The Nutritional Significance of Holi
By Nmami Agarwal 10-Mar 2020 Reading Time: 5 Mins
The Nutritional Significance of Holi- 10th march
Holi is an evening of the holy bonfire and morning of colorful balloons, gulaal, splashes of waters and the non-holi– lovers running around to hide and save themselves from the crazy holi freaks. Holi signifies colors, happiness, harmony, love, and togetherness. One of the most favourite and revered festivals of India, Holi unites people and is celebrated with utmost joy and enthusiasm.
Nutrition is vital throughout your life but during festivals, it gains major importance as those few extra calories of happiness can cause problems that might not reflect immediately.
This festival of colors adds joy to our lives and also the guilt of having calorie-loaded yummy delicacies. The vibrancy of hues of holi brings in positivity in abundance. While the festival is around the corner and you must be busy looking for healthy recipes and here we are to ease your hunt:
Baked Coconut Gujiya
The star sweet of Holi- gujiyas which are native to Rajasthan are sweet little dumplings filled with khoya and dry fruits mixture. You can bring a healthy twist by using whole wheat flour, semolina instead of refined flour for making a casing. Stuff it with nuts and add coconut sugar to make it tastier.
Method:
1.To make pockets, combine wheat flour, milk, suji, and salt. After kneading dough, prepare stuffing by combining ground dry fruits with deseeded (chopped) dates, and desiccated coconut. Make small round balls out of the dough and flatten to make small discs like shapes.
2.Put some stuffing and fill it into each disc. Seal the edges using some milk. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes. Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 12-15 minutes.
Puran Poli
A delicious and loved recipe- Puranpoli is extremely easy to make and packed with the goodness of nutrients. In Marathi language, the sweet filling is called puran and the outer bread is called poli. Everyone is found of puranpoli and can even be a great tiffin idea fro kids.
Method:
1.Drain the water from pressure cooked chana dal and mash it coarsely. In mashed dal, add coconut sugar and cardamom powder, continue stirring on low flame and let the mixture cool.
2.After kneading the dough of whole wheat and oats flour, add the filling to the dough and cook like a parantha.
Ragi Malpua
Flavors minus the guilt is the best way to describe this recipe. This famous Indian dessert is fried in ghee and dipped in sugar syrup. Malpua, a traditional recipe has delicate flavors with simple ingredients. Give it a healthy swap by using ragi, oats and whole wheat.
Method:
1.Combine ragi flour, oats, whole wheat, cardamom powder, fennel seeds and add water to make a batter. To make it pan-fried, preheat the skillet on medium heat, and grease it with ghee.
2.Pour a ladle full of batter and cook it just like a pancake. For replacing sugar syrup, use curd, saffron and jaggery powder, make a mix of them and spread on the malpua to make it sweet.
Over to you
There are few other recipes like baked kachori, apple kheer, almond kulfi or baked namak paras which you can try and serve your guests as well. Share these joyful healthy ideas with your guests and add a dose of nutrition to your Holi- special meal.
This joyful and colorful festival is a day worth rejoicing and not just another day where you are busy counting calories. Hope this festival brings a myriad of shades and tones of health and happiness in your and your loved ones’ lives.