Happy gut, healthy you

In her new book, a gastroenterologist and British cook explores the process of digestion and how the food we eat influences the way we feel

British cook and winner of the BBC’s MasterChef competition in 2017, Dr Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed had plans of writing a book on digestive health and happiness right from her medical student days. The lack of focus on food and nutrition in medical teaching was a source of irritation for her. “Being an avid gastronome, it bothered me. As I became a doctor, I realised that my patients wanted to talk about food and eating. This cemented my desire to write a book,” she tells us.

Her new book titled, Foodology: A Food-lover’s Guide to Digestive Health and Happiness, has come at a time when eating right is key to leading a healthy life. This is not a book about dieting in the conventional sense, nor is it a didactic manual on how to make each and every food decision in life. It is an unapologetic celebration of what she believes to be the most amazing organ of the body, that will enhance the way you cook and eat. 

Dr Saliha has drawn on latest science and her own experiences, as both a doctor and a cook, to write this book. “Quite often, we conceptualise eating ‘healthily’ and eating for ‘pleasure’ as two separate entities. I wanted to use science and my culinary prowess to bridge this gap. You can eat good food that tastes amazing and nourishes the mind and body without harming your health. Equally, once in a while, it is okay to eat indulgent food as well. It’s about finding an equilibrium that works for you,” she adds.

Miso date and dark chocolate cookies

While she is born and brought up in the UK, Dr Saliha hails from a large Kashmiri-Pakistani family. “Food was central to family life. It featured in celebration, as well as in sadness and mourning. My mother worked as a full-time doctor and still managed to put freshly cooked food on the table daily. That just shows how deeply ingrained the desire to feed her family well was. As a mother, I find myself in the same position now.”

In the book, Dr Saliha offers 50 new, simple, delicious and mostly vegetarian recipes to help everyone explore their gut health and find their own gastronomic happiness. But does she have a favourite, we ask. “It is very hard to pin down a favourite recipe because they are all close to my heart. I am particularly fond of the recipes that feature in the chapter on ‘Umami’. They are really very moreish and always leave me craving more. I love the addictive miso date and dark chocolate cookies and always have a batch at home.”

Explaining how certain foods make our mouths water, Dr Saliha says that gastronomic happiness is significant in everyone’s lives. “Food is central to 21st century life. We have to decide what to eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between each day. 

Pic Courtesy/Manjit Riyat

And this is the reason why fostering a healthy relationship with food and finding gastronomic happiness is so important. If you are harbouring negative emotions, facing food so many times is a highly stressful experience. Additionally, we know that what we eat has a huge impact on our long term health and risk of developing certain diseases, making food choices highly critical.”

So, how does the gut really work? And, how can one keep it happy? “The gut is a very complex piece of machinery. It is home to literally trillions of bugs. What we eat influences the composition of gut bugs and certain patterns of gut bugs are considered healthier than others in terms of disease prevention. We are discovering the links between the food we eat and how it influences gut bugs in a lot more detail now. It is a fascinating and evolving body of research with huge potential for the future,” she explains, adding, “All I want to say to my readers is—love food in all its magnificent shapes and forms, and cook, cook and cook some more.”

Sharif’s keema spaghetti
Serves : Four people (generously)

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 white onion, finely diced
500g lamb mince, not too lean
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 heaped teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon crushed cumin seeds
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon hot paprika
3 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 beef stock cube, dissolved in 500ml boiling water
200g carrots, diced
200g frozen peas, defrosted
350g dried spaghetti
250g potatoes (skin on), diced
Vegetable oil, to fry the potatoes
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon grated parmesan (optional)
Bottle of tomato ketchup (mandatory)

Method
Place a large non-stick saucepan over a medium heat. Add olive oil to the pan, followed by onion, allowing it to soften and take on a gentle golden hue. Add minced lamb and, using a wooden spoon, break it into smaller chunks. Crank up the heat to the highest setting and brown the mince off. You want it to release its own fat and fry off rather than stew in its own juices. Resist the temptation to keep stirring; the mince needs time to brown on each side.

When the mince looks sufficiently brown, turn the heat down to medium and add garlic, oregano, turmeric, garam masala, cumin seeds, chilli powder and paprika. You want the spices  to release their aroma but not burn, which is why turning the heat down a bit is necessary. Add the tomatoes, followed by the beef stock. Allow the mixture to simmer over a medium-low heat for around 30-45 minutes, or until most of the water has evaporated and a rich, fatty, slightly moist, spiced mince remains.

Taste the mixture and add salt; the stock cube you added previously is full of umami notes [or should I say commercial MSG] and will season the mince, so be cautious of adding too much salt at this stage. Add the carrots and peas to the mince and allow them to cook through for a further 5 minutes. The idea is that they retain their colour but lose their crunch and soften slightly. Be wary of the mixture becoming too dry and catching at this stage. Just add a few splashes of water from the kettle if things in the saucepan start looking too dry. Once prepared, remove the mince from the heat and set aside.

Boil the spaghetti in heavily salted water and according to manufacturer’s instructions, to achieve an ‘al dente’ consistency. This usually takes around 6-8 minutes. Drain the pasta, keeping a little aside. Shallow fry the potatoes in vegetable oil until the potato chunks are nice and golden. This takes approximately 5-7 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper.

Assemble the dish by tossing the pasta into the minced lamb with about half a cupful of pasta water to moisten everything. Stir really well to combine. You want every bit of the spaghetti to be coated. Tip the tumbling cascades of spiced spaghetti on to a large serving platter and top with the chunks of fried potato and, if you wish, some grated Parmesan. Serve with ketchup (this condiment is mandatory).

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