A healthy lunch bowl or gourmet food? Cloud kitchens in Coimbatore offer a diverse menu

From Japanese chicken katsu sando and vegetarian sushi to Italian thin crust pizzas and Mexican quesadillas, cloud kitchens in Coimbatore offer a diverse menu

Good health, in a bowl

Incredibowl

Sundaresan Layout, Trichy Road

How do you put together a healthy lunch bowl under 500 calories? “Simple. Curate a menu where fresh vegetables and fruits make up 50 per cent, followed by protein food from pulses or chicken while the remaining 20 per cent is carbs,”explains Yegammai Annamalai, founder of Incredibowl, a cloud kitchen that delivers healthy lunch bowls across the city. My lunch bowl arrives loaded with soft whole wheat tacos, a bowl of chilli lime mushrooms, and a helping of shredded yellow and red bell peppers. I toss the vegetables in cilantro lime sauce, and salsa, assemble my tacos and enjoy a fulfilling lunch. Along with the accompanying watermelon salad tossed in tajin seasoning, and a zero-sugar tropical smoothie, a combination of mango and a passion fruit, I achieve my 500-calorie low carb lunch. A non-vegetarian bowl with chicken steak kebab, red pepper sauce and grilled vegetables offers the same calorie count.

Yegammai who is from Karikudi, moved to Coimbatore early on and initially catered to private parties. “ The healthy lunchbwol concept started when my friend wanted to go on a salad diet to lose weight. She posted photos of my lunch bowl on Facebook, I got flooded with enquiries and here we are,” explains Yegammai who experimented all possible fruit and vegetable combinations and arrived at a template on what fruits works well with a particular vegetable and so on. While she sources vegetables from Udhagamandalam, the mulberries, asparagaus, jalapeno, zuccini flowers ( which she uses to make a filling with with grated paneer for a baked dish), edamame beans (for kimchi and Japanese fried rice), and assorted edible flowers like sangu poo come from places like Bengaluru and Chennai. “ Whatever new ingredients I can lay my hands on I try and innovate a healthy combo,” says Yegammai.

A new menu runs from Monday to Saturday every week. “From salads like apple with smoked cheese, we also tried barbecue salad with barbecued chickpeas for protein, and cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, rainbow carrots, and cabbage made as coleslaw in healthy ranch made with greek yoghurt, garlic powder, chives, and fresh cream and a dash of jaggery, honey or brown sugar for sweetness.” She also experimented with beet burger, where beet juice infused bun takes on a pink colour and is sandwiched with a sweet potato and vegetables patty, and served with a side of tossed brussels sprout and broccoli soup.”

Yegammai says her customers and their expectations keeps her motivated. “From Korean ramen bowl and kimchi edamame fried rice to the Japanese box that comes with rice, vegetable skewers, salads and sushi, we keep innovating. We grill or air fry, we replace brown rice with cauliflower rice and make in-house gnocchi pasta with sweet potatoes and whole wheat flour. From 10 bowls, we have progressed to 100 bowls a day in three years. The idea is to ensure a happy you after the meal.”