CONVENIENCE AND HEALTH FOODS 3 (1+2)

Lesson 7 : Pulse Based Convenience Foods

Importance and scope of pulses

Pulses and legumes form important sources of proteins in Indian diet. Both split and whole legumes are used for making curries and consumed along with rice, chapattis and puries. Besides being rich sources of proteins, pulses and legumes improve the protein quality of cereal based diet by complementing lysine, the major limiting amino acid in cereals.

Importance & scope of pulse based convenience foods:

1. There has been considerable progress both in development of convenience foods suitable for Indian palate & in their commercial production and marketing.
2. Rapid industrialization & urbanization and changes in eating habits of Indian people have lead to a demand for pulse based ready to use snack products.
3. The pulse based snack foods meet the urgent situations of offering hospitality to unexpected guests.
4. At high altitude pulses & legumes take longer time to cook, instant dhals are useful in saving time.
5. Some instant convenience foods are palatable, nutritious and acceptable by armed forces and reconstituted by mere mixing with hot water.