Potatoes, for no real reason, have acquired a bad reputation in the world of diet-conscious health enthusiasts for far too long!
A modified stem vegetable called tuber vegetable (nope, they aren't root vegetables); potatoes are high in potassium and vitamin C and are actually not really fattening.
Yes, you read that right! In fact, they are so high in their nutritional value that if you cook them appropriately, they can even help you lose weight!
Confused? So were we, so we did a little research, and here's what we found:
What makes potatoes fattening are:
• Its style of cooking. Example: Deep or pan-frying
• The accompaniments with which we eat it. Example: butter, sour cream, etc.
Another key to not putting on weight with potatoes is 'portion control'. The highest nutritional value in potatoes is that of carbohydrates. And while carbs are essential for weight loss, they can also be the primary cause of weight gain if consumed without a set limit. The inherent starch in potatoes leads to us being fuller faster with less and in the process (albeit long-term) losing weight.
So to sum it up, if we were to steer clear of the above fat giving measures and boil or steam potatoes instead, they'd turn out quite nutritious and filling, not to mention tasty!
The above theory holds true for both white and sweet potatoes.
But we know what you're thinking- boiled potatoes aren't the tastiest dish, and your favourite accompaniments have just been labelled ‘unhealthy’, so how can you make a dish that’s got your potatoes and is healthy and delicious at the same time?
As said earlier, we did the research! So here are some low on fat and high on taste delicious potato recipes for you to make at home:
The Desi jacket potato aka baked potato with spicy daal
This deliciously indulgent dish is filling and flavourful, but the best part is its kind to your waistline. Here's what you need to make these:
Ingredients:
2 large potatoes
1 tablespoon of mustard oil
½ teaspoon of cumin seeds
½ teaspoon of black mustard seeds
½ teaspoon of turmeric
1 onion, julienned
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 green chilli, sliced and deseeded
½ cup of red lentil (masoor daal)
400ml of vegetable stock
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 cup chickpeas (Kabuli chana), boiled soft and drained
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander, chopped
Preparation
Preset the oven at 200 degrees Celsius
Scrub, clean and wash the potatoes till there isn't any dirt remaining
Wipe them with a kitchen cloth, and once dry, put them in the oven to bake for 1 hour or till they are tender
While they bake, heat the oil in a pan over medium flame
When hot, add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and turmeric
After 30 seconds, add the onions, garlic, and green chili and sauté them for five minutes; you could also add a splash of water to the pan if you feel the spices may burn
Once the onions turn translucent, add the vegetable stock, tomatoes and red lentils to the pan and cook over high flame for 10 minutes
Keep stirring
Add the soft chickpeas and cook for another ten minutes
Add salt and cook till the vegetable stock has been soaked up by the lentils and the resultant daal is a bit thicker
Make a cut in the baked potatoes, and spoon the daal on top of them
Garnish with coriander and serve!
This dish is packed with proteins and is so delicious that you'd want to make it every day! As accompaniments, you could serve this with green chutney or pickles (but we are not accountable for what the pickle does to the waistline).
Sweet Potato Cutlets
Who knew this hawker’s treat from our childhood would turn out to be such a blessing to our adult-health-conscious lives? Sweet potatoes are a fabulous source of beta carotene, vitamin C, and potassium- and are full of creamy flavours. Here’s what you need to make these sinfully delicious tikkis or cutlets:
Ingredients:
½ big sweet potato
1 small onion
1½ tablespoon of gram flour (besan)
1 green chili
Salt to taste
¼ teaspoon of red chili (laal mirch)
¼ teaspoon of turmeric (Haldi)
1 tablespoon of fresh coriander
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Preparation
Chop the coriander, onion and green chili
Wash and scrub the sweet potato to remove the dirt and cut it into large chunks
Add them to a pressure cooker for 4 whistles
Once the steam is out, drain, peel and mash them
Make sure there are no lumps
Add the chopped vegetables and the gram flour, red chili, salt, and turmeric to the mashed potatoes Mix well to form a homogeneous mixture
Make small balls of the mixture and press them to form a disc
Heat a pan with olive oil
Fry two cutlets at a time till golden brown on both sides
That’s it! This delicious dish is ready to devour.
This Sweet potato Cutlet makes for a brilliant tea time snack and is best served with spicy mint chutney. The sweet, spicy and sour flavours together create a burst of umami in the mouth!
Now that you know our favourite recipes with potatoes for weight loss, tell us yours?
Be sure to try our recipes out at home too, the ingredients are probably sitting pretty in your kitchen as we speak. So go on and give your taste buds a treat today; but remember to tell us how they turned out!
