Sanjay Varanasi

To maintain optimum hydration, our bodies need around 8 glasses of water a day. This is probably what you have been hearing since primary school. But how much is a ‘glass’ and don’t each of us weigh different? So how do you know how much water your body would need? Its simple. A glass is 8 ounces or about half a bottle of the 600ml (16ounce) PET coke bottles. Then, divide you weight in kg by 30. For example, if you weigh 80 then you need 80/30 - 2.6litres - approx 8.6 glasses of water a day.

Okay, now you know how much you need, but you seem to dislike the taste of water! For some people, it can be very difficult to drink such a large quantity of water when they cannot ‘taste’ anything. So what do you do?
Luckily, there are alternatives, and healthy ones too! Just make sure you have lots of ’splenda’ (artificial-sweetener) available so you don’t pump up entire kilos of sugar into your body. And be ready to prepare large quantities so you don’t run out of liquids when you need them the most.

[One Gallon = 3.78 Litres = 16 cups]

Lemon Water -> Prep. time : 5 min.

In a large jug of cool water ( I use a one-gallon jug),  squeeze two big lemons. You can use a strainer if you like it without any pulp. Add salt and artificial-sweetener. Now you should begin with small quantities of both salt and sweetener and keep tasting the mixture till you feel its right. Specially watch for the salt, as you don’t want to be adding extra sodium to your diet.

Green Tea -> Prep. time 15min.

Lipton and Tetley sell green-tea-leaves available at most stores. Boil 4 cups of water (from a gallon) in a kettle. Remember, we’re preparing a gallon of green tea, so that is about 16 cups of tea so you should remember to add all ingredients keeping this in mind. Once water starts boiling, remove kettle from heat and let is stand for a minute. Now add 16 teaspoons of green tea leaves and 16 packets of sweetener to the kettle, stir and let stand for another minute. Stir again, and strain all liquid into remaining water. Throw away strained tea leaves, stir or shake the mixture to ensure even mix and store in the refrigerator. Serve chilled.

Buttermilk with spices -> Prep. time 15 min. (No Splenda needed)

We need about half-kilo of curd/yogurt for this preparation. Take yogurt in a bowl and thoroughly beat it up using egg-beater or a couple of forks. This is to ensure consistency in the buttermilk. Next, finely grind : Semi-large ginger about half the length of your little finger; one or two green chillies (depends on your taste), half a bunch of cilantro (coriander leaves, kothmeer), and about 10 leaves of Indian Curry Leaves (Kari patta, Karepaku). Add this to the yogurt. Add upto one gallon of water and mix. Now add salt to taste. We’re now ready to enjoy a truly Indian drink.

Apart from these, you should also drink lots of fruit juices and water containing fruits like watermelon and grapes to make sure your body also gets the necessary supply of vitamins.
A video explaining what water does and does not :

This is a very easy and very healthy recipe for those looking for a filling yet tasty and healthy meal. I usually prepare it for breakfast since it gives me something to eat other than cornflakes in milk and sugar or bread with jam or peanut butter.

What you need :

One cup of green moong seeds,
One medium sized onion,
One large tomato,
One green chilli,
Half -a-lemon,
Chat-masala/Aamchoor,
Salt and chilli powder.

• Soak one cup of green moong seeds overnight, in a bowl.
• In the morning, get rid of the water, and wash seeds once in fresh water.
• Chop one big onion, one tomato, one green chilli (optional). Mix into a bowl along with the moong.
• Squeeze half of a big lemon into the bowl.
• Add chat-masala (readily available from MDH, etc) or Aamchoor to the bowl.
• Add a pinch of chilli powder (optional) and add salt to taste. Its better to add salt later since chat-masalas usually have some salt mixed into them.
• Thoroughly mix all contents of the bowl. Get ready with a spoon and start relishing on this delicious breakfast.

Let me know if you have any healthy or interesting recipes, and I shall publish them with full credits to you.

While in the US, there is little choice of fresh / frozen vegetables especially in small towns like Kingsville. I’m left with no choice but to use what I get in ways that would wake up my Indian taste buds.

Here is the recipe for Rajma (Red Kidney Beans as is called in the US) - Serves two.

What you need :

1. One large US size onion or atleast 2&1/2 Indian size onions. ( Onions in the US can be as large as small Indian cabbages)
2. One and half US size tomatoes or 4 Indian size.
3. One can of Red Kidney Beans.
4. Two green chillies.
5. Turmeric powder.
6. Red Chilli powder as per individual requirement
7. Garlic-Ginger paste. 1/2 tablespoon.
8. Whipped Cream ( Malai blended smooth). 1&1/2 tablespoons.
9. Garam masala- one teaspoon.

Procedure :

• Put the skillet / kadai on medium flame. Put one tablespoon vegetable/corn oil or even ghee.
• Cut the onion into 1 inch pieces, and grind to a fine paste.
• Put the paste into the kadai, and keep stirring.
• Meanwhile, put the tomatoes in the blender and grind to a paste.
• When the onion paste has turned to a slight brown, put the tomato paste into it.
• Keep stirring till oil starts to separate. Then put the turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste, salt and mix.
• Put the kidney beans along with the water that comes with it. This adds some gravy to the curry, and stir.
• Cut the green chillies into whatever shape desired, and put them into the curry. Add the red chilli powder and garam masala.
• Mix well. Add the whipped cream now, and mix well again. Keep stirring once in a while, for 10 minutes on low-medium flame.
• Take the kadai off the flame, and pour the curry into a bowl. Garnish with coriander leaves if desired.
• Serve with either Roti/ Naan or just plain white rice.