Food Doctor

Day in and day out, each Indian adds flavour to his meals by including pickles, commonly known as achaar. But, ages back, was the pickle made to add variety to the meals or as a simple method of preserving fruits and vegetables?? In the era of old age, when people did not have access across the globe, the Indian farmers felt the need to preserve the extra stock of mangoes that grew in India. It came as a preservation method to avoid wastage of food for efficient food management. Also, being a seasonal fruit, the discovery of preservation methods, gave the added advantage of availability of the fruit throughout the year, in the off seasons. Mangoes are an Indian favourite and is known as the king of fruits! And we Indians convert this fruit into various other forms and enjoy it's lavishness throughout the year! But now, let's have a look at the different forms of pickled mangoes and the science behind each. Today, since pickling has become a business to earn extra profits, S...

Indian Flat Bread, as it may be well known in the West, is locally known as chapatti or a roti in India. It is an age old practise of eating a soft - soft chapatti topped with loads of ghee with a Sabzi of one's own choice. Be it Bhindi, karela, dal makhni, paneer butter masala, or any dal, chapatti is the best and healthiest option to team it up with. And yes, all of us try our best to puff it up while we roast it directly on the gas burner so that it's soft and gives a one of its kind mouth - feel. But we all fail and then learn and then finally rise with a proper puffed roti after several trials. But ever wondered why and how does it rise or puff so beautifully? Here's the answer. Chapatti is made of atta that's been kneaded into a dough with water salt and a little oil. Some people may add a little curd as well to make it softer and some may use milk instead of water. But what happens in the process? 1. Atta is made up of proteins called gliadin and glutenin. O...

Recently, I was trying to make a semolina / suji batter for dhokla. As usual, the First person we sought help from us out very own Mom.. So I asked her for a quick remedy and she told me add warm water to semolina and keep it aside for a while since I'd run out of curd to provide that leavening factor. Then add any veggies you want, add eno and jus bake. Being too smart, I added boiling hot water to semolina and then I realized the water was less compared to suji and so I set to heat water again. In the meanwhile what do you think happened to the mixture?? Yes, it Gelatinized.. It became sticky and lumpy. And even after adding more water, it did not separate. So all you have to do is keep beating it or whipping it till it all mixes up and forms a homogeneous mixture. But here you need to take a precaution. Whenever you add water to any cereal, for any purpose, make sure you do not add boiling water. Just add warm water, which you think is just below 80 degrees Celsius. Because...

Early morning when you run late for office or you have to prepare a quick breakfast for your husband or family, what do you make? Probably an upma? Why? Simply because it's easy and fast.. But ever wondered why does it become a solid - like mass when it cools? Or have you ever noticed that even though the entire upma is coalesced together, every grain of upma retains its individual existence?? Yes, that happens... And yes, there is science behind this simple dish prepared by Indians all over the world.. Upma is cooked by basic 3 ingredients. Semolina or suji, ghee and water. The recipe shall be available everywhere on the web, and so I'd only focus on the science involved in the recipe. 1. ROASTING : The first crucial step in making upma is roasting the Suji or semolina. Why? Suji is roasted with a little amount of fat so that each grain is separated and coated with fat. This is done to avoid lumping when the water is added. Also, in this way, each starch(suji) grain will...

Have you ever wondered why is there this particular texture of the dhokla?  Or have you wondered what makes the dhokla rise? Of course the soda or eno fruit salt that you add to it, but how does it function?   Have you ever wondered why are there holes in between the dhokla strands that you see?   Here I’m going answer these questions, which would help you find the science behind each and every recipe that you cook and will help you to master them.  Dhoklas are made of besan(roasted Bengal gram flour), sour curd/buttermilk, and eno fruit salt / baking soda. Each ingredient contributes itself to play a role in making the final dhokla that we see as an end result.  1. Besan :  besan is the  protein source  in the dhokla. Proteins when heated along with water (in this case buttermilk contains the required water content) starts to swell and therefore increases the mobility of dry protein content. This is why we get the texture and the mouth...