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While feasting is highly encouraged during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, various sweet and savoury snacks are prepared specifically for the occasion. However, for those who find themselves following specific diets or maintain restrictions due to weight issues and cholesterol, it might feel like one is missing out on all the fun. Even if you are looking to make healthier choices, deprivation need not always be the route taken to achieve good health.
Sometimes tweaking traditional classics to make them healthier or creating innovative options of healthy-delicious food can also be something that everyone can enjoy with equal enthusiasm. Festive food in India has always been linked to identify as rich in fat and sugar, making it difficult for those with health issues to consume even in moderation. Eating being a communal experience – especially during special occasions such as these – must also be inclusive and hence, here are 6 delicious recipes to recreate at home, while also keeping health in check.
Spiced Bitter Gourd Chips
Slice bitter gourds and remove seeds. Mix gram flour and spices like cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder into a paste, with some oil before applying the bitter gourd slices with the paste. Shallow fry or bake them until crispy.
Oats-Almond Laddoos
Image Credits: My Healthy Breakfast
Packed with fibre and good fats, this sugar-free recipe is diabetic-friendly and also perfect for children to consume due to its high nutritional value. Simply dry roast rolled oats and almonds separately and grind them into a fine powder. Add cardamom powder and blend dates to form a paste. Mix everything together and roll into laddoos.
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Ragi Halwa
Roast ragi flour in ghee until it turns aromatic. Add jaggery, cardamom powder, and water to make a sweet syrup. Mix the syrup with roasted ragi flour until it thickens and serve it when still warm. Enjoy the fibre and mineral-rich halwa with a generous sprinkling of seed mix or crushed pistachios for some texture and crunch.
Soybean & Spinach Tikki
Image Credits: Spicy Kitchen
Boil soybean granules and add some chopped spinach to it while sautéing with some gram flour, spice powders of your choice and a little bit of grated paneer. Cool the mixture and shape into tikkis before spraying some oil over each one and air frying. Enjoy with a spicy green chutney or ketchup on the side at tea time.
Chana Chaat
Mix cooked chickpeas with chopped vegetables like tomatoes, cucumber, onions, fresh mint, boiled peanuts and dress it with a mixture of lemon juice, black salt and chaat masala. Toss well to combine and add some more crunchy masala peanuts on top before serving in individual portions with a generous sprinkling of fresh coriander. This protein-rich snack is low on calorific value but perfect to enjoy as a mid-afternoon bite or even to eat as a salad precursor to a meal.
Baked Sabudana Vada
Image Credits: OneGreenPlanet
For people with dietary restrictions choosing to observe fast during the festive period, these baked vadas made with sago are the perfect snack to munch on. Instead of deep-frying sabudana vadas, try baking them in the oven. Mix soaked sabudana with mashed potatoes, ground peanuts, green chillies and spices. Shape them into vadas and brush with a bit of ghee or oil and bake until golden brown.
