Now indulge

What’s a festive season sans food? With the air getting colder by evenings and waft of savouries filling markets and a number of parties to attend and host, it becomes rather a tough task to choose between treats and the desire to stay (be) thin.

To help you navigate these tasty testing lanes, we get a few Chandigarh chefs share their recipes that stay high in taste and low on calories!

Oat Jaggery Cookies 

(20-25 calorie per cookie)

Makes about 400 gm cookies 

Ingredients

25 gm sugar, 150 gm jaggery,  1/2 cup white butter, 2 tbsp vanilla essence, ¼ tsp baking powder,1/2 tbsp baking soda,1 ¼ tbsp cinnamon powder, 1 ½ cup oats, 1 cup whole-wheat four, 1 egg, 1 cup chopped mixed Nuts and raisins (almonds, walnuts, cashews, raisins)

Preparation time:  20 minute

Method

• Beat sugar, jaggery and butter till fluffy. Add vanilla essence, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder. Beat and mix well.
• Add 1 ½ cup oats, 1 cup whole-wheat flour and one egg. Mix well
• Add 1 cup chopped mixed nuts. Mix to a soft dough.
• Make small balls. Flatten each ball to about 1/8”-1/4”thick like a parantha thickness.
• Bake at 200 degrees C for about 18-20 min or till brown from the bottom.
• Let it cool and serve.

- Chef Anubhav Sawhney, AJ Foods

Healthy nuts burfi (85 calories per piece)

Ingredients

• Crushed Multigrain (barley, oats, ragi, millet) 1 Cup 
• Flax seeds 1 tbsp 
• Sesame seeds 1 tbsp 
• Pumpkin seeds 1 tbsp 
• Sunflower seeds 1 tbsp 
• Dates ½ cup 
• Almonds chopped ¼ cup 
• Walnuts chopped ¼ cup 
• Clarified butter 1 tbsp 
• Jaggery 1 cup 
• Cardamom powder ½ tsp 
• Dry condensed milk ½ Cup 

Method

• Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan and roast all nuts and grains separately. 
• Remove when little crunchy and brown in colour. Keep aside and let them cool. 
• Heat jaggery in pan until melt and add dry condensed milk (mawa). 
• Remove from fire and add all dry roasted nuts and multigrain. 
• Mix properly. Sprinkle cardamom powder. 
• Spread on flat surface, keeping ½ inch thickness. Allow to cool till set. 
• Cut them into diamond shape or your choice of shape. 
• This can be kept for month when stored in airtight container. 

-  Nandita Karan, Executive Chef, The Lalit Chandigarh

Pulled chicken salad with hoisin sesame vinaigrette (220 cal)

Ingredients 

• Roast chicken 50 gm
• Red cabbage 30 gm
• Carrot 30 gm
• Cabbage 30 gm
• Bell pepper 30 gm 
• Roasted peanuts 10gm 
• Chilis 2gm
• Hoisin sauce 5ml
• Sesame oil 5ml
• Apple cider vinegar 10 ml
• Coriander sprigs for garnish 

Method 

• Wash all the vegetables properly and pat dry them.
• Roast the chicken breast in oven at 160-degree C for 10 minute.
• In a bowl, whisk sesame oil, apple cider vinaigrette and hoisin sauce to make a dressing.
• Once the chicken breast is cooked and cooled properly, pull the chicken breast using a fork or fingers to get strands or thread like texture.
• Fine slice all the vegetables and mix it along with pulled chicken.
• In a plate, arrange the salad and pour the dressing in the top of salad.
• Garnish with baby coriander leaves and serve.

Porcini mushroom and asparagus oats risotto (279 cal)

Ingredients 

• Porcini mushroom  30 gm
• Asparagus  30 gm
• Oats  60 gm
• Onion  10 gm
• Parmesan cheese  5gm
• Olive oil 10 gm
• Thyme 2gm
• Salt to taste.

Method 

• In a pan, put olive oil and add fine chop onions.
• Allow the onions to turn translucent and add mushroom and asparagus.
• Add oats.
• Toast the oats for a minute and add water gradually or vegetable stock.
• Once the oats are cooked properly, finish with parmesan cheese and thyme. Add salt to taste.
• In a plate, put cooked oats and finish with a dash of olive oil. Serve hot.

-Aaron Shanan James, Sous Chef in Radisson Chandigarh Zirakpur

Banana Froyo with kuttu crumble and seasonal fruits

Ingredient

For the froyo

• Bananas – 6
• Yoghurt – 1 kg
• Honey – 60ml
• Cream – 100ml

Method

• Hang Yoghurt overnight in a muslin bag to drain off the whey.
• Blend the bananas along with the yoghurt till the mixture is smooth 
• Add honey and cream and mix well
• Put in an ice-cream maker and churn till you get a smooth froyo.

Alternatively if you don’t have an ice cream maker, put the mixture in a steel container and freeze for an hour. Take out and smash all the ice crystals. Repeat this procedure.

For the kuttu crumble

• Kuttu atta 100 gm
• Butter 50 gm
• Sugar 50 gm

Method

• Cut the butter into small cubes. 
• In a bowl add atta and sugar 
• Add butter and rub into the mixture till you get a grainy mixture
• Add 30 ml of ice chilled water slowly to form a paste
• Spread the paste on to baking tray and bake 180 degrees for 15 minute
• If the crumble is still wet bake at 140 for 5 minutes till you get a dry biscuit like texture. Allow to cool. Then crush the crumble. Scoop the ice-cream on to the plate top generously with the kuttu crumble and serve along with fresh fruits.  

- Chef Shamsul Wahid, Group Executive Chef, Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt. Ltd

Ensure healthy snacking at Diwali parties 

• An assortment of colourful baked vegetable chips made from blue potato, sweet potato and parsnip with dips on the side. 
• Add mint or lemon to fresh fruit juices for keeping the drinks healthy.
• Slice and dice some seasonal fruits into a bowl with a few drops of lemon and/or red paprika.
• Roasting a few scoops of different nuts tossed in salt. —IANS 

— Compiled by Mona