Every Pure Bites article tagged snacking.
Nutrition & health
What is the red warning label on packaged food, and is it mandatory yet?
India’s food regulator has proposed a red hexagon on the front of packaged food that is high in fat, sugar or salt, and the Supreme Court has reserved its order. What is proposed, what is still undecided, and how to read the back of a pack in the meantime.
Nutrition & health
Is makhana really a superfood, and how much should I eat in a day?
Makhana is almost fat-free, mostly starch, and carries 9–15 g of protein per 100 g. One small study found roasted makhana low-glycaemic. It is a light, useful snack; it is not the protein food the packets suggest. The numbers, and how much to eat.
Smart snacking
How much salt is too much, and how much is in the namkeen I eat?
WHO and India’s dietary guidelines both set the limit at 5 g of salt a day — about a teaspoon — and nearly half of Indians are over it. How to turn the sodium on a namkeen label into grams of salt, and what a handful costs you.
Smart snacking
What can a person with diabetes eat in the evening that will not spike blood sugar?
Pulses and nuts have trial evidence behind them, though the effects are modest. Makhana has one small study. Fried namkeen and “sugar-free” biscuits have none. An honest 5 pm list for someone managing blood sugar, from a kitchen that sells fried snacks.
Smart snacking
Is air-fried food really healthier than deep-fried, or is that marketing?
Air frying uses far less oil, so the snack carries fewer calories. On acrylamide the studies disagree, and an air fryer cannot make every snack. An honest comparison from a kitchen that deep-fries.
Smart snacking
Is the palm oil in my namkeen bad for me, and how do I even tell if it is in there?
Palm oil is legal, cheap and in most packaged namkeen — the government confirmed as much in Parliament this August. Four label checks that tell you in half a minute whether your packet has it, what the fuss is actually about, and what it is not.
Smart snacking
Makhana, peanuts or roasted chana — which should I keep at my desk?
Three snacks that every Indian kitchen calls healthy, compared honestly per 28 g handful: makhana is the lightest and lowest in protein, peanuts are the most filling and most caloric, roasted chana has the best protein and fibre for its calories. Which wins depends on what you want the snack to do.
Smart snacking
How do I keep Diwali snacking from wrecking a month of eating well, without serving guests something joyless?
Diwali on 8 November means a fortnight of farsan on every table. You do not have to swap it for kale chips — you have to know which snacks are dry-roasted or steamed, which fried ones are worth their oil, and what a portion looks like. A kitchen’s honest list.
Nutrition & health
Are peanuts as healthy as almonds, or a cheap substitute?
Peanuts carry 26 g of protein per 100 g — more than any tree nut — with the healthy-fat profile the heart studies like, at a tenth of the price of almonds. The numbers, the trials, the aflatoxin rule, and why the kitchen fries in peanut oil.
Smart snacking
I don’t know whether to buy the 500 g or the 1 kg pack.
We sell in 500 g and 1 kg, and people ask which one they need. The answer depends on one number nobody has thought about: how big your evening bowl actually is.
Smart snacking
I want something to put out for guests that isn’t just another bowl of sev.
The flat, flaky half of a farsan box. What separates the four puris we make, which of them are actually coloured with vegetables, and what to put them out with.
Fresh & quality
My namkeen goes soft within a week of opening the packet.
Namkeen goes soft for one reason and it is not age. Four rules from a kitchen that packs it every day — including the one everybody gets wrong about the fridge.
Smart snacking
I want to know whether “fresh” namkeen is a real difference or just a word on a packet.
Almost every namkeen you can buy was fried weeks ago in oil that had already fried a great deal else. Here is what that changes, from someone who stands at the kadai.
Smart snacking
I only ever buy plain sev and I don’t know what the other kinds are for.
Sev is one dough and a dozen personalities. What actually changes between them, which one belongs on a chaat, and which one to keep away from guests who do not like heat.
Smart snacking
Healthy snacks still contain ingredients I don’t understand.
You do not need to understand every word on a packet. Four checks, in order, tell you most of what the packet is trying not to say.
Nutrition & health
People say besan snacks are “healthier” and I want to know whether that is true.
Besan carries real protein and fibre, which is more than most snack flours can say. Here are the numbers, and an honest account of what frying does to the picture.
Smart snacking
I eat well all day and then snack badly at 5 pm.
Most people eat well until about half past four. What happens next is a planning problem dressed up as a willpower problem — and it has a boring, effective fix.