7 Healthy, Nutritious SWEETS

 

When you hear about the word sweets, one expects loads of sugar and fatty foods. Who ever said that sweets cannot be nutritious and healthy?

There are some healthy and nutritious sweets which will not only satisfy your sugar cravings but, sure will also help you improve your health and immunity. Let’s have a look at these 7 recipes that I have in store for you

1. Date Rolls

Ingredients	Amount
Dates	1 cup
Almonds	8-10 nos
Dry ginger powder	1 tbsp
Gum (gond/ dink)	1 tsp
Cow’s Ghee	1 tbsp

The gum exudes naturally from the roots of the plant and from incisions made in the stem. This is collected and when dried forms crystals of flakes or may be formed into blocks. It is also known as gondkatira, or Tragacanth gum. It is a coolant and at the same time is rich in soluble fiber. It is easily available in where grains and dry fruits are available.

METHOD:

1. Warm ghee in a pan, once it heats up, add gum to it. Stir until it swells. Remove it out in a plate
2. In the remaining ghee in the pan, sauté the dates for a few minutes. Turn the gas off and add chopped almonds, dry ginger powder and fried gums
3. Mix it well and make rolls
4. Garnish with almond slivers
5. Serve at room temperature

P.S: You can add little cocoa powder to give it a chocolaty taste. You can also add walnuts instead of almond

BENEFITS: Dates are rich source of iron, ginger powder is anti-inflammatory and almonds are rich source of omega 3 fats, gum is good for bones.

All in all a super immunity and health booster sweet

2. Sesame Chikki or Blocks

Ingredients	Amount
Roasted Sesame seeds/ Unsalted peanuts	1 cup
Jaggery	½ cup
Oil	For greasing

METHOD:

1. Take ½ cup of jaggery pieces in a pan. On a slow flame, melt the jaggery and stir continuously. Keep stirring it until it attains hard ball like consistency (check by adding the jaggery syrup in cold water. It should harden like candy)
2. Once the hard ball consistency is achieved, add the roasted sesame seeds/ unsalted peanuts to the jaggery syrup. Mix well.
3. Get the mixture off the flame and pour the mixture on a greased platform and roll the mixture into a thin film. (Roll when hot so that it can be rolled into a thin film. Once the mixture reaches room temperature, it is difficult to roll.)
4. It will harden when it cools down and you can make small pieces of it.

P.S.:- You can use almonds/ walnuts/ dalia (Roasted unsalted gram dal)/ rajgeera (Amaranth seeds) etc.

BENEFITS: Jaggery a rich source of iron and til/sesame seed is super source of Calcium. 2 spoonfuls of sesame seeds equals calcium equal to 1 glass of milk.

Jaggery- til/ sesame seed chikki is best for women during their menses. It eases the menstrual pain.

When peanuts or other nuts are used, it serves as an excellent energy bar, without any preservatives

3. Makhana (Foxnut) Kheer

Ingredients	Amount
Makahana/ foxnut	1 cup
Low fat milk	500 ml
Cardamom powder	1 tsp
Almonds	6-8 nos
Ghee	1 tsp
Jaggery/	Approx. 3-4 tbsp
Saffron	Optional

METHOD:

1. In a pan, take a tablespoon of ghee and roast the foxnuts or Makhana. You can powder the foxnuts too if you want a thick consistency in kheer
2. In another pan, heat the milk, when it comes to a boil, add foxnuts, stir well and simmer for 5 -10 mins stirring occasionally in between on a medium flame
3. Add cardamom powder, pinch of saffron, almond slivers to the above mixture.
4. Add jaggery and stir well.
5. If you want a thick consistency, simmer for a few minutes more stirring occasionally

PS:- You can replace Foxnuts with brown rice/ grated carrot/ grated bottlegourd/ Haleem seeds/ Ragi/too.

BENEFITS:Foxnut is rich source of calcium, high in fiber, antioxidant and proteins which when had along with milk increases its nutritional value further. Almonds again is a rich source of omega 3 and fiber.

It serves as the best food for toddlers and infants in their growing age. Even for pregnant and lactating females.

