Winters are here and it’s time to indulge in those mouth-watering sweet delicacies. But if you’re one of those who thinks twice before picking up those tempting sweets, try sugar-free delights. With popular halwais dishing out sugar-free sweets to satiate your cravings, there are a few recipes, which can be tried at home.
“Our most popular sweets are anjeer burfi, kalakand and sugar-free gulab jamuns. There are many sweets that can be made without sugar. Anjeer burfi, which is cooked with fruit, has its own natural sugar and is healthier than sweets prepared with sugar. More people go for products like anjeer burfi and kismis rose petals. These are naturally sweet and no sweeteners or flavours need to be added. We often suggest these sweets to our calorie-conscious customers,” says Yatin Chopra of Evergreen Sweets.
A chef from a local sweet shop in Moti Nagar also tells us to make good sugarless sweets, one must ensure that the quality of milk being used is extremely good. You can get a hint of natural sweetness only if the milk is full cream. “The milk you use should be good quality and with whole-cream milk, add a little bit of sugar-free. You can make sugar-free kalakand with rich creamy milk and it tastes delicious,” says Manoj, a helper in the shop.
Experts also tell us that over the years, not only has the demand for sugar-free sweets increased, sugar-free chocolates are a hit during festivities and can be easily prepared at home. “These are a hit with people who love chocolates. Chocolate compounds are easily available in the market and you can add your own flavours to it by adding nuts. Sugar-free chocolates are healthy to eat,” says Kavita Bhatia of Chocolat.
Sugar-Free Chocolates (dry fruits)
Take 200 gm of sugar-free chocolate compound (Barry Callebaut Company). Heat it for three minutes in double boiler until the chocolate melts. Constantly stir the chocolate while melting it. Pour the melted chocolate in a mould, add some finely chopped cashewnuts, almonds and apricots and put it in the refrigerator for 8-10 mins. Wrap it with colourful paper.
(Recipe by Kavita Bhatia)
Kaju and Anjeer ki Burfi
INGREDIENTS
w 300 gm cashewnuts (crushed)
w 300 gm khoya
w 100 gm refined flour (maida)
w 100 ml milk
w 1/2 cup figs (anjeer), fried and finely chopped
w 1&1/2 cup milk
w Silver foil for decorating
Method:
Blend all the ingredients, except the anjeer into a smooth paste. Pour the mixture into a thick-bottomed kadai. Add chopped anjeer. Cook (stirring continuously) until the mixture thickens and starts leaving the sides of the kadai and forms a ball.
Put the mixture on a flat surface and roll out thinly (1/4 cm thickness). Cool the mixture and cut into diamond shapes. Decorate with silver foil.
(Recipe by Hitesh Gupta, Executive Chef of L’Angoor)