Are You Afraid of Putting on a Few Pounds This Diwali? Fret Not, Try These Healthy Alternatives to Indulge in the Sweetness of Diwali without Consuming All That Sugar!

Diwali, the biggest festival of India is eagerly awaited by millions, as this festival of lights is the time of year when most of the people plan their big purchases including gold, jewellery, vehicles, property, clothes, and household articles, etc. Diwali gives a big boost to the economy and millions of small and medium enterprises and workers get work due to this festival. Many people get their homes painted, whitewashed, host housewarming parties, and often the house renovation work is also done before Diwali.

But other than the financial aspect, Diwali is also an occasion to strengthen the social bonds. Gifting clothes, utensils, decorative items, and sweets to near and dear ones is considered as an important ritual of Diwali. People visit their relatives, friends, neighbours, and well-wishers with sweets and gifts and are often showered back with return gifts.

Diwali and Sweets can’t be separated, as Diwali celebrations are incomplete without packs of various sweets. People of all the age groups have a liking for sweets and desserts and everyone likes to indulge and use this opportunity to relish their taste buds with yummy sweets. Some families prefer homemade sweets while most of them purchase it from the sweetshops owing to lack of time.

The demand for milk and milk related products reach an all time high before Diwali and many fraudsters use this opportunity to sell fake and impure milk and sweets, etc. Moreover, many of us want to celebrate Diwali and enjoy the sweets as well but are apprehensive about excess of calories, sugar, and cholesterol, etc. To solve this problem, we have selected a few healthy Diwali Sweets Recipes that can be easily prepared at home and you can enjoy your Diwali without the fear of eating unhealthy or unhygienic sweets.

These ladoos are a delight for people suffering from diabetes, as these healthy Diwali sweets are sugar-free and packed with the goodness of flax seeds and dry fruits. The ingredients required are ½ cup whole-wheat flour, ½ cup broken wheat, 5 teaspoon ghee, 3 tablespoons roasted flax seeds, ¼ cup grated jaggery, 3 teaspoons finely chopped almond and pista, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder, ¼ teaspoon cardamom powder.

First, take the broken wheat and wash it thoroughly, then soak for 5 – 6 hours. Dry roast the whole wheat flour for 8 -10 minutes and keep it aside. Grind the roasted flax seeds to a coarse powder. Now drain the water from the broken wheat using a sieve. Next, take 3 teaspoon ghee in a thick pan and roast the broken wheat on the lowest flame. Keep stirring until the mixture turns light brown (may take 20 – 25 minutes) and then transfer it to a bowl.

Take the remaining 2 teaspoon ghee and grated jaggery in another pan and heat on low flame until you get a syrupy mixture with little froth. Carefully mix the syrup, roasted broken wheat, and flaxseed powder in a big bowl, add cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, ¾ part of the whole-wheat flour, and chopped nuts. Mix the ingredients well with a wooden spatula.

Make small lemon sized balls of this mixture, add the remaining flour if the mix is too wet. Let it rest at room temperature for about half an hour and then store in an airtight container. These ladoos have around 155 calories per serving.

Delicious and nutritious multigrain ladoos are easy to make and most of the ingredients are already easily available in your kitchen, which includes 2 cups of multigrain flour (sesame seeds, wheat, ragi, jowar, and bajra mixed in equal amounts), ¼ cup jaggery, 2 – 3 cardamoms (finely powdered), 1 teaspoon roasted flax seeds, 5 – 6 roasted almonds and 1 tablespoon desi ghee. Fry the multigrain flour along with ghee in a thick bottomed pan on medium flame until it turns brown.

Make a jaggery mixture with ¼ cup water in a pan and filter to remove any impurities, add cardamom powder and boil the mixture until you get a syrupy consistency. Switch off the flame and mix the flour and jaggery syrup so that there are no lumps. Now mix the roasted almonds and roasted flax seeds while the mixture is still warm. You have to grease your hands with little ghee while making the balls. Let the ladoos cool down to room temperature and then store in an air-tight container. Calories per serving are 225 calories.

This Bengali sweet is prepared from chenna (cottage cheese) and khoya/mawa and has a heavenly, creamy, and rich taste. This sweet has less sugar due to the presence of natural sweetness obtained by khoya and chenna. To prepare chenna, make cottage cheese with 2 litres of milk in the traditional way paneer is made at home, just don’t press the cottage cheese with a heavy object, so that the fat particles remain intact to give the creaminess. You can prepare khoya at home with 1.5-liter milk or use 400 gm readymade khoya.

You would require 2-liter milk for chenna, 1.5-liter milk for khoya, ½ cup refined flour, 1 cup sugar to be added while making khoya, 5 tbsp sugar powder, lemon juice for preparing chenna. Knead well the chenna, khoya, and flour for at least 20 minutes or until it’s consistent and less fragile. After kneading, transfer the mixture into a non-stick pan, mix the powdered sugar and simmer on low flame for 15 minutes while stirring continuously the entire time.

Once the mixture is completely dry, turn off the stove and leave the mixture for a few minutes to cool slightly. Take a little amount of mixture while it’s still warm and flatten it over Shondesh Moulds (you can easily get them online). Press for a few seconds, then remove carefully and keep them in a plate. Make remaining Sondesh in the same manner and refrigerate them afterward. The mentioned quantity of ingredients will make around 30 pieces of Sondesh and you can use them within 15 days, if refrigerated.

