The festive season is around the corner, and the biggest challenge that’s going to keep you on your toes is to stay fit! It’s easy to indulge in all the tasty delights that can wind up adding to your woes with an expanding waistline – but fret not! Here are some healthy desi recipes that can keep you in top shape without compromising on taste!

1. One of the most loved savouries around Diwali is the murukku. Deep fried as a usual cooking method, it is indubitably unhealthy for the heart. Your best bet is to opt for a baked version. Mix rice flour, oil and salt and fold it with curd and water, and make a dough. Make roundels using a murukku press on a greased baking tray, and bake them in a preheated oven at 160 degrees Celsius, and flip them over after 10 minutes, and bake till they turn golden brown!

2. Try the oats burfi with a simple recipe! Mix sugar and water and boil it on a low flame, stirring throughout. Add cardamom and essence, and add some  powdered oats when there is a string consistency in the liquid on boil. Keep stirring it so that there are no lumps, and add oil while you’re stirring. Set it off the stove on a greased plate and cut it up into squares, or roll them into balls to make laddu.

 

PC: www.foodviva.com

3. If you love Bengali sweets but hold back because of the calories, try the fruit sandesh. All it needs is some milk and a banana as a core ingredient. Curdle the milk with vinegar, and draw out the whey till the paneer remains. Peel and mash up a banana and add some kewda water and honey, and make it into a dough with paneer, shaping it into bite size pieces. Flatten the delight into bite sized pieces and enjoy the sweet!

 

PC: www.allrecipes.com

4. If your idea of festive sweet delights is westernized, try the Mocha Ricotta Crème  put together with half a cup of skimmed milk ricotta crème, artificial sweeteners like Splenda (about two packets), walnut or pecan bits and mocha!

References:

http://www.blisstree.com/2012/11/13/food/healthy-diwali-recipes/#1

http://www.archanaskitchen.com/recipes/indian/snacks-and-sweets/indian-sweets-mithai-recipes