Embrace Zero Oil Cooking for a Healthier You: SAAOL in collaboration with CISF
SAAOL in collaboration with CISF conducted a live Zero Oil Cooking camp “Flavor without Compromise: Embrace Zero Oil Cooking for a Healthier You.” at CISF Campus, Mahipalpur, New Delhi!
This event was broadcast live to 51 CISF units across the north zone.
Assistant Inspector General, CISF North Zone, L.N. Chaudhary invited our speakers to the podium. The event started with Dr Vishal Sharma, COO-SAAOL Heart Care, addressing the CISF personnel. He highlighted the importance of adopting a healthy lifestyle and how the solution to our overall health starts from our kitchen.
Dr. Vishal raised a simple yet important question – Do we need oil in our cooking?
The first step of Indian cooking is adding oil to the pan. But why exactly? Oil has no taste, so it can’t make food tasty. It is not required for cooking because vegetables and all vegetarian food have their own oil (fat) which is extracted and sold to people. The taste comes from the spices and ingredients used especially while tempering (tadka). The flavor of tadka can be kept intact even without using oil by using SAAOL oil which is just water. Adding 1 tsp of water from time to time to prevent the tempering from sticking to the pan will give the same taste as oil tadka does. So till now, oil has had no use in cooking then why oil was introduced in cooking, Dr. Vishal answered that in ancient times when human physical activity was tough for their bodies, it required a good source of energy and fat was essential for that. It was all utilized and metabolized by the human body in the form of energy and people were healthier.
Dr. Vishal highlighted this fact bursting the common myth that there will be less or no flavor if we don’t use oil in our cooking. Every kind of oil has the same amount of calories and triglycerides which are responsible for non-essential cholesterol. He particularly stated that in today’s modern times where sedentary lifestyles have become a norm, it will be much better if we switch to zero-oil cooking in our kitchens.
This eye-opening speech of Dr. Vishal was followed by the live zero-oil cooking session led by our nutrition head Ms. Garima. She trained the CISF chefs and demonstrated zero-oil cooking by making delicious Zero Oil Sambar, Zero Oil Mix veg, and millet rotis recipes. By using her expertise with millet rotis, Garima beautifully demonstrated the easiest way to knead the millet dough and cook millet rotis. Ms. Garima urged everybody to go back to our roots when millets were the hero of our Indian thali. She also emphasized the high nutritional value of millets and encouraged CISF personnel to incorporate millets into their daily diet for better overall well-being.
Dr. Vishal also discussed the importance of alkaline water and its benefits for attaining better health like pH balance, better gut health and skin health, etc, and how Second Aid’s alkaline booster stick can easily help us get alkaline water right on the go. He demonstrated the difference between the pH of normal water and alkaline water with the help of a pH testing kit.
Sh. Alok Kumar, IPS (IG, North Sector), recognized and appreciated the SAAOL Team’s valuable contributions and inspiring initiative.
Now you can also make CISF’s favorite zero-oil recipes:
Sambhar
INGREDIENTS
- Arhal Dal – 15g
- Pumpkin – 10 g
- Drumstick – 10 g
- Cauliflower – 10 g
- Carrots – 10 g
- Capsicum – 10 g
- Green peas – 10 g
- Beans – 10 g
- Sambhar powder – 1tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
- Tamarind – 5 g
- Salt – to taste
- Coriander leaves – a few
- Mustard seeds – 2 g
- Heeng – 1/2 tsp
- Fenugreek seeds – 1/2 tsp
- Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
- Dry red chilli – 2 nos.
- Curry leaves – 15-20 leaves
METHOD
- Cook the Arhar dal in a pressure cooker and set aside
- Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water and extract the juice
- Heat karahi and add all the ingredients for tempering. When the mustard seeds splutter, add the slit green chilies and the chopped vegetables.
- Add the tamarind juice, the remaining one cup of water, salt, turmeric, and sambar powder. Close with a lid and cook till the vegetables are cooked
- Add the cooked dal and simmer for five more minutes, till everything blends. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
Mixed Vegetables
INGREDIENTS
- Cauliflower – 20g
- Carrots – 20 g
- Capsicum – 20 g
- Potatoes – 1 large
- Green peas – 20 g
- Beans – 20 g
- Red chilli powder – 1/4 tsp
- Garam masala – 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
- Coriander powder – 1/2 tsp
- Salt – to taste
- Coriander leaves – a few
METHOD
- Wash and cut all the vegetables thoroughly. Steam them for 5-7 minutes.
- Put all the masalas in a dry pan and roast them well.
- Now add the vegetables to it and mix it such that masala properly coats all the vegetables. Cook for some time.
- Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Millet Roti
INGREDIENTS
- Any type of Millet flour – 1 small bowl
- Hot water – ½ small bowl
METHOD
- Take 1 small bowl of Millet flour and add it to a saucepan of ½ small bowl of hot water.
- Mix it gently and put it aside with a lid for up to 15 -20 minutes.
- Transfer the flour from the saucepan to a wide, big plate and knead it gently with the help of your palm till it combines into a soft dough.
- Make rotis easily with the help of a rolling pin and cook them like normal wheat rotis.
Note: You can use onion, garlic, and tomatoes as per your choice and can simply dry sautee them before adding the dal and vegetables for sambhar and mix vegetables. No oil is required whatsoever for this whole process of cooking and if you feel like the tempering is sticking to the pan you can just add 1 tbsp of “SAAOL oil” which is just water from time to time and your delicious zero oil recipes will be ready. Please do not mix the millets to make it multigrain. It is advised to consume only one type of millet at a time, however, you can change the millet kind as per your needs.