Diwali is around the corner. It is one of those celebrated festivals in India that is defined by family bonding, lights, joy, and, most importantly, mouth-watering delicacies. While the Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing, the social distancing norms in place will obviously make Diwali 2021 less extravagant in the absence of large gatherings. However, the feast will not be compromised, considering Indians love to indulge in sweets, snacks and other festival delicacies.
Following dietary guidelines, restrictions and eating healthy is incredibly challenging during this time. But mindful eating and learning a few tricks to make our favourite Diwali dishes healthy can be managed with a little planning ahead of time.
Follow the basics
Most people aren’t able to eat healthy at festivals or adhere to a diet since the main attraction is food. Here’s how you can have a healthy Diwali without dulling your taste buds and still ensuring consumption of essential nutrients such as protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants.
Sweets are a must in Diwali and you can make healthier sweets at home just by choosing the right sweetener. In fact, some sweets are a more healthy choice than others. Although jaggery and white refined sugar are not drastically different in terms of carbohydrate content, the former is rich in iron and other micronutrients that makes it a better choice to prepare kheer, payasam or ladoos.
Dry fruit chikkis are traditional Indian delicacies prepared by nuts and seeds, one of the best food groups to provide protein, healthy fats and micronutrients. Artificial sweeteners such as stevia or erythritol can also help keep you away from any form of sugar. A tiny quantity of these sweeteners can bring the desired sweetness and let you enjoy sweet delicacies without worrying. However, the most important part here is to eat everything in moderation.
Choose fruit yogurt as a sweet dish. Plain curd can also be converted into a healthy sweet delicacy by adding jaggery powder, shredded coconut, nuts and seeds. Curd and yogurt are counted as some of the healthiest foods on the planet, providing almost 5 to 10 grams of protein per 100 grams. In addition, they also contain conjugated linoleic acid that prevents weight gain.
Eating roasted dry fruits as snacks is also a good strategy to keep your sweet intake in check and keep you full longer. A teaspoon of mixed seeds containing healthful flax, pumpkin, sunflower and chia can also be a valuable addition to the dry fruit mix. People of all age groups love jaggery-based dry fruit ladoos. These are rich in nutrients and low in sugar too.
If you are not able to make sweets at home, consider buying milk sweets over fried ones. For example, Rasagolla, a renowned sweet delicacy from East India, is made from chhena or cottage cheese and is always a better choice than fried cham cham or gulab jamun. Milk-based sweets like sandesh, rasmalai, etc. contain goodness of calcium and protein.
Make a variety of fruit salads with cut whole fruits of your choice and replace sweets at times. Topping salads with scrambled paneer, chopped nuts and seeds or crunchy veggies like purple cabbage and lettuce make them power-packed with protein, fiber, micronutrients and antioxidants. Whole fruits are filling, satisfying and prevent adding extra kilos during festival times. What’s more, whole fruits can keep you energetic and help with better digestion.
Choosing healthier drinks such as salt lassi, buttermilk, lime water, fruit or cucumber-infused water over sweet lassi or high sugary shakes can also go a long way in keeping you on track during the festive season. In fact, fresh smoothies made from fruits, vegetables and yogurt are excellent choices. Fill your fridge with fresh fruits and vegetables ahead of time to prepare juices and smoothies at home.
Add exotic indigenous spices like saffron, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, black pepper to both savory and sweet delicacies to mix up your diet. Indian spices are renowned for their medicinal values and bring multiple benefits to your health.
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Some healthy Diwali recipes
Salads might sound out of place during festivals. But they can be delicious, filling and healthy. Also, they are significantly low in calories, sugar and fat. Pomegranate-paneer salad is one of the tastiest and easiest recipes to prepare. You just need pomegranate and scrambled paneer to mix in a bowl and serve cold. Add some chopped almonds, figs and pumpkin seeds to enhance the nutritional value. Soy-based tofu can also be used instead of paneer to make it protein enriched. Fresh garden salad brings the goodness of versatile and colourful vegetables to your plate. Cabbage, cherry tomato, cucumber, carrot, vinegar, salt and pepper, olive oil and vinegar is all you need to make a fresh garden salad. Mix all the ingredients, except olive oil, in a salad bowl and top it with olive oil while serving.
Oats, one of the healthiest whole grains, can be a versatile ingredient to prepare multiple delicacies. Nothing beats oats kheer. The preparation is the same as making regular kheer, except you will use steel-cut oats instead of white rice or semolina. Top this recipe with almonds, pistachios, cashews and raisins to make it delicious. For sweetness, use one teaspoon jaggery or dry dates. Oats pancakes can also be a healthy breakfast prepared by mixing oats flour, Bengal gram flour, spices and salt as per requirement. Simply make the pancake by spreading the batter on one teaspoon of ghee in the pan, and serve hot.
Ladoos can be made with mixed cereal and pulses like urad dal, moong dal, nachni flour and chopped dry fruits, raisin, jaggery along with milk and ghee. Dry roast pulses and cereals separately and make fine powder by using a mixer grinder. Roast the powder in ghee till everything mixes well. Add the milk and jaggery to the mix and stir. Let it cool and roll ladoos out of this mixture. Garnish with dry fruits and serve. These ladoos can be stored in a tight container for up to 45 days.
Have a safe and healthy Diwali by making smarter choices.
Subhasree Ray is Doctoral Scholar (Ketogenic Diet), certified diabetes educator, and a clinical and public health nutritionist. She tweets @DrSubhasree. Views are personal.
(Edited by Srinjoy Dey)