Festival season is here, and our festivities can never be complete without mouth-watering homemade sweets and snacks.  Unfortunately for a diabetic patient, this feeling is dampened by the worry of the health risk it might pose later. But we all deserve little rewards in life. By choosing desserts with low glycemic index ingredients and healthy sugar substitutes like stevia, xylitol, now diabetics don’t have to miss the festivity fun.  Here are some Indian sweet recipes for diabetics that can be enjoyed guilt-free by diabetics .

Dry fruit ladoos :

This recipe of dry fruit laddoos is sugar-free and most dry fruits and nuts are low on the glycaemic index (GI) scale, making them suitable for diabetics.

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup cashews
• ¼ cup almonds
• ¼ cup walnuts
• ¼ cup pistachios
• 6-8 dried apricots
• 8 to 10 dates
• 3 tablespoon raisins

Method :

• Toast cashews, almonds, walnuts and pistachios in a dry pan for 8 to 10 min. Let them cool and the grind coarsely.
• Take dried figs, apricots and dates together and blend them too coarsely.
• Mix both of them together with raisins and knead well to ensure the nuts are evenly distributed.
• Divide the mixture into 10 or 12 equal portions and make balls.
• Garnish with pistachios. Store in an airtight container to keep fresh.

P.S : You might need a few drops of ghee to make balls .

Anjeer Barfi

Ingredients

• 1 Cup anjeer (figs)
• 2 tbsp khus-khus
• ½ cup Cashews
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1/2 cup condensed milk
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Method :

1. Soak Anjeer for 2 hours and grind o make a paste
2. Dry roast khus-khus and cashews and grind the cashews
3. Melt ghee in a pan and add anjeer paste, condensed milk and cardamom powder.
4. Add cashew powder and mix thoroughly on low flame till thick paste
5. Transfer to butter paper and let it cool a bit.
6. Put khus-khus seeds and make a cylindrical roll
7. Refrigerate for 30 min
8. Cut into slices and serve

Badam Kulfi

Ingredients :

• 1 Cup almond
• 1/2 cup condensed milk
• 6 tablespoon fresh Cream
• 2 tablespoon roasted pistachio, chopped coarsely
• 1/4 cup Milk
• A pinch of Saffron

Method of preparation :

1. Blanch and grind almonds
2. In a bowl mix almond paste, cream and condensed milk together
3. Mix saffron in milk and soak for half an hour. Then add to the above mix
4. Add chopped pistachios and mix thoroughly
5. Put in moulds and freeze for 7-8 hrs.

You can try this recipe with other nuts or fruit pulps like mango, strawberry to prepare variations of your choice.

Similar to above recipes many recipes can be prepared by replacing regular sugar with other naturally sweet and healthier ingredients like dates, jaggery, raisins and honey. Also if you like, you may replace sugar with sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, saccharine , agave, stevia or xylitol.

Some popular homemade sweets like ghiya ki barfi, pumpkin halwa and carrot halwa can also be easily prepared with some khoya/ condensed milk and some jaggery.

Carrot kheer, oats kheer are also great alternatives to traditional rice kheer or phirni

Apart from sweets, there are many snacks too that can be prepared for diabetics. Idea is to use high fibre and low glycemic index ingredients.

Karela tikki

It has a unique taste that you mostly start liking gradually.

Ingredients :

• 2 Karela , grated
• 1 Carrot , grated
• 150 g paneer grated
• 1/8 th cup boiled peas
• 1/4 cup Oats ground
• 2 Green Chillies , finely chopped
• A pinch Turmeric powder (Haldi)
• 1 teaspoon Chaat Masala
• 1/4 cup Coriander (Dhania) Leaves , chopped
• Salt , to taste
• Oil , for frying

Method

1. Mix all ingredients except oil. Add salt to taste and make small balls
2. Flatten a bit in tikki shape and deep fry or shallow fry till golden brown colour
3. You can use air fryer too instead of deep frying
4. Serve with mint chutney.

Chillas

Chilla is one recipe which can be tried with a variety of grains. Moong dal or besan chilla are one of the favourite snacks for diabetes. You can try adding ragi flour, oats flour or sattu to the mix to make healthier versions. Add finely chopped vegetables of your choice or paneer to the batter to make the food more filling and nutritious. It’s a great tea time or an evening snack.

Sprout chaat

• This chaat is undoubtedly extremely healthy and tasty. This can be a regular snack for all health-conscious people

Recipe :

• Chop cucumber, tomato, onion, green chilli
• Add a handful of sprouts and chopped coriander leaves
• Sprinkle some rock salt, lemon juice, chat masala as per taste
• Mix everything and the chat is ready.

Apart from the recipes given above roasted chana, roasted peanuts, roasted moong dal and  roasted chickpeas are timeless snack items that are high in protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. These can be consumed directly or added to other chaats or can be made into chaats by adding ingredients given in sprout chaat. Only important point to note is that you must consume them immediately before it turns soggy.

Makhana or fox nuts can also  be roasted dry with almonds, peanuts, or walnuts, or you can toast on a pan with a tablespoon of ghee, and a bit of rock salt. Makhanas are full of nutrition, and have a low glycemic index, which helps in the effective management of blood sugar levels.