuable nutrients. The food made in Indian homes is free from the colouring often used in takeaways and restaurants, too. It uses wonderful ingredients like turmeric, cumin, coriander seeds, ginger, garlic, fresh coconut, natural yogurt and besan (a nutritious gram flour made from kala chana or black chana). A forever trend I’ve known about turmeric since I was four years old, so I smile when I witness the launch of turmeric coffee or ‘golden milk’. Our ancestors have handed down this knowledge to generation after generation, so there’s nothing new. Indian spices have well-documented medicinal and healing properties. Learning the basics of how to cook real Indian food could be a useful life skill that stops you reaching for those takeaway menus. It isn’t complicated. The principles that I champion for Indian food equally apply to other types of cuisine, and it’s never too late or too early to learn.

Find advice on cooking with spices and Anjula’s recipes at anjuladevi.com.

For more healthy recipes visit www.healthyfood.co.uk