This sugar-free healthy mithai is a favourite among people who fast regularly, as this sweet made from khoya is packed with the energy and goodness of dry fruits. For making falahari badam ki barfi you require 1 ½ cup crushed khoya, ½ cup chopped mixed nuts (almonds, walnuts, figs, and pistachios), 1 cup chopped dehydrated fruits (apricots, cranberries, apple, gooseberries, etc.) ¼ teaspoon cardamom and a pinch of nutmeg powder.

Mix the khoya and nuts in a thick non-stick kadhai, cook on a medium flame for 5 minutes while mixing well and stirring occasionally. Now add the cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, and chopped dehydrated fruits and give a good mix. Take a greased aluminum tin and set the mixture into it. Keep it aside for around 5 hours, then cut into square pieces and serve.

These whole wheat tutti frutti cookies are a yummy and healthy sweet option for Diwali snacking, which is easy to make and can be used for many days after preparation. The ingredients required for this delicacy are – 1 cup whole wheat flour, 4 tbsp unsalted butter, ½ cup semolina, ½ cup sugar, 2 tbsp milk, 1/3 cup tutti frutti and cashews, and few drops of vanilla extract. Take sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and mix them well until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Now add the semolina, whole wheat flour, chopped cashews, and tutti frutti and mix well. Add the milk and knead to form a soft dough. Roll the dough to form a log and then shape it in square form. Wrap the square-shaped dough with butter paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Take out the square log after 20 minutes, cut slices with a sharp knife, and place them in a baking tray. Bake them in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes and take them out when the edges are slightly golden brown. Now transfer carefully in a tray, let them cool down and then store in an airtight container.

We love coconut barfi for its amazing flavour. It’s considered a light snack, hence a nice addition to the healthy Diwali sweets menu. You need 400 gm fresh coconut (grated), 2 tablespoon ghee, 1 ½ cup sugar, 2 tablespoon chopped cashews, ½ tablespoon cardamom powder, and 2 cups milk for making coconut barfi.

Take 1 tbsp ghee in a pan, heat on medium flame, and fry the broken cashews until they turn golden and transfer to a plate. Again grease the pan with little ghee, add coconut and milk, mix well and bring the mixture to a boil on medium flame. Now lower the flame and let it simmer until the milk evaporates, then add sugar and cook until there is no moisture left. Add ghee and continue to cook and stir constantly until the mixture is completely dry and starts leaving the pan.

Press down the mixture with a spoon or spatula to check for any excess moisture. Cook for some more time if any moisture is left in the mixture. Now transfer the mixture to a pre-greased pan, flatten with a spatula and sprinkle the nuts. Keep the pan at room temperature for 3 – 4 hours so that the barfi is set properly. After 4 hours slice the barfi and leave again for 8 – 10 hours. Now you can serve the barfi and even store in an airtight container.

One of the most easy to prepare dessert, the Fruit Custard can be prepared in just 20 – 25 minutes, and is packed with the goodness of milk and fruits. The ingredients required are – 700 ml full cream milk, 4 tablespoon sugar, 2 cups fruits cut in small pieces (banana, apple, and mango, etc.), 3 tablespoon custard powder, a pinch of cardamom powder and few drops of rose water.

Heat the milk in a pan on medium-high heat. Once a little hot, take out 3 tbsp milk into a bowl and add the custard powder. Mix it well to remove any lumps and keep it aside. Continue heating the milk in the pan while stirring occasionally and bring it to a gentle boil. Lower the heat, add sugar, and mix well. Now slowly pour the custard powder into the milk, small quantity at a time, whisk and then mix again. Cook for 2 - 3 minutes and remove the pan from flame when the custard thickens.

Let the mixture cool down a bit and then add rose water and cardamom powder. Cover the custard mixture and keep in the fridge and at the same time refrigerate the chopped fruits as well. Take out the custard mixture and fruits after an hour, mix them in a big bowl and refrigerate this mix again for 1 – 2 hours so that the flavours are developed properly. Garnish with pomegranate seeds before serving chilled.

We have learned to prepare a few healthy Diwali sweets at home, but if you are in no mood to cook during Diwali or are just too busy preparing sweets on your own, then you can order them online. There are good quality and tasty sweets available from a few reliable brands and they will provide you fresh sweets at your doorstep. Let’s check a few such healthy Diwali sweets available on e-commerce platforms.

Anjeer is a naturally sweet fruit and this sugar-free barfi won’t make you feel guilty, even if you eat an extra piece of this sweet. The Anjeer sugar free barfi is enriched with the benefits of dry fruits and has an excellent shelf life of 30 days. You can order the 250 gm pack of this sweet from igp.com for Rs. 620.

Ghasitaram, a more than 100 years old brand is a well-known name in the sweets, desserts, and dry fruits segment and is famous for its freshly prepared premium products. The healthy energy bites are prepared from natural ingredients like flax seeds, sesame seeds, peanuts, and dry fruits and contain no artificial preservatives. Each energy bite is wrapped individually inside the pack and there are a total of 12 pieces inside the box. The 180 gm pack of this energy bites white box is available for Rs. 406 on amazon.in.