Bollywood celebs' vegan way of eating

Nearly 50 leading names from the world of Bollywood, fashion and music have shared their kitchen secrets in a book on how to keep their celebrity status intact by incorporating a delicious healthy vegan diet with no cholesterol.

Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, Om Puri, Anupam Kher, Hema Malini, Mahesh Bhatt, Sonam Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Vidya Balan are just a few who have contributed their recipes which include no animal products.

The book "The Vegan Kitchen: Bollywood Style!", published by Westland, is authored by Anuradha Sawhney.

With forewords from renowned doctors Esselstyn Caldwell and Neal Barnard and fitness expert Mickey Mehta, who explain how a nutritious vegan diet can help reverse heart disease, manage diabetes and reduce obesity, as well as promote fitness, the book is a cocktail of taste, glamour and health in truly vegan style.
 

It has a collection of healthy vegan (vegetarian recipes which do not use any milk or milk products) dishes from around the world and from different parts of India.

'Bad man' Gulshan Grover gives a recipe for Brown Rice Poha.

"This is a dish that I started to eat because of my son Sanjay. He made me aware of the fact that by having poha made of brown rice flakes, I was consuming fibre which is good for health, yet not compromising on taste," he says.

Om Puri has a recipe for Palak Raita, saying, "I love palak in any form� Sometimes, if I feel like eating the raita with chappatis, I boil potatoes, break them with my hand and add them to the palak raita."

Model Yana Gupta also contributes a recipe that has palak as an ingredient- Coriander Spinach Brown Rice. "I love this dish simply because I am obsessed with palak in whatever form."

Mahesh Bhatt has this to say about his recipe of Spinach, Onion and Carrot Soup: "This is a great soup. Often I just don't feel like eating a heavy dinner and Soni makes me something light like this soup and a salad. This also goes well with light pasta and it's full of nutrition."

Dilip Kumar enjoys eating vegetarian dishes and the recipe he contributes is that of Aloo Mattar. Wife Saira Banu gives a vegan recipe of Bhavnagiri Mirchi aur Aloo.

Other recipes include Rajma (Sonakshi Sinha), Drumstick Sambar (Hema Malini), Sookha Aloo or stir fried potatoes (Sonam Kapoor), Kerala Pachadi or red pumpkin with coconut (Vidya Balan) and Kashmiri Dum Aloo (Anupam Kher).

Pickled bamboo shoot, a delicacy from Assam and a favourite of late singer-composer Bhupen Hazarika, also finds a place in the book. His long-time companion Kalpana Lajmi also has a recipe to offer - Mango Curry.