Anuradha Sridharan

I love Kerala for its delectable cuisine, beautiful sunsets, backwater rides, eye-catching greenery and friendly Malayalis. Whenever I plan a vacation, my first instinct is to set off to Kerala. So when the synopsis spoke about “ Malayali way of life ”, I was curious about this book. “ A House for Mr.Misra ” talks about the personal story of the NRI couple - the author and her husband to build a beach house near Trivandrum. Their struggles and challenges in various forms to get the house constructed form the crux of the story. Right from buying the plot, getting the required approvals, negotiations and hassles with architect and builder, dealing with cryptic coastal regulations, neighbour’s taunts to random strangers throwing silly tantrums, the story could have easily slipped into a serious tone. But the author has made sure to bring out humour in every challenge faced. The narrative is hilarious, well supported by witty phrases which along with interesting twists and turn...

Being a South Indian, rice has always been a staple in my diet since childhood.  Though it was hand-pounded rice in the early days, my family switched to the fully-polished silky white rice, just like everyone else in the country. Because of my PCOD related issues, I started looking for alternatives to rice. I turned towards millets regularly since 2013-14. I didn’t move away from rice completely and tried to include millets atleast 3-4 times a week.  Around the same time, I also started to look for rice varieties that are healthy, native and have a low glycemic index. The popular opinion that’s been cleverly crafted to spread fear of diabetes is “avoid rice”. Many of us switched completely to wheat, a grain which is not locally grown in South India. Some of us even took a step further and switched completely to oats and quinoa , both of which are not native to India. As I mentioned in my earlier article on rice, India had more than a lakh varieties of ric...

The Superfood mania is everywhere. The majority of the Indian urban elite seem to be searching for easy shortcuts to lose weight, to lose belly fat, to prevent lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol etc.  The ads that portray messages like “ drinking green tea 3-4 cups a day will help one to lose weight ” are the perfect example of this trend. The craze over olive oil started 3-4 years back and it is only getting stronger as days pass by. The recent promotion post by a popular food blogger where she recommends eating idli chutney podi mixed with extra virgin olive oil is the ultimate proof of how superfoods are being promoted to blend with Indian cuisine. The hashtag that’s been promoted is #IndianFoodLovesOliveOil Eating olive oil everyday WILL NEITHER melt your body fat magically NOR will it prevent lifestyle diseases. These food bloggers are paid an exorbitant amount to promote such silly ideas. Let’s use our common sense, please! The...

Over the last decade, oats has gained immense popularity by riding on the “high fibre” bandwagon. Many of us have switched to oats for our morning breakfast. It has also been pitched as a food for the diabetic. Though we may not like the taste of it, we ended up making the switch because of the “fear” created by clever marketing. Apart from oats in the form of porridge/kanji, we started incorporating it in our usual idlis, dosas, chillas, dhoklas etc. Fibre is critical in our diet to flush out toxins and to keep our digestive system clean. A fibre-rich diet gives satiety, keeps our tummy full for a long time, slows down the release of glucose, eases bowel movement and prevents constipation. The recommended total dietary fibre intake is around 25 - 30 gms per day.  Many of us believe that our regular Indian cuisine is devoid of fibre and we had to rely on oats to meet the requirement. Is that true?   Ever since we started  - embracing store-bought bread for ...

Over the past few months, I have shared my analysis of various packaged/junk/ready-to-eat foods - their ingredients, nutrition information, preservatives, false promises and health claims. Thanks for the positive response and words of encouragement. This post is a compilation of all such previous posts put together, so it is easily accessible for anyone new to my blog. I'll keep this list updated as I write more about new product launches in the near future. Breakfast Cereals (9): Kelloggs Chocos  Soulfull Ragi Bites Choco Fills  Nestle Koko Krunch Kelloggs Thandai Badam Corn Flakes Baggrys Fruit n Fibre Muesli  Kelloggs Special K  Kelloggs Granola - Almonds and Cranberries Saffola Masala Oats Diet/Sugar-free Muesli (Kelloggs, Soulfull, Baggrys) Health Beverages(15): Pediasure and Horlicks Growth Plus Pediasure 7+ Complan V-Nourish Strawfit Milk Flavouring Straws with Colostrum Yakult Women's Horlicks Mother's Horlicks Horlicks Pro...