In this age of hurried pace, high cholesterol, take away food and extra midriff lard, do you ever want to go back to childhood where weight was nary a worry, cholesterol just a difficult word and food not insecticide-laden or hormone-induced? We all do.
Don’t we all look for childhood? Call it absent-minded coincidence, but one day, I bumped into childhood. No, not by turning the clock. Walking through the aisle of a superstore, I found childhood on the grocery shelf. That stout, brown grain of rice that the khansama (cook) would make for lunch every day. Not pressure cooked. That gooey brown rice that ma would serve with a piping dollop of ghee. I grew up but that aroma lived in my soul.
It is to that aroma of fat, brown rice that I yearned to return to. Not the long-grained Basmati, but the non-Basmati brown rice – unmilled rice which is an excellent source of manganese, selenium, phosphorus, copper, magnesium, and niacin (vitamin B3). Do you know what happens when that hearty brown rice is milled and polished into white? It destroys 67 per cent of vitamin B3, 80 per cent of vitamin B1, 90 per cent of vitamin B6, half of the manganese, half of the phosphorus, 60 per cent of the iron, and all the dietary fibre and essential fatty acids. So, white rice is essentially refined starch without original nutrients.
Even in brown rice, the non-Basmati brown rice is better than the long grained ones. The basic difference lies in their Glycemic Index (GI); the latter has GI of only 8.6. How does that help? Ask Swapna Chaturvedi, dietician at New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences and she’ll rattle off all the benefits of non-Basmati brown rice. “Its low GI is an extremely healthy option for diabetics, weight watchers, colon cancer patients and heart patients. Its high fibre content keeps blood glucose levels stable and prevents hunger cravings. Its micronutrients hunger cravings. Its micronutrie make it anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory.” Pressure cook the rice. Do not throw the rice whey. Retain the starch. Throwing the whey means discarding all the water-soluble nutrients. Dietician Dr Charu Dua of Pushpanjali Crosslay Hospital, New Delhi, shatters the myth of avoiding rice carbs at night. “Non-Basmati brown rice is great dinner. It fends off hunger cravings; its low GI helps lower blood cholesterol and manage blood sugar levels.” The National Cancer Institute recommends 25gm of fibre per day and a cup of brown rice provides almost 3.5gm dietary fibre. As a kid, I knew nothing about GI and micronutrients in non Basmati brown rice. I didn’t 6 know it was good for weight watchers. All I loved was the aroma and its feel-good wholesomeness. I have re turned to childhood. To that stout-grained brown rice.
