Christmas foods: This healthy fruit cake is rich in protein and fibre, and has no refined sugar
Highlights
- Celebrate Christmas with these healthy recipes
- They are rich in nutrients and have no refined sugar
- Healthy sugar alternatives like date syrup and coconut sugar are used
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! On this very joyous occasion, we can't help but talk about a few sweet savouries, which have just the right quotient of health and nutrition in them. Helping us with this concern is none other than actress and fitness enthusiast Shilpa Shetty Kundra, who shared two of her favourite Christmas recipes in her Insta posts recently. Baked Kalkals and Healthy Fruit Cake are her favourite two dishes to prepare around Christmas. Let's see how you can make them, right here.
Christmas 2020: Healthy fruit Cake by Shilpa Shetty Kundra
Christmas celebrations are just incomplete without cake. And think as you may, making healthy cake is no child's play. But fret not as Kundra has the perfect solution to this. She shares the recipe of a whole wheat healthy fruit cake, which you can actually have guilt-free on the special occasion of Christmas.
Also read: Wine And Cheese On Christmas May Be Actually Be A Good Idea- Here's Why
To prepare this cake, marinate a variety of nuts and dried fruits in orange juice.
Dry ingredients
Take a large mixing bowl and sieve one cup of whole wheat flour (aata), add one cup of semolina (sooji), ginger powder (1 tsp), cinnamon powder (1 tsp), baking soda (1 tsp) and baking powder (1 tsp).
Wet ingredients
Take a bowl and add one cup yogurt (alternative for eggs), date syrups (you can prepare this fresh at home or use the readymade version), vegetable oil (100 gms). Mix them all well with a whisker. Now add the marinated nuts and dried fruits to this mixture. Add your dry ingredients to this mixture and mix well.
Take an aluminium baking tray. Grease it with oil and dust it with aata. Pour the cake mixture to the tray. Top it with some chopped almonds and walnuts. Bake it for 45 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 180 degree Celsius.
In the meantime, you can prepare a sauce to drizzle over the cake. Take one cup of strawberry jam without refined sugar. Add 1/2 cup of fresh cream and whisk them together.
Once the cake is done, let it cool down for a bit. Cut slices of cake and drizzle the jam sauce over them.
With ingredients like dates, nuts and dried fruits, this cake can provide you with proteins and good fats, and contains no refined sugar! Now isn't this the perfect way to make your Christmas as merry as it could be?
Also read: Prepare These Healthy Snacks For Your Kids This Christmas
Christmas 2020: Baked Kalkals
Kundra shares that this recipe makes her very nostalgic. It takes her back to her grandma's home, where they were always surrounded by Goan neighbours. "I have very fond memories of making kalkals with them, for Christmas," she says in the YouTube video.
To prepare these kalkals, Kundra uses one cup of wheat flour (aata), instead of maida or all-purpose flour. She adds 3 tbsp of roasted semolina (sooji) in it; 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder (optional); 5 tbsp of coconut sugar, 4 tbsp of ghee and 1/4 cup of milk. Mix all the ingredients and knead the dough well.
While wheat flour will provide you with good amount of fibre, milk will provide you with calcium, vitamin b12 and riboflavin; coconut sugar has low fructose and low glycemic index. Ghee is one of the healthiest sources of good fats, which nutritionist recommend to be a part of your daily diet.
Take small bits from the dough, place it on the back of a fork, spread it and then curl it. Make several pieces like this. Preheat oven for 15 minutes and bake the kalkals at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
According to Kundra, this delicious snack can help you feel energetic, maintain healthy colon and also facilitate good bone health. You can store them in an airtight container for around 15 days. They are perfect to be served on Christmas, and can also be a good tea-time snack!
Also read: Weight Loss: Try These Easy Snacking Hacks That Can Keep You Full For Hours
Merry Christmas to all our readers!
Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.