Ganesh Chaturthi 2019: Treat your taste buds with these recipes without gaining weight

Bolo Ganapati Bappa Moraya! With Ganesh Chaturthi just around the corner, every single lane in Maharashtra is decorated with vivid varieties of flowers, artefacts and lights. We wait every year to welcome the god of wisdom with all the grandeur and shenanigans. These 11 days of Ganesh Chaturthi brings everything to life. Be it the aartis, or the dhols, everything during this festival is majestic and serene. 

Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with great fervour across India. Worshipers offer sweets like modaks and ladoos to the lord. A plate with 21 pieces of sweets is offered as a bhog. If you are someone who loves all these sweets but are guilty to indulge in them because of the calories they contain, then here are some sweet treats that you can binge on without gaining weight. 

Modak:

Love having modaks? Then switch to the healthier and traditional version of modaks. These modaks are steamed and made using three ingredients: rice flour, jaggery and coconut. It is low in calories and healthy for you. Here's how you can make it at home: 

Ingredients needed: Rice flour, Jaggery, coconut, water, ghee. 

Method: After heating the pan, fry grated coconut and jaggery together. Once cooled, add cardamom powder to them. On the other side, heat 1 cup of water with ghee, add salt and rice flour to it. Blend it well and see it to it that there are no lumps formed. Once the flour is ready, add jaggery and coconut filling to them, give them a modak shape using a mould. Steam them in a muslin cloth for about 10-15 minutes.

Puran Poli:

This dish is found in every Maharashtrian household. Made with yellow gram, coconut, jaggery, and cardamom - Puran poli is healthy and tasty. It's good for your diet, restrict the amount of ghee you pour on top of it to make it healthier. 

Ingredients: Yellow gram, turmeric, oil, coconut, jaggery and cardamom. 

Method: Add flour, water and turmeric into a bowl and prepare a dough mixture. Then add a little oil to the dough and knead. On the other side, take a pan and ghee to heat it. Add jaggery and sugar to it, once dissolved, add chana dal, coconut and cardamom and cook the mixture. This mixture is known as the Puran. Once this cools down, make small portions of it. Roll out the dough into circles and add Puran at the centre. Seal the edges by applying some ghee and place the polis into an already heated flat pan. Cook them until they turn golden brown.

Moong Dal Halwa:

This one is my personal favourite. Made with lentils, this halwa is a great source of protein. It's a dessert which is made by moong dal, sugar and dry fruits. So if you want to make it more healthy, use the alternative to white sugar and eat this dish guilt-free.

Ingredients: Moong dal, milk, almonds, saffron strands, cardamom, brown sugar (substitute for white sugar).

Method: Before making the halwa, make sure that you have soaked moong dal in water for about 3 hours. Then soak the saffron strands in warm milk and keep it aside. Take a pan and heat the ghee in it. Add moong dal paste, milk, saffron, cardamom and cook well. Then add sugar to it and mix it well until it thickens. Once it's ready, let it cool for a while before serving. 

Coconut Ladoo:

Coconut ladoos act as a great energy booster, then contain good fat, and act as a good source of glucose as well. 

Ingredients: Grated coconut, ghee, cardamom and sugar. 

Method: Mix two cups of grated coconut and milk in a pan. After mixing it well, add in the sugar. Cover over a low flame until the sugar melts. Cook it till the milk evaporates. Switch off the flame, after 20 minutes and let the mixture cool for 10 minutes. Add cardamom powder and mix well. Take small portions and make laddoos. Roll the laddoos in coconut to coat it. 

Sabudana Kheer:

Sabudana Kheer is not only healthy but is rich in carbohydrates as well. Hence, it keeps you energetic all day long. Being low in calories, it's prepared with jaggery. To make it more healthy, use soya milk or almond milk instead of normal milk. 

Ingredients: Sabudana, jaggery, milk, cardamom pods and saffron flakes. 

Method: Soak sabudana in water for 15 minutes. Boil milk and add jaggery, cardamoms and sabudana after draining its water. Then add 1 cup of water. Boil until the sabudana becomes swollen and translucent. Add the pre-soaked saffron flakes and bring it to boiling. Stir it well for a while, and then let it cool down for a few minutes. 

So, this Ganesh Chaturthi savour these amazing treats guilt-free!