4. Mango Yoghurt Candies

 

Ingredients	Amount
Low fat fresh yoghurt	1 cup
Ripe Mango puree	1 cup

METHOD:

1. In a blender, mix well the low fat fresh yoghurt and the ripe mango puree. Do not add any sugar since fruit has its natural sweetness. If need be, add stevia leaves.
2. Add this blended puree in moulds. Deep freeze it for 6-8 hours. You can add wooden sticks while unmoulding to give an ice-cream effect
3. Unmould and serve immediately
4. S.:- Choose fruits which are fresh and ripe as it is sweet and does not require sugar substitute to make the dish sweet. You can use fruits like strawberries, litchi, kiwi, blueberry, custard apple

BENEFITS: Yoghurt is great source of probiotics which maintains gut health and fights bacteria and disease producing organisms in our body. It is also great source of vitamins and minerals available from fruits. It makes for excellent ice-cream that is sugarless and low fat + no added preservatives. You wouldn’t mind giving it to your kids for sure

5. Lapsi

Ingredients	Amount
Broken wheat/Dalia/ fada	1 cup
Jaggery	1 cup
Cardamom powder	½   tsp
Almonds	6-8 nos
Ghee	2 tbsp
Raisins	Optional

METHOD:

1. Heat a tablespoon of ghee in a wide pan on medium heat; stir in the broken wheat and roast the wheat until it gets a roasted aroma and the color changes to golden orange.
2. In another pan, dissolve the jaggery in 2 cups warm water. Strain if you see any impurities/residue. Pour in the jaggery mixture and cardamom powder in the broken wheat mixture stirring continuously until well combined. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes; stirring occasionally until the wheat is cooked to tender.
3. Allow the Lapsi to rest covered for five minutes. Stir in the cashew nuts and the raisins to the above mixture and serve
4. Stir in few of the almond slivers and the raisins to the Lapsi Recipe (Gujarati Broken Wheat Pudding). Garnish with remaining almond slivers. Serve hot

P.S. You can also use oats/ coarsely ground Moong dal flour instead of broken wheat

BENEFITS: Broken wheat is rich in fiber and manganese, magnesium, phosphorus. It contains all the nutrients present in whole wheat. When had with jiggery, it serves to be a nutrient dense sweet.

6. Puran Poli

Ingredients	Amount
Whole wheat flour	1 cup
Tur dal/ Chana dal/ lentil	1 cup
Jaggery	1/2 cup
Cardamom powder	½   tsp
Nutmeg powder	¼ tsp
Ghee	1 tbsp
Oil	1 tsp
Saffron	Optional
Salt	To taste

METHOD:

1. Take a large bowl; combine wheat flour with salt, water and knead to form a firm dough mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of oil to coat the dough and knead for a couple of more minutes until smooth and firm. Cover the dough and keep it aside for 10-15 minutes
2. Cook the lentil with 1-1/2 cups of water until soft and is well cooked. You can even pressure cook the lentil for one whistle and simmer on slow flame for a few minutes more. Drain any excess water from the lentil and keep aside.
3. Heat ghee in another pan on medium heat, add the jaggery and stir until the jiggery dissolves completely. Stir in the cooked lentils, saffron, cardamom and nutmeg to the jaggery mixture until well combined.
4. Continue stirring the mixture until the lentil mixture begins to thicken and leaves the sides of the pan. Turn off the flame and let the mixture cool completely.
5. Divide the dough and Puran mixture into 6-7 equal portions. Roll out rotis with the help of dry wheat flour. Place the puran mixture into the center, bring all the edges of the rolled roti towards the center and fold over to cover the filling, thereby sealing the puran mixture completely.
6. Flatten the stuffed dough; dust over a little flour and roll gently into medium sized rotis/ circle ensuring not to put too much pressure as the puran can come out of the dough.
7. Preheat an iron skillet on medium high; place the rolled puranpoli’s onto the skillet to cook until golden brown on both sides by applying minimal of ghee over it to give it a crispier texture.
8. Repeat the above process for all the remaining dough and puran portions.

BENEFITS: Excellent cereal pulse combination providing good quality proteins. Iron from jiggery. Good satiety value since high in proteins, fiber.

7 Dry fruit Barfi

Ingredients	Amount
Seedless Dates chopped	½ cup
Dry figs chopped	½ cup
Almonds finely chopped	½   cup
Walnuts finely chopped	½   cup
Cashew+ Pistachio mixture finely chopped	¼ cup
Milk	1-2 tablespoon
Cardamom powder	A pinch
Nutmeg powder	A pinch
Ghee	½ tbsp.

METHOD:

1. In a pan, heat ghee. Roast all the dryfruits except dried figs and dates until you get roasted aroma
2. Blend the finely chopped dates and figs with 1-2 tablespoon of milk until smooth.
3. In a nonstick pan, sauté the blend paste until golden brown. Keep stirring continuously till the mixture leaves sides of the pan. In this mixture, add the roasted dry fruits and mix well.
4. Pour and layer this dry fruit barfi mixture into a greased pan and smoothen it well. Allow it to rest until the mixture is cooled completely and it firms a little
5. Cut the Dry Fruit Barfi into equal squares. Your dryfruit barfi is ready to serve. You can garnish it with almond slivers

BENEFITS: Serves as an excellent nutrition bar. High in omega 3, iron, calcium, fiber , multivitamins and minerals. Great option for all.