With potatoes, really, ‘the food’ is not the ‘devil’. How you cook them — a healthy low cal recipe or sinfully fried — is what matters. When cooked right they can be really good for you.
One medium potato (150 gm) clocks in just 116 calories and is a terrific way to stock up on fibre (3 gm), which keeps you full for long.
They are high in magnesium and potassium — a powerful pair that together helps lower blood pressure.
They deliver phosphorus, a key bone health mineral.
Follow these recipes to make your potato count!
Cool Potato Chaat
Mix 2 boiled, diced potatoes with 2 tbsp crushed chivda or papad, a tbsp of imli sauce, a tbsp yoghurt, a handful of sprouts (or boiled chana), and a few slices of cucumber. Add a few strips of cottage cheese or feta (skip if not available). Chill for half an hour and then dig in.
Spicy Potato Salad
Mix 2 boiled cooked potatoes, 1 sliced onion, 1 chopped green chilli, 1 chopped cucumber with 1 tbsp mustard oil and salt to taste and keep aside.
Heat 1 tsp oil and splutter 1 tsp black til. Turn off heat and pour over the salad. Toss gently and serve.
Creamy Potato Egg Mix
Boil diced potato+eggs, drain. Mix 1 boiled, diced potato, 1 boiled diced egg, half diced onion, salt and pepper to taste. Whisk together 1 tbsp mayo, 1 tsp vinegar, 1/2 tsp mustard, salt and pepper to taste, 1 tsp any spicy sauce you have. Mix, chill and eat.
Potato Stew
Add two chopped potatoes, 1/2 sliced onion, 3 crushed garlic cloves, a small chunk of sliced ginger t, 1sliced tomato, pepper and salt to taste, 1 clove, a tiny pc of cinnamon, 1/2 inch bay leaf, 1 crushed elaichi. Cook on medium to 1 whistle. Add on top a tempering of curry leaves and sesame seeds in 1 tsp mustard oil.
Peri-Peri Potatoes
To make the peri peri sauce grind 2 dry red chillies, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 tsp vinegar, few stalks of coriander, 1/2 red capsicum, salt. Cut 2 boiled potatoes into thick slices. Dot a pan with butter, and cook potato slices coated in the peri peri sauce on both sides till done. Enjoy with a salad of greens or a mixed vegetable story fry.
Parsi Papeta Par Eeda
Boil 2 potatoes just done (should be firm). Dice them, add 1 tsp each garlic and ginger paste and 2 chopped green chilli and sauté lightly. Transfer the mix to a shallow greased ovenproof dish and break 2 eggs over them. Cook in an oven until eggs are set (180°C or 350°F).
Alternatively, you can do this in a covered frying pan putting the lid on and lowering the heat as soon as the eggs are added. Cook till eggs are just set.
Potato Water
Wash and dice a large potato, steep it overnight in one cup of water, add a pinch of sea salt. Strain and drink the water every morning on an empty stomach. This is great for gastrointestinal system cleansing.
(Kavita is a nutritionist, weight management consultant and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of Don't Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People (Jaico) and Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You (Rupa))
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