Mumbai, Feb 13 : Veteran star Zeenat Aman shared that there was a time when she used to feel embarrassed that she cannot cook food, but then she reminded herself that she has been putting food on the table for her family since her teens.

Zeenat took to her Instagram stories, where she dropped a string of images. The first was of the actress looking into the fridge. The other images showed what she eats in a day. The last was from the 1980s, which featured the diva doing household chores for a shoot.

For the caption, she wrote: 'A completely contrived picture of me 'cooking' was once published in a magazine in the 80s. I quite sportingly posed for it, but the truth is the most I can do in the kitchen is boil an egg for Lily. Still, food remains a great joy in my life, and serendipitously my younger one grew up to be a fabulous chef who occasionally spoils me with elaborate home cooked meals.'

She said that her mother instilled a simple credo 'eat small, eat fresh.'

Food is fuel, and long before nutritionists and dieticians and personal trainers were in vogue, my mother instilled a simple credo - eat small, eat fresh. Now it seems to be a social media trend to share what's on your plate. So here are my offerings, in obeisance to both social media culture and my ma's teachings: Mornings start with a cup of black tea and a bowl of soaked and peeled almonds.'

'For the last few years, my breakfast usually involves a smashed avocado on sourdough toast with chunks of cheddar cheese. But if I'm feeling desi flavours, I'll substitute this for a chilla or poha.'

For Zeenat, lunch is her 'heaviest meal of the day'.

'And the menu items are simple - dal, sabzi, roti and some accoutrements. In this case, I am eating a deliciously tangy khatti dal, matar aloo in hara masala, paneer tikka, and a lovely homemade tomato chutney. Evening snacks are essential, so around 5pm everyday my Man Friday Aijaz roasts me a bowl of makhana tossed in light spices. Crunchy, light' and nutritionist approved!'

Talking about the best part, she said: 'The best part of my eating day though is when I indulge my sweet tooth. I try to be careful about ingesting too much sugar, but I am certainly not going to eliminate this pleasure from my life.'

'These sinful, smooth and rich squares from Royce are a current favourite. I could demolish the box in one sitting, but I attempt to keep it to two squares at a go!

Sharing an anecdote, Zeenat revealed: 'I used to feel embarrassed that I can't cook food, but then I reminded myself that I've been putting food on the table for my family since my teens! That's something too right? Now it's your turn to tell me a little about your favourite healthy treats or delivery services! Oh! And swipe to the last image to see the 80s 'cooking' picture I refer to at the beginning of this caption.'

/IANS