05 October,2012 01:00 AM IST | | Soma Das
In a time-starved city like ours, eating regular meals often becomes a casualty. But thanks to several dabba services, one doesn't need to stress about the mid-day meal. The latest service that has been launched in the city is Dial-A-Diet, which offers a range of healthy meals that were devised as per nutritionist Seema Poddar's guidance.
Cauliflower Carrot Peas from the Dial-A-Diet menu
Kickstarted by MBA graduates Alok Mody (28) and Rahul Agarwal (27) on September 16 this year, the service ensures people get to enjoy healthy calorie-counted meals. "We have been running Magic-O-Meal, a tiffin and catering service for several years, and we would often get requests about offering diet food that tasted good. That's why we started thisu00a0service," says Mody.
The packages are segregated into Medium Calorie (600 to 650 kcal), Low Calorie (525 to 575 kcal), and Soup n Salad (275 to 325 kcal). The meals include rice, dal, a vegetable, salad, a health drink / soup, and three multi-grain rotis and are priced at Rs 2,500, Rs 2,300 and Rs 1,900 respectively for a monthly pack of 20 meals. They also offer a 4-pack trial scheme. If you join their three-month programme you get a free dietary consultation from their in-house dietician.u00a0An Indian/Continental specialty is provided once a week and the deliveries are done by dabbawalas. The food is cooked in rice bran / olive oil and using minimum spices. They have three chefs who cook the meals, one of whom was employed at a hospital kitchen.
"It took around 6-8 months of research to zero in on what the consumers like and to focus on disposable microwave-friendly packaging. The pricing is also a bit higher but that's because some of the dishes require exotic ingredients which are expensive," adds Mody. They are also open to set up diet counters in offices,u00a0on request.
