Many people believe that weight loss means giving up their favourite foods, eating only boiled meals, or starving themselves. However, experts say that such misconceptions often make healthy eating feel like punishment.
Nutritionist and weight-loss coach Mohita Mascarenhas recently busted one of the most common myths — that biryani lovers must avoid the dish to stay fit. “Yes, you can enjoy biryani without guilt,” she said, adding that it’s all about how you cook it and how much you eat.
"If you keep these two things in mind -cooking right and portion control - you’ve already won half the battle," she explained.
The Secret Lies in the Recipe
"The traditional recipe calls for 1 kg of meat with 1 kg of rice and heaps of ghee, which results in a biryani with too much rice and fat, but not enough protein," the nutritionist said.
"My fat loss biryani uses lean protein, measured rice, powerful spices, and very little ghee. It is packed with flavour and not guilt," she added.
"I believe in building a body that you love and not hate your food," the nutritionist explained.
Key tweaks for a healthier biryani
There are a couple of tweaks you need to make to your biryani recipe, and it will be good to go when you are trying to lose weight.
1)Meat-Rice Ratio: For 200 g of rice, you will need 400 g of boneless chicken cut into cubes and marinated in a 100 g blend of Greek yoghurt and spices. Soak the rice for 30 minutes, and refrigerate the marinated meat for the same time.
2)Avoid Deep-Frying: The traditional recipe calls for deep-frying onions until they are brown. However, you can do that without using a lot of ghee. In fact, the nutritionist suggested using only a teaspoon of ghee to brown 100 g of finely chopped onions. You can also opt for air-frying.
3)Pair Biryani With Raita: While the rest of the recipes and the assembling process remain the same, the tweak happens when you plate the dish. The nutritionist suggested serving biryani with 300 g of raita made with Greek low-fat yoghurt with chopped vegetables.
4)Adequate Portion Size: This recipe can serve four people. You have to make sure to take one-fourth portion. It will just be 400 calories with 30 g of protein.
Nutritionist concluded that with small, smart changes, even comfort foods like biryani can fit into a healthy lifestyle.
Source: NDTV
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
