Low effort, feels almost healthy!

Low effort, feels almost healthy!

I decided to make a chunky vegetable soup for lunch, the kind that fills you up, but does not swish like waves in your stomach, forcing you to lie in a horizontal position with your mind lost in vague dreams the whole afternoon.

The only occupants of the fridge - corn, carrots and tomatoes, stared back at me. Fortunately, an easy soup, it did not require several varied steps or processes. What it however, involved, was peeling, washing, chopping, sauteing the vegetables and aromatics. It was a long time before I could add the spices, water and let it cook. My hands went in autopilot mode, but the mind wandered.

What if one does not feel like going on a culinary adventure, has no sous-chef to prep or wants a quick-fix solution? Naturally, my mind turned to instant soups.

Yes, I have tried a few different brands and have my favourites. But no, I am not naming them unless they pay me. And my greater joy is in sharing my new-found gyan about these mass-produced 42 gms to 65 gms powdered wonders, with you.

So far, I was only familiar with big brands Maggi, Knorr, Cheng’s Secret, or Bambino. But soon ones I had never heard of, surfaced on the screen, showing a large variety of flavours and types, urging me to “Add to bag/cart”. In the end I felt at least one per cent smarter than before I had opened the more-than-a-dozen tabs, clicked them to and fro, to gain information.

• Saffola: 
• Atlantis: 
• NutraSphere: 
• Kwality
•  Simplify Foods
• Agri Club
•  Lasky herbal
• Amma Samayal
• Treatvit Millets And Oats Soups
• Outlive Soups

The imortant point is that these are all dry mixes. I could not find any canned soups like those available in other countries. Any canned soup being sold in India, seem to be imported and are prohibitively expensive.

None of these is easily available in India

Meanwhile, the cheering factor was that all the brands claimed their soups were:

·      Convenient meal option
·      Tasty and flavourful
·       Healthy
·       Rich in nutrients
·       Low calories
·       Made with real ingredients

Some of them went as far as to add that they improved

·      Digestion
·       Weight management,
·       Were suitable for various diets or intermittent fasting

Now, what do you do with a soup mix?

Cut open a packet, dump the contents into boiling water (mostly 600 ml), keep stirring for three minutes so that no lumps are left, simmer, and voila, it is ready. No fuss, no effort, only one saucepan needed. Anyone who can boil an egg, can make it.

The cup-a soup are one-cup portions. You put the contents in a cup/mug, add near-boiling water, stir well, drink.

What does the list of main ingredients on the packet say:

• dehydrated vegetables, or chicken,
• onion, garlic powders,
• hydrolised vegetable protein, vegetable fat powder,
• salt, pepper with perhaps other spices,
• thickening agents like refined flour, guar or xanthan gum and anti-caking agents.
• flavour enhancers
• and of course, preservatives.
• Some soup mixes may have milk solids and sugar.

As is the case with all other processed foods, instant soups too have their critics. Their arguments are that they

·        Are packed with salt.

Salt serves as a taste enhancer and a preservative, but excess sodium can cause problems like high blood pressure and damage kidneys. 

·        They are loaded with preservatives.

While consuming excess salt, sugar, fat powders, gums or starch can prove harmful, these (the labels I read) have disodium guanylate (627), disodium inosinate (E631), generally added alongside monosodium glutamate (MSG) as preservatives.  

·        They may cause indigestion.

These are said to sit in the stomach for longer time than their fresh counterparts and might cause abdominal discomfort, e.g., pain, gas or bloating.

They are processed.

The chemical processing of ingredients to get the texture and taste robs them of most of their nutritive benefits.

·        That also means they have empty calories. 

     They contain cornstarch.

·    Some people are quick to point out that they contain cornstarch as a thickener, often blamed for jacking up blood sugar and weight.

The environmentalists have their point too. They say these one-time disposable packets add to the already accumulating landfills, contributing to the environmental hazard.

If any of these issues nags my conscience, I use them as a base and add fresh vegetables, mushroom, boiled chicken pieces and noodles to make them healthier or more filling, depending on the need. One can also use soup mix to improve the taste or as a seasoning for pasta, stir-fry or sauteed vegetables.

In most weddings and big catered parties, the caterers have bought giant packs of these soup powders from wholesalers to force-feed their wallets. You pick up the soup bowl and scan for half a teaspoonful of miniscule bits of vegetables suspended in a thick, starchy slurry. Guests, including some health-conscious ones, spoon it down believing that they have ticked off the healthy item on the menu and can guiltlessly polish off paneer and chicken masala with no damage to their calorie count for the day.

Tomato soup, the red-hued suspension, is mentally stronger, and feels legally permitted to present itself in any texture, viscosity, or acidity level.

If your goal is health at speed, you can make your own soup mix at home with dried vegetables, seeds, herbs, spices, but I’d rather open a packet and be done with it.

Because let me be honest, we Indians happily chomp down bhature, mathri, samosas, cookies, barfi, laddoos, jalebis besides pizzas and burgers, at least two hundred of varieties of achar (pickle) and overboiled tea without any public apology. So, I’d not waste my breath blaming sugar, salt, oil, refined flour as poisons for my body. And it is not as if I am having instant soup as a part of my daily diet.

Besides, who among us buys the latest clothes, diamonds, gadgets, or even cars, because they are good for our body?

                                                                                                -Anupama S Mani