Then eventually, as I grew up, my preferences changed. Everything on the list from braised fish to poached eggs were on my ‘healthy’ list. As a girl, you are often told to be petite, and hence, my mindset was no different. I wanted glowing skin, luscious hair and a small waist. This, consequently, made me eat foods that I may not have had when I was a kid, simply because they didn’t look appetizing.
But now, the scenario was different. My mother, the opportunist she becomes when she wants to feed me something, knew my obsession with being ‘attractive’. This led to her feeding me fruits and foods which I wouldn’t eat normally. Curd was great for my skin and Amla (Indian gooseberry) was amazing for my hair and henceforth, I would have everything I wouldn’t otherwise have had.
One day, she tried a new trick. Since, she knew how much I hated khichdi, she told me that eating khichdi would help me lose weight. Now, if you’ve carefully researched all the diets that there are, you would know that rice isn’t the best thing to be consumed if you’re trying to lose weight. But, my mother knew that if she wanted to demolish this mind-block forever, she had to take the high road. Like all her other tricks, I eventually gave in to this one.
I decided that I will have khichdi for three days. Since there are almost no spices, plenty of vegetables and pulses, khichdi seemed like the ideal ‘healthy’ meal. The only twist my khichdi ‘detox’ had was that I didn’t stick to the same pale khichdi for three days. I tried varieties to not get bored with this Indian super food.
Day 1:
For lunch, my mother had packed moong dal khichdi. I obviously made a face but when you have a long day, you eat whatever you get. So, the inauguration of my ‘three-day-detox’ was not the happiest one, but I was hoping for a good end result.
During dinner, the variety was different. Bajra khichdi was prepared for its added benefits like protein and fiber. I have to say, this kind was filling and after a long time, I pooped for the second time in the day. I slept feeling lighter that night.
Day 2:
Since my dinner the night before was fiber rich, I freshened up pretty early in the morning. This wasn’t the case, when I ate salads and grilled chicken or fish.
On day 2, my mother packed brown rice khichdi with spinach. Another fiber rich combination and filling at the same time. Since brown rice is heavier than our white rice, the quantity was also less. Like my normal lunch, which includes roti and subzi, I didn’t feel sleepy after this one. This was another tick to be added to the list.
For dinner, the next variety prepared was the vegetable-loaded khichdi. This had plenty of vegetables and hence, was not as light as I thought it would be. Veggies like carrots, peas, potatoes, tomatoes were added along with green moong dal.
Day 3:
By this day, I was feeling lighter. My stomach was not bloated after eating food. And as they say, a healthy stomach means a healthy mind.
Since this day was the last one, I was looking forward to khichdis for the day. For lunch, I had urad dal khichdi packed with ghee and for dinner, I had sabudana khichdi with potatoes. Not once in these three days did I feel the need to munch on a snack in between my meals.
After my three day khichdi detox, I found three things I can assure you if you try the same:
1. During this process, my stomach cleared completely. Not only in the morning, but also after lunch and dinner. This definitely added to my feeling of lightness.
2. Not once did I feel the need to eat fried foods or roti or subzi. The wholesomeness of my khichdi added to this.
3. After three days, my weight reduced by 500 grams. This, I wasn’t able to achieve even after my one week of eating ‘grilled’ foods and exercise.
Bonus: The best thing about trying this desi trick is that your mothers will not scold you for doing so!
