Managing food wastage is important. Some tips by Chef Kunal Kapur on how to minimise wastage and inculcate good practices in the kitchen. For more best practices and advice on healthy food habits, do check out Good Food Part-2: Inclusive Approach to Nutrition and hear what our panel of six experts shared.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:11 There is a whole lot of wastage of food on daily basis.
00:13 That happens across the world.
00:17 I would still say at home, it is far less than what
00:22 happens in the industry.
00:23 When I say in the industry, let's say hotels, restaurants,
00:26 which usually have a long menu and they stock up everything
00:29 where they may not sell or they would definitely
00:32 are not selling everything every day or even in coming days.
00:37 So there is a certain food wastage.
00:39 Also, there's a certain food wastage
00:40 that happens while we are buying the produce,
00:43 while it is getting transported to our grocery shop.
00:48 And one may think, [SPEAKING HINDI]
00:51 But [SPEAKING HINDI] we can play a small part, which
00:54 becomes a significant way, goes a longer way
00:57 to address the situation.
00:58 So let's pick up these two situations.
01:00 Let's say if I'm somebody who goes out to buy my groceries
01:05 or the [SPEAKING HINDI] comes to me and mangoes are in season.
01:08 [SPEAKING HINDI]
01:14 So the moment we do this and [SPEAKING HINDI]
01:17 and which means that there is an inadequate knowledge about how
01:21 to handle produce at your level, not at the shopkeeper's level.
01:25 [SPEAKING HINDI]
01:26 Within two to three to six hours,
01:28 wherever you press it from, they'll start deteriorating.
01:32 [SPEAKING HINDI]
01:33 And very soon, [SPEAKING HINDI]
01:42 Why?
01:43 Because he knows that people have already pressed
01:45 or it has been bruised.
01:47 [SPEAKING HINDI]
01:49 So these are the small little things.
01:50 The same applies to avocados.
01:52 We buy plums.
01:53 [SPEAKING HINDI]
01:58 We have this habit of pressing or storing it in a certain way
02:04 or using it in a certain way that it [SPEAKING HINDI]
02:07 and it becomes useless for the other person.
02:10 Now, the second part of handling the food wastage
02:13 is when it comes to you.
02:16 So the moment it comes to you in terms of whether it's
02:18 a delivery or that you've bought it, most often than not,
02:22 there are these plastic bags that--
02:26 single-use plastic that we get for fruits and veggies.
02:29 So one of the biggest problems is that we take it and keep it
02:34 as is in a refrigerator--
02:35 [SPEAKING HINDI]
02:39 Not realizing the moment you put any veggie or fruit in a bag,
02:46 whether it's a paper bag or a plastic bag, which does not
02:50 have any circulation of air, the veggies
02:52 start to deteriorate at a very high rate.
02:56 So you usually see a lot of moisture
02:58 on the inside of those poly bags.
03:00 That is because you're literally choking
03:03 the veggie or the fruit.
03:05 And that causes deterioration.
03:07 And you realize after a while [SPEAKING HINDI]
03:13 And you have to throw it.
03:14 So your wastage is not starting from the cooked food that
03:18 was neglected or burnt or dropped.
03:20 It started from the moment you started purchasing it
03:24 and started storing it.
03:25 So there is a certain way to store veggies
03:31 where your procurement now is limited in these times
03:33 because you're mostly dependent upon [SPEAKING HINDI]
03:37 And sometimes you don't give it back or whatever it is.
03:40 But your owner starts from handling the raw material.
03:46 So that is one side.
03:48 The other side is inexperience of cooking and the multiplication
03:56 factor, wherein you don't understand
04:00 or you don't have the experience enough
04:02 where you are four of you eating [SPEAKING HINDI]
04:07 Whereas [SPEAKING HINDI]
04:11 I was using 200 grams of dal for four people.
04:14 Now I'll use 400 grams.
04:17 That multiplication doesn't work in that way.
04:20 So there are these small little tips and tricks.
04:22 And my mom had taught me early on.
04:24 And she still uses that.
04:26 So she has a little [SPEAKING HINDI]
04:30 So her measurements are so accurate
04:44 that by the end of the meal, no matter how many people
04:49 are there, [SPEAKING HINDI]
04:54 So [SPEAKING HINDI]
04:57 So that also reduces the wastage.
05:01 At the same time, makes sure that you
05:03 make fresh every time.
