The Maggi fiasco has given many mothers a chance to replace packaged items with healthier options like oats suji dhokla, channa dal patties and rajma oats kebab. By Rupinder Kaur
The Maggi scare has created an opportunity for mothers to delve into traditional culinary nutritious, and at the same time, appetising alternatives for their kids. Interestingly, most of these dishes are wholesome and cooked using fresh raw ingredients. Take rajma oats kebab, a favourite among the Sharma family. Neelam Sharma, a 35-year-old mother of two, has come up with an innovative recipe to grab the opportunity. “This recipe has goodness of rajma and oats and it is filled with proteins and is suitable for breakfast or evening snacks. It is best for school tiffins,” she says.
Clearly, with even more products besides Maggi coming under scanner, mummies are more conscious of their family platter. Interestingly, many online portals are conducting competitions for new recipes as replacement to noodles. The only rules to follow are that the dishes should be healthy and not take more than 10 minutes to prepare. Dishes like oats suji dhokla, channa dal patties and ice cream kebab are replacing noodles.
Kavita Haldia, nutritionist with a private health firm and also a mother to a teen daughter, says she has avoided consumption of any kind of noodles ever since the news broke. “I have a 16-year-old daughter who has been a Maggi fan since long now. It was an almost everyday affair but till Nestle and even other brands offering similar products get the clearance, I’ve kept microwavable pop corn and munchies from Haldiram’s. I’ve always made it a point that I give her home-cooked meals for her tiffin and also whip some eggs or serve cereal for breakfast. With Kellogg’s also under the scanner now, our breakfast muesli will also be replaced with poha or upma,” she says.
She stresses on emotional counseling for minors who are habituated to noodles. She suggests, “Adults will understand but for kids, one has to get more creative. One can involve kids in baking a cake or something healthy as per their likes and preferences. The other best way is to involve them in reward exercises and other attractive deviations to wean them off the products for the time being.”
After Maggi and its rival instant noodle brands came under the scrutiny of health agencies, FSSAI blacklisted 500 more products which includes 32 products from TATA Starbucks’ coffee chain, frozen food chain Venky’s chicken products, Ranbaxy’s Revital energy tablets, et al.
Harpreet Kaur, a housewife, says we can’t stay away from the packaged food. “Maggi is out but I still keep biscuits, packs of lay’s chips and other snacks for my sons. I tried to substitute junk with fresh cream salads but as I go out to work, they go and buy themselves whatever they wish to gorge on,” she tells us.
The sale of noodles might have dipped immensely but pasta, according to a few mothers, is still a hot choice. Poonam Arora, a yoga instructor for women, tells us that she’s being holding discussions with the mothers in her classes and providing them with recipes of fun dishes. She points out, “Even after so much is being said on news channels about the nestle brand, many of the women I know would still cook pasta by the same or a different brand. It’s not because they aren’t aware of it, but these are less-fuss and easy meals.”
Traces of MSG, high level of lead, and other additives must have landed many instant food makers in soup, but a complete switch to organic foods might not be the best option. Writer Nandita Khare tells us that even though there has been a strict ban on Maggi in her house for long now since it’s made of maida, there is no escape from preservatives. “Preservatives are necessary for a products shelf life, even the organic food would perish within a day without it. It is the quantity which is being added to a packaged food item that matters,” she says.