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5 Vegan Recipes To Celebrate Diwali
Diwali, with major celebrations occurring on Nov. 14 this year, is the five-day Hindu festival of lights.
The holiday is typically celebrated with sweets and snacks. Try these healthy vegan sweets below, and visit Building a Healthy India for additional recipes, as well as Hindi-language fact sheets on diet and diabetes, plant-based protein, and the dangers of dairy products.
Sheera
Makes 4 1-cup servings
Need something sweet after eating a savory traditional Hyderabadi meal? Look no further than this dairy-free sheera featuring almond milk and cream of wheat. Did you know whole wheat contains an abundance of fiber? Fiber cuts cholesterol, adds to your feeling of fullness, and slows the release of sugars from food into the blood.
1/4 cup (25-50 grams) raw cashews (optional)
1 cup (180 grams) uncooked rava or cream of wheat
2 cups (500 milliliters) almond milk
1 or 2 saffron threads, soaked in
2 tablespoons (30 milliliters) almond milk
1 teaspoon (2 grams) ground cardamom
1 large ripe banana, finely chopped
1/2 cup (75 grams) golden raisins, soaked in water
1 tablespoon (20 grams) agave nectar, jaggery, or maple syrup, or to taste (optional)
In a small skillet, toast cashews, if using. Set aside. In a medium sauce pan, toast rava or cream of wheat on medium heat until it turns just a couple of shades darker and tastes nutty. Remove to a dish and set aside. In the same sauce pan, combine almond milk, saffron, cardamom, and banana and bring to a boil. Add reserved rava, stirring constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. It will take just a minute or two before the rava absorbs most of the almond milk and becomes quite thick. Before taking off the heat, stir in toasted cashews (if using) and raisins. The bananas and raisins bring a lot of sweetness to this dessert, so taste before adding a sweetener. If needed, add agave nectar, jaggery, or maple syrup.
Source: SHARAN, http://sharan-india.org/recipes/sheera/
Per serving (1/4 of recipe) Calories: 275• Fat: 2.1 g • Saturated Fat: 0.2 g • Calories from Fat: 6.4% • Cholesterol: 0 mg • Protein: 6 g • Carbohydrate: 59.8 g• Sugar: 19.1 g• Fiber: 3.2 g • Sodium: 132 mg • Calcium: 298 g • Iron: 13.2 mg • Vitamin C: 3 mg • Beta-Carotene: 9 mcg • Vitamin E: 0.8 mg
