Diwali 2021: Bring back mithai and fried food on your plate, says Rujuta Diwekar

Diwali 2021: Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar urges people to indulge in traditional fried food and homemade mithai this Diwali instead of air-fried stuff.

While Diwali is all about spreading joy and cheer, and eating traditional food to the heart's content, celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar is perturbed with the commercialization of the festival and the changed status of mithai from being a traditional food to something that is feared for its sugar content.

Diwekar suggests her followers to prepare at least three mithais this Diwali digging out traditional recipes, and share them with others.(Pinterest)

"Sweets are a major part of the celebration. Be it Diwali, Dussehra, Eid or Christmas, the big thing about festival is that they have become highly commercialised and their essence are diluted. The special meal that comes with sense of belonging, nurturing and sharing, is left behind," says Diwekar, adding, "sweets get reduced to one single nutrient; they become all about sugar. Diwali sweets is not about that, but about family friends, neighbours, and the fact that all of us are coming together and having a good time. If one has to retain sense of festivals, the responsibility is with our generation."

Diwekar suggests her followers to prepare at least three mithais this Diwali digging out traditional recipes, and share them with others and eat with joy.

"Try to make three traditional mithais of your family. If you don't have the recipes available, you can get it from local women group and then you can learn how to make it. They bring together produce of the season, the grains, millets, pulses, nuts, ghee, sugar, spices and then we make beautiful concoctions out of it," says the nutritionist.

While Diwali is all about spreading joy and cheer, and eating traditional food to the heart's content, celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar is perturbed with the commercialization of the festival and the changed status of mithai from being a traditional food to something that is feared for its sugar content.

"Sweets are a major part of the celebration. Be it Diwali, Dussehra, Eid or Christmas, the big thing about festival is that they have become highly commercialised and their essence are diluted. The special meal that comes with sense of belonging, nurturing and sharing, is left behind," says Diwekar, adding, "sweets get reduced to one single nutrient; they become all about sugar. Diwali sweets is not about that, but about family friends, neighbours, and the fact that all of us are coming together and having a good time. If one has to retain sense of festivals, the responsibility is with our generation."

Diwekar suggests her followers to prepare at least three mithais this Diwali digging out traditional recipes, and share them with others and eat with joy.

"Try to make three traditional mithais of your family. If you don't have the recipes available, you can get it from local women group and then you can learn how to make it. They bring together produce of the season, the grains, millets, pulses, nuts, ghee, sugar, spices and then we make beautiful concoctions out of it," says the nutritionist.

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While many people avoid fried food during Diwali to avoid weight gain, Diwekar says the traditional fried delicacies can be prepared using traditional oils such as groundnut oil, mustard oil, coconut oil and sesame oil. She also shares the correct method to deep-fry all the stuff.

The oil used to deep-fry food should be cooked on low flame and the oil should not be reused to fry other stuff. "Samosa, mathri, chakli, all these are the things you won't get anywhere else in the world," says Diwekar.

She also lists out benefits of deep-fried food over air-fried meals.

* Eating deep-fried food helps in satiety and you feel light in the stomach

* It helps curb sugar cravings

* One not only tends to consume more quantities of air-fried food, but also develop sugar cravings post eating. Chances are you would feel like eating mithai or cola after eating air-fried food.

"Bring back your mithai and traditional fried items back on your plate," concludes Diwekar.

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