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Healthy Diwali 2022: Savor Mindful yet Heart-content Delicacies

Creator: Karishma Abhishek
Keywords: Diwali, Deepavali, Happy Diwali, Healthy Diwali, Safe Diwali, Diwali Celebration, Diwali festival, Diwali 2022, post-COVID Diwali, Diwali sweets, Diwali foods, Diwali delicacies

by Karishma Abhishek on October 22, 2022 at 5:53 PM

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Highlights:

Diwali is just around the corner, and people are bustling with excitement to celebrate the festival of lights
However, this year (2022), it has become challenging to fight off the ill health that the festive binge of savories could offer
Experts thereby suggest replacing healthy alternatives to sweets to keep up the spirit of celebration

Diwali is almost here as folks eagerly gear up for the fiesta dive-in. This year, specifically after a long-winded grasp of the pandemic over festivities, the celebration foresees paramount enjoyment.

Diwali - 2022

Diwali is signified as the festival of lights, where people enjoy socializing, lighting diyas, and lanterns, gifting, firecrackers, sharing mouth-watering foods, and much more. This year, Diwali is celebrated with a long gloss on 24th October 2022 (Monday) with the complementary holidays of the preceding weekends, Govardhan Puja (Tuesday) and Bhai Duj (Wednesday) for many.

Delicacies and off-track binge-eating construct a noteworthy facet of the extravaganza. However, it might be challenging to fight off the harm that the festive binge could offer, especially for those suffering from diabetes, weight problems, or other heart diseases.

Healthy Tips for Healthy Diwali

So, read on for some healthy tricks and bits to relish your festivity with guilt-free, fine-fettle savors. One can easily try out these "no-sugar" delicacies at home to enjoy the celebration.

‘This year, celebrate the festival of lights - Diwali - by choosing healthy alternatives for festive delicacies.’

One may opt for assorted "Mithais" by replacing sugar and maida (as they cause body inflammation and raise the risk of chronic diseases) with high-protein and high-fiber natural alternatives (1^✔) to sweeten the delights of Diwali.

Healthy Substitutes for Delicacies

"Who can resist sweets when the festive season comes rolling around? However, the battle between sticking to your health objectives and having a little bit of enjoyment can put a dampener in your spirits. However not in the event you select the correct sweets and keep on with the fundamentals of meal planning," says Nutritionist Bhuvan Rastogi (2^✔).
Hence, trying out the following healthy substitutes this season may pitch in festive flavor to the delicacies:

Substitute sweets with a milk base as milk contains protein and fat, thereby having a reduced glycemic index (GI) (2^✔).
Opt for fiber-rich sweets like those made of besan (gram flour - highly rich in fibers), millets, or ragi (2^✔).
Adopt pure sugars (like dates or jaggery) over artificial sweeteners in sweets as the former have fructose and fiber (2^✔).

Overall, the experts believe that "moderation is the key"- consuming savories in small parts may help overcome any hostile sway of it (2^✔).

"Just manage meals around it. Sweets are mostly high in carbs and sometimes high in fat. So, make the meal a little more protein and fiber heavy to compensate." "In case you are conscious of the fundamentals, you will not have any setbacks in your health objectives this festive season," says Rastogi (2^✔).

DIY at your Home

Some of the "No-Sugar" healthy sweets are as follows:

No-Sugar Ladoo

In a pan, dry roast 50 grams of cashew nuts , almonds, and walnuts each along with 2 tablespoons of pistachios.
Now dry roast 1 tablespoon of melon seeds (until golden) and crush all the dry fruits into a coarse powder
Dry roast 1/2 cup of desiccated coconut and keep aside on a plate.
Grind 250 grams of dates (remove seeds) into a thick paste using water and cook until it changes color.
Now add crushed dry fruits, coconut powder, and raisins to it
Sprinkle some cardamom powder and make "no-sugar" ladoos to treat this Diwali

Protein Ladoo

Roast 1 cup of sesame seeds (til) on medium flame and 1/2 cup of oats separately, cool and grind them together.
Now dry roast some desiccated coconut (until it turns golden) and keep aside.
Grind 1 cup of roasted peanuts into a coarse powder and keep aside.
Grind and blend 200 grams of soft dates (seeds removed) into a thick paste and cook it on low flame until it leaves the pan.
Now combine the previous mixture (desiccated coconut, peanuts, oats, and til) with the dates' paste and sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of cardamom powder and a few saffron strands.
Make ladoos from it to savor the protein-rich sweet

Gud Mysore Pak

Strain and dry roast 1 cup of gram flour (besan) on low flame.
Add 1 cup of ghee into the besan and mix well (ensure there are no lumps).
Prepare a sweet syrup by melting 1 cup of jaggery into the water on low medium flame kadhai.
Add besan batter and ghee to this syrup and cook until the ghee is absorbed
Finally grease a plate with butter paper on it and spread the cooked besan batter
Cut it into square or rectangular shapes after 20 minutes and your Mysore Pak is ready

Khajur Pak

Heat a kadhai, and add ghee.
Saute 1/2 cup of gond (edible gum) in it on low-medium flame. Transfer (to another pan) and allow it to cool and then crush the roasted edible gum.
Meanwhile, take a crushed mixture of dry fruits (50 grams each) - cashew nuts, almonds, and pista and roast them with some ghee.
Enhance the flavor by blending them with 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds and 4 to 5 tablespoons of coconut powder and keep aside.
In a kadhai, add ghee and cook the crushed coarse powder of soft dates (500 grams and seeds removed) until it leaves the pan.
Now gradually combine all the ingredients into the cooked dates-crushed gond and dry fruits mixture.
Jazz up with 1/4 tablespoon of cardamom powder, 1/2 tablespoon of dry ginger powder, and some grated nutmeg to it.
Finally, take some ghee on butter paper (keeping it on a plate) and spread the mixture; cut it into desired shapes and enjoy the homemade khajur pak!

Immunity-Booster Ladoo

Lightly roast 1/4 cup of almonds, cinnamon seeds (2 to 3), fenugreek seeds (1 tablespoon), and oats (1 cup) together and grind them into a coarse powder.
Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee in a pan
Add pepper powder (1/2 tablespoon), ragi flour (2 cups), and the prepared oats mixture to it and cook.
Now mix 4 tablespoons of desiccated coconut to it and keep aside.
Blend 1 cup of dates (seeds removed) into a paste and cook it along with the previously prepared flour mixture.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cardamom powder into the mixture and make ladoos
You may choose to coat the ladoos with some coconut powder and savor it

Sandesh Barfi

In a grinding jar, add cut pieces of paneer (400 grams), cardamom powder, and milk powder (5 tablespoons) and make them into a soft paste.
Melt 1/2 cup of jaggery along with 1 tablespoon of ghee in a heated kadhai.
Add the paneer paste in it and cook it on low flame.
Grease a tray using some butter and spread the cooked mixture on it
Cut into desired pieces and delight with sprinkled dry fruits on it.

This Diwali swap with healthy delicacies to cherish the festival!

Wish you all a happy and healthy Diwali 2022!

References:

Diwali 2022: 6 No-Sugar Dessert Recipes For A Healthy Indulgence - (https:www.livesnews.in/diwali-2022-6-no-sugar-dessert-recipes-for-a-healthy-indulgence/)
Diwali 2022: How to decide on more healthy sweets this festive season; knowledgeable suggestions | Well being - (https:handytechspot.in/diwali-2022-how-to-decide-on-more-healthy-sweets-this-festive-season-knowledgeable-suggestions-well-being/)

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