Singer Mansi Scott shares some of her food cravings with Priyanka Joshi
Tell us about your favourite restaurant in India, and abroad?
In India, it’s the Banyan Tree, Taj Village, Goa. The Thai food, ambience, service are excellent and the way they customise food to suit your taste makes it special. I am amazed at Wagamama’s menu conceptualisation. It’s a UK-based restaurant with outlets in different parts of the world. From chilli pavlova to ginger-chocolate cheese cake, its menu is diverse.
The one dish that takes you back to your childhood days?
Whenever I travelled by road to different Indian destinations with my parents on our annual, driving holidays, I experienced food on highways, in smaller towns and cities, all over India. My fondest memory, however, is of eating varieties of golguppa water, fresh pista ice-cream from Jain Sodawater Factory and samosas from Samosa Bhandaar in Ambala.
I continue to love stuffed tandoori paranthas at any dhaba in Punjab.
How do you like your food in general?
I love spicy meals. Thai food, Italian cuisine (with lots of jalapenos and paprika), Chinese, Indian-style rajma, I enjoy eating anything vegetarian with strong and spicy flavouring.
What do you usually eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner?
I like having a wide range of choice in my daily diet, too. So, for breakfast I could eat spicy scrambled eggs and brown toast one day, and muesli the next. I also enjoy cheese sandwiches, paranthas, pancakes, eggs Florentine (at Indigo, Mumbai) — anything with my morning mug of cold milk with coffee powder. For lunch, I could opt for a Thai meal with wine, or an Italian meal. Sometimes, it could be simple Indian rajma-chawal. I also eat salads. Dinner is usually a bowl of soup or grilled tofu with broccoli and a single glass of red wine.
What’s your idea of comfort food?
That would be desserts, spicy soups, sour lime with raw mango powder and salt sprinkled on fruit or salad. I also like a south Indian meal of idlis, vadais with molahapodi (gun-powder).
Are you particular about your daily diet?
Being a vegetarian, protein comes into my diet in very limited quantities. That’s a reason why I try and increase my egg-white, cottage cheese and milk intake. Since I exercise regularly, I also supplement my diet with protein shakes.
I love green vegetables — just the thought of eating them makes me feel healthy. I eat a lot of broccoli, lettuce, spinach, fenugreek, bell peppers, bitter gourd, okra. I enjoy fresh fruit and try to eat them whole and not cut up.
Basically, I eat six small meals a day and though the craving for comfort food is immense on days that I’m exhausted, I try and keep a balanced diet. I feel light and healthy when I eat small and regular meals.
Your sinful indulgence in food?
Yes, I’ve spent an entire day eating only mousse at Don Giovanni, Mumbai. I’ve also indulged in a ‘just dessert’ buffet at the Jumeirah Beach Resort, Dubai.
FAVOURITE RECIPE
1 packet egg noodles
10-12 leaves lemon grass
1 cup of broccoli, carrots, cabbage, capsicum, bell peppers, red chillies, ginger, spring onions, bokchoy, all
sliced roughly
2 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
3 tbsp Olive oil
Salt to taste
Boil noodles in water and lemon grass. Once al dente, Drain and mix with olive oil. Drizzle olive oil in a pan and fry onions, lemon grass, ginger juliennes. Add the vegetables and stir fry. Add noodles, salt, and mix well. You can mix a teaspoon each of vinegar and soya sauce. Serve hot.
