Cooking Up A Storm With Avika Gor: How The Balika Vadhu Star Maintains Health, Loves Global Cuisines, And Eats Clean

Avika Gor of Balika Vadhu fame, who has recently worked in Bloody Ishq and Shanmukha (Telugu), is a very light eater who automatically veers towards vegetarian and healthy food. Imagine having tofu for lunch, makhanas for evening snack, and soup for dinner! No rice and rotis in her meals. Is that why she looks like a million bucks?

My dietary preference: I am a vegetarian. I love fruits and leafy vegetables.

First thing I have when I wake up: Warm water.

My breakfast is: Cucumber and guacamole. Sometimes I have idli, dosa, or poha.

For lunch I have: Tofu and veggies, and sometimes dal.

In the evenings I snack on: Makhana or chana chaat.

My dinner is: Soup or legumes.

My favourite desserts are: I don't enjoy desserts — but I love guava with chilli.

My favourite restaurants are: Anything that serves multi-cuisine fare. I love to experiment and try different cuisines.

My favourite cuisines: Thai, Mexican, Lebanese, Chinese, and of course Indian — especially Gujarati. In Thai, my favourite is Thai green curry and sticky rice. In Mexican, I love nachos. In Lebanese, my favourite is hummus and pita bread.

In Gujarati cuisine I enjoy: Theplas, khandvi, patra, fafda, and dabeli.

My fitness regime: Weight training every day, combined with 20k steps in cardio sometimes.

My favourite food as a child: Aamras puri.

I can cook best: Aloo rasa.

A favourite dish of my mom and dad made by me: Green Thai curry.

My favourite cook in the family: My mom — she makes the best missal.

For a romantic meal: I would like to go to the beach for sure and have Maggi and tea.

Foods I consciously have: Leafy vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

Foods I consciously avoid: Dairy.

I feel guilty after having: Peri peri fries.

The weirdest food I have ever had: Celery with peanut butter.

My most favourite beverage: Guava juice with chili powder.

My fridge always has: Lemons and chilli to add flavour to almost everything, and some dark chocolate.

Food-related memories when shooting for Balika Vadhu: Every time we went for promotions, we had Rajasthani thali and enjoyed dal bati churma a lot. Apart from dal bati churma, not much else.

Tip on food to my readers: Eat clean always. Choose to eat less — it helps you feel light!

Recipe of green peas and sweet potato chaat

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil

6 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

1–2 finely chopped green chillies (or as required)

Few fresh curry leaves

Handful of boiled green peas

1 medium-sized boiled sweet potato (cubed)

Juice of 1 lemon

Method:

Lightly heat oil in a non-stick pan. Add garlic and roast it on a low flame till light golden. Add chopped green chillies and curry leaves. Sauté for a few seconds. Add green peas, sweet potato, and lime juice. Mix gently. Serve the chaat when cool. It tastes yum!