Five good reasons why you must pack a lunch tiffin

We all took dabbas when we went to school. It was our mothers' way of ensuring that we eat some good stuff when away from home. So what has changed now? Why can't we still take a dabba from home when we go to work? You are probably shrugging as you read this, and also thinking what a weird idea… And how terribly unfashionable it'll be to tug along a tiffin from home… But at least hear out my case and then decide.

You can never ever be sure about the cleanliness of the food you order in. Ditto for most office canteens. A big chance is that it'll it be unhygienic, stale, acidity-inducing grub. Maybe not, but maybe yes. Hygiene is extremely important (we all know that) so it makes absolute sense to carry your own dabba from home.

With a dabba you can do it your way. You decide quantity and ingredients. You get free from the dabba chef's schedule of twice-weekly ghiya ke kofte, and the dal-gobhi combo, half of which you probably waste anyway.

You can curate your special nutrient requirements (advised more calcium, pack in a yoghurt or butter milk) and taste preferences (like it spicy, so be it!). Want to buff up protein? Pack in a tofu/paneer stir fry along with the rest.

You have control over time because you can eat whenever you feel like and not "have" to wait for the delivery dude, or play "telephone tag" with busy restaurants at lunch time.

And this one is really important: You get absolute control over your wallet because you without doubt get much more bang for your buck with a home-packed tiffin. Trust me, try it for a month and you'll be surprised how much cheaper it is and just how much dough you can save like this.

Tiffins smarts! It helps to begin thinking a little out of the box for the tiffin box. Why not choose the mood - fun, health, jiffy or regular - and then pack accordingly!

Fun tiffin can mean something as simple as peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (for the child in us). Maybe take cheese, sausage chunks, and pineapple pieces (pack in cocktail sticks or simple toothpicks) too, to add some spunk to the meal.

Scoring health is not tough. It is about learning eight to ten new really simple recipes which can be your new repertoire with which to create variations and manage 75 per cent of your lunch dabba (we understand 25 per cent of the times you will still eat out). Try this: Just stir fry a variety of vegetables (peppers, potatoes, onions, tomatoes...) with a sauce of choice, add finely chopped cooked meats. Stuff this stir fry into sandwiches, roll into a parantha, or pack along with steamed rice to take along a satisfying, perfectly healthy meal.

Planning a working lunch? A sandwich is a good idea. Take 2tbsp grated carrot, 1tbsp grated cabbage, 3tbsp hung curd, one boiled egg, sliced, two lettuce leaves, add salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of mustard powder. Mix in a bowl. Spread between slices of toasted brown bread and a perfect sandwich to brown bag is ready. Or you can carry your ingredients separately and make yourself a sandwich at office (Disclosure: this brilliant idea I have filched from a chef friend). Carry two-three pav from the bakery, leave some butter, mustard in the office fridge, and carry your fillings different ones every day. Cold cuts, last nights'mutton, left over potato sabzi etc. Make and eat. Simple! You can even pack along a little cheeseboard into your lunch box (cocktail sticks again), so that you don't mess your hands as you work through lunch.

Want to stick to familiar? Take a baked dish of vegetables and pasta in white sauce made the previous night with grated cheese, or chilli chicken Indian Chinese way (dry with vegetables) paired with steamed rice. A favourite for days when I just don't have anything handy are phodni chi poli (a Maharashtrian version of crumbled left over rotis, whizzed in the dry grinder for a few seconds and mixed with a tadka of mustard seeds, heeng (asafoetida) and jeera (cumin) and some finely sliced onion and green chillies). Throw in buttermilk/raita, some nuts and a fruit chaat and the meal is complete. And for other days there's the always dependable lemon rice with lots of peanuts and a pot of yoghurt. Bliss!