Tasty can’t be healthy! You think?

That’s a big myth!!

 You can indulge without hurting the nutrition aspect.

Rapid adoption of the modern lifestyle has brought about a spate of lifestyle-related diseases. We have only gained weight – and that is no good health at all. On the contrary, excess weight has long-term implications such as causing many chronic health conditions including thyroid, POCD, etc. To lose the extra weight we’ve put on, we are resort to modern ways such as following a keto diet or a vegan diet, etc.

Most of those who follow such diets, do so only to lose weight but do not enjoy it. A few do both – enjoy the food while they shed some weight, but are these diets sustainable?

If you ask me, it’s a definite NO.

In my interactions and general observation, when asked about their favorite food, I have found that most kids of this era as indeed many adults (more than 60%) cite the names western foods. In fact, to my dismay, many of these kids don’t even know the names of traditional Indian foods. Therefore, when one tries to introduce them to our Indian foods, they think its isn’t, or may not be, that tasty.

I ask of these folks to just eat as our ancestors did. Enjoy every food that nature has given us. We can mindfully create the dishes which are both healthy as well as tasty – that too, by using only ingredients that are nutritious and delicious. 

For example, Bhel Puri: It is one of the snacks that is believed to have originated from the coastal Mumbai region, and the cafes in Gujarat. It is made of puffed rice, raw vegetables, tamarind pulp or lemon (can use either of them to give the snack a tangy flavor). It is served in many variations in different regions of India.

Looking to indulge in some guilt-free snacking/eating?

You can with home-made, tasty, and healthy snacks. Here are some recipes that you can help yourself with. And, you need not be a cooking expert, or rely on someone’s help, to make them. You can make them yourself in simple steps.

1. Bhel Puri:
   You may already have had this delicacy so many times, but did you ever wonder about how good it could be for your health?
   But first, let’s see what all goes into the making of this wonderful snack.

Ingredients:

• Puffed rice – 2cups
• Chopped tomatoes – ½ cup
• Chopped onions – ½ cup
• Chopped cucumber- ½ cup
• Peanuts (roasted/unroasted) – 3tsp
• Carrot (grated) – ½ cup
• Lemon juice/tamarind pulp – 1tsp
• Chopped coriander leaves – ¼ cup
• Salt and red chillies powder (per your taste)

Preparation Method:

1. Take puffed rice in a big bowl.
2. Add to it onions, tomatoes, cucumber, grated carrot, & the peanuts.
3. Mix them properly; add salt and red chilies powder, mix the ingredients again.
4. Sprinkle lemon juice/ tamarind pulp, and again mix it,
5. Close the bowl with a lid, and shake it for 2-3 seconds.
6. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves: Your bhel puri is ready to eat now.

Wondering what could be the nutritional value of Bhel puri (1 serving, as above)?

Oh…well — it is packed with numerous nutrients such as,

1) Carbohydrates and Iron (puffed rice)

2) Good fat (omega-3 fatty acids) – [peanuts]

3) Cucumber is a rich source of soluble fiber, antioxidants, and minerals such as zinc, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, Vitamins B, C, & K 

4) Carrot is a rich source of fiber, Vitamin-A, antioxidants

5) Tomatoes are rich in Vitamin C, potassium, folate, lycopene

6) Onion rich in antioxidants. In fact, one of its pigments, quercetin, is good for fighting allergies and inflammation, and boosts immunity by reducing free-radical damage.

7) Lime: Rich source of Vitamin C, antioxidants, and electrolytes.

Eating all these vegetables in raw form gives you extra benefits – you retain more amount of nutrients than the cooked veggies. As you may already know, Vitamin C is important for iron absorption.

So, I would personally recommend you to add lemon juice to your bhel puri than tamarind juice, or you can add just few drops of both tamarind pulp and lime juice to make it more nutritious and delicious.

2) Nutritious laddu (A mixture of dried fruits, seeds, combined with healthy fat)

Ingredients:

• Almonds – 1cup
• Cashew nuts – 1cup
• Walnuts – 1cup
• Unsalted Pistachios – 1cup
• Black raisin – 2.5 cup
• Figs (cut into small pieces) – 2.5cup
• Sesame seeds – 1cup
• Flaxseeds – 1cup
• Pumpkin seeds – 1cup
• Sunflower seeds – 1cup
• Chia seeds – 1cup
• Edible gum(gondh) – 50 gm
• Poppy seeds – 50gm
• Puffed lotus seeds (phoolmakhana) – 2cups
• Bengal gram – 1cup
• Peanuts – 1cup
• Clarified butter (ghee) – 1 cup

Preparation Method:

1. Roast (lightly) all the seeds and dried fruits, one by one, by using ghee.
2. Make a coarse powder by grinding all the (roasted) ingredients adding them one after the other, and the figs and black raisins at the end (because they are sticky).
3. Put the powder in big bowl and mix properly; the raisins and figs will act as binding agents.
4. With the resultant preparation, make small balls.
5. Your nutritious laddu is ready to eat.

Benefits of nutritious laddu:

This laddu contains all the good fats along with minerals such as, zinc, selenium, magnesium, potassium, etc., all those trace elements which are vital for the proper functioning of the body.

One can have this laddu early in the morning before tea or coffee as we suggest no tea/coffee on empty stomach, or can have it as an evening snack, or when you have cravings for sweet.

Serving: One can have 2 of these laddus a day (any time of the day).

Thank you,

We’d love to hear from you about your experience of our site, as indeed any suggestions or comments that you may have. Share your thoughts with us via the comments section (given below).