With the cost of food items increasing day by day, one of the greatest challenges for people with limited means is to set a menu that fulfills nutritional requirements and is delicious too.

A very feasible way to do this is to try to grow vegetables like chillies, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, carrots, etc, into whatever open area is available around the house or even in large pots. This can be done by putting in little effort and basic gardening skills, which can save you a lot of money.

The other approach is to use different and cheaper varieties of food items other than the standard ones which, despite being very popular, are quite expensive for the common man.

Eat well for less with our healthy budget options

We can make our food healthier and cheaper at the same time by using whole grains ground to a meal or flour instead of using commercially available ones. We can use brown rice with pulses or chickpeas to make rice dishes like khichri, whole grain porridge and bread (roti). Similarly, the use of whey-enriched skimmed yoghurt or buttermilk can help the body get most of its dairy nutrients when milk and yoghurt doesn’t suit the budget.

Soak chickpeas and pulses overnight for maximum softening of the grain and throw out the water before cooking; this way, grains release most nutrients when being cooked. Add lemon juice to vegetables like spinach, carrot, red beets, especially when they are cooked with meat. This not only enables the release of maximum nutrients from the veggies, but also helps absorption in the body.

Red meat, for example beef, mutton and veal, are more nutritious than white meat, ie chicken and fish. A healthy and active person does not need to cut down fat intake nor does he need to substitute red meat with white meat. Certain portions and cuts of meat are more expensive than others. Paya, kidney, liver, lungs and meat portion with fat tissue attached are usually cheaper but provide good source of protein and other nutrients. Cook these with small quantities of oil as they are already high in fat content. Children and women, especially nursing mothers, need to have these food items more often. Chicken feet or chicken head, which are much cheaper than buying other parts, can be used to make curry or soup. Fish head curry with lemon juice is quite delicious too.

We have a large variety of fish and sea vegetables eg arame, kombu, laver, nori, etc, available at a very low cost in the market and some of them can be purchased at cheaper price from the fisheries. Fish is a great source of essential nutrients, cooks quickly and can be cooked in a variety of ways to suit the tastes of your family.

Nehari,karhi (yoghurt, chickpea flour) haleem (grains, lentils, meat) khichri and a variety of beans and lentils may take longer to cook, as they require slow-cooking, but are popular dishes that provide nutrition. Nuts are very nutritious and must be added to salads, cereals and desserts along with seeds such as chia, hemp, pumpkin, sunflower, flax and wheat germ.

Fruit and vegetable salads with salt, lemon and naturally fermented vinegar increases the absorption of of vitamins and minerals; substituting honey in place of sugar does not only improves the taste of salads but also increases the nutritional value.

Naturally fermented pickle and saukrauts, marmalade and jams or muraba is a good way of preserving fruit when it is cheaply available. Strawberries, mangoes and apple sauce can all be frozen and used year round.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 19th, 2016