Image by Myriams-Fotos (via Pixabay)
Words by Shubhangi Dua
2020- A year of tragedies, indeed a year of solitude. On the upside, 2021 is a year of challenging individuals potential of creativity as well as self-reflection. The most awaited time of the year, Christmas and of course New Year’s Eve befalls upon us. While we are impatiently waiting for the beginning of the new decade, we are once again bound by a lockdown and unable to celebrate ordinarily unlike the previous years. Therefore, how must you make the best of the current situation no matter our locality or surroundings, whether you are alone or surrounded with loved ones, whether you are a care worker or a scientist spending all your time trying to help people and in search of a solution. So, I say, we all dedicate our holiday celebrations to those fighting for their lives and to those saving lives.
Bake cakes in honour of the healthcare workers, the victims, the survivors and to all of us who have coped through the pandemic because my friends, you have crossed the hurdles. On the other hand, I certainly would spend New Year’s in my room away from my family but with my perpetual passion for food and drinks.
A cup of Spanish hot chocolate or Baileys or hibiscus tea to be healthier, will inaugurate my New Year’s Eve. I would also layout healthier food options for myself such as ÔÇÿfruit chaatÔÇÖ wherein, you combine any number of different fruits together such as diced bananas, mangos, apples, and kiwis, then drench it with fresh lime juice and add salt, pepper and chaat masala according to taste.
For the main meal, I would make a quick and easy street style ÔÇÿPitta PocketÔÇÖ inspired by my motherÔÇÖs passion for Indian food. I usually begin by frying an onion in olive oil along with a tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste in it as well as chilies. I will also add salt according to taste and half a teaspoon of cumin powder and, ground turmeric, a spice that is known for its antioxidant properties that also promotes digestive health. Furthermore, roast vegetables like a courgette, pepper, and a few carrots with golden brown fried onion. Also, combine it with some herbs like oregano, a little bit of chilli powder as well as black pepper depending on your personal taste. On the other side of the kitchen, chop cucumber, red onions, lettuce, or spinach. Heat, toast or bake whole meal pitta pockets on the pan, in the toaster, or oven, respectively. Cut half side of the pockets and spread preferably homemade hummus inside. Thereafter, lay the roasted vegetables on the base topped with raw vegetables. You could also drizzle your choice of sauces and enclose the pitta. You have an Indo-Mediterranean inspired wholesome street style dish ready at home which can also be packed and distributed to intimately familiar or acquainted healthcare workers in your immediate environment.
As for dessert, I recommend baking a Vegan Oats Banana Chocolate Chip cake, so it is consumable by most despite personal dietary preferences. I often look up recipes online specifically on Instagram like most people, but my go-to food blogger would be Dana ShultzÔÇÖs Minimalist Baker website or Instagram. Shultz has inspired me to be creative and flexible with personal choices of ingredients while promoting cleaner, low waste, healthier recipes. Therefore, I came up with my own recipe of a Vegan Oats Banana Chocolate Chip cake. I simply substituted eggs for plain yoghurt/flaxseeds; caster sugar for organic molasses cane sugar/coconut sugar/ pitted dates; and flour for oats flour combined almond flour/millet flour.
The past year has been challenging for most us. Some of us coped by perfecting banana bread at home, others spent time with their families and board games, some worked out and most of us slept, ate, and spent our days watching tv shows and movies. ÔÇÿHopeÔÇÖ for a better tomorrow is what kept us going. So, let us all hope for a safer future but also celebrate our progress that led to today.