Opt for millet-based sweets instead of khoya sweets and feel the difference

There is no denying the fact that all Indian festivals and functions are incomplete without delicious sweets and desserts. With Diwali, the festival of lights around the corner, the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind is the delicious sweets and savouries that one craves to eat. In India, sweets are an integral part of all the celebrations. They are a ubiquitous presence and are an essential part of the Indian way of life. They signify good omen, glee and prosperity. Festivals without sweets are like life without love. When individuals plan to visit their friends and relatives, a box of sweets is the best and unanimous choice.

But have you ever wondered how during such times do the sweet shops overcome the demand of such sweets? Well, it is the time when the market players fool around every customer to meet their demand and that is possible only with the supply of adulterated sweets. From milk to sugar;oil or desi ghee to low quality flour, everything is adulterated, thereby causing a threat to the mind and body. During the festive season, the rate of adulteration peaks. The main reason behind this adulteration is to either enhance the shelf life of various products or give them more volume. Through various research, it has been found that milk and khoya when mixed with starch, paper, urea and various other harmful chemicals cause serious health hazards such as acute gastritis, serious diarrhoea, dysentery, dehydration, kidney inflammation and many more. Moreover, the Indian sweets that seem to be coated with attractive silver foil (often referred to as varakh) such as kaju katli, kaju roll, Gulab Jamun and likewise can be harmful if coated with the adulterated silver foil. This dangerous metal accumulates within the body tissues and may even lead to severe brain damage. According to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, silver foil with a purity of 99.9 per cent is deemed to be in edible form. Not only this, Saffron is adulterated with dyed tendrils of maize cob and Pithishakaris adulterated with washing soda and consumption of such goods can cause paralysis of the limbs and much more.

Every year during the festive time, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) initiates a multi-pronged approach to prevent the adulteration of sweets such as conducting random inspections and on-the-spot tests to check the quality of milk and milk products, especially khoya and huge penalties are imposed on such sweet shops but then again, the same process repeats.

With the change in time and mindset of individuals, wherein a shift on being healthy is targeted it’s time that an individual must try to opt for some healthy and clean options such as buying sweets made from oats, millet, ragi, foxtail, etc. Sweets such as peanut jaggery or sesame peanut jaggery ladoos, coffee mysorepak, millet soanpapdi or millet ladoo or barfi, ragi flax crackers and many morecontain good number of fibres, protein, calcium, healthy fats and some micronutrients and other nutritious elements. In a world of refined grains, millets have proved to be a breath of fresh air. Not only are they nutritious, but incredibly versatile. These sweets even lasts longer and our free from adulterants. Moreover, with India being declared as the year of millet, sweets made from such ingredients are a must-try and will change the mindset that healthy isn’t tasty. So, before this Diwali strive to say no to adulterated sweets and yes to sweets made from dry fruits, millets and ragi to replace adulterated khoya sweets. One must enjoy these delicious saviours but in moderation and must not overdo.

(The writer is an educator, views are personal)