05:04 And this is a very Indian culture
05:06 to make fresh food every time for every meal-- breakfast,
05:09 lunch, dinner, snacks.
05:11 Whereas in Western countries, you
05:13 have a very big deep freezer.
05:15 [SPEAKING HINDI]
05:17 In India, deep freezer [SPEAKING HINDI]
05:20 And that's about it.
05:21 [SPEAKING HINDI]
05:23 In the US and Western world, the deep freezer is big.
05:26 The fresh freezer is comparatively small.
05:29 Because they just stock up everything.
05:31 They don't cook fresh.
05:32 So we have this--
05:35 [SPEAKING HINDI]
05:40 So Indian food, where a lot would debate,
05:43 I would say is a very healthy food in many ways.
05:47 So I think portion control is, again, something
05:52 that we need to understand.
05:54 [SPEAKING HINDI]
05:56 Just try it out once.
06:03 [SPEAKING HINDI]
06:05 And that's how you learn.
06:10 You can also speak to your nani and moms.
06:12 They never seem to waste food.
06:14 [SPEAKING HINDI]
06:16 And the waste that is left, till date in my home,
06:25 my mom says, don't throw it in the dustbin.
06:28 [SPEAKING HINDI]
06:31 So it's a very ecological, balanced way
06:33 of dealing with wastage, where even your meals are not wasted.
06:38 [SPEAKING HINDI]
06:40 On your kitchen.
06:41 We are a very heavily neglected society, if I can say,
06:47 especially the modern ones, who does not
06:49 like to spend on kitchen.
06:51 So if you look at-- and especially if you're a single,
06:54 oh my god, your kitchen is the worst place to visit.
06:57 Buying the right equipment, because a lot of wastage
07:00 also happens because you have not invested
07:02 in the right equipment.
07:03 You have one kadhai.
07:05 [SPEAKING HINDI]
07:09 Which means that when you're cooking for one,
07:11 you are actually over-cooking the food,
07:14 or you're using more fuel and more energy.
07:18 So there is a wastage of energy.
07:19 There's a wastage of resource that is happening.
07:22 So you need to have two or three different utensils
07:24 for different number of people to cook.
07:28 And the moment you have a smaller equipment for,
07:30 let's say, if you're cooking for one person, or a single,
07:32 you will cook food faster.
07:35 You save time.
07:36 You save energy.
07:37 So there is a whole lot of investment
07:39 and re-looking into the kitchen.
07:41 So if you have a [SPEAKING HINDI]
07:43 And if you have 10 people coming, [SPEAKING HINDI]
07:46 Invest in a good mixer grinder.
07:47 [SPEAKING HINDI]
07:49 [SPEAKING HINDI]
08:06 The moment that, let's say, any of your greens,
08:08 when you grind it, if it turns a darker shade of bottle green
08:12 to anything that is darker from a bright green in your mixer
08:15 grinder, consider that food has already
08:18 lost a lot of nutrition.
08:20 So there are these small little investments
08:22 that you need to make.
08:23 There are equipments that are smart.
08:25 There are equipments that need maintenance.
08:27 You need to invest in a very good refrigeration system.
08:31 You need to have a backup for your refrigeration.
08:33 A little bit of baby proofing, where
08:35 you can make them sit in one safe place
08:38 and make them watch the process of cooking.
08:40 When they see [SPEAKING HINDI]
08:43 [SPEAKING HINDI]
08:45 Over a period of time, they realize,
08:46 hey, it takes a lot of effort.
08:48 [SPEAKING HINDI]
08:51 It takes a lot of effort.
08:52 I should not possibly waste food because I
08:56 understand the amount of--
08:57 [SPEAKING HINDI]
08:58 But you kind of build it in the kids, in white kids,
09:01 in white your family in the kitchen.
09:03 Make your kitchen a place--
09:04 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:06 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:09 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:12 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:15 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:17 The concept of eating in front of television and--
09:19 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:20 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:21 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:23 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:26 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:28 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:30 Even if you're hungry and the other person is--
09:32 [SPEAKING HINDI]
09:34 So this is also--
09:36 it's very cultural.
09:38 Unfortunately, we have lost it to modernization
09:42 as we were just discussing that.
09:44 There's a chips [INAUDIBLE] very modern.
09:46 So it's one of the elements of getting modern.
09:50 There is an advantage to it, and there is a big disadvantage.
09:54 But there is always a midway that one can find.
09:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]