Mehta has been called a "Cooking Expert" and "Nutrition Expert" in the media. She has authored more than 400 cookbooks of which 6 million copies have been sold worldwide. In 1999, she won the Best Asian Cookbook Award for her book Flavors of Indian Cooking at the World Cookbook Fair in Paris.
Other notable books include Indian Cooking With Olive Oil, Vegetarian Chinese, Zero Oil Cooking, Diabetes Delicacies, 101 Recipes for Children, and The Best of Chicken and Paneer.
Until recently, cookery shelves in Indian bookstores used to be the monopoly of Mehta along with fellow chef-cum-authors Sanjeev Kapoor and Tara Dall. In recent years they have started facing competition from regional authors.
Interviews
An interview with celebrity chef & cookbook writer Nita Mehta
Nita Mehta is an Indian celebrity chef, author, restaurateur, and media personality. She is also known for her cookbooks and cooking classes. Mehta has authored more than 400 cookbooks of which 6 million copies have been sold worldwide.
In 1999, she won the Best Asian Cookbook Award for her book Flavors of Indian Cooking at the World Cookbook Fair in Paris. Himanshu Guru of Kalinga TV web portal chatted with the celebrity chef to register her achievements and experience. Excerpts:
To enjoy anything in life, one must be healthy. I always believe in the popular saying "Health is Wealth". The right diet and disciplined eating habits go a long way. I am curious about food.
Besides, I am a keen learner and always open to ideas about food, nutrition, trends and ready to pick up knowledge from everywhere. And my education (She is an M.Sc. in Foods and Nutrition) makes it easy for me to understand food and its nutritional value.
One can't force children these days. So it is a good idea to educate them about good and bad foods. Tell them and explain to them the advantages of good food which they want to hear. like, this will make you grow tall with strong muscles or for a girl or it will make your skin glow and make you more beautiful.
Keep their taste in mind and use the food in such a way that they enjoy it. If they don't like dal, make challah or pancakes by soaking moong dal and grinding to a paste. Make kale channel Ki tiki for burgers and so on.
Chef, author, restaurateur, & media personality Nita Mehta
There is no harm in adopting western cooking practices as we want to be adventurous and experimentative. But we love our classic Indian food so don't abandon our roots completely. My suggestion is, try merging the two and take the best of both the worlds.
No ill effects of pesticides and harmful chemicals in organic foods but too expensive for the common man.
It is a good idea to soak the fruits and vegetables for 15 minutes in plenty of water and then wash instead of just washing them under running water, especially veggies like bhindi, baingan , Gobi which we do not peel. When it comes to fruits, soak grapes, cherries, etc. for longer periods since we do not peel them nor cook them.
Really overhyped. All seasonal fruits and vegetables can easily meet our body requirements. Keeping in mind the lactation period, eat healthy and a well-balanced diet. Do not be in a hurry to shed weight. Exercise and eat small meals frequently. Stress on greens, fish, nuts, and fruits.
It is not good to keep the stomach empty for too long. Hence frequent small meals are good. But remember the word 'SMALL'. Never be greedy if you like something and avoid second helpings. The secret is 'portion control'.
There is nothing wrong with white rice. But people who are fond of rice forget to eat sensibly. It is the excess quantity that you eat which makes you fat. Remember, one satori of cooked rice has the same calories as one chapati. So eat accordingly.
Just add veggies to any snack but remember to hide them, like grated carrots, cauliflower or broccoli and mix with tiki or potato rolls. Use sprouts in pulao, in paratha.
Add nuts like peanuts or almonds in snacks. If they don't eat nuts, just powder them and add. Too much sugar in tea. Eating namkeens, which are fried in margarine and other unhealthy oils like palm oil.
Surely nutrition is much in demand everywhere including medical centers, fitness centers, weight loss clinics, restaurants, food manufacturing companies.
The list is endless. But you must work hard to learn and be updated as new researches are being done so often.
When frying fish or any seafood, add 1 tbsp oil to batter to get a crisp coating. Also, make batter with club soda instead of water.
Store coconut powder in the fridge to avoid it from becoming rancid.
Extra virgin coconut oil is very good to consume. It is excellent for hair and skin too.
Before freezing fish, rub lemon juice and halide, wash it nicely. Then freeze. This removes the fishy odor.
