Navratri special: Detox your body with healthy low calorie diet!

Sandhya Gugnani

Fast or Feasting

Name of dish	Serving	Calories
Kuttu ke atta ki puri	3-4	400
Samak ki kheer	100gms	275-300
Dry fruit koya burfi	2 pieces	350
Paneer kofta	2 pieces	400
Sabudana namkeen	100gms	250
Pakoda ( potato)	2 pieces	250
Makhana kheer	1 katori	286

• Have low fat milk and milk products. Chach with bhuna jeera , dhaniya should be good
• Low fat paneer, all fruits and some salads like cucumber etc. To make it little spicy, add a dash of lemon and sendha namak (This is the salt which is ideally to be had during vrat). You can also have a handful of nuts.
• Fresh fruit juice with fibre like pineapple, apple with beetroot & carrot which could be filling & satisfying. One should take more of low fat milk & milk products along with fruits etc. "One should drink a lot of fluids like lassi, milkshakes, smoothies, juices etc. Besides providing energy, it also maintains the fluid levels in the body. The kind of food people eat during Navratras generates a lot of heat in the body. So fruits and curd act as cooling agents.
• Instead of puri or pakodas (both fried) made from Kuttu atta, try out Kuttu ki roti, replace fried aloo-chat with boiled aloo-chat and kheer with mixed-fruit curd.
• Make some idli from the Kuttu atta and dosa from the samak ke chawal. "One can prepare idli by making a paste of the atta, adding vegetables and then steaming it. Ground samak ke chawal that are soaked overnight can be used as the dough for dosa. It can be stuffed with vegetables and eaten with mint & coriander chutney.
• Nuts are the best source of instant energy. "Almonds and walnuts are the best source of energy and also help increase the levels of good cholesterol.
• A lot of people who have just one meal a day tend to overeat. If one eats one heavy meal in the entire day, it doesn't get converted into energy instantly and accumulates as fat in the body, important to eat small meals at regular intervals.
• Most importantly take adequate amount of water & keep yourself well hydrated & be regular with your workout.

(Sandhya Gugnani is an expert Nutritionist. Visit her at: www.yournutritionandhealth.com)