If you lack the patience to whip up home goodies from scratch, try the fridge.
Putting together a snap snack in your kitchen, using what is already there cooling away could be the answer.
Toss in finely chopped onions and tomatoes with boiled potato, sliced chillies, coriander and lime.
If you have puffed rice (kurmura) or chana jor garam (pounded gram), it works brilliantly as a spin-off of the jhalmuri from Kolkata.
Improvise on the things available in your home, making way for minty chutney or imli strains if the call for lime fails. But if the simple route is often taken, then here are a few more ideas.
FILL UP
Nutritionist Karishma Chawla comes up with carb rich options to keep you satiated.
“If you have leftover rotis from afternoon, bring them out. Add some handy herbs, or spices with a dash of butter.
"Roast and crunch in just like a khakhra you snack on,” she says.
If you have khakhra packs handy, smear a teaspoon of thick homemade curd all over and sprinkle a bit of chaat masala for a delicious munchy.
Alternatively, extra rotis can be hung on the grill inside the oven-toaster-grill and heated to a crisp for homemade nacho.
Stuff in the leftover potato or the rajma from day before with a spot of grated cheese as a filler with your hot cup of tea.
“You can also cut rotis (or even whole wheat bread) into bite-sized portions, then roast, and sautéed with onions, tomatoes and bell peppers for a filling bowlful,” suggests Chawla.
EASY PEASY
Go easy on the calories by bringing in healthy tidbits to tuck in when you feel hungry while working. The healthy hung curd dip with fresh mint delights with crunchy carrot and cucumber sticks, or whole wheat bread sticks.
“Digestion boosters and immunity boosters work beautifully in sync with our relatively sedentary lifestyle these days when many of us are at home. Jaggery and peanuts give you that instant energy to work. Remember, a mixed salty-sweetish-tangy taste leaves you well satiated.
Throw in ginger juliennes for better digestion in a chaat-style preparation. Slivers of raw mango, bit of amla, or lemon juice spike up the taste of snacks wonderfully, just like tamarind does.
"You bring in Vitamin C, and guard against acidity, colic issues, or a gastric reflux problem with these,” says dietitian Deepalekha Banerjee.
While you are at it, keep handy in your refrigerator, full moong sprouts, boiled chana; your larder stocked with dry herbs and spices; and your ingenious resourcefulness handy
as you hone your culinary skills to rival the next MasterChef.
PEANUT MUNCHIES
(By Deepalekha Banerjee)
Ingredients
Peanuts: 1 cup
Jaggery/palm sugar/caramelised sugar: 2 cups
Ginger Julians: 1 tsp
Carom seeds: 1 tsp
Tamarind pulp: 1 tbsp/lemon juice
Tulsi/mint leaves to taste
Salt to taste
Method
In a sauce pan, add sugar and a little bit of water to caramelise
In a separate vessel, dry-roast the other ingredients with salt and tamarind pulp/lemon juice/ dried amla
Add this to the caramelised sugar mixture and mix well
Spread the mixture in a greased plate and let it cool
Cut into small pieces and use as after-food digestion boosters or even as munchies whenever you feel hungry in between meals