Stop eating these outside!

For most of us, who live away from home and don’t have a proper kitchen or can’t afford a cook, it turns out that we invariably eat most of our meals from outside, giving very little thought to how much we may be torturing our little stomach. And those lucky ones who have their moms dishing out delectable, comfort, good food everyday, still hog onto all the unhealthy stuff from roadside or those fancy joints. They would never come to know the goodness of home-cooked food until they start living in a city like Mumbai or Bangalore, where half you salary goes into eating junk and nothing substantial.

When I left home and came to Mumbai for higher studies, I had never imagined how my life would turn upside down, chiefly because of not eating properly. Only then did I realise how serious one should be in life about what one’s consuming. For the last five years in the city, I was living out of a PG, and even though I did have a kitchen, I was too lazy to cook after a tiring day at work. I ended up eating all the three meals from outside and my liver just gave up one day. While this may not be the case with a lot of you, there is one reality, which you really need to look into – the amount of money being spent on food vis-a-vis the amount of nutrition or any kind of goodness food is ought to bestow.  Whether or not the comfort of homely food is at your beck and call, here are a few things which you should try and avoid eating from outside. Instead, try making them yourselves. It wouldn’t need you to be a master chef.

1. Iced teas: Even if you have them from a moderately priced restaurant or cafe, you end up shelling out around 70 to 80 bucks. This is a humongous price that you pay if you keep in mind the ingredients and labour. Most of these places use readymade iced tea packets or those small sachets to strip your drink. Even if they use one 10 bucks sachet to make a glass full, they sell it for an exponential price to you. So my dear lazy bums, get up and pickup a few sachets from a grocery store and make your iced teas at home.

 

2.  Egg bhurji and omelette: A couple of minutes ago I was looking at a restaurant menu to order some egg bhurji and pao. It happens to be one of the cheapest places in my locality and even then, the bhurji was priced at 60 bucks. Completely ridiculous. If you make it at home, with two eggs, an onion and tomato each, some masalas, your regular cooking oil, using a gas stove, the cost will not shoot up beyond 18 bucks.

 

3. So-called exotic sandwiches: Until and unless you are having them from a roadside stall, which is not advisable for hygiene reasons, you pay somewhere around 100 to 200 bucks for one sandwich, which you think is exotic. If you closely look at whatever is being stuffed between those breads, you will realise that there is nothing that you can’t buy yourself. Considering the amount of meat or veggies, cheese, type of bread and sauces that go into your dish, the one made at home will be a much cheaper and healthier option.

 

4. Salads: A few veggies, some dressing, a few spoons of olive oil, paprika and meat and you easily shell out something between 200 – 300 bucks. It is quite nonsensical. Prep up a salad of your taste at home for less than half the price and save all that money. And you will be sure if the veggies are washed properly or not.

 

5. Golgappe: I don’t need to reiterate all those grose things your roadside pani-puri walla must be doing to the pani. Frankly, I am stilled disgusted with news of one such guy who was mixing his pee in the water. Therefore, it is better if you get the readymade puri packets from outside, boil some potatoes and mix in masalas, make the water using jaljeera or mint powder and savour at home.