With Ganesh Chaturthi here, more people are mindful about their healthy choices and with that comes the need for healthy sweets. Soaking in the festivities, mid-day.com spoke to to Suman Agarwal, nutritionist and founder of SelfcarebySuman, and nutritionist Anupama Menon, who share easy tips to turn your sweets into healthy treats
Updated On: 2024-09-07 09:30 PM IST
Compiled by : Nascimento Pinto
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To make festive sweets for Ganesh Chaturthi healthier, the most important thing is to reduce your serving size to not more than 10-15 grams per mithai. Consider opting for desserts lower in calories.
Replace sugar
Sweets can be made healthy by using jaggery, coconut sugar, monk sugar or fresh date syrup made at home without white sugar. Swapping refined sugar with organic jaggery is beneficial because it is a natural sweetener rich in minerals. Another method is to mix coconut sugar and jaggery in a ratio of 1:1, crush and use as the sugar base for sweets.
Consume sweets with dry fruits
Opting for dry fruit-based modaks, offers a nutritious alternative since it is high in fibre. Replacing traditional Churma Modak with healthier options like Besan Laddoo or Sattu Modak, which are higher in protein and fibre and lower in calories, is another option.
Using Besan or Sattu
Increase the use of dry fruits, packed with fibre and antioxidants. Instead of using Churma, opt for Besan or Sattu, which not only adds texture but also boosts the protein and fibre content of your sweets.
Use pure ghee, and other alternatives
Add pure ghee to make sweets instead of oil. Use amaranth, ragi, millet flours instead of maida. You can also use besan and whole wheat instead of maida or white flour, dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate, and even almonds instead of cashew nuts.