The holiday season is over and if you have binged into your favourite guilty pleasures and trying to get rid of those excess calories, well, you are not alone.
Holiday mood, winter evenings, joy and merry with friends and family can make us gorge on those excess calories but it’s time to take charge of your health again.
Deep-fried, calorie-loaded sweets, desserts, drinks can cause accumulation of toxins, eventually leading to bloating, exhaustion and stomach issues. But instead of gulping down some not-so-tasty detox drinks, let's try on something delicious yet healthy to cleanse the body. Relish these delectable ‘shorbas’, an Arabic term for soup known for its plethora of health benefits.
Also Read: Essential Detox Guide For The Holiday Season
Be it the veg or non-veg variety, sipping on piping hot soups is one of the best ways to enjoy winter evenings. They have a wealth of nutrients and an abundance of antioxidants that are exceptional for winters specially when they are with the addition of whole spices and ingredients which are hot in nature.
The Many Benefits Of Shorbas
Abundance Of Fluids:
Soups contain a whole lot of water that not only nourishes the body cells but also keeps the skin fresh and also provide the body with the much-needed energy for carrying out various activities.
Satiates Hunger Pangs
Soups are smooth and warm in nature and offer satiation of sudden hunger pangs and even prevents one from overeating.
Rich In Healthy Fibers
Especially the ones with vegetables are high in fibers which not only ease different types of gastrointestinal anomalies but also promote digestion and absorption of nutrients.
Keeps Nutritional Value Intact
Soups or shorbas is one of the best ways to preserve the nutritional value of the ingredients being used because the procedure adopted to cook them helps keep the nutrients in the broth even after cooking thus enriching it with vitamins, minerals and proteins.
Full Of Taste
Imbued with a quarry of healthy spices and veggies, shorbas are exceptionally delicious even with a handful of ingredients and forms one of the best comfort foods for people.
Vegetable-Curd Shorba
Ingredients:
3 cups low fat homemade curd
3-4 tbsp besan
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 tsp chopped ginger
4 whole, green chillies
3 radishes (chopped in circular round pieces)
2 carrots (chopped in circular round pieces)
1 tbsp low-fat butter
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp salt
Chopped coriander to garnish
3 cups of water
Method:
Whip the curd, besan and turmeric in a mixing bowl, until it becomes a smooth paste with no lumps.
Boil the chopped radish and carrots and keep it separately.
Now, in a frying pan, add butter and then one by one, add the cumin, mustard and coriander seeds.
Toss the chopped ginger, garlic, green chillies and curry leaves into the frying pan.
Once the seeds start to crackle, add the boiled carrots and radishes to it.
Saute for a minute, add salt and then pour the curd mixture into the pan.
Add a cup of water and simmer it on a medium flame.
At the end pour it in soup bowls, garnish it with some finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.
Nutrition:
A soothing yummy broth made by fusing curd along with some diced veggies and besan is a healthy way to detox your tummy after the week-long of binge eating. Being loaded with probiotics and proteins, this stew is even beneficial for maintaining stronger bones. Also Read: Homemade Curd Is A Probiotic And More
Pumpkin-Coconut Milk Shorba
Ingredients
2-3 cups of pumpkin cubes
1 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
1/2 tbsp finely chopped green chillies
1 tbsp low-fat butter
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/3 tsp dried oregano flakes
Salt according to taste
Method:
Put some butter on the frying pan and saute the fennel seeds, onions, ginger and chillies for a minute.
Put the pumpkin cubes in the frying pan, add water, and cook for a few minutes.
Pour the contents of the frying pan into a thick bottomed pan, and add salt according to taste
Add more water to the stew, cover it with a lid and cook it on a medium flame with occasional stirring.
After a few minutes, when the pumpkin is totally soft, remove it from the flame and allow it to cool.
Pour the pumpkin stew into a mixer and blend it into a smooth paste.
Transfer the mixture back into the frying pan and add the coconut milk and dried oregano flakes.
Cook it for a minute on medium flame with occasional stirring.
Serve the sumptuous piping hot shorba with some breadsticks.
Nutrition:
Packed with essential vitamins, this delightful stew made with pumpkin and coconut milk is a weight loss booster. The earthiness of pumpkin bolsters immunity and augments healthy skin, whereas coconut milk promotes heart health.
