As an expression of the company’s commitment to healthy eating and sustainable diets, We The Chefs has launched its third facilitation kitchen vertical, Nom Bowl Co., after Moshio (Pan-Asian Dining) and Biryani Talks.
The launch coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi red-flagging obesity as a national health challenge and a major cause of non-communicable diseases in a recent ‘Mann Ki Baat’ address to the nation.
The Prime Minister, to quote a Press Information Bureau (PIB) media release, emphasised the need for nationwide awareness and collective action to reduce obesity, particularly through a conscious effort to lower edible oil consumption.
That is exactly what the low-calorie, plant-forward nom bowls from We The Chefs have been designed to do. And our first customers, 90 employees of a major Swedish brand, gave us a hearty thumbs up for the bowls that they had ordered for a corporate event – they quelled their hunger pangs without making them binge on food that could avoid for their own good.
“According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21), 24% of women and 23% of men in India are either overweight or obese. This is a serious cause of concern requiring concerted nationwide remedial action not only by the government, but by every socially conscious citizen and business enterprise,” We The Chefs Founder-CEO Vishal Sinha said, explaining the thought behind Nom Bowl Co.
Worldwide, it is estimated that the proportion of overweight and obese men and women would cross the alarming 50% level by the year 2050.
Apart from being a price we pay for physical inactivity and a sedentary lifestyle, obesity is the result of four wrong dietary choices we make daily (inappropriate choices that We The Chefs has been actively speaking up against since our launch 30 months ago). These are: high-calorie, low-nutrient diets (which home chefs, being mothers first, are against in principle); easy access to processed foods (which freshly home-cooked food, which we provide daily, is not); the growing culture of eating out (We The Chefs is all for ‘eating in’); and the use of genetically modified crops (an absolute no-no at We The Chefs).
Click here to order the nom bowl of your choice via Zomato or Swiggy
Nom Bowl Co. has a tempting menu comprising 25 meals in a bowl – Mediterranean, Mexican, Pan Asian and Indian. Their calorie counts range from 340 to 780 kcal, their price, from Rs 299 to Rs 495. Each one of them is loaded with vegetables; the grains used are either quinoa or black rice, or burnt garlic brown rice. The accompanying soft beverage, too, is either buttermilk or lemonade or iced tea – no colas please!
And just in case you are wondering if the bowls are boring and tasteless, check out the accompanying tamarind sauce, or the tzatziki, or the gochujang, and you’ll see for yourself that healthy doesn’t mean inedible. The sauces, as they say, are finger-licking good.
Even when we put together Indian bowls, we make sure that each portion of Dal Makhni, Kadhai Chicken (or Paneer) or Chicken Tikka is balanced with a fresh salad. Care has been taken even to make the Butter Chicken light – we use whipped yoghurt instead of full cream (as called for by the standard recipe) and the lighter white butter.
If you do not wish to go Indian – alternative options range from the Mediterranean Chickpea Veg Bowl (a truly Spartan offering!) to the umami-packed Soy Garlic Tofu & Bokchoy Meal, from the Bibimbap Cottage Cheese Bowl to Steamed Fish drizzled with Lemon Butter Sauce. The beauty of the selection is that you can never get tired of ordering from it.
You can even seriously consider going on a Nom Bowl diet – digging wholesome meals, not compromising on the taste factor, and yet keeping your calorie intake well within prescribed limits. And corporates can consider setting apart a day of each month for a Nom Bowl Detox, starting with a mass basic yoga session and ending with a Nom Bowl lunch.
For We The Chefs, satisfying your taste buds is as important as keeping you healthy, which is exactly what a mother wants for her children – our home chefs are mothers after all. It is they who have worked out the combinations, tested and tasted them, and handed over the recipes to our facilitation kitchen for large-scale production. Yes, healthy can be tasty too!