HYDERABAD: As the chilly weather settles in, all we want is some hot and spicy food served with nutrients. We try to make the best of our situation at our homes but sometimes we also look for options of having food and beverages outside too. On this note, we get in touch with food experts from the city who suggest us food options and places that we can visit this season.
Sridevi Jasti, a holistic nutritionist and founder of Vibrant Living, talks about different options in food that one can choose from this season. “Lots of fruits and vegetables come into the picture and these are fantastic for you like radish greens, mustard greens and sarso ka sagh. Our winter traditional food like makki ki roti, sarso ka sagh, I think we crave that kind of food because they are spicy naturally.
Masalas are good if they are not used with too much oil, they give the impression of increasing heat in one’s body along with ginger. Traditional foods have dark red carrots and other veggies, they make you full and also add antioxidants. Now it’s also time for fresh legumes to come in pods, there are peas as well which give you a good kind of protein, you can have them in your curry and salad.
Just because it is cold, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t eat raw food, they have a lot of nutrients and you can mix these with a lot of spicy sauces. Add organic green chilli for your chutney and have it with your salad and steamed vegetables. Make soups and stew with your sweet potatoes, and add them with herbs of any kind. Enjoy raw food with a hot and spicy sauce which is home made. Enjoy vegetable juices also sip by sip and add a little ginger to them which will help you with digestion and give you the heat that you require. All the foods that I have mentioned give you immunity. Have gajar ka halwa and buckwheat flour with which you can make roti and cookies,” she says.
Going along with the healthy note, Chef Nitin Bhardwaj, Culinary Head at Wild Food Hospitality, says, “I suggest soups, broth and consomme out of concentrated stock which we cook for a long time are the best options with some meat options of your choice could be poultry, red meat or seafood. Root vegetables like carrot, radish, turnip, and beetroot and iron-rich foods like spinach and dry fruits as they are very seasonal and taste best in winter and keep your body on standby for the season with full nutrients. At our Asian restaurant Taro we have recently launched our winter special menu where we do some really good stuff with concentrated chicken stock ramen noodle soup bowls.”
On the other hand, Mohammed Zubair Ali, Hyderabad’s famous food blogger talks about those hot chocolate and sizzlers cravings that one has and the best places to visit for food this season. “Normally people prefer food which is on the heavy side like sizzlers, steak, hot chocolate. With the young crowd, hot chocolate is something that goes hands-on Sushi chocolate, hot chocolate at Van Lavino, Marriott who makes the best hot chocolate. Stakes and sizzlers are also best here. The Punjabi food at this time is great and having sarso ka sagh and makki ki roti is a must-have and the best you would find at Chak De Punjab at Gachibowli,” says Zubair.