From oats nachani modak to avocado kheer: Make the unique healthy sweets this Ganeshotsav

Want to enjoy sweets but conscious about your health? Mumbai chefs share easy recipes to make unique variations of your favourite sweets this festive season

It's that time of the year when all you want to do is gorge on delicious food for Ganeshotsav. However, over the the years, many people have become very health conscious about the way they consume sweets. While others may wonder what all the fuss is about, even city chefs say health matters and have been adding healthy twists to traditional sweets. 

They not only make unique varities of modaks with oats and nachani but also make laddoos with raw turmeric, dry nuts and wheat; last but not the least, they even make kheer out of avocado. 

Here are some recipes to keep you busy during this time of the year: 

Oats and Nachani modak 

Have you always loved modaks but want to eat healthy? Chef Ashutosh Balodhi from The Dukes Retreat in Lonavala says you can easily do that this Ganeshotsav by making a modak with oats, nachani, coconut and jaggery. He explains, "During festivals, the joy of food knows no bounds, but it is essential to strike a balance. As a chef, I believe in celebrating the flavours of tradition while also embracing the gift of good health. Let us savour the sweetness of life, but remember to keep our sugar intake in check with this version of the modak, ensuring that every bite remains a delightful and wholesome experience." 

Ingredients:

Preparation time: 25-30 minutes

Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Serves 4

Oats 125 gm

Nachani atta 30 gm

Grated coconut 200 gm

Jaggery 100 gm

Cardamom powder a pinch

Ghee 40 gm

Dry fruits 25 gm

Method:

1. First roast the oats in slow flame for 2-3 minutes or until it turns slightly golden brown. Remove from flame let it cool completely and make a powder.

2. For filling in same pan heat 20gm ghee, roast dry fruits, add the grated coconut, cardamom powder and jaggery, cook until golden brown and let the mixture cool.

3. Now make a tight dough with the powdered oats and nachani atta using warm water.

4. Grease a modak mould with ghee, make small balls of the dough and press it into the mould then add the filling in the center and shape.

5. Steam the modak for about 8 to 10 minutes.

6. Serve hot with melted ghee on top.

Avocado Kheer

You may have eaten all kinds of kheer over the years with all their richness, but it's often difficult to imagine one that is healthy. Chef Binod Kumar at Four Points By Sheraton in Navi Mumbai's Vashi suggests making a healthy avocado kheer during this time of the year to honour the festival while dishing out alternatives. 

Ingredients: 

Avocado pulp 50 gm

Grated coconut 60 gm

Raw rice powder 60 gm

Jaggery 40 gm

1/4 cup boiled milk 120 ml

Water 80 ml

Ghee 20 ml

Cardamom powder 5 gm

Whole cashew nuts, broken 10gm

Raisins 10 gm

Garnish with gold or silver work 

Method:

1. Soak jaggery in warm water (till immersing level) crush it well.

2. Then heat it up until it is slightly thick (no string consistency needs to be checked).Strain and keep aside.

3. Rinse rice well and soak in water for at least 30 minutes and set aside.

4. In a mixer, grind rice and coconut together with little water to a coarse paste.

5. Boil water, keep in low flame and add the coconut rice paste and let it cook in medium flame for 10 minutes.

6. Once the rice gets cooked soft and the mixture is in porridge consistency, add jaggery syrup.

7. Stir well and cook for 3 minutes, add well ripped avocado pulp and cardamom powder, and stir well.

8. Meanwhile in a tadka pan with ghee fry cashews and raisins.

9. First, add cashews once it starts to brown add raisins, let it bubble up then switch off.

10. Switch and let the payasam cool down for 10 minutes.

11. Then add milk and stir well.

12. Add ghee fried cashews and raisins, give a quick stir.

Raw Turmeric, Dry nuts and Wheat laddoo

If you don't want to make kheer from avocado, then Kumar says you can opt to make some laddoos from raw turmeric, dry nuts and wheat. 

Ingredients:

Fresh Raw turmeric 100 gm

Wheat flour 250 gm

Ghee 160 ml                  

Almonds 20 gm

Cashew nuts 20 gm

Walnuts 20 gm                               

Pistachios 20 gm

Melon seeds 50 gm

Jaggery 120 gm

Water 20 gm

Raisins 20 gm

Desiccated coconut 20 gm

Black pepper powder 10 gm

Cashew nuts for garnish 80 gm

Method:

1. Heat ghee in a pan and add grated raw turmeric. Cook until it reduces to 1/4th and the raw smell of turmeric goes off.

2. Heat a pan and dry roast the wheat flour, stair until golden colour then mix with turmeric paste 

3. Heat ghee in another pan and fry almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts, pistachios, and one by one set aside.

4. Dry roast melon seeds.

In a pan, melt jaggery in 1 tbsp water to make jaggery syrup.

5. Grind the roasted dry fruits into a coarse powder.

6. Grind the fox nuts separately and mix them into the dry fruit mixture.

7. Add the powder and raisins to the jaggery syrup and mix properly.

8. Add cooked raw turmeric mixture and mix well. Once the mixture cools slightly, add desiccated coconut, roasted melon seeds, black pepper powder and mix well.

9. Make round smooth laddoo and garnish with cashew nuts. 

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