There was recently a big knock of health at Café Delhi Heights and the door was answered with a nourishing embrace. As nutritionist Kavita Devgan took the floor to talk about superfoods, an anticipatory audience huddled up together to tune into it. The afternoon proceeded with lots of ‘healthy exchange’ and concluded with the introduction of the Superfood Festival at the café. Now you get hearty portion of nutrient dense food.
“These are dishes that deliver concentrated, extra-large doses of vitamins and minerals that are good for you. Besides regular nutrients like B vitamins, calcium and protein, they pack in antioxidants, flavonoids, phytonutrients (healthy chemical compounds),” she says. Because these elements build immunity and prevent diseases, their usefulness cannot be negated.
The blueprint for superfoods is a variable one. Depending on annual research, new ones emerge every year. This year, maple syrup and beets rule the chart. There are others too, Devgan points out, that she’s incorporated into the café’s menu. Some of these are Sarki, a lentil and cucumber soup rich in protein; Brown Rice Biryani with Flax Seed Raita, that come with complex carbs, protein, fibre and omega 3; Quinoa Encrusted Salmon, packed with protein and antioxidants; Masala Sattu with Coconut Water, that’s good for energy and electrolytes; Sabja Lemonade, that keeps constipation away, and others. “Incorporating them in your diet on a sustained basis is important. You cannot compensate for a bad diet by eating one superfood a day. For example, you cannot have an entire pizza and then a sattu sherbat. It just doesn’t work like that,” she explains.
Before she signs off, she gives all our readers one of her simplest superfood recipe. “Puree one boiled beetroot. Mix it with one cup yoghurt and one cup water, and whisk it once. Next, heat 1/2 tbsp oil, add 1/4th tbsp mustard seeds, 5-6 curry leaves, 1/2 tbsp ginger and one chopped green chilly. Add the tempering to beetroot the chaach. Chill and have it,” she says, sorting you out for summers.
Good to know: Cafe Delhi Heights, Shop 1-2, Ground Floor, Sangam Courtyard, Sector 9, RK Puram. Meal for two: Approx 700.AS