Companion to The Grad Student’s Guide to Eating Healthy Abroad. Four tools from the video, and six meals for the days you cannot cook.
A substantial protein, some vegetables or fruit, enough rice, bread or potatoes to fuel you, and flavour you will want again tomorrow.
The plate shows proportions, not compartments. Rajma chawal is one dish and still counts. Legumes are protein and carbohydrate at once. The fourth row is breakfast. Plain yoghurt can carry far less protein than Greek yoghurt or skyr, so compare the two labels. A thin spoonful of sambar is not the protein serving a bowl of thick dal is.
Frozen and canned vegetables count. Freezing stops microbes multiplying while the food stays frozen, and protein and fibre largely remain. The test below is for fully packaged food.
Type in the numbers from the label for one serving. The test scales them to 200 kcal and lights one finger for each line the food passes.
Anything under 2 out of 5 is an occasional indulgence, not a regular meal. Preset values are typical label numbers, not a specific brand. Rinsing canned beans removes a good part of the sodium.
Compare prices per kilogram or per 100 g, count what you will eat before it spoils, and pay a little for convenience when it stops you ordering in.
Price divided by the portions that reach your plate. A half-price bag that half rots costs the same per eaten portion as a full-price bag you finish.
Package price ÷ grams of protein in the package × 20. Use drained weight for cans. This measures protein value only. Twenty grams is a comparison unit, not a meal target.
Cook extra, cool it fast in shallow containers, and freeze what you will not eat in the next day or two.
The 1–2 day fridge routine is deliberately conservative for an international audience. USDA allows 3–4 days for properly handled leftovers; UK guidance says 48 hours. The rice rule follows the UK Food Standards Agency: cool within an hour, 24 hours in the fridge at most, reheat once. Freezing and reheating do not make badly stored food safe.
Six meals that need a microwave at most. Each one has a protein, and each one gets its flavour from a condiment you already own.
Stir the poha into the curd and leave it until soft. For a sweet version, use banana and jaggery instead of chilli and salt. Oats work if the Indian shop is far.
Heat the rice as the packet says, let it cool a little, stir in the curd and salt. Pickle supplies the flavour. Roasted chana or a handful of pomegranate supplies what the rice lacks.
Half a can gives about 7 g of protein and 6 g of fibre. Rinsing removes much of the sodium. Lime and chutney do the rest.
Hummus is chickpeas, so a spoon of pickle oil or green chutney stirred in works. Cucumber and onion with chaat masala on the side. Follow the packet’s storage instructions for the tofu.
Usually the cheapest fish in the supermarket, and small fish score high on the Masala Body chart. Mash with onion, chilli and lime and it is close to a sardine masala without a stove.
Warm the chapati, spread, roll. Peanut butter brings the protein and fat, the banana the carbohydrate. Eat it on the way to the 8 am class.
If money is tight, check what food support your university offers and whether you are eligible. Pizza with friends is still allowed. What you eat regularly matters far more than any one meal.
Learning to cook, and finding a stress-free way to do it regularly, is what makes the fourth one possible for the rest of your life.