Making your food look appealing is as important as making it nourishing and flavourful. There are many ways to do that- sprinkling some condiment/dried herb/cheese on top as in case of street foods like dahi bhalla and chaat or Italian foods like pasta and pizza; using whole spices and seeds while making the tempering like Biryani looks so tempting with cloves, cardamom and cinnamon and just plain aloo sabzi turns perfect with little use of cumin seeds and black mustard seeds. Another very easy and natural way to make your food appealing is by adding colour. Yes, you can actually turn into an artist and use colours, let us correct ourselves, "natural colours" extracted from ingredients you can eat as well. Let's not waste any more of our time and talk about how you can turn into Picasso while cooking.
1. Turmeric
Turmeric is a yellow-coloured spice used extensively in Indian cooking. It has an active compound called curcumin, which is known for its multiple health benefits. It has anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. Curcumin is packed with anti-oxidants, which protects the body from free radicals. Apart from that, it also helps in boosting immunity, protecting the heart and improving memory. Turmeric naturally adds a gorgeous yellow colour to whatever it is added to. Mostly, it is used while making sabzis, curries, pulao and haldi milk, but occassionally and in some households, you can also add turmeric to make meethe chawal (sweetened rice).
Shop for organic turmeric powder from Tassyam.
2. Beetroot
Beetroot has the most beautiful natural colour. Period. The colour can vary from a dark pink to red, which lightens little on baking or cooking leaving a gorgeous and tempting end product. Beetroots are high in nutrition and low in calories, keep the blood pressure in check, reduce inflammation, improve digestive health and balances energy intake in the body. You can add beetroot in almost everything from roti, parathas, breads to falafel, hummus, burger patty, soups and smoothies. You can either use fresh beetroot to add colour to your food or use Tassyam Beetroot Powder which 100% natural and gives the same benefits and nutrition as the fresh one.
3. Spinach
Spinach is a green leafy vegetable available in abundance during winters in India. It is loaded with nutrients and anti-oxidants. Spinach is highly recommended to be a part of one's diet because it is rich in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K1, Folic acid, iron and calcium. It also has several plant compounds which is related to several health benefits like maintaining good eye health, reducing inflammation and preventing infections.
The most easy and popular way to consume spinach is by making palak paneer. You get the nutrition of both paneer and spinach in one recipe, but at the same time, the colour is stunning. Apart from this, you can make soups, salads, smoothies, juices, paratha, poori and pakore with spinach to get the best green colour.
4. Saffron
Saffron, as we all know, is the most expensive spice in the world. Well the price is worth all the benefits that come with it. It is rich in anti-oxidants, uplifts mood, provides relief from menstrual symptoms, may reduce appetite and help in weight loss. Tassyam Saffron has a very subtle taste and aroma and blends really well with savoury and sweet dishes. It gives a beautiful yellow-orange hue to any dish it is added to. But, the most common usage of saffron is while making kheer, shrikhand and biryani. Saffron strands are added to hot water or milk and allowed to bloom for 5-10 minutes for the flavour and color to enhance.
5. Matcha
Matcha is finely ground powder of a specially grown green tea, very popular in East Asia. This green coloured green tea can be enjoyed as tea with/without milk, in savoury dishes and also in desserts like pancakes and cakes.
Matcha has high amount of anti-oxidants which helps in stabilizing the harmful effects of free radicals. It may help in protecting the liver, boost brain function, help lose weight and promote good heart health.
Matcha can be used to make desserts like mousse cakes, brownies, fudge, pound cake, cheesecake, cupcakes and so much more. The green colour of matcha can be incorporated in spaghetti, soup, salad, hummus and eggs.
6. Berries
Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry and gooseberry- apart from being highly nutritious and tasty, the variety of berries we get in India have beautiful colour to impart to foods especially desserts.
Check out this article to know of 6 interesting ways to eat strawberries.
Berries are amongst the healthiest foods in the world. They are high in anti-oxidants, help improve blood sugar levels, have high fiber content, reduce inflammation and may improve skin quality. You can make the best use of the colour of berries in smoothies, ice-creams, salads, pound cakes, jams, cakes, oatmeal and compotes. Find Tassyam's Berry Mix here.
Let us know what pop of colour you like the most in your foods.