I Am Realising The Benefits of Yoga and Follow Iyengar Yog: Juhi Chawla

Juhi's Diet Routine:
I am a vegetarian but we do eat eggs as well. I take three proper meals a day, lots of vegetables and juices. I avoid oily food.

I begin my day with:
A big bottle of water or lime juice with honey.

My breakfast is:
Eggs and brown bread toast/oatmeal porridge/idli sambar and a glass of fresh fruit juice or a cup of tea.

My lunch and dinner is:
Veggies, lentils and rotis with soup and salad sometimes. I avoid white rice. I eat brown or red unpolished rice. Our cook makes rotis of jowar, bajra or nachni alternately apart from wheat.

My dinner is:
The same as lunch.

My fitness regimen:
I am realising the benefits of yoga and follow Iyengar yoga. I have also started a half hour brisk walk on the treadmill when I have time. I learnt music, so it's a meditative exercise for me.

I am allergic to: Gymming! But I do hit the treadmill thrice a week. I also go for brisk walks.

Beauty regime:
I take off my make-up with Johnson baby oil. I've got an oily scalp. So, I shampoo and condition my hair frequently. Every month, I get my face clean-up to get rid of blackheads and whiteheads. I also enjoy going to spas, I pamper myself with a good body and hair massage, manicure and pedicure treatment.

Juhi's Thought for Food

My childhood memory of food: Mango milkshakes with cubes of ice on hot summer afternoons in Delhi, playing board games with my cousins, laughing, fighting and having fun.

I am not too fond off: Japanese cuisine. I find it smelling fishy.

When I am shooting: I try to carry dry fruits like kaju, raisins, pista for hunger pangs in between meals, but I forget and end up eating something useless instead.

In the evenings: I ask for a fruit or juice. I am tempted to eat a toasted snack so I have to control my urges!

In my fridge you will always find: Lots of veggies, yogurt, jams and vanilla ice cream. It's simple and nice to serve vanilla ice cream with freshly cut fruit like grapes, oranges or mango as dessert.

My Sunday lunch is: Masala dosa with a nice glass of cold chhaas.

My best dining friends: are Shabnam and Vinita. We stuff ourselves silly with Thai food. Another food buddy is my husband, Jai. When we go to a restaurant, he always ends up ordering the nicest dishes on the menu. If I am stuck about making a choice, I follow him or else I end up eating half of what is on his plate.

My comfort food: A piece of dark chocolate, almond chocolate or a brownie.

My favourite food is: Paneer Shashlik.

My favourite restaurants: In Mumbai my favourites are India Jones, Thai Pavillion and San Qi. In Delhi, its Bukhara at the Maurya. Abroad, it's Nobu in London.

My favourite beverage: Coconut water or pineapple juice.

My favourite dessert: I am not a big dessert person, but I do enjoy a well made tiramisu or a block of dark chocolate cake or a warm brownie with vanilla ice cream on the side. Maybe, even a nice hot gulab jamun, rasgulla or rasmalai.

My favourite fruits: Mangoes and grapes.

I can't resist buying: When we are abroad I pick up boxes of a cereal called Country Crisps. It's yummy and has bits of real strawberries. I also pick up juices, jams, cheese spreads and whole-wheat brown breads.

I feel guilty: After a big hearty meal at a restaurant. So I order green tea to wash away the fat and my sins!

My idea of a romantic meal: God, I am too old for this romantic nonsense!

Juhi's Favourite Recipe
Paneer Shashlik

Ingredients
250 gms cubed paneer
2 onions,
sliced1 capsicum,
sliced1/2 cup tomato puree
2 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup fresh cream or lightly beaten malai
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp sugar,
optionalRed chilli powder (as per taste)
Salt to taste

Method
Heat ghee in a pan, add onions and capsicum. Cook for two minutes. Then add tomato puree, fresh cream, salt, garam masala and red chilli powder. Cook for a minute. Add paneer cubes to the masala. Mix gently. Add sugar if you want a sweet and sour taste. Cook again for two minutes. Serve hot.

Actress Chitrangada Singh Can Eat Anything

I am: A non-vegetarian. I love mutton biryani and malai tikka. In seafood, I only like prawns.

My Diet Regime:

I begin my day:

With 10 to 12 almonds soaked overnight with a glass of fruit juice.

My breakfast is:

Two boiled eggs or an omelette sandwich with cold coffee.

My lunch is:

When I am shooting, I eat unit food. I tell them for sada dal without oil. I have it with roti and curd. I love curd.

In the evenings:

I munch on a fruit or digestive biscuits and drink cold coffee.

My dinner:

Is light. A bowl of soup, fish or grilled chicken or a bowl of dal.

I am fond of desserts: I like rasgullas, they are light.

I am a North Indian:

And like sarson ka saag and makai di roti. I have just acquired a taste for it because in my growing years, I hated it as I found it kadwa. I am also fond of lassi.

My Fitness Regimen:

I work out four times a week. I play golf and swim at times. At the gym, I cycle for half an hour and then do weights and free hand exercises.

Other Food Favourites:

My favourite restaurants:

Thai Ban in Mumbai. In Delhi, I like Bukhara and Baan Thai. In Singapore, the ambience at Esmirada is lovely. In Paris, little restaurants run by families, leave you with a warm feeling.

My favourite dining friends:

Chitra, my brother's wife. Otherwise, it's my husband and my family.

I can cook:

Excellent pastas and salads.

My favourite cook in the family is:

My mom. She makes lovely palak and dal.

One thing I can't resist buying: Fruits.

My childhood memory of food:

My mom would make awesome nankhatais. When she did, the whole house would be filled with its aroma.

My fridge always has:

Milk, curd and meetha. In sweets, there should be chocolates and patisa.

My idea of a romantic meal:

Would be on a yacht on the Nile. A beautiful sunset, perfect wine, nice weather would be good. The meal should have no garlic, onions and fish.

Chitrangada's favourite recipe: Spaghetti Arrabiata

Ingredients

1 packet spaghetti

2 tbsp garlic paste

6 big tomatoes

10-15 basil leaves

2 to 3 tbsp olive oil

100 gms fresh cream

1 bunch spring onions (finely chopped)

Salt to taste

Tabasco sauce

oregano and paprika, as per taste

Method

Boil spaghetti till al dente. Boil tomatoes till the skin starts peeling. Cool and remove the skin. Finely chop them. Lightly heat oil in a pan. Add garlic and sauté till soft. Add the tomatoes. When they are half cooked, add spring onions. Cook on a low flame till thick. Stir at regular intervals. Add salt. Mix well. Tear basil leaves and add to the sauce. Mix well. Remove from gas. Add cream. Add the spaghetti, tabasco sauce, oregano and paprika. Mix well. Serve hot with garlic bread.