- Rajma chawal is a popular North Indian dish of kidney beans and rice served together
- Fitness coach Siddhartha Singh advises balancing rajma chawal for weight loss, not stopping it
- He recommends reducing rice intake to lower carbohydrate spikes and crashes
Rajma chawal is counted among the most loved staple North Indian dishes. The mouthwatering meal consists of red kidney beans (rajma) cooked in a thick gravy of onions, tomatoes and spices, served alongside steamed rice (chawal). Considered the ultimate comfort food in many households, this high-protein vegetarian meal offers a tender, creamy, slow-cooked texture along with the alluring aroma of spices. Undoubtedly, who can say no to such a meal?
Well, if you are struggling to balance a plate of rajma chawal alongside your fitness journey, you are not alone. Acclaimed celebrity fitness coach Siddhartha Singh, known for training stars like Tamannaah Bhatia, recently addressed the common notion surrounding comfort food. Referring to the line, “Stop eating rajma chawal if you want to lose any weight”, the coach, who focuses on sustainable fat loss through habit-building rather than extreme dieting, said, “You're not going to stop just because I say. So, let's balance this plate.”
How To Eat Rajma Chawal On Your Weight-Loss Journey
He advised, “First things first, you want to decrease the amount of chawal (rice) you are having. All this chawal is going to be too much carbohydrates, which is going to give you a sudden crash, and you don't want to do that.”
“Secondly, instead of having a small bowl of rajma, we're actually going to have a big bowl of rajma because the rajma beans, legumes, have a lot of nutrients in them,” Siddhartha Singh stated. In the third step, he added some salad to the plate for better nutrition.
He further explained, “And finally, the most important aspect of this whole plate is protein, yes, Rajma has protein, but not as much as you need because you go to the gym and you also have a very hectic work schedule.” So, to keep things simple and really tasty, he adds 200 grams of Greek yoghurt, which, according to him, “completes the meal and also makes it very, very tasty.”
At the end of the video, the fitness coach emphasised that “nobody has to stop eating Rajma chawal even on their fitness theory” if they balance it well according to the body's needs.
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