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| Ghee use to be important aspect of Indian diet |
You must have heard a lot about of art of cooking, must have seen various chef teaching various recipes, preparing some yummy good looking delight but we hardly talk about science of cooking.
As per Bhagwat geeta Def of Good food in chapter 17 is:
"Food that increases a person's age, intellect, strength, immunity, and brings cheerfulness and provide a stable heart which ultimately provides a stable mind should have following characteristics: it should be juicy i.e it should have five taste i.e. Sweet, Salty , bitter,pungent i.e. chili, Sour i.e. something like imli, it should be lubricious i.e. it should have animal fat like ghee, it should reside in the body for some time (i.e. fibrous ), and it should be acceptable to the body (i.e. it should not cause nausea, bloating, depression, maniac or make you feel shaky etc) & this type of food are preferred by person who are Satvik (i.e. a True Gentleman).”
It doesn't say that you should be eating vegetarian or nonvegetarian food, infact it just says that food should make you feel better both mentally as well as physically.
Unfortunately in todays modern world we have forgotten the basics, I will give you simple eg: Suppose I ask you why we add oil while cooking food, I bet most of the people never even think about this , I asked this similar question to few qualified engineers, unfortunately they were not aware and they have never thought about it, even the ladies are not aware about it, and they actually think that oil is just for taste :).
Similarly Ghee ( clarified butter) used to be very important part of Indian diet but now citing various health reason it has very limited application in Indian food, today people started to avoid it b'coz of health studies published in various science journal regarding the negative effect of use of Ghee, but Ghee was a very important source of animal fat in Indian diet, though westerners eat primarily non veg food Indian has a typical vegan meal, animal fat is one of the requirement of our digestion system just as our digestion system requires water, salt and sweetness.
It was also a custom in Indian delicacy to serve a sweet after the meal, as in china they use to serve sweet green tea, this was b'coz sweetness help in digestion as fat help in digestion in fact we require a combination of taste, fat and fiber to aid our digestion or say for smooth functioning of our body as well as our digestive system, everything that is available in nature which is eatable in bulk quantity is sweet in nature, has it own fat as well as fiber, the meat of animal has it own taste it is sweet in nature, has it own fat and fiber. You will not find any food which is sour, chili or bitter or very salty available in nature on its own, and we can't fill our stomach on green chilies or bitter gourd, f we do than we certainly will become ill pretty soon.
A famous cook wrote on her website that she has prepared some oil free recipe and have tested it on herself and is completely safe for consumption. My Dear friend the famous cook might have really tested the food on herself but it must have been only once in a while that's why she couldn't feel the ill effect of such a diet, a person require oil in his/her diet. Cooking oil or Ghee does not only provides you some of the essential nutrients, but it also is responsible for the combustion of your food in your stomach, i.e. it is responsible for other nutrients to be absorbed by your body, it is also important for your gut movement as they provide the necessary lubrication but nothing in excess is good for anyone, here again the key is "Yog" i.e. right balanced approach. When you will eat right you will feel good not only physically but as well as mentally.
This lack of scientific knowledge regarding food preparation shows the flaw in our education system which not even teaches us even about the most important perspective of our live i.e. about the Science of Cooking. Om :)
